bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The use of percutaneous-endoscopic rendezvous stenting in a patient with bile duct injury after cholecystectomy—and a unique complication requiring secondary endoscopic intervention
Authors: Vidovszky Anna A , Qafiti Fred , El Haddi S James , Doukides Theodore , Hus Nir , Genuit Thomas
Published: March 2021

Bile duct injury (BDI) is a potentially devastating complication after cholecystectomy. Familiarity with the diagnosis and multidisciplinary treatment options is imperative. This report highlights the utility of the rendezvous stenting procedure in a high-risk patient and describes a rare complication involving stent misplacement through the surgical drain. This is a 96-year-old female patient who suffered a Strasburg Class D injury during cholecystectomy, repaired over a T-tube. The T-tube dislodged postoperatively. Endoscopic and transhepatic stenting attempts were unsuccessful. Ultimately, a rendezvous approach allowed successful deployment of a covered metal stent. The stent was inadvertently deployed through a side fenestration of a surgical drain and was explanted upon drain removal. Repeat endoscopic stent placement was successful. The patient recovered without further complication. Surgical drains near the BDI can become sources of unexpected complications. A higher index of suspicion and careful interpretation of procedural imaging studies may prevent this complication.
Beyond the hubble sequence – exploring galaxy morphology with unsupervised machine learning
Authors: Cheng Ting-Yun , Huertas-Company Marc , Conselice Christopher J , Aragón-Salamanca Alfonso , Robertson Brant E , Ramachandra Nesar
Published: March 2021

We explore unsupervised machine learning for galaxy morphology analyses using a combination of feature extraction with a vector-quantized variational autoencoder (VQ-VAE) and hierarchical clustering (HC). We propose a new methodology that includes: (1) consideration of the clustering performance simultaneously when learning features from images; (2) allowing for various distance thresholds within the HC algorithm; (3) using the galaxy orientation to determine the number of clusters. This set-up provides 27 clusters created with this unsupervised learning that we show are well separated based on galaxy shape and structure (e.g. Sérsic index, concentration, asymmetry, Gini coefficient). These resulting clusters also correlate well with physical properties such as the colour–magnitude diagram, and span the range of scaling relations such as mass versus size amongst the different machine-defined clusters. When we merge these multiple clusters into two large preliminary clusters to provide a binary classification, an accuracy of $\sim 87{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ is reached using an imbalanced data set, matching real galaxy distributions, which includes 22.7 per cent early-type galaxies and 77.3 per cent late-type galaxies. Comparing the given clusters with classic Hubble types (ellipticals, lenticulars, early spirals, late spirals, and irregulars), we show that there is an intrinsic vagueness in visual classification systems, in particular galaxies with transitional features such as lenticulars and early spirals. Based on this, the main result in this work is not how well our unsupervised method matches visual classifications and physical properties, but that the method provides an independent classification that may be more physically meaningful than any visually based ones.
A 2-d orbital period for a redback millisecond pulsar candidate in the globular cluster NGC 6397
Authors: Marcano Manuel Pichardo , Rivera Sandoval Liliana E , Maccarone Thomas J , Zhao Yue , Heinke Craig O
Published: March 2021

We report optical modulation of the companion to the X-ray source U18 in the globular cluster NGC 6397. U18, with combined evidence from radio and X-ray measurements, is a strong candidate as the second redback in this cluster, initially missed in pulsar searches. This object is a bright variable star with an anomalous red colour and optical variability (∼0.2 mag in amplitude) with a periodicity ∼1.96 d that can be interpreted as the orbital period. This value corresponds to the longest orbital period for known redback candidates and confirmed systems in Galactic globular clusters and one of the few with a period longer than 1 d.
A Conceptual Model for Individual Coping with Value Conflicts
Authors: Jaspers Sylke
Published: March 2021

Conflicting values that are sometimes impossible to resolve are one of the costs of public governance for public values and public outcomes. To unravel one of the mechanisms enhancing or obstructing public values or public outcomes in public governance, this article presents the individual coping with value conflicts model. The model focuses on individually experienced value conflicts regarding public values realization (i.e., the principles of governance) and public value creation (i.e., public outcomes) necessitating coping strategies. The article discusses various aspects of the theoretical model. The various coping strategies and their likely results are connected to public values realization and public value creation. However, first, the article identifies the origins of the need to rely on coping strategies, such as value pluralism and plural expectations of individuals. Next, the paper hypothesizes that individual coping strategies are driven by the psychological traits of individuals and influenced by interactions. The article further explains that the individual’s role in adopting coping strategies manifests in specific situations or contexts. The paper concludes with implications for public value(s) theories, makes suggestions for applications of the model, and sets out avenues for empirical research to test and advance the model.
Record-Keeping and Cooperation in Large Societies
Authors: Clark Daniel , Fudenberg Drew , Wolitzky Alexander
Published: March 2021

We introduce a new model of repeated games in large populations with random matching, overlapping generations, and limited records of past play. We prove that steady-state equilibria exist under general conditions on records. When the updating of a player’s record can depend on the actions of both players in a match, any strictly individually rational action can be supported in a steady-state equilibrium. When record updates can depend only on a player’s own actions, fewer actions can be supported. Here, we focus on the prisoner’s dilemma and restrict attention to strict equilibria that are coordination-proof, meaning that matched partners never play a Pareto-dominated Nash equilibrium in the one-shot game induced by their records and expected continuation payoffs. Such equilibria can support full cooperation if the stage game is either “strictly supermodular and mild” or “strongly supermodular,” and otherwise permit no cooperation at all. The presence of “supercooperator” records, where a player cooperates against any opponent, is crucial for supporting any cooperation when the stage game is “severe.”
Overcoming vested interests against innovation through political entrepreneurship: A comparative study of Korean mobility cases
Authors: Choi Yong In , Kim Byoung-Joo
Published: March 2021

Technological innovators encounter resistance when vested interests organize collective actions to block progress and preserve their turfs. Some innovators make politically strategic and tactical choices to overcome such resistance, while others take different paths and fail. To identify factors enabling the successful management of resistance, this study reviews relevant theoretical concepts, examines and compares two recent Korean mobility cases, and discusses their policy implications. ‘Political entrepreneurship’ of innovators plays a critical role in enabling innovative newcomers overcome collective action by vested interests. Successful political entrepreneurship seeks compromises and win-win solutions. This paper adds to science, technology, and innovation literature by suggesting that policymakers should do what they can to encourage innovative newcomers to pursue ‘political entrepreneurship’ when they face seemingly insurmountable opposition. This study builds on Mancur Olson’s theory of collective action in the context of innovations studies, by adding ‘political entrepreneurship’ and broadening the scope for resolving the Olsonian dilemma.
Rationale, protocol and baseline characteristics of the metabolome, microbiome, and dietary salt intervention study (MetaSalt)
Authors: Ruan Zengliang , Li Jianxin , Liu Fangchao , Cao Jie , Chen Shufeng , Chen Jichun , Huang Keyong , Wang Yaqin , Li Hongfan , Wang Yan , Zhongyu Xue , Wang Laiyuan , Huang Jianfeng , Gu Dongfeng , Lu Xiangfeng
Published: March 2021

High sodium intake has been recognized as an important risk factor for hypertension, but the role of gut microbiota composition and metabolomic profiles in the association between dietary sodium intake and blood pressure (BP) is uncertain. The metabolome, microbiome, and dietary salt intervention study (MetaSalt) study was conducted to investigate whether low- and high-dietary sodium intake influences BP by changing the microbial and metabolomic profiles. This is a family-based, multicentre intervention study conducted in four rural field-centres across three provinces in rural Northern China. Probands with untreated prehypertension or stage-1 hypertension were identified through a community-based BP screening, and their family members included siblings, offspring, spouses and parents were subsequently included. During the dietary intervention, low-salt and high-salt diets were provided free of charge to all participants. A total of 529 participants in four field centres were included in our study, with a mean age of 48.1 years old, and about 36.7% of them were male, 76.5% had a middle school (69.5%) or higher (7.0%) diploma, 23.4% had a history of smoke, 24.4% were current drinkers. The mean systolic and diastolic BP levels in the baseline were 129.54 mm Hg and 81.02 mm Hg for all participants, and significantly decreased during the low-salt intervention and increased during the high-salt intervention. Our study is well placed to check the impacts of dietary sodium intake on microbial and metabolomic profiles, which will have important implications for discovering the mechanisms in the development of hypertension and subsequent cardiovascular disease.
The plasmablast response to SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination is dominated by non-neutralizing antibodies and targets both the NTD and the RBD
Authors: Amanat Fatima , Thapa Mahima , Lei Tinting , Sayed Ahmed Shaza M. , Adelsberg Daniel C. , Carreno Juan Manuel , Strohmeier Shirin , Schmitz Aaron J. , Zafar Sarah , Zhou Julian Q , Rijnink Willemijn , Alshammary Hala , Borcherding Nicholas , Reiche Ana Gonzalez , Srivastava Komal , Sordillo Emilia Mia , van Bakel Harm ,   The Personalized Virology Initiative, Turner Jackson S. , Bajic Goran , Simon Viviana , Ellebedy Ali H. , Krammer Florian
Published: March 2021

In this study we profiled vaccine-induced polyclonal antibodies as well as plasmablast derived mAbs from individuals who received SARS-CoV-2 spike mRNA vaccine. Polyclonal antibody responses in vaccinees were robust and comparable to or exceeded those seen after natural infection. However, the ratio of binding to neutralizing antibodies after vaccination was greater than that after natural infection and, at the monoclonal level, we found that the majority of vaccine-induced antibodies did not have neutralizing activity. We also found a co-dominance of mAbs targeting the NTD and RBD of SARS-CoV-2 spike and an original antigenic-sin like backboost to seasonal human coronaviruses OC43 and HKU1. Neutralizing activity of NTD mAbs but not RBD mAbs against a clinical viral isolate carrying E484K as well as extensive changes in the NTD was abolished, suggesting that a proportion of vaccine induced RBD binding antibodies may provide substantial protection against viral variants carrying single E484K RBD mutations.
Capsaicin activates TRPV1 in human Langerhans cells and inhibits mucosal HIV-1 transmission via secreted CGRP
Authors: Cohen Emmanuel , Zhu Aiwei , Auffray Cédric , Bomsel Morgane , Ganor Yonatan
Published: March 2021

Upon its mucosal transmission, human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) rapidly targets resident antigen-presenting Langerhans cells (LCs) in genital epithelia, which subsequently trans-infect CD4+ T-cells. We previously described an inhibitory neuro-immune sensory mucosal crosstalk, whereby peripheral pain-sensing nociceptor neurons, innervating all mucosal epithelia and associating with LCs, secret the neuropeptide calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) that strongly inhibits HIV-1 trans-infection. Moreover, we reported that LCs secret low levels of CGRP that are further increased by CGRP itself via an autocrine/paracrine mechanism. As nociceptors secret CGRP following activation of their Ca2+ion channel transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1), we investigated whether LCs also express functional TRPV1. We found that human LCs expressed TRPV1 mRNA and protein. TRPV1 in LCs was functional, as the TRPV1 agonists capsaicin (CP) and resiniferatoxin (RTX) induced Ca2+influx in a dose-dependent manner. Treatment of LCs with CP and the TRPV1 agonist rutaecarpine (Rut) increased CGRP secretion, reaching concentrations close to its IC50for inhibition of HIV-1 trans-infection. Accordingly, CP significantly inhibited HIV-1 trans-infection, which was abrogated by antagonists of both TRPV1 and the CGRP receptor. Finally, pre-treatment of inner foreskin tissue explants with CP markedly increased CGRP secretion, and upon subsequent polarized exposure to HIV-1, inhibited increase in LC-T-cell conjugate formation and T-cell infection. Together, our results reveal that alike nociceptors, LCs express functional TRPV1, whose activation induces CGRP secretion that inhibits mucosal HIV-1 transmission. Our studies could permit re-positioning of formulations containing TRPV1 agonists, already approved for pain relief, as novel topical microbicides against HIV-1.

Significance Statement

Upon its sexual transmission, HIV-1 targets different types of mucosal immune cells, such as antigen-presenting Langerhans cells (LCs). In turn, LCs transfer HIV-1 to its principal cellular targets, namely CD4+ T-cells, in a process termed trans-infection. We previously discovered that the mucosal neuropeptide CGRP strongly inhibits trans-infection. CGRP is principally secreted from pain-sensing peripheral neurons termed nociceptors, once activated via their TRPV1 ion channel. Herein, we reveal that LCs also express functional TRPV1, whose activation induces secretion of CGRP that inhibits mucosal HIV-1 transmission. Accordingly, molecules activating TRPV1 and inducing CGRP secretion could be used to prevent mucosal HIV-1 transmission. This approach represents an original neuro-immune strategy to fight HIV-1.
Molecular and Structural Basis of Olfactory Sensory Neuron Coalescence by Kirrel Receptors
Authors: Wang Jing , Vaddadi Neelima , Pak Joseph S. , Park Yeonwoo , Quilez Sabrina , Roman Christina A. , Dumontier Emilie , Thornton Joseph W. , Cloutier Jean-François , Özkan Engin
Published: March 2021

Projections from sensory neurons of olfactory systems coalesce into glomeruli in the brain. The Kirrel receptors are believed to homodimerize via their ectodomains and help separate sensory neuron axons into Kirrel2- or Kirrel3-expressing glomeruli. Here we present the crystal structures of homodimeric Kirrel receptors and show that the closely related Kirrel2 and Kirrel3 have evolved specific sets of polar and hydrophobic interactions, respectively, disallowing heterodimerization while preserving homodimerization, likely resulting in proper segregation and coalescence of Kirrel-expressing axons into glomeruli. We show that the dimerization interface at the N-terminal IG domains is necessary and sufficient to create homodimers, and fail to find evidence for a secondary interaction site in Kirrel ectodomains. Furthermore, we show that abolishing dimerization of Kirrel3in vivoleads to improper formation of glomeruli in the mouse accessory olfactory bulb as observed inKirrel3-/-animals. Our results provide strong evidence for Kirrel3 homodimerization controlling axonal coalescence.
Crystal structure refinements of stoichiometric Ni3Se2 and NiSe
Authors: Unoki Kohei , Yoshiasa Akira , Kitahara Ginga , Nishiayama Tadao , Tokuda Makoto , Sugiyama Kazumasa , Nakatsuka Akihiko
Published: March 2021

Single crystals of Ni3Se2 (trinickel diselenide) and NiSe (nickel selenide) with stoichiometric chemical compositions were grown in evacuated silica-glass tubes. The chemical compositions of the single crystals of Ni3Se2 and NiSe were determined by scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS). The crystal structures of Ni3Se2 [rhombohedral, space group R32, a = 6.02813 (13), c = 7.24883 (16) Å, Z = 3] and NiSe [hexagonal, space group P63/mmc, a = 3.66147 (10), c = 5.35766 (16) Å, Z = 2] were analyzed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and refined to yield R values of 0.020 and 0.018 for 117 and 85 unique reflections, respectively, with F
o > 4σ(F
o). R32 is a Sohncke type of space group where enantiomeric structures can exist; the single-domain structure obtained by the refinement was confirmed to be correct by a Flack parameter of −0.05 (2). The existence of Ni—Ni bonds was confirmed in both compounds, in addition to the Ni—Se bonds. The value of the atomic displacement parameter (mean-square displacement) of each atom in NiSe was larger than that in Ni3Se2. The larger amplitude of the atoms in NiSe corresponds to longer Ni—Se and Ni—Ni bond lengths in NiSe than in Ni3Se2. The Debye temperatures, θD, estimated from observed mean-square displacements for Ni and Se in Ni3Se2, were 322 and 298 K, respectively, while those for Ni and Se in NiSe were 246 and 241 K, respectively. The existence of large cavities in the structure and the weak bonding force are likely responsible for the brittle and soft nature of the NiSe crystal.
The value proposition of food delivery apps from the perspective of theory of consumption value
Authors: Kaur Puneet , Dhir Amandeep , Talwar Shalini , Ghuman Karminder
Published: March 2021

Purpose

The theory of consumption values (TCV) has successfully explained much consumer choice behavior, but few studies have investigated the values that drive food-delivery application (FDA) use. This study aims to bridge this gap by extending the TCV to the FDA context to examine food consumption-related values and interpreting and rechristening generic consumption values to adapt the TCV to the FDA context.

Design/methodology/approach

An explorative mixed-method research approach was taken to conduct focus group discussions with 20 target users to develop the questionnaire and then administer it for a cross-sectional survey (pen and pencil) to FDA users aged 22–65 years; 423 complete responses so received were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Findings

The findings show that epistemic value (“visibility”) is the chief driver of purchase intentions toward FDAs, followed by conditional (“affordances”), price (part of functional value) and social value (“prestige”). Food-safety concerns and health consciousness (proposed as part of functional value) did not share any statistically significant association with purchase intentions toward FDAs.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of this study are insightful for FDA service providers competing for higher shares in the market by helping them understand ways to influence consumer choices and purchase intentions.

Originality/value

It is the first study that combines FDAs 2014 an online service that it is attracting a lot of investment 2014and TCV which has continued to be one of the most relevant theories of consumer behavior. It extends the TCV by adapting it to the FDA context with food-consumption-related values. Thus, it adds to the relatively scant literature on FDAs on the whole which is essential, as FDAs represent the business model of new economy, i.e. online-to-offline (O2O). Finally, this study formulates a conceptual framework that may serve as the basis of future research.
Predictive learning analytics and the creation of emotionally adaptive learning environments in higher education institutions: a study of students' affect responses
Authors: Joseph-Richard Paul , Uhomoibhi James , Jaffrey Andrew
Published: March 2021

Purpose

The aims of this study are to examine affective responses of university students when viewing their own predictive learning analytics (PLA) dashboards, and to analyse how those responses are perceived to affect their self-regulated learning behaviour.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 42 Northern Irish students were shown their own predicted status of academic achievement on a dashboard. A list of emotions along with definitions was provided and the respondents were instructed to verbalise them during the experience. Post-hoc walk-through conversations with participants further clarified their responses. Content analysis methods were used to categorise response patterns.

Findings

There is a significant variation in ways students respond to the predictions: they were curious and motivated, comforted and sceptical, confused and fearful and not interested and doubting the accuracy of predictions. The authors show that not all PLA-triggered affective states motivate students to act in desirable and productive ways.

Research limitations/implications

This small-scale exploratory study was conducted in one higher education institution with a relatively small sample of students in one discipline. In addition to the many different categories of students included in the study, specific efforts were made to include “at-risk” students. However, none responded. A larger sample from a multi-disciplinary background that includes those who are categorised as “at-risk” could further enhance the understanding.

Practical implications

The authors provide mixed evidence for students' openness to learn from predictive learning analytics scores. The implications of our study are not straightforward, except to proceed with caution, valuing benefits while ensuring that students' emotional well-being is protected through a mindful implementation of PLA systems.

Social implications

Understanding students' affect responses contributes to the quality of student support in higher education institutions. In the current era on online learning and increasing adaptation to living and learning online, the findings allow for the development of appropriate strategies for implementing affect-aware predictive learning analytics (PLA) systems.

Originality/value

The current study is unique in its research context, and in its examination of immediate affective states experienced by students who viewed their predicted scores, based on their own dynamic learning data, in their home institution. It brings out the complexities involved in implementing student-facing PLA dashboards in higher education institutions.
Prevalence of food insecurity and satisfaction with on-campus food choices among Australian university students
Authors: Murray Sandra , Peterson Corey , Primo Carmen , Elliott Catherine , Otlowski Margaret , Auckland Stuart , Kent Katherine
Published: March 2021

Purpose

Food insecurity and poor access to healthy food is known to compromise tertiary studies in university students, and food choices are linked to student perceptions of the campus food environment. The purpose of this study is to describe the prevalence, demographic and education characteristics associated with food insecurity in a sample of Australian university students and their satisfaction with on-campus food choices.

Design/methodology/approach

An online, cross-sectional survey conducted as part of the bi-annual sustainability themed survey was conducted at the University of Tasmania in March 2020. A single-item measure was used to assess food insecurity in addition to six demographic and education characteristics and four questions about the availability of food, affordable food, sustainable food and local food on campus.

Findings

Survey data (n = 1,858) were analysed using bivariate analyses and multivariate binary logistic regression. A total of 38% of respondents (70% female; 80% domestic student; 42% aged 18–24 years) were food insecure. Overall, 41% of students were satisfied with the food available on campus. Nearly, half (47%) of food insecure students were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the availability of affordable food on campus. A minority of students were satisfied with the availability of sustainable food (37%) and local food (33%) on campus.

Originality/value

These findings demonstrate a high prevalence of food insecurity and deficits in the university food environment, which can inform the development of strategies to improve the food available on campus, including affordable, sustainable and local options.
Occupants’ satisfaction and perceived productivity in open-plan offices designed to support activity-based working: findings from different industry sectors
Authors: Candido Christhina , Gocer Ozgur , Marzban Samin , Gocer Kenan , Thomas Leena , Zhang Fan , Gou Zhonghua , Mackey Martin , Engelen Lina , Tjondronegoro Dian
Published: March 2021

Purpose

In the rise of offices designed to support activity-based working (ABW), parts of industry have fully transitioned to open-plan environments and then later to unassigned seating, whereas other parts, such as tertiary education, are still in the process of moving away from individual offices. There are a few relevant studies to understand how occupants from industry sectors with different levels of adoption of ABW perceived environments designed to support this way of working. This paper aims to contribute to the knowledge gap by providing insight into workers’ satisfaction and dissatisfaction from open-plan offices designed to support ABW along with the key predictors of perceived productivity.

Design/methodology/approach

A data set of 2,090 post-occupancy evaluation surveys conducted in five sectors – tertiary education, finance, construction, property/asset management and design/engineering – was analyzed. ANOVA and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted for the survey questionnaires. First, ANOVA tests were conducted for the whole sample with perceived productivity as the dependent variable. A seven-point Likert scale with five theoretical factors was generated with all survey questionnaires. CFA was performed to show the factor loadings. In addition, regression analyses were carried out for each of factor item taken as the independent variable, where perceived productivity was the dependent variable. Key sources of satisfaction and dissatisfaction per sector were analyzed and differences between occupants reporting a negative or positive impact on their productivity were also investigated. Finally, open-ended comments were analyzed to show the key sources of dissatisfaction based on open-ended comments.

Findings

Workers from construction were the most satisfied, followed by finance and tertiary education. Occupants from all industry sectors consistently rated their workspaces highly on biophilic and interior design. Distraction and privacy received the lowest scores from all sectors. Open-ended comments showed mismatches between spatial and behavioral dimensions of ABW both for satisfaction and perceived productivity. Interior design was the strongest predictor for perceived productivity for all sectors. Findings dispel the notion that ABW implementation may not be suitable for certain industries, as long as the three key pillars of ABW are fully implemented, including design, behavior and technology.

Originality/value

This paper provides insight into workers’ satisfaction and dissatisfaction from open-plan offices designed to support ABW in different industry sectors along with the key predictors of perceived productivity.
Communicate belonging? Duoethnography of an organisational change study
Authors: Crestani Ivana , Taylor Jill Fenton
Published: March 2021

Purpose

This duoethnography explores feelings of belonging that emerged as being relevant to the participants of a doctoral organisational change study. It challenges the prolific change management models that inadvertently encourage anti-belonging.

Design/methodology/approach

A change management practitioner and her doctoral supervisor share their dialogic reflections and reflexivity on the case study to open new conversations and raise questions about how communicating belonging enhances practice. They draw on Ubuntu philosophy (Tutu, 1999) to enrich Pinar's currere (1975) for understandings of belonging, interconnectedness, humanity and transformation.

Findings

The authors show how dialogic practice in giving employees a voice, communicating honestly, using inclusive language and affirmation contribute to a stronger sense of belonging. Suppressing the need for belonging can deepen a communication shadow and create employee resistance and alienation. Sharing in each other's personal transformation, the authors assist others in better understanding the feelings of belonging in organisational change.

Practical implications

Practitioners will need to challenge change initiatives that ignore belonging. This requires thinking of people as relationships, rather than as numbers or costs, communicating dialogically, taking care with language in communicating changes and facilitating employees to be active participants where they feel supported.

Originality/value

For both practice and academy, this duoethnography highlights a need for greater humanity in change management practices. This requires increasing the awareness and understanding of an interconnectedness that lies at the essence of belonging or Ubuntu (Tutu, 1999).
Impact of knowledge-based HRM, business analytics and agility on innovative performance: linear and FsQCA findings from the hotel industry
Authors: Enad Al-Qaralleh Rawan , Atan Tarik
Published: March 2021

Purpose

The emergence of the knowledge economy and Industry 4.0 has prompted many firms to invest considerable resources into knowledge-based human resource management (HRM) practices and business analytics capabilities aimed at enhancing competitiveness. This paper aims to propose a conceptual model that examines the collective effects of knowledge-based HRM practices, business analytics capabilities and organizational agility on innovative performance using knowledge-based theory as a theoretical framework.

Design/methodology/approach

The present study empirically tested the above-said idea by surveying (n = 182) individuals with supervisory capacity in Jordanian 4- and 5-star hotels. The obtained data was analyzed using linear modeling and fuzzy sets (fsQCA) techniques.

Findings

Results from linear modeling revealed that knowledge-based HRM practices, business analytics and organizational agility are important antecedents for innovative performance. Conversely, findings from fsQCA revealed that organizational agility is a necessary and sufficient condition to achieve high innovative performance. While business analytics is a sufficient condition to achieve high innovative performance.

Originality/value

This study is among the first to unveil the linear and complimentary effects of knowledge-based HRM practices, business analytics capabilities and organizational agility on innovative performance. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Work-nonwork conflict: an urgent situation for Brazilian women
Authors: Oliveira Érica Custódia de , Casado Tania
Published: March 2021

Purpose

Going further on a broad understanding of nonwork besides family, this study aims to analyze differences between women and men considering work-nonwork conflict (WNWC) in the Brazilian context, investigating time spent in eight nonwork dimensions and the dimensions more affected.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was quantitative and descriptive. A survey was conducted, based on a validated WNWC scale. The sample consisted of 338 professionals working in Brazil. Data analysis was conducted through descriptive statistics and analysis of variance.

Findings

Compared to men, women declare higher levels of WNWC considering the eight nonwork dimensions, present greater differences in stress-based conflicts and in more collective dimensions and have marriage or no children associated with more WNWC.

Research limitations/implications

The study highlights the need to include more nonwork aspects into career and management studies to influence organizational practices and individual choices. The main limitation is the non-probabilistic sample (results not generalizable).

Practical implications

Know more about WNWC will help organizations to improve lives by creating practices and a cultural environment to preserve women’s and men’s nonwork times. It may also help people to choose places to work for, matching their nonwork needs.

Social implications

The study reinforces demands from new family arrangements, more couples in dual-career and an aging society: organizations must prepare to have workers that want or need to dedicate time to other interests besides family or children.

Originality/value

It goes further on a broad understanding of nonwork besides family to understand WNWC and how it may affect differently men and women.
Antecedents involved in developing fast-food restaurant customer loyalty
Authors: Singh Gurmeet , Slack Neale , Sharma Shavneet , Mudaliar Karishma , Narayan Suman , Kaur Rajini , Sharma Keshmi Upashna
Published: March 2021

Purpose

This study aims to simultaneously examine the interrelated influence of antecedents involved in developing fast-food restaurant customer loyalty. A conceptual model which incorporates service quality attributes, price fairness, customer satisfaction, brand image and trust and the resultant effect on customer loyalty is proposed to better understand how fast-food restaurant customer loyalty can be optimized.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative research methodology adopting structural equation modelling was used to understand the interrelatedness and influence of antecedents involved in optimizing fast-food restaurant customer loyalty.

Findings

The findings indicate that service quality attributes (food quality and employee service quality) and price fairness significantly influence customer satisfaction and brand image, while physical environment quality has no significant influence. Additionally, customer satisfaction was found to influence brand trust and customer loyalty, while the brand image does not influence customer satisfaction but does influence brand trust and customer loyalty.

Practical implications

Understanding the interrelatedness and influence of antecedents involved in developing fast-food restaurant customer loyalty would enable academics and practitioners to formulate honed marketing and operational strategies to optimize customer loyalty and fast-food restaurant profitability.

Originality/value

This research addresses the paucity of research and marketing gaps regarding the interrelatedness and influence of antecedents involved in optimizing fast-food restaurant customer loyalty in Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
Factors influencing Chinese residents' post-pandemic outbound travel intentions: an extended theory of planned behavior model based on the perception of COVID-19
Authors: Liu Yaping , Shi Huike , Li Yinchang , Amin Asad
Published: March 2021

Purpose

This study aims to explore the factors influencing the post-pandemic intentions of Chinese residents to participate in outbound travel. The mechanism by which residents' perception of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) influenced their outbound travel intentions are studied.

Design/methodology/approach

This study developed an extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) model and used structural equations to analyze data received from 432 questionnaires. Responses were obtained through a combination of online surveys and a traditional paper-based distribution of questionnaires.

Findings

Results showed that attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and past outbound travel behavior have significant positive effects on post-pandemic outbound travel intentions. Although the perception of COVID-19 directly and negatively influences outbound travel intentions, it also has an indirect influence on outbound travel intentions through the mediating effect of non-pharmaceutical interventions. The authors also found that risk tolerance has a negative moderating effect on the direct impact of residents' perception of COVID-19 on their travel intentions.

Practical implications

The findings can serve as a reference for formulating appropriate tourism development policies by government agencies, tourism management departments and tourism enterprises in destination countries.

Originality/value

This study developed an extended TPB model by adding more constructs into the TPB model. Compared with the original TPB model, the extended TPB model has better explanatory power of post-pandemic travel intentions. The study also provides evidence for the applicability of the TPB model in studying travel intentions within the context of major public health emergencies and has expanded the application scope of the TPB model.
Regulation of zinc homeostatic genes by environmental pH in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus fumigatus
Authors: Toledo Héctor , Sánchez Clara Inés , Marín Laura , Amich Jorge , Calera José Antonio
Published: March 2021

Aspergillus fumigatus can grow over a broad range of pH values even though zinc availability is greatly conditioned by ambient pH. It has been previously shown that regulation of zinc homeostatic genes in this fungus relies on the transcription factor ZafA. In addition, their expression is further modulated by the transcription factor PacC depending on ambient pH, which allows this fungus to grow in diverse types of niches, including soils and the lungs of immunosuppressed hosts. In this work the regulation by PacC of genes zrfB and zrfC that are expressed, respectively, under acidic and alkaline zinc‐limiting conditions have been analysed in detail. Thus, data that extend the current model for PacC function, including the role of the full‐length PacC72 protein and the PacC processed forms (PacC53 and PacC27) on gene expression has been provided, and a new mechanism for the repression of acid‐expressed genes in alkaline media based on interference with the start of transcription has been described. Moreover, it was proposed that the transcription of both acid‐expressed and alkaline‐expressed genes under zinc‐limiting conditions might also rely on a third factor (putatively Pontin/Reptin), which may be required to integrate the action of PacC and ZafA into gene specific transcriptional responses.
Bad Piano? Bad Music? A Response to Comments on Lowe and Pemberton, The Official History of the British Civil Service, Volume II: 1982–1997
Authors: Pemberton Hugh
Published: March 2021

The reforms made to the civil service during the premierships of Margaret Thatcher and John Major were unparalleled in scope in peacetime. Undertaken in the name of efficiency and better management, they served to Balkanise the service, shrink the number of civil servants, subordinate them to the will of ministers, and effectively privatise a swathe of public services. Their legacy, however, was a relatively weak centre struggling to cope with a fragmented and extremely complex governmental machine, an overly managerialist senior civil service sometimes side‐lined from policy making, and a system lacking slack as a consequence of the quest for ‘efficiency’ and dependent on private contractors of sometimes dubious worth. Over the past five years that legacy left the country poorly placed to triumph over the challenges of Brexit and then of Covid‐19.
LncRNA FAM83A‐AS1 promotes lung adenocarcinoma progression by enhancing the pre‐mRNA stability of FAM83A
Authors: Wang Wenyi , Zhao Zhunlin , Xu Chun , Li Chang , Ding Cheng , Chen Jun , Chen Tengfei , Zhao Jun
Published: March 2021

Background

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs) affect a series of cellular biological processes, including oncogene function promotion. In this study, we explored the functions and mechanisms of FAM83A antisense RNA 1 (FAM83A‐AS1) in non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) progression.

Methods

The expression of FAM83A‐AS1and FAM83A mRNA was analyzed using the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data. Proliferation, migration, invasion and Western blotting were measured after treatment with overexpressed or knockdown FAM83A‐AS1. To determine the relationship between FAM83A‐AS1 and FAM83A, RNase protection assay (RPA), amanitin treatment, RNA pulldown assay and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay were performed.

Results

High expression of FAM83A‐AS1 in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) was closely associated with low overall survival (OS) and progression‐free survival (PFS). Functionally, high FAM83A‐AS1 expression increased LUAD cell proliferation and metastasis, indicating that FAM83A‐AS1 exerted its oncogenic functions. Furthermore, FAM83A‐AS1 promoted NSCLC progression via ERK signaling pathways. Mechanistically, FAM83A‐AS1 post‐transcriptionally increased FAM83A expression by enhancing pre‐mRNA stability. FAM83A‐AS1 enhanced FAM83A mRNA stability not only by forming an RNA duplex but also by binding to FBL.

Conclusions

We determined that FAM83A‐AS1 increased FAM83A expression by enhancing FAM83A pre‐mRNA stability and promoted the tumorigenesis of LUAD.
Identification, prevalence and genetic diversity study of potato viruses in Northeastern states of India
Authors: Halabi Mohamad Hussam , Oladokun John Oladeji , Baldodiya Gajendra Mohan , Borah Basanta Kumar , Nath Palash Deb
Published: March 2021

Potato affecting viruses is an important biotic factor that hampers both the quality and yield of potato production worldwide. The occurrence of potato viruses has been historically recorded in India. Viruses such as potato virus X (PVX), potato virus Y (PVY), potato virus A (PVA), potato virus M (PVM), potato virus S (PVS), potato leafroll virus (PLRV) have been recorded in all potato growing zones. To investigate the presence and distribution of potato virus diseases in North‐East India, a survey of seven major potato growing regions was conducted during the 2017 and 2018 growing seasons. The presence of potato viruses was confirmed by double antibody sandwich ELISA (DAS‐ELISA) with reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) performed on selected samples. The sequencing followed by annotation of PCR amplicons obtained from RT‐PCR showed 95–100% nucleotide sequence identities with respective virus accessions on NCBI GenBank. The multiple sequence analysis and phylogenetic studies provided an overview of the genetic diversity pattern among different potato virus isolates. This study reveals a broad picture of the potato virus infections occurring in Northeastern states of India, which may be useful to develop effective control strategies against the potato viruses.
Nationwide mortality trends of delirium in Australia and the United States from 2006 to 2016
Authors: Wu Harry , Mach John , Le Couteur David G. , Hilmer Sarah N.
Published: March 2021

Objectives

To examine nationwide trends in delirium mortality in Australia and the United States between 2006 and 2016.

Methods

Delirium mortality data for Australian and United States populations were obtained from World Health Organization Mortality Database. Mortality trends were assessed using joinpoint regression.

Results

Age‐adjusted delirium mortality increased by 16.35%/year and 4.04%/year in Australia and the United States, respectively. Average annual age‐adjusted delirium mortality rate (per 1 000 000 population) was 2.90 in Australia, and 1.06 in the United States. Death rates from delirium increased with age. Mortality was consistently higher in men than women, but the rate of annual increase was greater in women.

Conclusions

Our study provided important population‐level data on delirium and its outcomes in Australia and the United States. Reported death rates attributed to delirium increased over the 11‐year period in both countries and were consistently higher in Australia than the United States. There were distinct age and sex differences in mortality trends.
A time‐sensitive analysis of the prognostic utility of vasopressor dose in septic shock
Authors: Chotalia M. , Matthews T. , Arunkumar S. , Bangash M. N. , Parekh D. , Patel J. M.
Published: March 2021

It is unclear whether the association between vasopressor dose and mortality is affected by duration of administration. We examined whether prognostication in septic shock is feasible through the use of daily median vasopressor doses. We undertook a single‐centre retrospective cohort study. We included patients with a diagnosis of septic shock admitted to the intensive care unit at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, UK, between April 2016 and July 2019. The primary outcome measure was 90‐day mortality. We defined vasopressor dose as the median norepinephrine equivalent dose (equivalent infusion rates of all vasopressors and inotropes) recorded for each day, for the first four days of septic shock. We divided patients into groups by vasopressor dose quintiles and calculated their 90‐day mortality rate. We examined area under the receiver operator characteristic curves for prognostic ability. In total, 844 patients were admitted with septic shock and had a 90‐day mortality of 43% (n = 358). Over the first four days, median vasopressor dose decreased in 93% of survivors and increased in 56% of non‐survivors. The mortality rate associated with a given vasopressor dose quintile increased on sequential days of septic shock. The area under the receiver operator characteristic curves of daily median vasopressor dose against mortality increased from day 1 to day 4 (0.67 vs. 0.86, p < 0.0001). By day 4, a median daily vasopressor dose > 0.05 μg.kg‐1.min‐1 had an 80% sensitivity and specificity for mortality. The prognostic utility of vasopressor dose improved considerably with shock duration. Prolonged administration of small vasopressor doses was associated with a high attributable mortality.
Explaining the effect of work–nonwork boundary management fit on satisfaction and performance at home through reduced time‐ and strain‐based work–family conflict
Authors: De Gieter Sara , De Cooman Rein , Bogaerts Yanne , Verelst Lorenz
Published: March 2021

This two‐study paper examines how employees' work–nonwork boundary management fit influences their performance in and satisfaction with their family life, through the experience of time‐ and strain‐based work–family conflict. We performed two studies with working parents (N = 160 and N = 158, respectively) using a different time lag and applied structural equation modeling techniques to analyze the data. In Study 1 (time lag: 12 months), our results show that work–nonwork boundary management fit relates to family satisfaction and performance through reduced strain‐based work–family conflict. In Study 2 (time lag: 1 month), we find a mediating effect of time‐based work–family conflict in the relation between work–nonwork boundary management fit and family satisfaction and a direct effect of work–nonwork boundary management fit on family performance. work–nonwork boundary management fit seems to have a short‐term effect on family outcomes (family satisfaction in particular) through time‐based work–family conflict, whereas the mediating effect of strain‐based conflict evolves more slowly over time. Our findings show that work–nonwork boundary management fit is to be taken into account when trying to establish a harmonious work–family interface as part of creating a sustainable workforce.