bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Healthy eating and physical activity: analysing Soweto’s young adults’ perspectives with an intersectionality lens
Authors: Mukoma Gudani , Bosire Edna N , Klingberg Sonja , Norris Shane A
Published: December 2022

Background and objectives

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are taking a toll on Africa’s youth at younger ages than in other regions. These are attributed to risk factors that usually advance in adolescence, such as unhealthy diets and reduced physical activity. Young adults in South Africa, particularly women, tend to be sedentary, consume energy-dense diets low in micronutrients, and are more likely to develop NCDs much earlier in life than those in high-income countries. With an intersectionality perspective, this study explored young adults’ barriers and solutions to addressing these risk factors in Soweto.

Setting

Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa, is one of the most well-known historically disadvantaged townships known for its established communities, and socioeconomic and cultural diversity.

Design

A qualitative investigation utilising focus group discussions (FGDs) with a topic guide. FGDs were transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed using a combination of deductive and inductive approaches.

Participants

Men and women 18-24 years of age living in Soweto (n =30).

Results

South African young adults have a basic understanding of the significance of nutrition, exercise, and their ties to health. However, numerous barriers to such behaviours were reported, arising from the participants’ personal, domestic, social, and local community levels. Young women experienced sexism and had safety concerns while exercising in the streets, while young men tended to describe themselves as lazy.

Conclusions

Young adults face a multitude of intersecting barriers, making it difficult to adopt or sustain health-promoting behaviours. It is important that potential solutions focus on the intersections of barriers to healthy eating and physical activity in order to provide more realistic support for such behaviours.
Heterogeneity in theM. tuberculosisβ-lactamase inhibition by Sulbactam
Authors: Malla Tek Narsingh , Zielinski Kara , Aldama Luis , Bajt Sasa , Feliz Denisse , Hayes Brendon , Hunter Mark , Kupitz Christopher , Lisova Stella , Knoska Juraj , Martin-Garcia Jose , Mariani Valerio , Pandey Suraj , Poudyal Ishwor , Sierra Raymond G. , Tolstikova Alexandra , Yefanov Oleksandr , Yoon Chung Hong , Ourmazd Abbas , Fromme Petra , Schwander Peter , Barty Anton , Chapman Henry N. , Stojkovic Emina A. , Batyuk Alex , Boutet Sébastien , Phillips George N. , Pollack Lois , Schmidt Marius
Published: December 2022

For decades, researchers have been determined to elucidate essential enzymatic functions on the atomic lengths scale by tracing atomic positions in real time. Our work builds on new possibilities unleashed by mix-and-inject serial crystallography (MISC)1-5at X-ray free electron laser facilities. In this approach, enzymatic reactions are triggered by mixing substrate or ligand solutions with enzyme microcrystals6. Here, we report in atomic detail and with millisecond time-resolution how theMycobacterium tuberculosisenzyme BlaC is inhibited by sulbactam (SUB). Our results reveal ligand binding heterogeneity, ligand gating7-9, cooperativity, induced fit10,11and conformational selection11-13all from the same set of MISC data, detailing how SUB approaches the catalytic clefts and binds to the enzyme non-covalently before reacting to atrans-enamine. This was made possible in part by the application of the singular value decomposition14to the MISC data using a newly developed program that remains functional even if unit cell parameters change during the reaction.
The usability of a novel mobile augmented reality application for excavation process considering safety and productivity in construction
Authors: Abdeen Fathima Nishara , Gunatilaka Randima Nirmal , Sepasgozar Samad M.E. , Edwards David John
Published: December 2022

Purpose

This study aims to assess the usability of augmented reality (AR) based mobile app for excavation and earthmoving processes using a novel tool entitled Excavator Augmented Reality (EAR).

Design/methodology/approach

A mixed-methods research approach was used through conducting experimentation to collect qualitative and quantitative data collected from the Sri Lankan construction sector. EAR app was used for experimentation in outdoor areas examining how a 360° tracked hydraulic excavator can be navigated in different physical environments similar to the real prospected job.

Findings

The findings reveal that EAR could make a considerable impact on enhancing productivity, safety and training processes. However, the developed EAR App subjected to assessment demonstrated the highest satisfaction gap for the auditory aspects. Among the remaining criterion, the satisfaction met user expectations for comfortability and no-risk practice. An analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis) conducted revealed that visualising the excavator activities and the requirements of improved features were the highest agreed strengths and weaknesses of the EAR. Among the opportunities for improvement, the necessity of improving emergency and safety reached the highest agreement. Moreover, the study presented the challenges in introducing mobile augmented reality (MAR) to the construction sector under the political, economic, sociocultural, technological, environmental and legal (PESTEL) model along with solutions to be taken.

Originality/value

This study provides a novel approach to addressing the safety, productivity and training concerns in heavy mobile plants and machinery on construction sites which remains to be unexplored to this end.
To tender or not: an investor’s dilemma in the first hostile takeover in Indian IT services industry
Authors: Joshipura Mayank , Sivaraman Vasant
Published: December 2022

Learning outcomes

The learning outcomes of this study are as follows:1. Learn to analyze a hostile takeover bid from the perspectives of the acquirer, target firm’s management and a large institutional investor in the target firm.2. Review the structuring, financing, valuation, mode of consideration, legal and regulatory aspects of a hostile takeover.3. Understand the role of the target firm’s board in a hostile takeover transaction.4. Address “to sell or not to sell” dilemma of a large institutional investor in the target firm in the event of a tender offer given financial and non-financial considerations.

Case overview/synopsis

On June 14, 2019, Pulak Prasad, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Nalanda Capital, in consultation with other managing partners at Nalanda Capital, had to decide whether to tender a 10.6% equity holding in Mindtree Ltd. in an unsolicited open offer made by Larsen and Toubro (L&T) Ltd. Until then, Nalanda Capital, led by Prasad, had aligned with the Mindtree founders and had led a campaign to thwart L&T’s bid to acquire Mindtree; L&T’s offer to acquire 31% of Mindtree shares was because of open on June 17, 2019 and it is time for Prasad and the management team to take a reasoned call – whether to stay in Mindtree or to exit? Associated aspects included – What could be the consequences of not selling the stake? What could be L&T’s game plan? Could Mindtree continue to create wealth for its shareholders under L&T?

Complexity academic level

This case is appropriate for Mergers & Acquisitions and Strategic Financial Management courses in modules focused on structuring, financing and takeover defence techniques in a hostile takeover transaction. The case is appropriate for graduate MBA and EMBA programmes.

Supplementary materials

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

Subject code

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.
Organizational leisure benefits – a resource to facilitate employees’ work-life balance?
Authors: Strassburger Claudia , Wachholz Felix , Peters Mike , Schnitzer Martin , Blank Cornelia
Published: December 2022

Purpose

Using the job demands-resources (JD-R) model as a theoretical foundation, this study aims to explore the potential of organizational leisure benefit programs in the interplay of job demands and perceived work-life balance.

Design/methodology/approach

This article is based on qualitative data collected from semi-structured interviews with 24 hospitality industry employees in Austria.

Findings

Thematic analysis revealed that organizational leisure benefits can play different roles in the context of job demands depending on the individual’s perceptions of work-life balance. Three major themes were identified, showing that organizational leisure benefits can be a multifaceted organizational resource (1) to facilitate employees’ leisure participation, (2) to boost employees’ recovery or (3) to meet the employees’ need for workplace fun. The results also demonstrated the limitations of organizational leisure benefits, showing that in case employees are constantly experiencing private duties that interfere with recovery during leisure time, leisure benefits do not play any role regarding their perception of work-life balance.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the scare literature on organizational leisure benefits and clarifies their potential, and limitations, as an emerging organizational resource. In particular, findings broaden existing research in the context of the JD-R model by showing that the notion of job resources can stretch beyond workplace resources and can also encompass organizational leisure support.
Microclimatic quality of urban routes and pedestrian behavior in arid zones case of the city of Biskra, South-East Algeria
Authors: Boumaraf Hocine , Amireche Louisa
Published: December 2022

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to implement a methodology intended to identify the links between the microclimatic quality of urban routes and the behavior of pedestrians. This document will open up new opportunities for the development of urban open spaces and facilitate decision-making for urban decision-makers.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology intended to identify the links between the microclimatic quality of urban routes and the behavior of pedestrians is deployed in two stages. The first stage represents a microclimatic characterization of the pedestrian routes. The second step represents a behavioral characterization of these same journeys, based on the on-site video observation of the pedestrians.

Findings

The analysis of the results obtained by applying this method shows that the physical factors of the urban environment in the two climatic seasons (winter, summer) significantly influence the choice of routes, the percentage of route use, the speed of travel and the frequency of user stops.

Originality/value

The authors have recently observed that the issue of the influence of microclimatic factors on the behavior of pedestrians, and more particularly their movements, has only rarely been addressed. It is therefore in this context that the authors would like to provide, through this article, some technical solutions for analysis and characterization as well as some answers to the problem of the influence of microclimatic factors on pedestrian movements.
Understanding the nexus between forest dependence and willingness to pay for forest conservation: case of forest dependent households in Kenya
Authors: Waruingi Esther , Ateka Josiah , Mbeche Robert , Herrmann Raoul
Published: December 2022

Purpose

Forests support human livelihoods and mitigate against climate change, yet they are at a risk of irreversible loss due to high degradation rates. The success of forest conservation mechanisms depends on involvement and support by forest dependent communities. In this paper, the authors assess forest dependent household's willingness to pay (WTP) labour or cash for a conservation programme seeking to restore degraded forestland in Mount Elgon Forest, Kenya.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 919 households in Mt Elgon forest reserve, Kenya. A double bounded contingent valuation approach was used to examine households' WTP and an ordered probit model to estimate the determinants of WTP.

Findings

The findings of the study show a higher WTP for conservation through labour days (12 days/month, equivalent to 1800 KES/month) compared to cash (KES 450/month). Forest dependence has a significant influence on households' willingness to support conservation activities. A higher WTP was observed amongst households with higher vulnerability (high shocks value, low asset value and those in the poorest wealth categories) implying that they are more willing to contribute for forest conservation.

Originality/value

While emerging literature on WTP for forest conservation is growing, few studies have paid attention on the influence of forest dependence on WTP for forest conservation. There are limited studies on use of in-kind contribution as a payment vehicle for WTP. The study's findings show a high WTP in form of labour suggesting the importance of embracing in-kind contribution as a mechanism of supporting forest conservation in contexts of developing countries.
Maintenance 4.0: implementation challenges and its analysis
Authors: James Ajith Tom , Kumar Girish , Khan Adnan Qayyum , Asjad Mohammad
Published: December 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze the challenges associated with the implementation of the concept of Maintenance 4.0 in industries.

Design/methodology/approach

The challenges in the implementation of Maintenance 4.0 are identified through a literature survey and interaction with professionals from the industry and academia. A structural hierarchy framework that integrates the methodologies of ISM and MICMAC is used for the analysis of Maintenance 4.0 implementation challenges. The framework establishes the interrelationship among challenges and segregates them into driving, linkage, dependent and autonomous groups.

Findings

A novel concept of Maintenance 4.0 under the aegis of Industry 4.0 is gaining appreciation worldwide. However, there are challenges in the adaptation of Maintenance 4.0 concepts among industries. The various challenges as well as their impact on the objective of implementation of Maintenance 4.0 are identified.

Practical implications

The practicing engineers, academicians, researchers and the concerned industries can infer from the results to improve upon the causes of such challenges and promote the implementation of Maintenance 4.0 most efficiently and effectively.

Originality/value

This paper is a novel, unique and first of its kind that addresses the most contemporary challenges in the implementation of Maintenance 4.0 concepts in industries.
Institutional teaching choreographies in education for sustainability in times of pandemic: the Ocean i3 project
Authors: Rekalde-Rodríguez Itziar , Gil-Molina Pilar , Cruz Iglesias Esther
Published: December 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the design of choreographies or learning environments which the students participating in Ocean i3 pass through during their participation in the project, which requires constant review and interpretation, in times of COVID-19. To this end, it is proposed to: define the institutional teaching choreographies to create authentic and meaningful environments for the active learning of university students; interpret the transversal competences for the sustainability developed in Ocean i3 within the framework of institutional teaching choreographies; and value the strengths and weaknesses of the teaching choreographies implemented for the development of transversal competences for sustainability in a situation of health-care crisis.

Design/methodology/approach

An exploratory method with an interpretative approach has been selected that enables us to address living and evolving scenarios, didactic choreographies and the development of competences for sustainability.

Findings

The perception of students and teachers reveals that it is the use of a multilingual linguistic repertoire (multilingualism) that is most enhanced in Ocean i3, although the global and integrative vision of problems and the integration and management of knowledge through contributions from different disciplines and the social context (transdisciplinarity) are also highlighted.

Originality/value

This paper describes how face-to-face institutional teaching choreographies for an innovation project have been transformed into synchronous online choreographies encouraging the development of competences for sustainability.
Can circular healthcare economy be achieved through implementation of sustainable healthcare supply chain practices? Empirical evidence from Indian healthcare sector
Authors: Vishwakarma Amit , Dangayach G.S. , Meena M.L. , Gupta Sumit , Joshi Deepika , Jagtap Sandeep
Published: December 2022

Purpose

Idea of circular economy defies the classical “make-use-dispose” approach of linear economic model. In the context of health-care industry, it relies heavily on the supply chain practices implemented by industry stakeholders. The purpose of this study is to explore such relationships, study their structure and put it across for attaining sustainability at large.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is an empirical research conducted on 145 health-care firms. The collected data is analysed to develop structural and measurement model. The five constructed hypotheses are examined and tested through structural equation modelling.

Findings

The study illustrates the latent relationships that exist among the stakeholders involvement, sustainable supply chain practices, sustainable performance and circular economy for health-care industry. It is found that the adoption of sustainable supply chain practices improves health-care performance, which, in turn, have positive influence on circular economy.

Research limitations/implications

The structural and measurement model is developed in the context of circular health-care economy. It can be validated or improvised by conducting similar research in other industry using different methods. This research work fulfils the long existing gap in research by offering a linkage between various constructs to achieve health-care circular economy. Based on the research results, future researchers can build theories of circular economy and sustainability for health-care industry.

Originality/value

The study attempts to study the supply chain ways to achieve circular economy for Indian health-care sector. It considered latent relationships among the set of constructs, which are needed for theory building at later stage.
Implementing unexplained wealth orders in South Africa – what are the options?
Authors: McIntyre Jacqui-Lyn , Aslett Duane , Buitendag Nico
Published: December 2022

Purpose

This paper aims to focus on the use of unexplained wealth orders (UWOs) in South Africa as a civil method to act upon lifestyle audit results that have indicated wealth from unknown, possibly unlawful, sources.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper applied a comparative methodology. Legislation and the application of UWOs in Ireland, the UK and Australia were compared with the situation in South Africa.

Findings

It is proposed that South Africa includes UWO legislation within its Prevention of Organised Crime Act or be established as a separate piece of legislation. Also, South Africa should follow both the civil and criminal route to target the proceeds of crime.

Originality/value

Corruption in South Africa is rampant and, without the necessary legislation, impossible to fight. For these purposes, this paper proposes measures to be used from a civil forfeiture perspective.
Managing open innovation projects: an evidence-based framework for SMEs and large companies cooperation
Authors: Giardino Pier Luigi , Cristofaro Matteo , Marullo Cristina
Published: December 2022

Purpose

How can joint open innovation (OI) projects between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large companies (LCs) be effectively managed? This study aims to try to answer this research question with a focus on the critical success factors (CSFs) of such cooperation.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on 40 semi-structured interviews with Italian SMEs and LCs engaged in various industries, 20 open OI projects involving SMEs and LCs are investigated using a reflexive thematic analysis, a methodology involving both deductive and inductive approaches.

Findings

Fifteen CSFs grouped into seven categories emerge from the analysis of joint OI projects between SMEs and LCs. Among them, shared leadership, dynamic decision-making and priority setting emerge as essential elements at the basis of the proposed SMEs–LCs cooperation in joint OI projects that were not sufficiently addressed by prior studies.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to provide an evidence-based framework for managing joint OI projects between SMEs and LCs. Relatedly, this study links the practices and most recurring CSFs that facilitate such cooperation.
A physics-based modeling framework to assess the cost scaling of additive manufacturing, with application to laser powder bed fusion
Authors: Gee Kaitlyn , Kim Suh In , Quinlan Haden , Hart A. John
Published: December 2022

Purpose

This study presents a framework to estimate throughput and cost of additive manufacturing (AM) as related to process parameters, material thermodynamic properties and machine specifications. Taking a 3D model of the part design as input, the model uses a parametrization of the rate-limiting physics of the AM build process – herein focusing on laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) and scaling of LPBF melt pool geometry – to estimate part- and material-specific build time. From this estimate, per-part cost is calculated using a quantity-dependent activity-based production model.

Design/methodology/approach

Analysis tools that assess how design variables and process parameters influence production cost increase our understanding of the economics of AM, thereby supporting its practical adoption. To this aim, our framework produces a representative scaling among process parameters, build rate and production cost.

Findings

For exemplary alloys and LPBF system specifications, predictions reveal the underlying tradeoff between production cost and machine capability, and look beyond the capability of currently commercially available equipment. As a proxy for build quality, the number of times each point in the build is re-melted is derived analytically as a function of process parameters, showcasing the tradeoff between print quality due to increased melting cycles, and throughput.

Originality/value

Typical cost models for AM only assess single operating points and are not coupled to models of the representative rate-limiting process physics. The present analysis of LPBF elucidates this important coupling, revealing tradeoffs between equipment capability and production cost, and looking beyond the limits of current commercially available equipment.
Environmental disclosure and idiosyncratic risk; exploring the role of governance
Authors: Khan Mahboob , Iqbal Mazhar
Published: December 2022

Purpose

This study aims to explore the moderating role of corporate governance index between environmental disclosure and idiosyncratic risk.

Design/methodology/approach

Governance index constructed on the basis of principle component analysis (PCA) that comprised Board Duality (BD), Board Size (BS), Board Independent (BI) and Board Meeting (BM). Collected panel data of 103 nonfinancial companies listed in stock exchanges of Pakistan and India for the period 2013–2020. To address the issue of endogeneity, this study used generalized methods of moments (GMM).

Findings

This study revealed that corporate governance index negatively modifies the relationship between environmental disclosure and idiosyncratic risk for both Pakistan and India scenario. Findings of the study also disclosed environmental disclosure has positive significant impact on idiosyncratic risk in case of Pakistan, whereas it has a negative significant impact in case of India.

Research limitations/implications

The major limitation of the study is availability of environmental disclosure data, future researchers may extend time period and add other emerging economies for analysis. Moreover, assumption of objectivity in the evaluation of environmental disclosure is another limitation of the study. Future research should examine the standard of environmental actions that businesses declare. This study used CAPM model to measure idiosyncratic risk, and future studies suggest measure idiosyncratic risk by using Fama & French four and five factors model for better results and robustness.

Practical implications

Study provides guidelines to investors for choosing stock for investment and also helpful for management to minimize agency problems through better governance mechanisms. Furthermore, study has deep implications for CEOs, portfolio managers, researchers and academics.

Originality/value

The study intended to empirically examine the moderation of Corporate Governance Index between the relationship of Environmental Disclosure and Idiosyncratic Risk.
Pruritogens in pemphigoid diseases: Possible therapeutic targets for a burdensome symptom
Authors: Hiroyasu Sho , Barit Jay‐V James G. , Hiroyasu Aoi , Tsuruta Daisuke
Published: December 2022

Pruritus is a hallmark feature in pemphigoid diseases, where it can be severe and greatly impact the quality of life of affected patients. Despite being a key symptom, the exact pathophysiological mechanisms involved in pruritus in pemphigoid are yet to be fully elucidated and effective therapies addressing them are limited. This review summarizes the present understanding of pruritus specific to pemphigoid diseases, especially the pruritogens that induce it, and the therapeutic options that have been explored so far. The majority of the available evidence is on bullous pemphigoid and epidermolysis bullosa acquisita. Histamine derived from basophils correlates with pruritus severity, with omalizumab demonstrating promising efficacy in pruritus for bullous pemphigoid. IL‐4/−13 contribute to itch in bullous pemphigoid with dupilumab being evaluated in clinical trials. Other pruritogens of interest include substance P, tryptase, and thymic stromal lymphopoetin, with therapies targeting them requiring further investigation. Scratching behaviors contribute directly to blister formation through various mechanisms, such as pathological autoantibody recruitment, T helper cell type 1 polarization, and exposure of intracellular autoantigens. Treatments addressing these pathways may contribute to decreasing disease severity. Additional studies are needed to fully characterize how pruritus is regulated in pemphigoid diseases, to help pave the way to develop novel and effective therapeutics that will not only address pruritic symptoms but also decrease disease severity.
Beyond simple habituation: Anthropogenic habitats influence the escape behaviour of spur‐winged lapwings in response to both human and non‐human threats
Authors: Bar‐Ziv Michael , Sofer Aran , Gorovoy Adel , Spiegel Orr
Published: December 2022

Habitat development may affect wildlife behaviour, favouring individuals or behaviours that cope better with perceived threats (predators). Bolder behaviours in human‐dominated habitats (HDH; e.g. urban and rural settlements) may represent habituation specifically to humans, or a general reduction in predator‐avoidance response. However, such carry‐over effects across threat types (i.e. beyond humans) and phases of the escape sequence have not been well studied to date.

Here we investigated escape behaviours of a locally common wader species, the spur‐winged lapwing Vanellus spinosus. We assayed their flight initiation distance (FID) and subsequent escape behaviours in agricultural areas and in HDH. We found that lapwings in HDH were bolder, and that the difference was manifested in several phases of the predator‐avoidance sequence (shorter FIDs, shorter distances fled, and a higher probability of escape by running vs. flying). When re‐approached (by an observer) after landing, lapwings in HDH were also more repetitive in their FID than those in other habitats.

To determine whether this apparent bolder behaviour in HDH areas is merely a consequence of habituation to humans or represents a broader behavioural change, we introduced an additional threat type—a remotely‐operated taxidermic jackal (‘Jack‐Truck’). Finding bolder responses in the HDH to the human threat alone (and not to the Jack‐Truck) could have supported the habituation hypothesis. In contrast, however, we found a bolder response in the HDH to both threat types, as well as a correlation between their FIDs across different sites. These bolder behaviours suggest that HDH impose a broader behavioural change on lapwings, rather than just simple habituation.

Overall, our findings demonstrate how FID trials can reveal strong behavioural carry‐over effects of HDH following human and non‐human threats, including effects on the subsequent phases of escaping the predator. Further, FID assays may reveal consistent behavioural types when assessed under field conditions, and offer a direct way to differentiate among the various poorly understood and non‐mutually exclusive mechanisms that lead to behavioural differences among organisms in HDH. The mechanistic perspective is essential for understanding how rapid urbanization impacts wildlife behaviour, populations, and the range of behaviours within them, even in species apparently resilient to such environmental changes.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend: Immune‐mediated facilitation contributes to fitness of co‐infecting helminths
Authors: Dagostin Francesca , Vanalli Chiara , Boag Brian , Casagrandi Renato , Gatto Marino , Mari Lorenzo , Cattadori Isabella M.
Published: December 2022

The conceptual understanding of immune‐mediated interactions between parasites is rooted in the theory of community ecology. One of the limitations of this approach is that most of the theory and empirical evidence has focused on resource or immune‐mediated competition between parasites and yet there is ample evidence of positive interactions that could be generated by immune‐mediated facilitation.

We developed an immuno‐epidemiological model and applied it to long‐term data of two gastrointestinal helminths in two rabbit populations to investigate, through model testing, how immune‐mediated mechanisms of parasite regulation could explain the higher intensities of both helminths in rabbits with dual than single infections.

The model framework was selected and calibrated on rabbit population A and then validated on the nearby rabbit population B to confirm the consistency of the findings and the generality of the mechanisms. Simulations suggested that the higher intensities in rabbits with dual infections could be explained by a weakened or low species‐specific IgA response and an asymmetric IgA cross‐reaction.

Simulations also indicated that rabbits with dual infections shed more free‐living stages that survived for longer in the environment, implying greater transmission than stages from hosts with single infections. Temperature and humidity selectively affected the free‐living stages of the two helminths.

These patterns were comparable in the two rabbit populations and support the hypothesis that immune‐mediated facilitation can contribute to greater parasite fitness and local persistence.
House Prices, Monetary Policy and Commodities: Evidence from Australia*
Authors: Graham James , Read Alistair
Published: December 2022

Monetary policy and commodity prices are key drivers of Australian house prices, but endogeneity between these variables complicates empirical research. To address this, we use local projection methods and instrumental variables for estimation. We find that one standard deviation expansionary monetary and commodity shocks increase house prices at peak by 1.5 per cent and 1.4 per cent, respectively. Using geographically disaggregated panel data, we exploit the heterogeneity in house price responses to study the different channels through which these shocks affect housing markets. We find that both monetary policy and commodity price shocks have significant effects on housing markets through income channels.
Personal protective equipment for COVID‐19 among healthcare workers in an emergency department: An exploratory survey of workload, thermal discomfort and symptoms of heat strain
Authors: Hunt Andrew , Ting Joseph , Schweitzer Daniel , Laakso E‐Liisa , Stewart Ian
Published: December 2022

Objectives

To examine workload, thermal discomfort and heat‐related symptoms among healthcare workers (HCWs) in an Australian ED during the COVID‐19 pandemic.

Methods

A cross‐sectional study design was employed among HCWs in an ED at a metropolitan hospital in Brisbane, Australia. Respondents provided demographic information including their self‐reported age, sex, height, weight, role (e.g. doctor, nurse), and whether they wore personal protective equipment (PPE) during their shift, rated as either Full PPE, Partial PPE, or usual uniform or scrubs. The workload of HCWs was assessed with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's task load index (NASA‐TLX). Thermal discomfort was evaluated using scales from the International Organisation for Standardisation. Responders rated their subjective heat illness using the Environmental Symptoms Questionnaire.

Results

Fifty‐nine HCWs completed the survey (27 male, 31 female, one prefer not to answer). Overall workload from the NASA‐TLX was 64.6 (interquartile range [IQR] 56.5–73.3) for doctors, 72.5 (IQR 63.3–83.3) for nurses and 66.7 (IQR 58.3–74.17) for other staff, representing moderate to high ratings. Eighty‐one percent reported thermal sensation to be slightly warm, warm, or hot, and 88% reported being uncomfortable, ranging from slightly to extremely. Ninety‐seven percent reported at least one heat‐strain symptom. More than 50% reported light‐headedness or headache and approximately 30% reported feeling dizzy, faint, or weak.

Conclusions

ED HCWs experience thermal discomfort when wearing PPE. Combined with their workloads, HCWs experienced symptoms related to heat strain. Therefore, careful consideration should be given to managing heat strain among HCWs when wearing PPE in an ED.
Equivalent processing for pasteurization of a pineapple juice–coconut milk blend by selected nonthermal technologies
Authors: Yildiz Semanur , Shin Ga Young , Franco Beatriz Gonçalves , Tang Juming , Sablani Shyam , Barbosa‐Cánovas Gustavo V.
Published: December 2022

Identifying equivalent processing conditions is critical for the relevant comparison of food quality attributes. This study investigates equivalent processes for at least 5‐log reduction of Escherichia coli and Listeria innocua in pineapple juice–coconut milk (PC) blends by high‐pressure processing (HPP), pulsed electric fields (PEF), and ultrasound (US) either alone or combined with other preservation factors (pH, nisin, and/or heat). The two blends (pH 4 and 5) and coconut milk (pH 7) as a reference were subjected to HPP at 300–600 MPa, 20°C for 0.5–30 min; PEF at an electric field strength of 10–21 kV/cm, 40°C for 24 µs; and US at 120 µm amplitude, 25 or 45°C for 6 or 10 min. At least a 5‐log reduction of E. coli was achieved at pH 4 by HPP at 400 MPa, 20°C for 1 min; PEF at 21 kV/cm, 235 Hz, 40°C for 24 µs; and US at 120 µm, 45°C for 6 min. As L. innocua showed greater resistance, a synergistic lethal effect was provided at pH 4 by HPP with 75 ppm nisin at 600 MPa, 20°C for 5 min; PEF with 50 ppm nisin at 18 kV/cm, 588 Hz, 40°C for 24 µs; and US at 45°C, 120 µm for 10 min. The total soluble solids (11.2–12.4°Bx), acidity (0.47%–0.51% citric acid), pH (3.91–4.16), and viscosity (3.55 × 10−3–4.0 × 10−3 Pa s) were not significantly affected under the identified equivalent conditions. HPP was superior to PEF and US, achieving higher ascorbic acid retention and lower color difference in PC blend compared to the untreated sample.
Enhancing Students' Enabling Competencies: Student Perspectives and Recommendations for Educators*
Authors: Fontaine Richard , Khemakhem Hanen , Wolcott Susan
Published: December 2022

Employers continue to express concern that accounting graduates lack the necessary competencies when they enter the workplace. These concerns have been addressed in part by periodic revisions to Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada's (CPA Canada) CPA Competency Map, which is used to define competencies for entry into the profession. The CPA Competency Map has recently been revised to include a new set of enabling competencies (often called generic or soft skills). However, the accounting literature highlights a concern that time and resources spent on the expanding set of enabling competencies could take valuable resources away from teaching technical accounting skills. In addition, the education literature indicates that student motivation plays a key role in learning. If students are motivated to learn enabling competencies, then educational efforts could be more efficient and effective. Conversely, a lack of student motivation could reduce student engagement and learning. To address these concerns, we investigated the student's perspective on the importance of enabling competencies as well as on how and where enabling competencies should be learned. We surveyed 380 students enrolled in the CPA Canada Professional Education Program (PEP). We investigated the three new enabling competencies that are most distinct from the previous set of competencies and that may be the most difficult for accounting educators to teach: adaptability and resilience; creativity and innovation; and active listening. We asked students about the importance of these new enabling competencies for their future careers and whether the competencies should be taught in PEP or in the workplace. Our results indicate that students believe that the new enabling competencies are important and should be learned in both the classroom and the workplace. Moreover, student responses to open‐ended questions provide educators with suggestions on how to incorporate enabling competencies into the classroom by blending activities that could simultaneously enhance enabling competencies with technical competencies.
Public Accounting in China: The Role of Occupational Community within a Globalized Profession*
Authors: Campbell Shelagh , Li Yingqi , Zhang Zhou , Sinclair Paul
Published: December 2022

The globalization of the world economy has brought drastic changes to institutions of work and the structures that support them. This paper analyzes the evolving public accounting profession in China. We constructed a unique qualitative data set by conducting two rounds of on‐site interviews with public practice accountants in Chinese domestic and international firms in 2015 and 2016. Through narrative analysis of accountants' careers, we find that domestic accountants form a distinct group based on their role in supporting the Chinese accounting profession and the pressures, challenges, and opportunities they face in career choice and work conditions. Our study reveals how the well‐known distinctions of language, training, and international experience are further entwined with strong ties to state policy and the “transmission belt” of information flowing between regulatory bodies and workplace institutions. The accounting profession in China shares much in common with the “Western” form of the profession, evidence of the institutional isomorphism documented in the literature on Big 4 firms. Our study highlights additional nuances surrounding regulation and control of the accounting field, notable in domestic firms, which distinguish the Chinese profession within the global field.
Estimating reproductive and juvenile survival rates when offspring ages are uncertain: A novel multievent mark‐resight model with beluga whale case study
Authors: Himes Boor Gina K. , McGuire Tamara L. , Warlick Amanda J. , Taylor Rebecca L. , Converse Sarah J. , McClung John R. , Stephens Amber D.
Published: December 2022

Understanding the survival and reproductive rates of a population is critical to determining its long‐term dynamics and viability. Mark‐resight models are often used to estimate these demographic rates, but estimation of survival and reproductive rates is challenging, especially for wide‐ranging, patchily distributed, or cryptic species. In particular, existing mark‐resight models cannot accommodate data from populations in which offspring remain with parents for multiple years, are not always detected, and cannot be aged with certainty.

Here we describe a Bayesian multievent mark‐resight modelling framework that uses all available adult and adult‐offspring sightings (including sightings with older offspring of uncertain age) to estimate reproductive rates and survival rates of adults and juveniles. We extend existing multievent mark‐resight models that typically only incorporate adult breeding state uncertainty by additionally accounting for age uncertainty in unmarked offspring and uncertainty in the duration of the mother‐offspring association. We describe our model in general terms and with a simple illustrative example, then apply it in a more complex empirical setting using 13 years of photo‐ID data from a critically endangered population of beluga whales Delphinapterus leucas. We evaluated model performance using simulated data under a range of sample sizes, and adult and offspring detection rates.

Applying our model to the beluga data yielded precise estimates for all demographic rates of interest (despite substantial uncertainty in calf ages), including nonbreeder survival and reproductive rates lower than in other beluga populations. Simulations suggested our model yields asymptotically unbiased parameter estimates with good precision and low bias even with moderate sample sizes and detection rates.

This work represents an important new development in multievent mark‐resight modelling, allowing estimation of reproductive and juvenile survival rates for populations with extended adult—offspring associations and uncertain offspring ages (e.g. some marine mammals, elephants, bears, great apes, bats and birds). Our model facilitated estimation of robust demographic rates for an endangered beluga population that were previously inestimable (e.g. nonbreeder and juvenile survival, reproductive rate) and that will yield new insights into this population's continued decline.
Non‐GAAP earnings reporting following going‐concern opinions
Authors: Zhang Ting , Kwack So Yean , Si Yi , Tian Gaoliang
Published: December 2022

We examine non‐GAAP earnings reporting following a going‐concern audit opinion (GCO). Using a propensity score‐matched sample, matching first‐time going‐concern issuing companies with firms in financial distress that did not receive a going‐concern report, we find that the likelihood and frequency of non‐GAAP earnings reporting are lower following GCOs. In additional analyses, we find the negative association between the announcement of GCOs and the likelihood and frequency of non‐GAAP earnings reporting stronger when GCOs are issued by industry‐specialist auditors and when GCOs are unexpected, but do not find litigation risk or managers' ability to affect the association. These results are consistent with a decrease in investor demand for non‐GAAP earnings disclosures following GCOs.
Ground‐based vegetation descriptions and remote sensing as complementary methods describing habitat requirements of a frugivorous primate in northern Madagascar: implications for forest restoration
Authors: Steffens K. J. E. , Sanamo J. , Razafitsalama J. , Ganzhorn J. U.
Published: December 2022

Non‐human primate species are threatened worldwide. Their population declines go along with the loss of ecological functions such as seed dispersal that plays a crucial role in plant regeneration. Restoring essential habitat structures could thus not only protect primates, but also facilitate forest regeneration. We used classical vegetation description on the ground and a remote sensing analysis to describe habitat use of crowned lemurs (Eulemur coronatus), a seed‐dispersing primate endemic to northern Madagascar. Our aim was to find vegetation characteristics important for lemurs that might be targeted in a restoration approach. For this, we applied both methods in differently degraded forest types. Both classical vegetation description and remote sensing analysis were able to distinguish these forest types. The habitat use of our two study groups was associated consistently with vegetation structures measured on a small scale such as tree height and density of thick trees. In contrast, vegetation productivity and water content derived from satellite imagery on a larger scale could not consistently explain habitat use of lemurs. Thus, measurements on the ground can identify suitable microhabitats that do not show on the satellite imagery scale. These microhabitats might be very important conservation elements to create buffer zones and corridors. Further, they might attract seed‐dispersing species into degraded areas targeted for forest restoration, acting as natural regeneration nuclei. The potential of these microhabitats for conservation would not be recognized when analyses were based solely on landscape analyses on large scales.
Quantifying the direct fire threat to a critically endangered arboreal marsupial using biophysical, mechanistic modelling
Authors: Zylstra Philip
Published: December 2022

Historically unprecedented areas of forest habitat have been impacted by fire, as climate change and other anthropogenic disturbances drive increases in fire burned area and severity. Although 88% of Australia's [threatened] land mammals are threatened by inappropriate fire regimes, calculations of animal mortality resulting from specific events have been impeded by knowledge gaps relating to both the direct (first‐order) and long‐term (second‐order) effects of fire on different species. This study addresses the need for a quantified, mechanistic understanding of first‐order effects, presenting an extension of the Fire Research and Modelling Environment (FRaME) to allow prediction of species‐specific mortality. FRaME is demonstrated and tested here by replicating an incident in which a prescribed burn caused 77% mortality of a population of the critically endangered ngwayir (Pseudocheirus occidentalis, Pseudocheiridae). FRaME correctly predicted heavy mortality (62–79%) arising from partial and full‐thickness burns and asphyxiation due to burns in the respiratory tract. Mortality varied with animal fire‐avoidance strategies (p < 0.001) and the thickness of tree hollow walls (r = −0.95, p < 0.001). Although management guidelines specified low intensity fire, mortality had no significant relationship with Byram intensity and larger flames due to ‘torching’ were most frequent when fire spread was slowest. FRaME modelling predicted that individuals would be impacted by temperatures exceeding 500°C for several minutes. Fire management that is premised on discredited notions of fire behaviour and overly simple models can lead to catastrophic management outcomes such as those documented here. FRaME addresses this need by providing a platform to account for heterogeneous fire behaviour as well as animal behaviour and habitat quality, calculating fire risk to fauna and guiding management that maximizes safe habitat.