bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Temporal evolution of beta bursts in the parkinsonian cortico-basal ganglia network
Authors: Cagnan Hayriye , Nicolas Mallet , Moll Christian K.E. , Gulberti Alessandro , Westphal Manfred , Gerloff Christian , Engel Andreas K. , Hamel Wolfgang , Magill Peter J. , Brown Peter , Sharott Andrew
Published: October 2018

Prevalence and temporal dynamics of transient oscillations in the beta frequency band (15-35 Hz), referred to as beta bursts, are correlated with motor performance and tactile perception. Disturbance of these activities is a candidate mechanism for motor impairment in Parkinson’s disease (PD), where the excessively long bursts correlate with symptom severity and are reduced by pharmacological and surgical treatments. To date, characterization of beta bursts in PD has been limited to the local field potentials in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) and cortical EEG. Here, we describe the changes that take place in spiking activity across the cortico-basal ganglia circuit, providing a unique insight into the network dynamics of these transient oscillations. Firstly, we demonstrate that rhythmic subthalamic spiking activity emerges at a fixed phase relationship with respect to cortical beta bursts in PD patients. Using multichannel recordings of ensembles of neurons in the 6-OHDA rat model of PD, we then dissect the beta burst dynamics across the sensorimotor cortex and several basal ganglia structures: striatum (Str), globus pallidus externus (GPe) and STN. Each subcortical structure exhibits enhanced rhythmic activity in the beta band locked to the onset of cortical beta bursts and longer cortical bursts lead to stronger subcortical rhythmicity. Crucially, enhanced subcortical rhythmic activity emerges at a fixed phase relationship with respect to the motor cortex, comparable to the relationship observed in PD patients. Striatal beta bursts terminate prior to the recruitment of those in the STN and GPe, suggesting that while they could play an important role in establishing synchrony in the beta band, they do not extensively contribute to its maintenance in other basal ganglia structures. Critically, changes in cortico-subcortical phase coupling precede the onset of a cortical beta burst, supporting the hypothesis that phase alignment across the cortico-basal ganglia network could recruit these structures into synchronous network oscillations. We provide a powerful approach that not only examines pathophysiology of PD across the motor circuit, but also offer insights that could aid in the design of novel neuromodulation strategies to manipulate the state of the motor system before pathological activities emerge.
Rediscovery and redescription of the endangered Hypostomus subcarinatus Castelnau, 1855 (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) from the rio São Francisco basin in Brazil, with comments on the urban water conservation
Authors: Zawadzki Cláudio Henrique , Penido Iago de Souza , Pessali Tiago Casarim
Published: October 2018

Hypostomus subcarinatus Castelnau, 1855 is rediscovered in the Pampulha lake, an urban lake pertaining to the rio das Velhas basin in the rio São Francisco system in the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. Herein, H. subcarinatus is redescribed and its diagnosis from the congeners is established due to characters such as blue tan dorsal fin in live specimens, slender bicuspid teeth, dentaries angled more than 90 degrees, moderate keels along lateral series of plates, small roundish dark spots, one plate bordering supraoccipital, by having nuptial odontodes mainly on pectoral, dorsal and caudal-fin rays, and longer anal-fin unbranched ray. The rediscovery of H. subcarinatus after more than 160 years after its original description was one unexpected event, because the Pampulha lake is an artificial, shallow and polluted urban lake. The lake is located in the downtown of municipality of Belo Horizonte, the third largest urban agglomeration in Brazil with a population exceeding 5.9 million inhabitants. In the light of this finding we address the importance of urban body waters to maintenance of fish biodiversity in the neotropics.
Revealing an extended critical window of recovery post-stroke
Authors: Rubio Ballester Belen , Duff Armin , Maier Martina , Cameirao Monica , Bermudez Sergi , Duarte Esther , Cuxart Ampar , Rodríguez Susana , Verschure Paul F.M.J.
Published: October 2018

The impact of rehabilitation on post-stroke motor recovery and its dependency on the patient’s chronicity remain unclear. The existence and regularity of a, so called, proportional recovery rule across a range of functional deficits and therapies supports the notion that functional interventions have little or no impact beyond spontaneous recovery rates in a ‘critical window of recovery’ which lasts from 3 to 6 months post-stroke. In this meta-analysis, we apply a bootstrap analysis method to assess the overall impact of a specific VR-based rehabilitation protocol for the upper extremities on a homogeneous sample of 219 individuals with hemiparesis at various stages post stroke. Our analysis uncovers a precise gradient of sensitivity to treatment that expands more than one year beyond the limits of the so-called ‘critical window of recovery’. These findings redefine the limits of the so-called ‘critical window of recovery’ and suggest that stroke-derived plasticity mechanisms do facilitate functional recovery even at the chronic and late chronic stage.
A diallel of the mouse Collaborative Cross founders reveals strong strain-specific maternal effects on litter size
Authors: Shorter John R. , Maurizio Paul L. , Bell Timothy A. , Shaw Ginger D. , Miller Darla R. , Gooch Terry J. , Spence Jason S. , McMillan Leonard , Valdar William , Pardo-Manuel de Villena Fernando
Published: October 2018

Reproductive success in the eight founder strains of the Collaborative Cross (CC) was measured using a diallel-mating scheme. Over a 48-month period we generated 4,448 litters, and 24,782 weaned pups were used across 16 different published experiments. We identified factors that affect the average litter size in a cross by estimating the overall contribution of parent-of-origin, heterosis, inbred, and epistatic effects using a Bayesian zero-truncated overdispersed Poisson mixed model. The phenotypic variance of litter size has a substantial contribution (79%) from unexplained and environmental sources, but no detectable effect of seasonality. Most of the explained variance was due to additive effects (9.2%) and parental sex (maternal vs paternal strain; 5.8%), with epistasis accounting for 3.4%. Within the parental effects, the effect of the dam’s strain explained more than the sire’s strain (13.2% vs. 1.8%), and the dam’s strain effects account for 74.2% of total variation explained. Dams from strains C57BL/6J and NOD/ShiLtJ increased the expected litter size by a mean of 1.66 and 1.79 pups, whereas dams from strains WSB/EiJ, PWK/PhJ, and CAST/EiJ reduced expected litter size by a mean of 1.51, 0.81, and 0.90 pups. Finally, there was no strong evidence for strain-specific effects on sex ratio distortion. Overall, these results demonstrate that strains vary substantially in their reproductive ability depending on their genetic background and that litter size is largely determined by dam.strain rather than sire.strain effects, as expected. This analysis adds to our understanding of factors that influence litter size in mammals, and also helps to explain breeding successes and failures in the extinct lines and surviving CC strains.
Dynamic changes in cerebral and peripheral markers of glutamatergic signaling across the human sleep-wake cycle
Authors: Weigend Susanne , Holst Sebastian C. , Treyer Valérie , O’Gorman Tuura Ruth L. , Meier Josefine , Ametamey Simon M. , Buck Alfred , Landolt Hans-Peter
Published: October 2018

Both sleep and glutamatergic signaling in the brain are tightly controlled and homeostatically regulated. Sleep homeostasis is reliably reflected by predictable changes in brain electrical activity in waking and sleep, yet the underlying molecular mechanisms remain elusive. Current hypotheses posit that recovery sleep following prolonged waking restores efficient functioning of the brain, for example by keeping glutamatergic signaling in a homeostatic range. We recently provided evidence in humans and mice that metabotropic glutamate receptors of subtype-5 (mGluR5) contribute to the brain’s coping mechanisms with sleep deprivation. Here we combined in 31 healthy men, proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy to measure the levels of glutamate (Glu), GLX (glutamate-to-glutamine ratio) and GABA (γ-amino-butyric-acid) in basal ganglia (BG) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, simultaneous positron emission tomography to quantify mGluR5 availability with the novel radioligand, [18F]PSS232, and quantification in blood plasma of the mGluR5-regulated proteins, fragile-X mental retardation protein (FMRP) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). All measurements were conducted at the same circadian time in baseline, following sleep deprivation and after recovery sleep. We found that Glu and GLX in BG (pall < 0.01), but not in prefrontal cortex, and the plasma concentration of FMRP (p < 0.02), were increased after sleep loss and tended to normalize following recovery sleep (pall < 0.1). Furthermore, a night without sleep enhanced whole-brain and striatal mGluR5 availability and was normalized by recovery sleep (pall < 0.05). By contrast, other brain metabolites and plasma BDNF levels were not altered. The findings demonstrate convergent changes in distinct markers of glutamatergic signaling across prolonged wakefulness and recovery sleep in humans. They warrant further studies to elucidate the underlying mechanisms that link the homeostatic regulation of sleep and glutamatergic system activity in health and disease.

One-sentence summary

Sleep-dependent recovery of wakefulness-induced changes in, cerebral glutamatergic signaling

Major subject area

Neuroscience; Human Biology & Medicine
Comparison of the crystal structures and Hirshfeld surface analysis of five N-(4-methylbenzenesulfonyl)glycine hydrazone derivatives
Authors: Purandara H. , Foro Sabine , Thimme Gowda B.
Published: October 2018

The crystal structures of N-(4-methylbenzenesulfonyl)glycine hydrazone and four derivatives with four different substituents have been investigated, namely, (E)-N-{2-[2-(benzylidene)hydrazinyl]-2-oxoethyl}-4-methylbenzenesulfonamide, C16H17N3O3S, (I), (E)-N-{2-[2-(4-bromobenzylidene)hydrazinyl]-2-oxoethyl}-4-methylbenzenesulfonamide, C16H16BrN3O3S, (II), (E)-N-{2-[2-(4-chlorobenzylidene)hydrazinyl]-2-oxoethyl}-4-methylbenzenesulfonamide, C16H16ClN3O3S, (III), (E)-N-(2-{2-[4-(dimethylamino)benzylidene]hydrazinyl}-2-oxoethyl)-4-methylbenzenesulfonamide, C18H22N4O3S, (IV), and (E)-N-{2-[2-(4-methoxybenzylidene)hydrazinyl]-2-oxoethyl}-4-methylbenzenesulfonamide, C17H19N3O4S, (V). The molecules in all five crystal structures show similar conformations and hydrogen-bonding patterns. The central part of the molecule, i.e. C—C—N—N=C, is almost linear in all the structures, with the C—C—N—N torsion angles ranging from −178.3 (1) to −180.0 (2)° and the C—N—N=C torsion angles ranging from −178.5 (4) to −179.8 (3)°. The conformation of the N—H and C=O bonds in the amide group of the hydrazone part is syn in all the compounds. In all the structures, sulfonamide and hydrazone dimers with R
2
2(8) ring motifs are observed, which are further augmented by C—H...O interactions. A common feature of each of (I)–(V) is the formation of sulfonamide and hydrazone dimers with an R
2
2(8) ring motif. Hirshfeld surface analyses gave fingerprint plots for H...H, O...H/H...O, N...H/H...N, C...H/H...C and other contacts. The H...H contacts show large surfaces, whereas the O...H plots show the presence of O...H/O...H contacts with the two characteristic long sharp spikes.
Crystal structure of [{FeCl3}2(μ-PCHP)2] [PCHP = 1,3-bis(2-diphenylphosphanylethyl)-3H-imidazol-1-ium] with an unknown solvent
Authors: Stucke Nadja , Näther Christian , Tuczek Felix
Published: October 2018

The crystal structure of the title compound, bis{μ-1,3-bis[2-(diphenylphosphanyl)ethyl]-1H-imidazole-κ2
P:P′}bis[trichloridoiron(III)], [Fe2Cl6(C31H31N2P2)2] or [{FeCl3}2(μ-PCHP)2] (PCHP = C31H31N2P2), consists of dinuclear complexes that are located about centres of inversion. The FeIII cation is in a distorted trigonal–bipyramidal coordination with three chloride ligands located in the trigonal plane and two P atoms of symmetry-related PCHP ligands occupying the axial positions. Within the centrosymmetric complex, a pair of intramolecular C—H...Cl hydrogen bonds between aromatic CH groups and chloride ligands are found. Individual complexes are linked into layers parallel to (\overline{1}01) by intermolecular C—H...Cl hydrogen bonds. No pronounced intermolecular interactions occur between these layers. This arrangement leaves space for disordered solvent molecules. Electron density associated with these additional solvent molecules was removed with the SQUEEZE procedure in PLATON [Spek (2015). Acta Cryst. C71, 9–18]. The given chemical formula and other crystal data do not take into account the unknown solvent molecule(s).
Crystal structure of bis(diisopropylammonium) molybdate
Authors: Sarr Bougar , Mbaye Abdou , Diop Cheikh Abdoul Khadir , Melin Frederic , Hellwig Petra , Sidibé Mamadou , Rousselin Yoann
Published: October 2018

The organic–inorganic title salt, (C6H16N)2[MoO4] or (
i
Pr2NH2)2[MoO4], was obtained by reacting MoO3 with diisopropylamine in a 1:2 molar ratio in water. The molybdate anion is located on a twofold rotation axis and exhibits a slightly distorted tetrahedral configuration. In the crystal structure, the diisopropylammmonium (
i
Pr2NH2)+ cations and [MoO4]2− anions are linked to each other through N—H...O hydrogen bonds, generating rings with R
12
12(36) motifs that give rise to the formation of a three-dimensional network. The structure was refined taking into account inversion twinning (ratio of ca 4:1 between the two domains).
trans-Bis(pyridine-κN)bis(thiocyanato-κS)palladium(II)
Authors: Ha Kwang
Published: October 2018

In the title complex, [Pd(SCN)2(C5H4N)2], the PdIIion has atrans-N2S2square-planar coordination sphere defined by two pyridine ligands and two S-bound SCN−anions. The PdIIcation lies on an inversion centre, thus the asymmetric unit contains one half of the complex, the PdN2S2moiety is exactly planar and the two pyridine rings are parallel. In the crystal, the complex molecules are stacked in columns along thea-axis direction.
Bis(tetramethylguanidinium) hexachloridotellurate(IV)
Authors: Giltzau Niels Ole , Köckerling Martin
Published: October 2018

The title compound, 2C5H14N3
+·TeCl6
2−, is an easily accessible salt with a relatively low melting point. The asymmetric unit consists of a Te0.25Cl1.5 fragment and half a cation. Weak hydrogen bonds of the type C—H...Cl and N—H...Cl are present in the crystal structure.
Reducing the thermal influence of a bleed pipe near a composite fuel tank wall
Authors: Moghadasi S. Marie , de Wit Albert J. , Chiacchio Fabio
Published: October 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine thermal behaviour of wing fuel tank wall via heating by external heat sources.

Design/methodology/approach

A 3D finite element model of the structure has been created that takes into account convection, conduction and radiation effects. In addition, a 3D finite volume model of the air inside the leading edge is created. Through a computational fluid dynamics approach, the flow of air and thermal behaviour of the air is modelled. The structure and fluid model are coupled via a co-simulation engine to exchange heat flux and temperature. Different ventilation cases of the leading edge and their impact on the thermal behaviour of the tank wall (corresponding to the front spar) are investigated.

Findings

Results of 3D analysis illustrate good insight into the thermal behaviour of the tank wall. Furthermore, if regions exist in the leading edge that differs significantly from the overall thermal picture of the leading edge, these are visible in a 3D analysis. Finally, the models can be used to support a flammability analysis assessment.

Practical implications

Provided that the bleed pipe is located far enough from the spar and covered with sufficient thermal heat isolation, the composite leading edge structure will not reach extremely high temperatures.

Originality/value

These detailed simulations provide accurate results which can be used as reliable input for the fuel tank flammability analysis.
Composite technology development based on helicopter rotor blades
Authors: Kozaczuk Konrad Jerzy
Published: October 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to document the approach, effort and cost of advance composite technology implementation suited for small and medium enterprises on the example of composite main rotor blade development for ILX-27 helicopter.

Design/methodology/approach

This work was carried out as part of a development project for main rotor blades used on the ILX 27 helicopter. The paper presents all stages of the design of the blade structure in parallel with composite technology development. The data were gathered and documented during project execution. The stages of R&D work in terms of labor intensity and important processes influencing quality and efficiency were assessed.

Findings

The paper provides key aspects for successful composite capability introduction. The incurred cost of equipment and staff training is evaluated. The paper also summarized the cost of composite parts manufactured with developed technology.

Practical implications

The paper provides detail example of composite capability development including basic technologies, processes, equipment and cost of the project. Presented details can be great guidelines for small and medium enterprises with the goal of composite technology introduction for aerostructures design and manufacturing.

Originality/value

This paper present clear, complete and verified process of composite capability development for aerostructures design and build suited for small and medium enterprises. It presents detail cost, calculated in Polish economy environment, of each phase and final cost of the product.
Design of a double parabolic supersonic nozzle and performance evaluation by experimental and numerical methods
Authors: A.K. Mubarak , P.S. Tide
Published: October 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to design a double parabolic nozzle and to compare the performance with conventional nozzle designs.

Design/methodology/approach

The throat diameter and divergent length for Conical, Bell and Double Parabolic nozzles were kept same for the sake of comparison. The double parabolic nozzle has been designed in such a way that the maximum slope of the divergent curve is taken as one-third of the Prandtl Meyer (PM) angle. The studies were carried out at Nozzle Pressure Ratio (NPR) of 5 and also at design conditions (NPR = 3.7). Experimental measurements were carried out for all the three nozzle configurations and the performance parameters compared. Numerical simulations were also carried out in a two-dimensional computational domain incorporating density-based solver with RANS equations and SST k-ω turbulence model.

Findings

The numerical predictions were found to be in reasonable agreement with the measured experimental values. An enhancement in thrust was observed for double parabolic nozzle when compared with that of conical and bell nozzles.

Research limitations/implications

Even though the present numerical simulations were capable of predicting shock cell parameters reasonably well, shock oscillations were not captured.

Practical implications

The double parabolic nozzle design has enormous practical importance as a small increase in thrust can result in a significant gain in pay load.

Social implications

The thrust developed by the double parabolic nozzle is seen to be on the higher side than that of conventional nozzles with better fuel economy.

Originality/value

The overall performance of the double parabolic nozzle is better than conical and bell nozzles for the same throat diameter and length.
Challenges of cultivating critical citizens in Hong Kong
Authors: Kin Cheung Adrian Yan
Published: October 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to offer the latest empirical findings of the difficulties and challenges in teaching New Senior Secondary (NSS) Liberal Studies in Hong Kong from the perspective of pre-service teachers.

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative study is based on Danielewicz’s critical pedagogy framework for identity development. A sample of four pre-service teachers were recruited from the last cohort of final-year bachelor of education students at the University of Hong Kong. They were invited to engage in dialogues of enquiry, through which they recount their teaching encounters during their teaching practices. Emphasis would be put on two relevant pedagogical principles, including deliberation and reflexivity, which are of particular relevance to the case of Liberal Studies.

Findings

Challenges revealed the dispositions of conformist learning among the students, manifested in forms of misquoted information and the populist sentiments mirrored from mainstream media, which cost teachers extra efforts to facilitate inquiry-based learning. Adopting deliberation and reflexivity as pedagogical principles, student–teachers responded with attempts to reconnect daily life experiences to teaching, bringing back the social context of knowledge and seeking synergy between traditional and liberatory teaching methods.

Research limitations/implications

This study is drawn from a relatively small sample of pre-service teachers and may run the risk of over-generalization. Moreover, this study tends to neglect other factors such as classroom dynamics, school culture, colleagues’ rapport and students’ responses.

Originality/value

Given the novelty of Liberal Studies as a compulsory subject under the NSS curriculum and its specificity in Hong Kong education system, the amount of literature devoted to this area has been inadequate; among the available studies, the majority tend either to focus on the macro level, addressing the broader narratives of education policies and curriculum studies (e.g. Fung and Yip, 2010; Cheung and Leung, 1998) or to discuss the topic with exclusive reference to political transition and post-colonialism in the 1980s and 1990s (e.g. Morris and Chan, 1997). Studies on the micro level have generally paid little attention to the dynamics of Liberal Studies teaching, focusing instead on its relationships with other aspects such as private tutoring (Chan and Bray, 2014) and cultural representations of religion in Liberal Studies textbooks (Jackson and Han, 2016); pedagogical studies on the subject remain a minority.
The role of perceived values in explaining Vietnamese consumers’ attitude and intention to adopt mobile commerce
Authors: Khoi Nguyen Huu , Tuu Ho Huy , Olsen Svein Ottar
Published: October 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss and test the direct and indirect effects of utilitarian, hedonic and social values integrated into the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to achieve a deeper understanding of consumers’ intention to adopt mobile commerce (MC) in the context of a developing country, Vietnam.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on self-administered survey data of 382 Vietnamese consumers, a structural equation modelling approach with latent constructs is used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

Perceived values explain consumer attitudes, subjective norms and behavioural intentions in the MC context. In particular, they help to increase the explained variance of the intention to adopt MC by about 9.58 per cent compared with the TPB. Finally, a cross-effect on consumer attitudes from subjective norms is also found.

Research limitations/implications

Future studies would benefit from investigating other variables (e.g. innovativeness or trust) and using actual behaviour (e.g. online purchases).

Practical implications

Business managers should pay attention to different forms of consumer values to understand how and why consumers adopt MC in a developing country.

Originality/value

This study fills the gap in the literature by simultaneously investigating the role of utilitarian, hedonic and social value in a TPB model in the MC context.
The impact of accreditation agencies and other powerful stakeholders on the performance measurement in Polish universities
Authors: Dobija Dorota , Górska Anna Maria , Pikos Anna
Published: October 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to extend the understanding of how internal organisational processes change in response to external demands, by investigating the changes undertaken by two Polish business schools (b-schools) in anticipation of and in response to the demands of accreditation agencies (AAs) and other powerful stakeholders. Specifically, it examines the internal research-related performance measurement (PM) system and changes in the use of performance information (PI).

Design/methodology/approach

The case study method is adopted, using data from publicly available documents and interviews with the faculty and management at the two schools. The data are interpreted and analysed using the neo-institutional theory.

Findings

Powerful stakeholders are the primary reason for changes in PM systems and the manner in which PI is used. Specifically, AAs reflect an additional layer in the PM system, allowing for a downward cascading PI effect. This also leads to a wider use of PI across different organisational levels.

Research limitations/implications

This study focusses on two case studies in a region still undergoing transition. Thus, this analysis could be reinforced through additional cases, different data collection methods and cross-country and between-country comparative analyses.

Originality/value

The changes in PM systems and particularly the use of PI are discussed in the context of Polish higher education (HE) and, more broadly, the entire Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region. Moreover, the consideration of two b-school cases facilitates a comparative analysis of the differences in PM systems and the use of PI in the context of stakeholders’ PI needs.
Implementation obstacles and strategy implementation failure
Authors: Cândido Carlos J.F. , Santos Sérgio P.
Published: October 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to address the following question: How do strategy implementation obstacles relate to each other and affect strategy implementation?

Design/methodology/approach

The research methodology is qualitative and based on an extensive review of the literature and on an in-depth case study analysis.

Findings

This paper draws two main conclusions. The first is that the many obstacles that impact the strategy implementation process can interact and be strongly interrelated in dynamic and complex manners. The second is that obstacles can lead to and reinforce other obstacles, eventually forming long chains of blockages.

Originality/value

Strategy implementation remains a difficult task with improbable success. This paper provides a contribution to an explanation on why so many strategy implementation efforts fail. It is one of the very few papers addressing the issue of the relationships between strategy implementation obstacles.
An application framework for mining online learning processes through event-logs
Authors: Özdağoğlu Güzin , Öztaş Gülin Zeynep , Çağliyangil Mehmet
Published: October 2018

Purpose

Learning management systems (LMS) provide detailed information about the processes through event-logs. Process and related data-mining approaches can reveal valuable information from these files to help teachers and executives to monitor and manage their online learning processes. In this regard, the purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the current direction of the literature on educational data mining, and an application framework to analyze the educational data provided by the Moodle LMS.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents a framework to provide a decision support through the approaches existing in process and data-mining fields for analyzing the event-log data gathered from LMS platforms. In this framework, latent class analysis (LCA) and sequential pattern mining approaches were used to understand the general patterns; heuristic and fuzzy approaches were performed for process mining to obtain the workflows and statistics; finally, social-network analysis was conducted to discover the collaborations.

Findings

The analyses conducted in the study give clues for the process performance of the course during a semester by indicating exceptional situations, clarifying the activity flows, understanding the main process flow and revealing the students’ interactions. Findings also show that using the preliminary data analyses before process mining steps is also beneficial to understand the general pattern and expose the irregular ones.

Originality/value

The study highlights the benefits of analyzing event-log files of LMSs to improve the quality of online educational processes through a case study based on Moodle event-logs. The application framework covers preliminary analyses such as LCA before the use of process mining algorithms to reveal the exceptional situations.
Users’ influence on inter-organizational innovation: mapping the receptive context
Authors: Hedborg Bengtsson Susanna , Karrbom Gustavsson Tina , Eriksson Per Erik
Published: October 2018

Purpose

Innovation is constantly present in the construction industry, however, mainly on a single project level. Initiating and implementing inter-organizational innovation in a multi-project context such as in urban development entails large complexity, for example, because of the many interdependent projects and users of innovation. The users’ influence on inter-organizational innovation in a multi-project context has not been fully explored. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to discuss how users influence inter-organizational innovation in multi-project contexts by mapping the receptiveness for change.

Design/methodology/approach

A single case study approach was used, where empirical material including semi-structured interviews in combination with meeting observations, document studies and participative workshops were gathered. The rich empirical material, studying inter-organizational innovation in an urban development context, was mapped based on the receptive context for change framework.

Findings

A receptive context for change was not present in the studied multi-project context. Communication to develop and implement inter-organizational innovation was not sufficient and the clients’ procurement strategies were to a large extent not developed to facilitate inter-organizational innovation. Findings show differences in users’ possibility and aim to implement inter-organizational innovation.

Originality/value

The mapping of the receptive context to influence inter-organizational innovation widens the knowledge base and provides valuable insights on how inter-organizational innovation may be implemented in the loosely coupled construction industry. Furthermore, the findings broaden the discussion on clients as innovation supporters, and contribute to the debate on clients as innovation supporters, by highlighting the importance of distinguishing between different types of clients.
Oral reading: practices and purposes in secondary classrooms
Authors: Brooks Maneka Deanna , Frankel Katherine K.
Published: October 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate teacher-initiated whole-group oral reading practices in two ninth-grade reading intervention classrooms and how teachers understood the purposes of those practices.

Design/methodology/approach

In this qualitative cross-case analysis, a literacy-as-social-practice perspective is used to collaboratively analyze ethnographic data (fieldnotes, audio recordings, interviews, artifacts) across two classrooms.

Findings

Oral reading was a routine instructional reading event in both classrooms. However, the literacy practices that characterized oral reading and teachers’ purposes for using oral reading varied depending on teachers’ pedagogical philosophies, instructional goals and contextual constraints. During oral reading, students’ opportunities to engage in independent meaning making with texts were either absent or secondary to other purposes or goals.

Practical implications

Findings emphasize the significance of understanding both how and why oral reading happens in secondary classrooms. Specifically, they point to the importance of collaborating with teachers to (a) examine their own ideas about the power of oral reading and the institutional factors that shape their existing oral reading practices; (b) investigate the intended and actual outcomes of oral reading for their students and (c) develop other instructional approaches to support students to individually and collaboratively make meaning from texts.

Originality/value

This study falls at the intersection of three under-researched areas of study: the nature of everyday instruction in secondary literacy intervention settings, the persistence of oral reading in secondary school and teachers’ purposes for using oral reading in their instruction. Consequently, it contributes new knowledge that can support educators in creating more equitable instructional environments.
Resiliency cube
Authors: Chavoshy Amirpurya , Amini Hosseini Kambod , Hosseini Mahmood
Published: October 2018

Purpose

This study aims to provide resiliency against earthquakes to the framework of an urban road network and to construct a comprehensive model with sufficient computational detail to assist metropolitan managers as a decision support tool in emergency situations via parametric analysis (model behaviour analysis with parameter changes) to quantify the consequences of decisions.

Design/methodology/approach

Performed stages are: developing existing resilience assessment frameworks for use against earthquakes in urban road networks, identifying earthquake scenarios and estimating the weight of components using AHP, including an example modelling of Tehran; and developing modelling software (using Matlab®).

Findings

This study produced a software that performs three-dimensional (3D) graphical modelling, resiliency index measurements and its parametric analyses for the road networks against earthquakes. Based on this model, a prioritized list of upgrades is also introduced. The developed tool also addresses issues regarding the allocation of limited resources between the network components.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the novelty of the study, there is limited literature on this topic.

Practical implications

The developed model provides urban managers with a comprehensive list of upgrades and empowering them to graphically and numerically evaluate the resiliency changes as they alter the parameters of these measures and balance their decisions based on available funding.

Originality/value

In contrast to previous studies, this study has focused on all of these three keywords: resiliency, earthquake and road networks, and not only two of them.
Examination of service triads in humanitarian logistics
Authors: Heaslip Graham , Kovács Gyöngyi
Published: October 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore service triads in humanitarian logistics (HL). The study uses agency theory to understand the dynamics between principal(s) and agent(s) and how contractual arrangements influence the service buyer–service provider alignment in humanitarian service triads.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a case study on a specific humanitarian service triad, with qualitative data being collected in a field study, utilising participant observation and in-context interview techniques for rich data collection.

Findings

The findings highlight the importance of both contractual and relational contracts between the service buyer, service provider and end customer – here donor (government), United Nations agency and implementing partner (IP). The alignment of the three parties in the service triad is more easily achieved through hybrid contracts rather than legal arrangements focussing on outcomes only.

Research limitations/implications

Results stem from a specific case study that constitutes a typical humanitarian service triad. An increased understanding of managing services and their service providers in the triadic context of outsourced service delivery adds to the body of knowledge in supply management.

Originality/value

This is the first examination of governance structures in contractual arrangements in a humanitarian service triad. The research fills the gap in humanitarian literature regarding the interaction of practitioners in HL, specifically, a service buyer organisation (a donor – government), a service provider (a UN agency) and the end customer (an IP). The research is field based and is grounded in empirical observations thus adding to the literature and offering insights to practice.
Lifestyle and weight changes among immigrants in Canada
Authors: Vitale Michele , Doherty Sean T.
Published: October 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceived causes of lifestyle and weight changes among first-generation East/Southeast Asians and Hispanics after resettlement in Canada.

Design/methodology/approach

Semi-structured interviews with study participants (n=100) and local health professionals (n=6) were conducted. Prominent response themes were identified through a content analysis.

Findings

The most common theme was the exposure to an obesogenic environment, such as the more pervasive diffusion of unhealthy food options. Hispanic participants were more likely to report the acquisition of unhealthy food practices and struggled more to maintain their traditional food habits. Time constraints, mostly due to working long hours, were the second most common theme, as participants had little time for making healthier lifestyle choices. The cold weather was considered as a contributor to obesity-leading behaviors and mood disorders. Hispanic respondents were more likely to describe settlement-induced psychological stressors and often compensated feelings of depression and isolation by eating emotionally and increasing the consumption of comfort foods. Weight increases were more likely within the first five years of arrival.

Practical implications

Preventive efforts should include social integration strategies to counter depression, and provide recommendations on feeding times and sleeping habits. Interventions should pay particular attention to Hispanics and recent newcomers.

Originality/value

This study enhanced the understanding of the causes of obesity disparities in Canada by suggesting that the higher prevalence of overweight and obesity among Hispanics may be due to their particular risk of unhealthy dietary and mental health transitions.
Measuring impact of financial inclusion on rural development through cooperatives
Authors: Lal Tarsem
Published: October 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to measure the impact of financial inclusion on rural development through cooperatives.

Design/methodology/approach

The primary data were collected from 540 beneficiaries of Cooperatives banks operating in three northern states of India, i.e., J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab using purposive sampling during January to June 2016. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, ANOVA,t-test and structural equation modelling were used for scale purification and data analysis.

Findings

The findings of the study revealed that financial inclusion through cooperatives has direct and significant impact on rural development. Further, the results support the notion that financial inclusion is a strategy of inclusive growth, but inclusive growth itself is a subset of a larger set of inclusive development which means that the benefit must reach the all, particularly the women and the children, minority groups, the extremely poor and those pushed below the poverty line by natural and human-made disasters.

Research limitations/implications

The research has certain inescapable limitations. First, the in-depth analysis of the study is restricted to three northern states of India only because of time and resource constraints. Second, the study is confined to the perception of financial inclusion beneficiaries only, which in future could be carried further on the perception of other stakeholders such as SHGs, banking correspondents, etc. Third, possibility of subjective interpretation in some cases cannot be ruled out.

Originality/value

The study makes contribution towards financial inclusion literature relating to sustainable rural development and fulfils the research gap to some extent by assessing the impact of financial inclusion on rural development through cooperatives.
Supporting the information journey of students with disabilities through accessible learning materials
Authors: Nganji Julius T.
Published: October 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to suggest how the information journey of students with disabilities could be facilitated, by first revealing the existence of inaccessible formats such as Portable Document Format (PDF) and then suggesting the inclusion of alternative formats of accessible learning materials, thus improving retrieval.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 400 articles published over 10 years (2009-2018) from four journals are selected and analysed for accessibility against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines WCAG 2.0 by using automated accessibility checkers, a screen reader and manual human expertise. The results are presented and recommendations made on improving accessibility.

Findings

The findings suggest that the PDF versions of the selected journal articles are not accessible for screen reader users but could be improved by adopting accessible and inclusive practices. Including alternative formats of the learning materials could help support the student information journey.

Research limitations/implications

The results of the study might not be very representative of all the articles in the journals given the small sample size. Additionally, the criteria used in the study do not consider all existing disabilities. Thus, although the PDFs may be inaccessible for some people with disabilities, they may be accessible to others.

Practical implications

Given that PDFs seem to be the preferred format of journal articles online, there is potential for a difficult information journey for some students due to the limitations posed by inaccessibility of the PDFs. Thus, it is recommended to include alternative formats which could be more accessible, giving the student the choice of accessing the learning materials in their preferred format.

Social implications

If students are unable to access the learning materials that are required for their course, this could lead to poor grade, which might negatively affect the students’ morale. In some cases, some students might drop out.

Originality/value

This study analyses the accessibility of learning materials provided by a third party (journal publishers) and how they affect the student, something that is not usually given much importance when research in accessibility is carried out.
Simulation and experiment on pressure field characteristics of hydrostatic hydrodynamic hybrid thrust bearings
Authors: Shao Jun-peng , Liu Guang-dong , Yu Xiaodong
Published: October 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to improve the bearing capacity of hydrostatic thrust bearing under working conditions of high speed and heavy load; a new wedge-shaped structure opened on an edge of oil seal is put forward, the loss and insufficiency for hydrostatic bearing capacity are made up by using dynamic pressure, and then, hydrostatic hydrodynamic lubrication is realized.

Design/methodology/approach

Oil film three-dimensional models of unidirectional and bi-directional hydrostatic hydrodynamic oil pad are established by using UG. The oil film pressure fields of two kinds of oil pad are simulated by using ANSYS ICEM CFD and ANSYS CFX; the pressure fields distribution characteristics are obtained, and the effects of workbench rotary speed and bearing weight on pressure field are analyzed. Also, the experimental verification is made.

Findings

The results demonstrate that with an increase in workbench rotary speed, the oil film pressure of two kinds of hybrid oil pad increases gradually, and the maximum pressure of the bi-directional one accounts for 95 per cent of the unidirectional one when the load is constant. With an increase in load, the oil film pressure of two kinds of hybrid oil pad increases gradually, the difference between them is 9.4 per cent under the condition of load of 25twhen the rotary speed is constant.

Originality/value

The paper can provide theoretical basis for a structure design of hybrid thrust bearing under different rotary speed and load conditions, and compensate the shortage of static pressure-bearing capacity by using dynamic pressure, improve the stability of vertical CNC machining equipment.
From knowledge management to organizational performance
Authors: Iqbal Amjad , Latif Fawad , Marimon Frederic , Sahibzada Umar Farooq , Hussain Saddam
Published: October 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the effects of knowledge management (KM) enablers on KM processes in research universities and testing the direct relation between KM processes and OP. This study also proposes to examine the mediating role of intellectual capital (IC) and innovation in the relationship between KM processes and performance of universities.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a sample of 217 academic and administrative personnel from research universities of Pakistan, the hypothesized relationships were tested through partial least squares structural equation modeling technique.

Findings

The results reveal that KM enablers have a significant impact on KM processes. The results also indicate that KM processes influence organizational performance (OP) directly and indirectly through innovation and IC.

Practical implications

Findings of this study reinforce the corporate experience of KM and suggest how administrators of research universities and higher educational institutions can promote innovation and IC, which in turn enhance OP.

Originality/value

Despite the augmented importance of KM in higher education institutions or research universities, there is a dearth of studies that investigate the interplay of KM, innovation, IC and OP. This is one of the earliest studies that not only empirically investigate the interaction of KM enablers, KM processes and performance of research universities but also shed insights into the existing literature by simultaneously investigating mediating role of IC and innovation in the underlying relationship.