bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Keep Good Shape (KGS) – the expansion dilemma
Authors: Rishi Bikramjit , Dani Vinit Vijay
Published: July 2022

Learning outcomes

After working on the assignment questions, the learners can achieve the following learning outcomes: to deliberate on the emerging cloud-based business models in the food-tech sector; to scrutinize the challenges faced by a start-up while selecting an expansion model; and to purpose strategies and solutions for scaling up the business.

Case overview/synopsis

Ms Megha Bafna, the founder, conceptualized starting Keep Good Shape (KGS) in the year 2017. She started the business with a seed capital of INR 3,500 (US$54.13) from her savings. The idea stuck to her mind as she was working with a real estate firm, and every day, she packaged salad for her lunch. Bafna thought that if someone makes the salad available, she will buy it. Based on this this unmet need of the consumers, KGS started as a passion in 2017 and became a full-fledged business in 2021 with 400 daily customers and 38 full-time employees. Today, she serves 22 different salads, including customized salads for customers with lifestyle diseases based on a subscription model. She grew her organization using social media tools such as Facebook and WhatsApp without using any traditional promotion tools. COVID-19 pandemic has increased her orders by almost 10% as healthy meals emerged as people’s choice in 2021. In 2021, she has to choose between expansion through cloud-based kitchen business models across India. She has been confused about selecting the suitable cloud-based kitchen business model and contemplating about funding if she has to expand the business.

Complexity academic level

An instructor can use this case in the courses of entrepreneurship/strategy subject of a graduate/MBA program. The case study sensitizes the students about setting up a new business and organizing to scale it up further.

Supplementary materials

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

Subject code

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship
Independent directors and firm innovation: the moderating role of gender and nationality diversity
Authors: Sierra-Morán Johana , Cabeza-García Laura , González-Álvarez Nuria
Published: July 2022

Purpose

Although the literature on corporate governance and firm innovation finds that board independence is important, this paper proposes that the presence of independent directors alone is not enough to explain their impact on firm innovation. This study analyses if diversity among independent directors may affect the relationship between board independence and firm innovation.

Design/methodology/approach

A panel data on a sample of 124 Spanish listed companies for the period 2008–2019 used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

Results suggest that independent directors have a negative effect on firm innovation, measured as number of patents, but when there are high levels of gender and nationality diversity among such directors, this negative effect may be mitigated.

Originality/value

Considering that firm innovation is a complex process associated with decision-making and that board independence itself may be not enough, this study goes a step further and delves deeper into the characteristics of independent directors. As far as is known, this paper is the first theoretical and empirical study that considers that independent director diversity as a moderating variable between board independence and firm innovation. Besides, this research contributes to the debate on the role of independent directors in firm innovation and the results may also serve as a guideline for policy makers and firms for structuring boards that are pro-innovation.
Are bargaining concessions inevitable in recessions? An empirical investigation into union bargaining priorities and trade-offs of pay rises for job security
Authors: Valizade Danat , Cook Hugh , Forde Christopher , MacKenzie Robert
Published: July 2022

Purpose

This paper examines the extent of bargaining concessions in recession through investigating the effects of union bargaining on pay, job security and workforce composition.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on an original survey (n = 400) of workplace level trade union bargaining units in England, the authors employed latent class analysis to establish three groups of bargaining units on the basis of pay outcomes achieved. Linear regression analysis with moderation effects investigated whether pay rises at or above inflation in conjunction with shifts in bargaining priorities was associated with decreases in perceived job security and changes in the composition of the workforce.

Findings

Around a quarter of sampled units, concentrated mostly in decentralised bargaining units in the private sector, achieved pay rises at or above the inflation rate during an economic downturn. Pay rises at or above inflation in workplaces severely affected by recession triggered changes in bargaining priorities requiring some concessions, notably in terms of employees' job security. That said, across the sample, achieving pay rises was associated with improved perception of job security and lesser use of contingent labour.

Originality/value

The findings uncover a subset of bargaining units able to secure positive outcomes for workers against a hostile economic tide, whilst demonstrating that concession bargaining is not inevitable but rather contingent on the micro-environments in which union bargaining takes place.
Why do multi-child mothers suffer from employment exclusion? Analysis based on Chinese women’s evidence
Authors: Zhang Xi-Xi , Wang Jun
Published: July 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the lasting effect of reproductive behaviour on career cycles for women. Women are the main bearers of population reproduction and family division of labour and a source of innovation for social and economic construction. However, few studies have used a comprehensive theoretical framework to research why female employees suffer from employment exclusion (EE) after multiple births. Therefore, structured equation modelling is used to test the degree of fit between the theoretical model and the data, to verify whether the hypotheses are valid and then make an appropriate interpretation of the theoretical model.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper focusses on working mothers with two or more children and is based on questionnaire surveys, with 306 pieces of primary data obtained. This paper constructed the chained mediation model on the theoretical basis of the conservation of resources theory to examine and analyse the mechanisms of family–work conflict (FWC) and human capital depreciation (HCD) on EE.

Findings

Empirical results suggested that FWC has a significant positive impact on EE, while HCD does not. Chain mediation variables of family orientation (FO) and work engagement (WE) mediated the relationship between FWC and EE significantly, as well as between HCD and EE. Each antecedent positively predicted FO and, through FO, indirectly affected WE, then indirectly affected EE.

Research limitations/implications

In the context of fertility policy adjustment and population structural imbalance, research from the perspective of females may better reflect reality and deepen understanding of EE to avoid it.

Originality/value

Frist, relevant studies mostly study the factors affect in women’s equal employment from the macro levels, and focus on qualitative research, and lack sufficient empirical analysis. Second, this study locates the research object in the group of working mothers with two or more children. The focus of the research objects makes the research conclusions help to improve the work dilemma of special groups. Third, this study has opened up the “black box” between employees’ individual resources and work attitudes and behavior tendencies. Fourth, this study expands the possible outcome variables of FWC.
A variational principle for a fractal nano/microelectromechanical (N/MEMS) system
Authors: He Chun-Hui
Published: July 2022

Purpose

The variational principle views a complex problem in an energy way, it gives good physical understanding of an iteration method, and the variational-based numerical methods always have a conservation scheme with a fast convergent rate. The purpose of this paper is to establish a variational principle for a fractal nano/microelectromechanical (N/MEMS) system.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper begins with an approximate variational principle in literature for the studied problem, and a genuine variational principle is obtained by the semi-inverse method.

Findings

The semi-inverse method is a good mathematical tool to the search for a genuine fractal variational formulation for the N/MEMS system.

Research limitations/implications

The established variational principle can be used for both analytical and numerical analyses of the N/MEMS systems, and it can be extended to some more complex cases.

Practical implications

The variational principle can be used for variational-based finite element methods and energy-based analytical methods.

Originality/value

The new and genuine variational principle is obtained. This paper discovers the missing piece of the puzzle for the establishment of a variational principle from governing equations for a complex problem by the semi-inverse method. The new variational theory opens a new direction in fractal MEMS systems.
The mathematical model of men’s garment prototype
Authors: Zhu Chun , Liu Kaixuan , Wang Ruolin , Wang Jianping , Bruniaux Pascal , Zeng Xianyi
Published: July 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to build a mathematical model of men’s wear prototype, so that the computer can draw men’s wear prototype automatically.

Design/methodology/approach

First, the bust line, front and back center line, waist line, side seam, front chest width and back width line in the coordinate system are expressed by equations. Then, a parabola is used to establish a neckline curve, a linear equation is used to establish a shoulder oblique line, and a double ellipse is superposed to construct the armhole arc. Finally, all the garment prototype curves are built mathematical models.

Findings

The result shows that every curve of garment prototype can be expressed approximately by mathematical model.

Originality/value

This research lays the foundation for the automation and intelligence of garment pattern-making.
Gaining legitimacy and host market acceptance: a CRM analysis for foreign subsidiaries in China
Authors: Hung Kineta , Tse David K. , Chan Terri H.
Published: July 2022

Purpose

Building on the scant literature on how foreign subsidiaries strategize Cause-Related-Marketing (CRM) to gain legitimacy and acceptance in host markets, this paper investigated the impact of two CRM components (post-crisis recovery, CSR activities) on subsidiary performance and future opportunities in China, a country whose institutional development lags behind its economic achievements. The study also investigated the moderating effects of strategic mindset and subsidiary empowerment on CRM effects, issues highly relevant to MNCs and their subsidiaries.

Design/methodology/approach

To minimize common method variance, the study adopted a multi-informant firm executive survey design that included responses from a director and a manager from 230 foreign subsidiaries operating in China. The director-level respondents assessed Firm Competences, Organizational Ties, Subsidiary Performance and Future Opportunities. The manager-level respondents assessed CSR activities (Legal, Ethical and Philanthropic CSR) and other operational measures.

Findings

The two CRM components affected Subsidiary Performance (sales, shares and profit) and Future Opportunities in different ways as postulated by legitimacy theory. While Post-crisis Recovery enhanced Subsidiary Performance (sales), it could not enhance Future Opportunities by itself unless the subsidiary received headquarters empowerment. Interestingly, only Ethical and Philanthropic CSR activities with enhancement from Strategic Mindset mattered to Future Opportunities.

Originality/value

The research unfolded key elements in how foreign subsidiaries planned CRM strategies to gain legitimacy and acceptance in a host market with less-developed institutions, thereby addressing a gap in the literature. It also showed how firms internalize CRM and became receptive to social sentiments of a significant host market.
Green brand ambidexterity and consumer satisfaction: the symmetric and asymmetric approach
Authors: Zhang Jing A. , Chen Shijiao , Walton Sara , Carr Sarah
Published: July 2022

Purpose

Consumer satisfaction towards a brand is one of a firm’s important performance outcomes. However, building a strong green brand to foster consumers’ satisfaction is often challenging for firms. Drawing on the dynamic capability and mechanism-enabling perspectives of ambidexterity. The purpose of this research is to explore mechanisms of perceived brand performance and green trust through which green brand ambidexterity acts as a facilitator of consumer satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

The hypothesized relationships were tested by both partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM; symmetric approach) and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA; asymmetric approach) with data collected from a green consumer questionnaire survey in Hong Kong.

Findings

The results from PLS-SEM indicate that green brand ambidexterity affects consumer satisfaction through multiple mediating paths of perceived brand performance, green trust-consumer and the sequential integration of perceived brand performance and green trust. Results from fsQCA further reinforced these findings.

Research limitations/implications

The present research provides a nuanced understanding of how ambidexterity enhances consumer satisfaction in the context of a green brand by identifying multiple mechanisms.

Originality/value

There is a lack of research on how green brand ambidexterity affects green brand outcomes from the perspective of value creation for consumers. The present research fills this gap by providing more comprehensive explanations of mechanisms for green brand ambidexterity to facilitate consumer satisfaction. It also offers a better understanding of how the effects of green brand ambidexterity are viewed on a path-dependency that is aligned with the dynamic capability perspective of ambidexterity and how green trust forms a critical path to enable green brand ambidexterity and perceived brand performance to enhance consumer satisfaction.
Modernity, beauty and the Swedish “way of life”: lifestyle marketing in Stomatol toothpaste advertisements, 1910–1940
Authors: O’ Hagan Lauren Alex
Published: July 2022

Purpose

This paper aims to challenge the assumption that brands of everyday products have only used lifestyle marketing in the past 30 years by conducting the first case study of the marketing practices of the Swedish toothpaste brand Stomatol (1910–1940). Through visual social semiotic analysis, it explores how the brand was a pioneer in lifestyle marketing, using discourses of modernity, beauty and the Swedish “way of life” to sell its toothpaste.

Design/methodology/approach

Two hundred Stomatol advertisements were collected from the Swedish Historical Newspaper Archive and analysed using visual social semiotics. The analysis considers how the idea of a cultural Swedishness centred around modernity and beauty developed between 1910 and 1940, and how both linguistic and semiotic resources were used to make these claims seem credible.

Findings

At a time when its main adversaries were capitalising upon science in their advertisements to construct authority and credibility, Stomatol instead targeted lifestyle. Modernity, beauty and the Swedish “way of life” were central themes of their marketing campaigns, yet the way these themes were articulated varied between 1910 and 1940 in accordance with changing popular discourse. This made Stomatol more competitive than other toothpaste brands because it was able to sell an experience rather than a product, turning it into Sweden’s most popular toothpaste.

Originality/value

This paper demonstrates the importance of case studies to challenge the assumption that toothpaste brands have only used lifestyle marketing in the past 30 years (a claim based on Anglocentrism). It also showcases the need to further investigate non-Anglo countries when conducting research into lifestyle marketing to build a more nuanced perspective on its origins and the supposed novelty of (largely) US practices. Thus, Stomatol makes an important case for Sweden as a trailblazer in lifestyle marketing.
Examine the credit channel of the monetary policy transmission mechanism in an emerging market economy: the case of South Africa
Authors: Farajnezhad Mohammad
Published: July 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to analyze commercial bank-level data to examine a credit channel of the monetary policy transmission mechanism in emerging economies, such as South Africa from BRICS countries. Among the important questions that central banks, economists and policymakers have raised in this area are: Do bank characteristics and macroeconomic variables influence credit supply in South Africa? Do bank characteristics and macroeconomic variables interact to influence credit supply in South Africa?

Design/methodology/approach

Static panel data with pooled OLS, a random effect model and the fixed-effect model are used for data analysis. Using a sample of 50 commercial banks from South Africa over 10 years from 2009 to 2018. The statistical software Stata is utilized for data analysis.

Findings

The conclusion of this study shows that in South Africa, the loan amount has a strong and positive macroeconomic variable inflation effect. The outcomes of the study also revealed that in South Africa, there is a strong but negative association between interaction macroeconomic variables inflation and bank characteristic liquidity ratio on the loan amount.

Originality/value

The authors contribute to the existing literature by identifying the key determinants of monetary policy transmission channels through credit in South Africa and, furthermore, through a country-level data analysis and disaggregation at the commercial bank level, as well as economic conditions.
Choose, buy, pay – Paradoxes of shame-relieving processes among impoverished Spaniards after 2008’s great recession
Authors: Valenzuela-Garcia Hugo , Lubbers Miranda Jessica , Molina Jose Luis
Published: July 2022

Purpose

The aim of the paper is to ethnographically detail the poverty-shame nexus in contemporary Spain, and to highlight the contradictions of the newly adopted consumption-based models of inclusion led by charities.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on 39 cases out of a sample of 78 gathered through two long-term research projects, the paper employs a mixed-methods approach that mainly draws on a multi-sited ethnographic approach and interviews.

Findings

The paper ethnographically documents major contradictions that shed light on the complex relationships between poverty, shame, work and consumption in modern societies.

Research limitations/implications

This paper analyses the sources of shame in the experience of poverty and downward mobility, but also it opens new ground for understanding the complex poverty–shame nexus and lets some questions unanswered.

Practical implications

The contradictions highlighted shed light on the complex relationships between poverty, shame, work and consumption that may inform modern policies to fight poverty. Ethnography gives voice to these individuals that currently experience an increasingly precarious and unequal modern world.

Social implications

The paper contributes to a better understanding of the processes that underlie modern poverty and downward social mobility and points out the contradictions generated by consumption-based models of inclusion.

Originality/value

While the poverty-shame nexus has been already analyzed from the point of view of stigma and exclusion from the labor market, the links between a growing consumerism and the neo-liberal values that underlie our modern societies are largely unexplored. The ethnographic contribution and the detailed case studies are also original in the case of Spain.
A decision support approach for financial policy measures selection
Authors: Alizadeh Parisa , Amiri Maghsoud
Published: July 2022

Purpose

Business research and development (R&D) is of critical importance for innovation and economic growth. The purpose of this study is to present an application of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to select the most appropriate policy measure to support the business expenditure on R&D (BERD).

Design/methodology/approach

AHP method adopts a multi-criteria approach that can be used to analyse and prioritize the policy measures based on pairwise comparisons between several attributes that affect the selection of a policy tool. The model formulated in this study is applied to a real case of supporting decision-makers in some high-tech sectors in Iran.

Findings

The results highlight the four main financial policy measures implemented in Iran to enhance the BERD; those are, public procurement for R&D, direct subsidies for R&D, grants for R&D and income tax credit for firms have the priority values of 0.280, 0.260, 0.249 and 0.211, respectively.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of this study are based on subjective evaluation of policy measures by experts of designing policy measures. Objective assessment of policy measures is important too because the preferences of policy interventions change during the time. Another significant point is that the priorities of specific policy measures depend on the effectiveness of their implementing arrangement and the previously successful experience of firms in receiving them.

Originality/value

This paper presents an application of the AHP to select the most appropriate policy measure to support the BERD. This method could be used to prioritize the policies and interventions that governments implement to solve different problems, especially at the innovation system level.
An exploration in to how young-people from ethnic-minority backgrounds interact with online counselling
Authors: Patel Aashiya , Sefi Aaron , Hanley Terry , Conn Charlotte , Prescott Julie
Published: July 2022

Purpose

Literature suggests young people (YP) from ethnic minority backgrounds face barriers in accessing mental health support due to discrimination and stigma and so this study aims to explore how YP from ethnic minority backgrounds interact with online counselling.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used secondary data provided by Kooth, a digital mental health service for YP, for users who accessed the service from September 2020 to 2021 (N = 118,556). The users measure of need (YP-CORE) was assessed upon sign up to the service, and they also chose the ethnicity and background they felt best represented by. The study hypothesised the following:H1. There would be a significant difference between ethnic group of YP and source of referral;H2. There would be a significant difference in ethnic group of YP and YP-CORE score.

Findings

The one-way ANOVA and chi-squared analyses demonstrated a significant difference for both hypotheses indicating a significant association between source of referral and ethnicity, and a significant difference in measure of need when comparing YP who self-identified as White to those who self-identified as Asian.

Originality/value

Findings reveal school-based services are the most popular source of referral for all YP; however, a higher number of YP from Asian and Black ethnicities reached out through informal sources such as Google as opposed to health professionals such as GPs. From the data, YP who identified as Indian, Chinese and African present to online counselling at a lower level of distress compared to their White British counterparts, contradictory to findings investigating measure of need in face-to-face settings.
The materialities and embodiments of mundane software: exploring how apps come to matter in everyday life
Authors: Clark Marianne , Lupton Deborah
Published: July 2022

Purpose

In this article, the authors aim to explore mobile apps as both mundane and extraordinary digital media artefacts, designed and promoted to improve or solve problems in people's lives. Drawing on their “App Stories” project, the authors elaborate on how the efficiencies and affordances credited to technologies emerge and are performed through the specific embodied practices that constitute human–app relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

The project involved short written accounts in an online survey from 200 Australian adults about apps. Analysis was conducted from a sociomaterial perspective, surfacing the emotional and embodied responses to and engagements with the apps; the relational connections described between people and their apps or with other people or objects; and what the apps enabled or motivated people to do.

Findings

Findings point to three salient concerns about apps: (1) the need for efficiency; (2) the importance and complexity of human relationships and maintaining these connections; and (3) the complex relationships people have with their bodies. These concerns are expressed through themes that reflect how everyday efficiencies are produced through human–app entanglements; apps as relational agents; apps' ability to know and understand users; and future app imaginaries.

Originality/value

This project explores the affective and embodied dimensions of app use and thinks through the tensions between the extraordinary and mundane dimensions of contemporary techno-social landscapes, reflecting on how apps “matter” in everyday life. Our analysis surfaces the active role of the body and bodily performances in the production of app efficiencies and underlines the ways mobile apps are always situated in relation to other media and materialities.
Driving factors for lean-BIM implementation in Malaysia’s construction industry: qualitative interview-based study
Authors: Aziz Nur Mardhiyah , Zainon Nurshuhada
Published: July 2022

Purpose

The synergy of lean construction and building information modelling (BIM) is an important change and transformation driver in the construction industry. It adds value and increases the productivity of construction processes. However, the implementation of lean-BIM in Malaysia is still lacking despite the accelerating BIM adoption rate. This study, therefore, aims to explore factors that potentially drive construction players to adopt lean-BIM for construction projects.

Design/methodology/approach

Exploratory interviews were conducted with five construction players knowledgeable in lean and BIM to identify the driving factors for them to implement lean-BIM. Respondents were obtained through the snowball sampling technique, initiated by approaching a government agency that oversees Malaysia's construction industry. Findings were then analysed using thematic analysis.

Findings

Findings have shown that four driving factors for construction players initiating the use of lean-BIM in construction projects are (1) top management support, (2) standardisation (3) comprehensive training and (4) financial support.

Research limitations/implications

Due to the exploratory nature of this study and the chosen research design, the conclusions cannot be generalised but can become the indicators for lean-BIM future works in Malaysia or any other developing countries.

Practical implications

The insights from this study provide preliminary indicators for driving the adoption of lean-BIM. This discovery may also help construction companies and policymakers plan appropriate initiatives or strategies to present the need for lean-BIM further development in Malaysia.

Originality/value

The findings are expected to contribute to the lean-BIM research in terms of the demographic context, particularly in Malaysia and possibly assist lean and BIM researchers, practitioners and policymakers in developing countries' perspective.
Heritage protection and tourism income: the tourism heritage Kuznets curve
Authors: Barnes Stuart J.
Published: July 2022

Purpose

Protecting a nation’s heritage is an essential element for sustainable development. Heritage attracts tourism and drives tourist income, as well as bringing wider economic, social and environmental benefits. This study aims to improve understanding of the relationship between heritage protection spending in countries and economic development via tourism revenues via economic logic and the Kuznets curve.

Design/methodology/approach

This study applies economic modelling to test for the presence of a Kuznets curve. This study uses rare available matched data on heritage protection spending from UNESCO and on travel and tourism total contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) from the World Travel and Tourism Council.

Findings

This paper finds evidence of a negative quadratic relationship between heritage protection spending per capita and tourism GDP per capita, whereby increases in heritage spending initially lead to more tourism income (typically less developed nations), but then tourism spending increases more rapidly for smaller increases heritage spending on top of this initial investment (typically more developed nations). No countries are yet at the stage where they reap high tourism income from much lower levels of heritage spending.

Research limitations/implications

The findings suggest that the future of heritage tourism will be very different to that of today; future tourism is likely to develop significantly through innovations in management approach and advanced technologies to manage the balance between demand and heritage degradation.

Practical implications

The predictive model allows us to plot future possibilities for heritage tourism, which in turn enables more informed decision-making regarding the planning and management of future heritage resources and tourism demand. Tourism heritage institutions and their benefactors should further plan and invest in innovations (such as technologies and management practices) to advanced economically and move along the tourism heritage Kuznets curve.

Originality/value

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper formally tests, for the first time, for the presence of a Kuznets curve in the relationship between heritage protection spending and tourism income. It provides original evidence of the value of applying the underlying theory of the Kuznets curve in a tourism context.
Activity of forest specialist bats decreases towards wind turbines at forest sites
Authors: Ellerbrok Julia S. , Delius Anna , Peter Franziska , Farwig Nina , Voigt Christian C.
Published: July 2022

Worldwide, wind turbines are increasingly being built at forest sites to meet the goals of national climate strategies. Yet, the impact on biodiversity is barely understood. Bats may be heavily affected by wind turbines in forests, because many species depend on forest ecosystems for roosting and hunting and can experience high fatality rates at wind turbines.

We performed acoustic surveys in 24 temperate forests in the low mountain ranges of Central Germany to monitor changes in the acoustic activity of bats in relation to wind turbine proximity, rotor size, vegetation structure and season. Call sequences were identified and assigned to one of three functional guilds: open‐space, edge‐space and narrow‐space foragers, the latter being mainly forest specialists.

Based on the response behaviour of bats towards wind turbines in open landscapes, we predicted decreasing bat activity towards wind turbines at forest sites, especially for narrow‐space foragers.

Vertical vegetation heterogeneity had a strong positive effect on all bats, yet responses to wind turbines in forests varied across foraging guilds. Activity of narrow‐space foragers decreased towards turbines over distances of several hundred metres, especially towards turbines with large rotors and during mid‐summer months. The activity of edge‐space foragers did not change with distance to turbines or season, whereas the activity of open‐space foragers increased close to turbines in late summer.

Synthesis and applications. Forest specialist bats avoid wind turbines in forests over distances of several hundred metres. This avoidance was most apparent towards turbines with large rotors. Since forests are an important habitat for these bats, we advise to exclude forests with diverse vegetation structure as potential wind turbine sites and to consider compensation measures to account for habitat degradation associated with the operation of wind turbines in forests.
Implementing ecosystem service assessments within agribusiness: Challenges and proposed solutions
Authors: Durán América Paz , Smith Matt , Trippier Becky , Godoy Karina , Parra Michel , Lorca Marcelo , Casali Ignacio , Leal Gerardo Rodrigo , Orts‐Agullo Noelia , Rodriguez Arnaldo , Barbosa Olga
Published: July 2022

Incorporating the assessment of ecosystem services into land management decisions is increasingly recognized as an opportunity to support sustainable development. This, however, can be particularly challenging within the productive sector, a highly technical system often driven by multi‐level private entities.

Here we present five key challenges, and suggest their corresponding solutions, when promoting the operationalization of ecosystem services within agribusiness. The challenges we developed are as follows: (a) building a common understanding of ecosystem services; (b) navigating strong power dynamics; (c) a highly technical system with diverse types of expertise; (d) limited understanding of the opportunity costs of alternative practices and (e), dealing with uncertainty.

We draw on our experience generated through the Wine, Climate Change and Biodiversity programme, a science‐based initiative promoting the conservation of biodiversity and strategic use of ecosystem services in Chilean vineyards.

Synthesis and applications. This perspective piece provides advice to scientists and practitioners on how to navigate technical and practical challenges when promoting the incorporation of ecosystem services into agricultural management. While the assessment of ecosystem services can be a highly technical process, its successful integration into land management decisions relies on active engagement, balancing expectations and an ability to construct a shared understanding among different stakeholders. The approaches suggested here rely on principles of co‐production and are illustrated with examples that are transferable to other crop and geographical contexts.
A comparison of approaches for including connectivity in systematic conservation planning
Authors: Hanson Jeffrey O. , Vincent Jaimie , Schuster Richard , Fahrig Lenore , Brennan Angela , Martin Amanda E. , Hughes Josie S. , Pither Richard , Bennett Joseph R.
Published: July 2022

Plans for expanding protected area systems (prioritizations) often aim to facilitate connectivity. To achieve this, many approaches—based on different assumptions and datasets—have been developed. However, little is known about how such approaches influence prioritizations.

We examine eight approaches that aim to promote connectivity in prioritizations. Using Washington State (USA) and its avifauna as a case study, we generated prioritizations that aimed to meet species' representation targets and promote connectivity by (a) maximizing total area; (b) further maximizing species representation; (c) minimizing boundary length; and connecting areas based on (d) minimizing human pressure, (e) minimizing naturalness‐based landscape resistance, (f) minimizing focal species landscape resistance, (g) minimizing habitat heterogeneity and (h) maximizing environmental similarity. We controlled for total expenditure, species' representation, and existing land use policies to enable comparisons among prioritizations. We then used a hierarchical cluster analysis to compare prioritizations, based on which areas they selected. We also evaluated how well each approach facilitated connectivity as measured by the other approaches.

We found that different approaches for promoting connectivity can lead to very different or very similar prioritizations, depending on their underlying assumptions. In particular, the boundary length approach—which is widely used in systematic conservation planning—resulted in a prioritization that was highly dissimilar to all other prioritizations. Surprisingly, approaches based on very different underlying assumptions produced similar prioritizations, such as maximizing total area and minimizing focal species landscape resistance approaches. Moreover, when comparing the prioritizations based on the level of connectivity they could facilitate, we found that none of the prioritizations facilitated a high level of connectivity for all eight approaches.

Synthesis and applications. We recommend carefully considering the assumptions and limitations that underpin approaches for promoting connectivity. Our findings demonstrate that different connectivity approaches can produce marked differences in priorities and, in turn, produce trade‐offs between different approaches. Indeed, despite the ubiquity of the boundary length approach, practitioners might find that other approaches can better achieve conservation objectives. Practitioners can use our methodology for comparing different connectivity approaches to help to navigate trade‐offs among them.
Understanding and supporting learners with specific learning difficulties from a neurodiversity perspective: A narrative synthesis
Authors: Sewell Alexandra
Published: July 2022

Academic and practice‐based research constructs specific learning difficulties as a collection of lifelong, within‐person conditions that negatively affect learning and daily functioning. Investigation has historically adopted a medical model, specifically a neurodeficit perspective. Conversely, neurodiversity has emerged as a concept that seeks to understand these conditions as part of a person's identity, challenging cures and remediation, and promoting the importance of understanding those with diagnoses as possessing personal differences and strengths. This paper presents a narrative synthesis that collated and analysed current research and scholarship that sought to understand specific learning difficulties from a neurodiversity perspective, thus offering an original contribution to the existing literature. The review focused on three specific learning difficulties: dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia. Thematic analysis of papers included in the review led to the construction of three major themes, concluding that further neurodiverse research and scholarship is required.
Perceptions of workplace climate and diversity, equity, and inclusion within health services and policy research
Authors: Chantarat Tongtan , Rogers Taylor B. , Mitchell Carmen R. , Ko Michelle J.
Published: July 2022

Objective

To describe the perception of professional climate in health services and policy research (HSPR) and efforts to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the HSPR workforce and workplaces.

Data Source

We administered the HSPR Workplace Culture Survey online to health services and policy researchers.

Study Design

Our survey examined participants' sociodemographic, educational, and professional backgrounds, their perception on DEI in HSPR, experience with DEI initiatives, feeling of inclusion, and direct and witnessed experiences of discrimination at their institutions/organizations. We calculated sample proportions of responses by gender identity, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, and disability status and compared them with Fisher's exact test.

Data Collection

We administered the survey online from July 28 to September 4, 2020. HSPR professionals and trainees aged 18 and older were eligible to participate. Analyses used complete cases only (n = 906; 70.6% completion rate).

Principal Findings

53.4% of the participants did not believe that the current workforce reflects the diversity of communities impacted by HSPR. Although most participants have witnessed various DEI initiatives at their institutions/organizations, nearly 40% characterized these initiatives as “tokenistic.” Larger proportions of participants who identified as female, LGBQI+, underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, and those with a disability held this perception than their male, heterosexual, White, and non‐disabled counterparts. Current DEI initiatives focused on “planning” activities (e.g., convening task forces) rather than “implementation” activities (e.g., establishing mentoring or network programs). 43.7% of the participants felt supported on their career development, while female, Black, Hispanic/Latino, LGBQI+ participants and those with a disability experienced discrimination at their workplace.

Conclusions

Despite an increasing commitment to increasing the diversity of the HSPR workforce and improving equity and inclusion in the HSPR workplace, our results suggest that there is more work to be done to achieve such goals.
The 11 sins of seafood: Assessing a decade of food fraud reports in the global supply chain
Authors: Lawrence Sophie , Elliott Christopher , Huisman Wim , Dean Moira , van Ruth Saskia
Published: July 2022

Due to complex, valuable, and often extremely opaque supply chains, seafood is a commodity that has experienced a high prevalence of food fraud throughout the entirety of its logistics network. Fraud detection and prevention require an in‐depth understanding of food supply chains and their vulnerabilities and risks so that food business operators, regulators, and other stakeholders can implement practical countermeasures. An analysis of historical criminality within a sector, product, or country is an important component and has not yet been conducted for the seafood sector. This study examines reported seafood fraud incidents from the European Union's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed, Decernis's Food Fraud Database, HorizonScan, and LexisNexis databases between January 01, 2010 and December 31, 2020. Illegal or unauthorized veterinary residues were found to be the most significant issue of concern, with most reports originating from farmed seafood in Vietnam, China, and India. For internationally traded goods, border inspections revealed a significant frequency of reports with fraudulent or insufficient documentation, indicating that deceptive practices are picked up at import or export but are occurring further down the supply chain. Practices such as species adulteration (excluding veterinary residues), species substitution, fishery substitution, catch method fraud, and illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing were less prevalent in the databases than evidenced in the scientific literature. The analysis demonstrates significant differences in outcomes depending on source and underlines a requirement for a standardized and rigorous dataset through which food fraud can be scrutinized to ensure enforcement, as well as industry and research resources are directed accurately.

Practical Application: Levels of historic food fraud in a product, sector, supply chain node or geographic location provide an indication of historic criminality, the methods used and the location of reported frauds. This study provides an overview of historic levels of seafood fraud that can be used to inform seafood fraud prevention and mitigation activities by the food industry, regulators and other stakeholders.
Early Influence of the COVID‐19 Pandemic on Volunteer Water Monitoring Programs in the United States and Canada
Authors: Stepenuck Kristine F. , Carr Jill
Published: July 2022

Volunteer water monitoring programs generate new scientific knowledge, contribute data to decision‐making processes, and increase social networks, technical knowledge, and skills of participants. Declaration of the COVID‐19 pandemic threatened the ability of these programs to continue to engage volunteers to achieve such outcomes. A national water monitoring network hosted a brainstorming webinar to facilitate communication across programs to identify potential solutions to pandemic‐influenced challenges. Following that webinar, a survey of United States and Canadian volunteer monitoring programs that was conducted about 3 months into the pandemic revealed that 72% of 80 responding programs planned to carry on through the 2020 field season despite most having experienced delayed starts. Other common program modifications implemented in the first months of the pandemic included adding COVID‐19 safety information to program guidance, changing field team composition, monitoring timing and logistics, and adopting new communications strategies. Most programs reported loss or anticipated loss in number of data observations (74%) and volunteers (66%), while 44% reported known or anticipated losses in funding. Seventeen percent of responding programs were able to swiftly develop distance learning tools to train participants, which led to increased program capacity to reach broader audiences.
Phase I study of amrubicin plus cisplatin and concurrent accelerated hyperfractionated thoracic radiotherapy for limited‐disease small cell lung cancer: protocol of ACIST study
Authors: Akagi Kazumasa , Taniguchi Hirokazu , Fukuda Minoru , Yamazaki Takuya , Ono Sawana , Tomono Hiromi , Suyama Takayuki , Shimada Midori , Gyotoku Hiroshi , Takemoto Shinnosuke , Yamaguchi Hiroyuki , Dotsu Yosuke , Senju Hiroaki , Soda Hiroshi , Mizowaki Takashi , Monzen Yoshio , Ikeda Takaya , Nagashima Seiji , Tasaki Yutaro , Nakamura Daisuke , Komiya Kazutoshi , Nakatomi Katsumi , Sasaki Eisuke , Hirakawa Koichi , Mukae Hiroshi
Published: July 2022

Background

Etoposide plus cisplatin (EP) combined with concurrent accelerated hyperfractionated thoracic radiotherapy (AHTRT) is the standard treatment strategy for unresectable limited‐disease (LD) small cell lung cancer (SCLC), which has remained unchanged for over two decades. Based on a previous study that confirmed the non‐inferiority of amrubicin (AMR) plus cisplatin (AP) when compared with EP for extensive‐disease (ED) SCLC, we have previously conducted a phase I study assessing AP with concurrent TRT (2 Gy/time, once daily, 50 Gy in total) for LD‐SCLC therapy. Our findings revealed that AP with concurrent TRT could prolong overall survival to 39.5 months with manageable toxicities. Therefore, we plan to conduct a phase I study to investigate and determine the effect of AP combined with AHTRT, recommended dose (RD), maximum tolerated dose (MTD), and dose‐limiting toxicity (DLT) of AP in patients with LD‐SCLC.

Methods

Treatment‐naive patients with LD‐SCLC, age between 20 and 75 years, who had a performance status of 0 or 1 and adequate organ functions will be enrolled. For chemotherapy, cisplatin 60 mg/m2/day (day 1) and AMR (day 1 to 3) will be administered with AHTRT (1.5 Gy/time, twice daily, 45 Gy in total). The initial AMR dose is set to 25 mg/m2/day. RD and MTD will be determined by evaluating toxicities.

Discussion

Based on our previous study, the initial dose of AMR 25 mg/m2 is expected to be tolerated and acceptable. Here, we aim to determine whether treatment with AP and concurrent AHTRT would be an optimal choice with manageable toxicities for LD‐SCLC.