bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Development of a refined illumination and reflectance approach for optimal construction site interior image enhancement
Authors: Wong Johnny Kwok Wai , Maghrebi Mojtaba , Ahmadian Fard Fini Alireza , Alizadeh Golestani Mohammad Amin , Ahmadnia Mahdi , Er Michael
Published: September 2022

Purpose

Images taken from construction site interiors often suffer from low illumination and poor natural colors, which restrict their application for high-level site management purposes. The state-of-the-art low-light image enhancement method provides promising image enhancement results. However, they generally require a longer execution time to complete the enhancement. This study aims to develop a refined image enhancement approach to improve execution efficiency and performance accuracy.

Design/methodology/approach

To develop the refined illumination enhancement algorithm named enhanced illumination quality (EIQ), a quadratic expression was first added to the initial illumination map. Subsequently, an adjusted weight matrix was added to improve the smoothness of the illumination map. A coordinated descent optimization algorithm was then applied to minimize the processing time. Gamma correction was also applied to further enhance the illumination map. Finally, a frame comparing and averaging method was used to identify interior site progress.

Findings

The proposed refined approach took around 4.36–4.52 s to achieve the expected results while outperforming the current low-light image enhancement method. EIQ demonstrated a lower lightness-order error and provided higher object resolution in enhanced images. EIQ also has a higher structural similarity index and peak-signal-to-noise ratio, which indicated better image reconstruction performance.

Originality/value

The proposed approach provides an alternative to shorten the execution time, improve equalization of the illumination map and provide a better image reconstruction. The approach could be applied to low-light video enhancement tasks and other dark or poor jobsite images for object detection processes.
Modern tendency of development of architectural typology on the example of micro-apartment for Almaty city
Authors: Karatseyeva Tatsiana , Akhmedova Aizhan
Published: September 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the social and functional features of micro-apartment and, based on the findings, to demonstrate the projects of modern micro-apartment designed for one or two people, which are implemented in the experimental design.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the analysis of the study of theoretical scientific works on the research topic and from the standpoint of an interdisciplinary discourse the social and economic prerequisites for the demand for such a dwelling are determined and the categories of citizens for whom a micro-apartment is an advantage are identified. Particular attention is paid to the typological boundaries of the study, the generalization and synthesis of sources which is reflected in identifying the features of the functional zoning of a micro-apartment in connection with the needs of residents and determining modern ways to improve the comfort of living.

Findings

At the examples of experimental design of micro-apartment for the city of Almaty we substantiated the expanding the existing typology of residential buildings by adding a new type of urban dwelling – a micro-apartment which occupies a niche between apartment housing for permanent residence and traditional hotels.

Originality/value

The content of the study is devoted to the analysis of a micro-apartment as a new type of modern urban dwelling for a single and small-family population. Urban residents’ interest in economical, affordable small-area dwellings as well as the need to study and design micro format dwellings for the modern urban environment is a topical issue.
The boarding school testimony of Charlotte Brontë
Authors: Trimingham Jack Christine
Published: September 2022

Purpose

Charlotte Brontë integrated her own and her sisters' traumatic boarding school experiences into her novel, Jane Eyre (1847) as a way of expressing her anger through autobiographical fiction. The aim is to link contemporary research into boarding school trauma to the relevant events, thereby identifying what she wrote as a testimony contributing to the long history of the problematic nature of boarding schools.

Design/methodology/approach

Autobiographical fiction is discussed as a form of testimony, placing Jane Eyre in that category. Recent research into the traumatic experiences of those whose parents chose to send them to boarding school is presented, leading to an argument that educational historians need to analyse experience rather than limiting their work to structure and planning. The traumatic events the Brontë sisters experienced at the Clergy Daughters' School are outlined as the basis for what is included in Jane Eyre at the fictional Lowood School. Specific traumatic events in the novel are then identified and contemporary research into boarding school trauma applied.

Findings

The findings reveal Charlotte's remarkable insight into the psychological impact on children being sent away to board at a time when understandings about trauma and boarding school trauma did not exist. An outcome of the analysis is that it places the novel within the field of the history of education as a testimony of boarding school life.

Originality/value

This is the first application of boarding school trauma research to the novel.
Why do you look familiar? - Exploring the role of employee-customer identification in adapting the service offering
Authors: Das Manoj , Ramalingam Mahesh
Published: September 2022

Purpose

This study aims to explore employee-customer identification and its consequences in the banking, financial service and insurance (BFSI) sector. We also look at the mediating role of psychological ownership and work orientation (calling) between employee-customer identification and the adaptability of service offerings.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study using a sample of 215 frontline employees from the BFSI sector in five Indian cities, the data was analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) in Smart PLS- 3.2.7 software.

Findings

When employees consider customers as individuals similar to them, they tend to be more accommodating of customers' diverse needs resulting in adapting the service. The study empirically establishes that psychological ownership and work orientation (calling) mediate the relationship between employee-customer identification and service offering adaptation.

Research limitations/implications

This kind of identification can remedy the perennial problem of mis-selling in the BFSI context. The new insights gathered from these customer interfaces can be transferred upwards within the organisation to formulate actionable strategies. Hence, when employees feel their work is satisfactory, it leads to improvement in both profit margins as well as asset turnover for high-contact service firms.

Originality/value

The results demonstrate that employees who identify with their customers are more accommodative of customers' diverse needs resulting in adapting the service resulting in improved performance.
The role of financial literacy for financial resilience in middle-age and older adulthood
Authors: Bialowolski Piotr , Cwynar Andrzej , Weziak-Bialowolska Dorota
Published: September 2022

Purpose

Preserving sufficient financial assets is crucial for maintaining the standard of living. The lack of adequate financial cushion can translate into financial hardship at any age, but its effects can be especially severe in later adulthood. The authors evaluate whether financial literacy can prevent individuals from depleting the stock of liquid financial assets below a predefined minimum level.

Design/methodology/approach

Defining financial resilience as the ability to maintain the value of household savings above the level of 3-monthly incomes, the authors examined whether financial literacy is (1) prospectively associated with the probability of losing financial resilience and (2) the probability of gaining financial resilience among financially vulnerable middle-aged and older adults. To this end, the authors applied the multivariate Cox proportional hazards model with time-varying covariates. Data were retrieved from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe with the sample comprising 13,718 adults aged ≥ 50 years in (1) and 12,802 in (2).

Findings

The authors show that financial literacy plays a protective role for financial resilience. Its role is not symmetrical and protects more against the loss of financial resilience than it contributes to the gain of financial resilience. Among individuals aged 65–74, the association between financial literacy and financial resilience is weaker than among adults in the middle-age (50–64) and among the oldest (75+).

Social implications

Fostering financial literacy can be important to help middle-aged and older adults maintain a good quality of life and favorable living standards.

Originality/value

Given the scarce evidence on the links between financial literacy and financial resilience among middle-aged and older adults, the article contributes to the literature by examining whether financial literacy retains its protective role in later stages of the life course.
A systematic and critical review of Internet of Things in contemporary hospitality: a roadmap and avenues for future research
Authors: Elkhwesky Zakaria , Elkhwesky Esraa Fayez Youssif
Published: September 2022

Purpose

Internet of Things (IoT) is a key enabler of big data and it is critical toward a new age of firm's architecture and proper decision-making for the industry. IoT adoption by the hospitality and tourism (H&T) industries is still rare and with contrasting evidence. The purpose of this study is to highlight the concept of IoT, its benefits, its challenges and its applications in the hospitality industry.

Design/methodology/approach

This study presents an in-depth and critical review of the 78 articles published on IoT in hospitality, spanning more than seven years (from 2015 to March 2022). The eligible 78 articles were collected from the “Web of Science database” and H&T Social Sciences Citation Index-listed journals.

Findings

This systematic review exhibits that IoT in hospitality has advanced in the past seven years. IoT has brought many advantages and challenges in hospitality. However, hospitality IoT research is scarce, necessitating a profound and more thorough investigation of many significant matters.

Practical implications

This systematic review provides significant implications and recommendations for hospitality sectors, IoT developers and manufacturers, governments and policymakers. This review ends with an in-depth research agenda with several research questions and a framework to achieve theoretical and empirical advances in future IoT research.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the current research is one of the first to systematically and critically review IoT with its concept, benefits, challenges and applications in a hospitality context. This major review provides a comprehensive idea of the focus of the past studies and what must be concentrated in future research.
House price information flows among some major Chinese cities: linear and nonlinear causality in time and frequency domains
Authors: Xu Xiaojie , Zhang Yun
Published: September 2022

Purpose

With the rapid-growing house market in the past decade, the purpose of this paper is to study the important issue of house price information flows among 12 major cities in China, including Shanghai, Beijing, Xiamen, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Nanjing, Zhuhai, Fuzhou, Suzhou and Dongguan, during the period of June 2010 to May 2019.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors approach this issue in both time and frequency domains, latter of which is facilitated through wavelet analysis and by exploring both linear and nonlinear causality under the vector autoregressive framework.

Findings

The main findings are threefold. First, in the long run of the time domain and for timescales beyond 16 months of the frequency domain, house prices of all cities significantly affect each other. For timescales up to 16 months, linear causality is weaker and is most often identified for the scale of four to eight months. Second, while nonlinear causality is seldom determined in the time domain and is never found for timescales up to four months, it is identified for scales beyond four months and particularly for those beyond 32 months. Third, nonlinear causality found in the frequency domain is partly explained by the volatility spillover effect.

Originality/value

Results here should be of use to policymakers in certain policy analysis.
Understanding circular economy adoption by SMEs: a case study on organizational legitimacy and Industry 4.0
Authors: Zheng Leven J. , Wang Yuanyuan Anna , Lin Hsuan-Yu , Liu Wei
Published: September 2022

Purpose

This paper explores how Industry 4.0 facilitates small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets to gain and maintain organizational legitimacy from the government and market and capture value from circular economy (CE) adoption in their businesses.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conduct an in-depth, multistakeholder case study in an SME in China’s hazardous waste recycling and re-utilization industry and apply a qualitative analysis.

Findings

The findings show that Industry 4.0 could facilitate SMEs to gain organizational legitimacy through two mechanisms, namely conforming and transcending. Conforming results in baseline-level outcomes to obtain legitimacy while transcending leads to ecosystem value-cocreation, which goes beyond government expectations and reinforces SMEs' legitimacy.

Originality/value

The authors validated the enabling role of Industry 4.0 in CE adoption in SMEs and have generated legitimation processes and strategies that facilitate SMEs to capture value from CE adoption.
The role of human resources management in enhancing the economic sustainability of Jordanian banks
Authors: Taha Rana , Taha Noor
Published: September 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of human resources management (HRM) on economic sustainability in Jordanian banks. To achieve this goal, data were collected from 23 Jordanian banks listed at the ASE from 2014 to 2019.

Design/methodology/approach

A regression model was employed using four independent variables that represent the HRM (i.e. managing the environment of human resources, human resources acquisition and preparation, human resources assessment and development and human resources compensation) and using economic sustainability as the dependent variable. The study also controlled for banks’ age, size, leverage and return on equity.

Findings

Results show that all independent variables are positively correlated with economic sustainability. The results imply that HRM is an important tool to enhance economic sustainability within the banking sector.

Originality/value

This study provides practical implications for banks’ managers, future researchers and policymakers. This is achieved by investigating the impact of the independent variables, including managing the human resources environment, the acquisition and preparation of human resources, the assessment and development of human resources and the compensation of human resources on the economic, social and environmental sustainability in Jordanian banks.
Emissions-foreign trade nexus: establishing the need to harmonize environment and economics in RCEP
Authors: Prakash Nisha , Sethi Madhvi
Published: September 2022

Purpose

This article investigates the impact of foreign trade on carbon emissions of the member countries of the largest trade bloc, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Design/methodology/approach

The aggregate bilateral trade with members of RCEP during the period 1991–2020 was considered for analysis. The study also examines the impact of foreign trade (between member countries) on economic development, represented by GDP per capita. Dumitrescu–Hurlin panel Granger causality test was conducted to understand the impact of foreign trade on GDP per capita and carbon emissions.

Findings

Results indicate that though foreign trade is heterogeneously Granger causing GDP per capita, it also aggravates carbon emissions in RCEP bloc.

Originality/value

The study is of significance to the policymakers in the member countries as it provides evidence to include climate impact in trade agreements. The wealthier RCEP member countries can support the green transition of low-income countries through transfer of eco-friendly technologies.
Corporate entrepreneurship and leadership theories: conceptual review
Authors: Verma Shruti , Mehta Mita
Published: September 2022

Purpose

This study aims to intersect corporate entrepreneurship (CE) as a construct with two leadership theories, agile leadership management (ALM) and complexity leadership theory (CLT), to develop further a conceptual model representing the relationship through scientific review and bibliometric analysis. The said leadership styles discussed here are essential for CE to grow, and therefore, this study aims to contribute to a firm’s survival in the circular economy.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis as research design. A total of 74 studies were included from the Scopus database in this review based on a specific inclusion–exclusion criterion and were analysed using VOS Viewer and MS-Excel.

Findings

This research found that agile leadership and complexity leadership framework contributed positively to the generation and promotion of CE in firms and created a conceptual model for the same. Also, a complementary bibliometric and keyword analysis of the included studies is presented.

Research limitations/implications

The study’s primary limitation lies in the limited number of studies included in the review. Also, the conceptual model proposed is subject to further empirical testing; moreover, both ALM and CLT impact CE and other business environment factors that can guide future research.

Practical implications

This study gives insights into the significance of CE and leadership style through a systematic literature review in designing the conceptual model. This research will be a significant contribution to leadership and entrepreneurship. This research can guide many leadership styles in developing strategies for a sustainable organization model by boosting CE to tackle economic challenges such as a circular economy.

Social implications

This study conceptual model can be used for developing a sustainable organizational model using leadership as a mediating factor to survive in a continuous changing environment.

Originality/value

The two leadership styles included in this study are relatively new, and research has been on the boom for the past decade. There has been little research on the interplay of these leadership styles on CE.
Framework of affordable cooperative housing through an innovative waqf-based source of finance in Karachi
Authors: Khan Muhammad Kashif , Abdul Rasid Siti Zaleha , Bardai Barjoyai , Saruchi Sarah Athirah
Published: September 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to introduce an innovative framework called the waqf cooperative housing framework (WCHF), with an objective to create a synergistic equilibrium between waqf and cooperative housing schemes. To tackle problems related to the dearth of financing, this research postulates an innovative waqf-based source of finance that involves generating revenue from common areas (waqf area) within the vicinity of the condominium.

Design/methodology/approach

Primary data were collected through interviews and the data were analysed using the NVIVO software. The interviewees comprised managers from property development sectors, public sector officials, university lecturers in Islamic finance, CEOs, top management officials from Islamic financial institutions, community leaders and shariah scholars.

Findings

A framework was proposed based on the result of the interviews. It was found that innovative models such as WCHF can resolve the issue of affordable housing in Karachi such as decreasing the financial burden on the public exchequer, bringing positive change to the lives of the poor, fulfilling the property developer’s corporate social responsibility, fulfilling the religious duty of the general public and condominium owners towards their fellow beings as well as creating new employment opportunities for people who are working in the financial sector (waqf management companies/trustees) and the construction sector.

Research limitations/implications

Even though this study has introduced an innovative and practical solution to the financing of affordable housing, it also encountered some limitations. First, it is conducted in Karachi city involving six group of respondents; thus, the findings cannot be generalised with other contexts. Similar research needs to be conducted in different contexts.

Originality/value

To date, this is among the first studies, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to investigate cooperative affordable housing with the help of innovative Islamic finance tools in the context of Pakistan. Furthermore, insufficient attention has been given to the enabling and hindering factors behind the acceptance of a framework that seeks to initiate a cooperative scheme based on an innovative waqf financing tool that generates revenue from common areas around a condominium.
Using participant-oriented research in post-secondary mental health program development and evaluation
Authors: Thannhauser Jennifer E. , Szeto Andrew C.H. , Dobson Keith S. , Nordstokke David
Published: September 2022

Purpose

With the recent release of the National Standard for Mental Health and Well-Being for Post-Secondary Students, there is increased interest to integrate research and practice for mental health services on post-secondary campuses. Participant-oriented research is a useful framework to bridge this gap. This paper aims to describe the program development and evaluation process and reports challenges and lessons learned to inform future implementation strategies for similar endeavours.

Design/methodology/approach

A participant-oriented research approach was used to revise and evaluate an innovative interdisciplinary resilience program, entitled Roots of Resiliency, for post-secondary students.

Findings

This case analysis used the development and evaluation of Roots of Resiliency to demonstrate some of the strategies and challenges that exist for participant-oriented research related to mental health in the post-secondary context. Collaborative relationships among the various development team members contributed to an overall positive experience. Some challenges that others who work in post-secondary mental health field may consider include the need for content expertise, the ongoing need for communication among team members and the need for an effective system to give voice to all participants.

Originality/value

Any mental health program has a cultural component and is best co-developed by the particular students (e.g. indigenous students) who are to be served by the program. In this regard, the co-design and shared development and evaluation of the current mental health program is an example that can be emulated in other programs within the post-secondary context.
University life has gone digital: influences of institutional mobile social network use during the COVID-19 emergency
Authors: Conrad Colin , Moylan Rachel , Diaz Gabriel O.
Published: September 2022

Purpose

Many universities implemented institutional social networking apps as an alternative to in-person social experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this study aims to explore previously identified factors that influenced intentions to form collective actions, also known as we-intentions, on such social networking apps and their influence on student satisfaction with the app artifact.

Design/methodology/approach

Students from across a large university were invited to participate in a survey. Responses from 915 students who reported using the app were analyzed using a maximum likelihood covariance-based structural equation model. Analysis was conducted using the R programming language's psych, lavaan, and semTools packages.

Findings

The authors found that we-intentions are positively associated with recent app use and with student satisfaction with the app. Group norms were found to significantly influence the formation of we-intentions, while social identity is positively associated with both we-intentions and satisfaction.

Originality/value

The paper provides evidence that past research generalizes to the context of university mobile social networks and identifies a relationship between we-intentions and satisfaction in this context. It also provides practical insight into factors that influence we-intentions, and subsequently students' online education experience, in the context of a university's institutional mobile social network.
House purchase intention during pandemic COVID-19 in Surabaya, Indonesia
Authors: Njo Anastasia , Sugeng Kathryn
Published: September 2022

Purpose

Since the COVID-19 occurred, large-scale social restriction (Pembatasan Sosial Berskala Besar-PSBB) has taken place, and that has led family members to carry out their activities at home. This condition impacts both directly and indirectly the intention of house purchase, as a result of lifestyle changes during the pandemic. A house now serves as a residence, office, as well as school. This study aims to determine the influences of physical attributes, neighborhood preferences, financial concerns, financial risk preferences, health risk preferences, and COVID anxiety towards house purchase intention.

Design/methodology/approach

This associative study was carried out from February to May 2021 in the residents of Surabaya aged 20–34 years old as prospective first-home buyers, with relatives at risk of contracting COVID-19 (belong in the susceptible group or live with a family member who is prone to the COVID-19 virus, including having a comorbidity, elderly (= 60 years old), having a low immune system or autoimmune disease, obese). Data were gathered using online questionnaires from which 226 respondents were acquired. Data were analyzed using the PLS-SEM 3.0 technique.

Findings

The results showed that physical attributes, neighborhood preferences, financial concerns, financial risk preferences, and COVID anxiety significantly influence house purchase intention. Furthermore, neighborhood preferences, financial risk preferences, and COVID anxiety as moderating variables also significantly influence house purchase intention.

Practical implications

This study was carried out in Surabaya as the second-largest city after Jakarta with the highest COVID-19 mortality rate, which is useful for exploring the lifestyle changes and property demand as a result of the pandemic; Developers gain a business opportunity by offering properties that are multifunction and health-oriented.

Originality/value

The COVID-19 pandemic becomes a trigger for a change in the property market that needs to be studied further.
Citizenship and the Joy of Work
Authors: Hinchliffe Geoffrey
Published: September 2022

This article discusses the nature of vocational education and its relation to citizenship as put forward by Georg Kerschensteiner, Aloys Fischer and Eduard Spranger. The chief aim of the article is to respond sympathetically to views which many Anglophone readers may find unfamiliar, given the German context from which they arise. In particular, the article focuses on the nature of work and occupation and why this is important for developing citizenship. In order to aid understanding, the views of Hannah Arendt on the nature of work and labour are contrasted with those of the three authors. Finally, there is a brief discussion of the contents of the UK Government White Paper, Skills for Jobs: Lifelong Learning for Opportunity and Growth.
Health Equity and the Dynamism of Structural Racism and Public Policy
Authors: MELTON‐FANT COURTNEE
Published: September 2022

Policy Points

Both public policy and structural racism are dynamic systems that reinforce each other. Efforts to address the health effects of structural racism must account for the nature of these systems.

Politics and policy are critical for understanding the persistence of racial health inequities and creating policies and interventions that can mitigate the effects of structural racism on health.
Bushfire, prescribed burning, and non‐human protection
Authors: Lange Josephine , Gillespie Josephine
Published: September 2022

Unprecedented bushfire activity is increasing around the world. A catastrophic bushfire event in the Australian summer of 2019–2020 burned over 18 million hectares. The Australian bushfires were just one set of events among many across the globe. Cumulatively, the losses are extraordinary: from losing over a quarter of the Pantanal wetland in South America to California’s Sierra Nevada and losses in the Amazon Forest. Bushfire destruction means a concomitant loss of biological diversity. Increased fire activity and frequency can adversely affect adaptive capacities of flora and fauna. Accordingly, across the globe, fire management practices and mitigation strategies are under increased scrutiny. In this article, we consider the extent to which one fire suppression strategy, prescribed burning, takes account of non‐human considerations. Our examination of policy settings provides policymakers with a way to account for non‐human interests. Our focus is Australia, specifically relating to one national park within New South Wales. Across the world, fire containment strategies must be reassessed to decipher how well non‐human considerations are placed to withstand changing fire regimes. With likely increases in bush and wildfire activity across the globe, associated with Anthropocentric climate change, there is an urgent need to account for non‐human interests in prescribed burning policies and regulations.
Wool and the relative resilience of Western Australian Wheatbelt economies
Authors: Plummer Paul , Argent Neil
Published: September 2022

This article seeks to examine the path dependence and relative resilience of rural economies by focusing on the dynamics of the wool industry, a former mainstay of the economic base of many, if not most, Australian rural economies throughout most of the twentieth century. Based on a case study of the Western Australian Wheatbelt, a region in which broadacre cropping and Merino sheep grazing formed a cohesive farming enterprise type for many decades, we employ dynamic econometric models to test the relative resilience of the wool sector for four of the region’s constituent local government areas (LGAs) from just prior to the onset of the Second World War to the closing years of the twentieth century. The testing reveals evidence of both path dependence in the general model specification and a tendency for the four LGAs as a group to return to their long‐run developmental trajectories following a “shock.” However, divergence across the performance of the four LGAs suggests the persistence of historical and ecological gradients that require further investigation.
Price risk and small farmer maize storage in Sub‐Saharan Africa: New insights into a long‐standing puzzle
Authors: Cardell Lila , Michelson Hope
Published: September 2022

Maize prices fluctuate across seasons in rural markets in many low income countries, and agricultural households struggle to sell their grain at an optimal time. We provide new insight into a persistent puzzle: small farmers in low‐income countries tend to sell their maize at harvest, when prices are low, rather than storing and waiting until prices increase later in the year. Our descriptive analysis uses 20 years of data from 1038 retail markets in 30 African countries to demonstrate that the lean season price (the “high price” season) fails to rise above the harvest season price (the “low price” season) 16.3% of the time on average in countries with a single maize season and between 15.9% and 24.9% on average in countries with two maize seasons. On the basis of that stylized fact, we propose that aversion to these negative returns may contribute to farmers' decisions to opt out of storage at harvest. Using a smaller dataset of 425 retail markets in 10 countries with a single maize season, we show that even moderately risk averse farmers would opt out of storage in 15.3% of market years. Farmers cannot always predict returns to storage and output price risk may dissuade farmers from storing maize for the purpose of future sales, despite credit access. Our results indicate that other mechanisms, such as forward contracts or multiyear credit, may be necessary to mitigate downside price risk.
Allied health in residential aged care: Using routinely collected data to improve funding opportunities
Authors: Meulenbroeks Isabelle , Seaman Karla , Raban Magdalena Z. , Westbrook Johanna
Published: September 2022

Consumers and providers have long been advocating for increased access to and delivery of allied health services in Australian residential aged care (RAC). There is significant evidence that allied health interventions are effective; however, there is limited evidence on the benefit of routine day‐to‐day allied health service delivery in RAC. This information is critical to effectively inform funders and policy advisors of the necessity of allied health in RAC. To improve arguments for future funding opportunities, providers, facilities and consumers need to partner together to use routinely collected, yet disparate, data, in electronic health and billing records, to improve data collection practices and evidence generation on allied health in aged care.
Obesity in women with asthma: Baseline disadvantage plus greater small‐airway responsiveness
Authors: Bourdin Arnaud , Bommart Sébastien , Marin Gregory , Vachier Isabelle , Gamez Anne Sophie , Ahmed Engi , Suehs Carey M. , Molinari Nicolas
Published: September 2022

Background

Obesity is known to diminish lung volumes and worsen asthma. However, mechanistic understanding is lacking, especially as concerns small‐airway responsiveness. The objective of this study was therefore to compare small‐airway responsiveness, as represented by the change in expiratory:inspiratory mean lung density ratios (MLDe/i, as determined by computed tomography [CT]) throughout methacholine testing in obese versus non‐obese women with asthma.

Methods

Thoracic CT was performed during methacholine bronchoconstriction challenges to produce standardized response curves (SRC: response parameter versus ln[1 + % PD20], where PD20 is the cumulative methacholine dose) for 31 asthma patients (n = 18 non‐obese and n = 13 obese patients). Mixed models evaluated obesity effects and interactions on SRCs while adjusting for age and bronchial morphology. Small airway responsiveness as represented by SRC slope was calculated for each third of the MLDe/i response and compared between groups.

Results

Obesity‐associated effects observed during experimental bronchoconstriction included: (i) a significant baseline effect for forced expiratory volume in 1 second with lower values for the obese (73.11 ± 13.44) versus non‐obese (82.19 ± 8.78; p = 0.002) groups prior to methacholine testing and (ii) significantly higher responsiveness in small airways as estimated via differences in MLDe/i slopes (group×ln(1 + % PD20 interaction; p = 0.023). The latter were pinpointed to higher slopes in the obese group at the beginning 2/3 of SRCs (p = 0.004 and p = 0.021). Significant obesity effects (p = 0.035 and p = 0.008) indicating lower forced vital capacity and greater % change in MLDe/I (respectively) throughout methacholine testing, were also observed.

Conclusion

In addition to baseline differences, small‐airway responsiveness (as represented by the change in MLDe/i) during methacholine challenge is greater in obese women with asthma as compared to the non‐obese.
Aerosol precautions and airway complications: a national prospective multicentre cohort study
Authors: Potter T. , Cronin J. N. , Kua J. , Nurmi E. , Wong D. J. N. , Ahmad I. , Cook T. M. , El‐Boghdadly K. ,   the AeroComp Trainee Research Networks,   Collaborators
Published: September 2022

The perceived risk of transmission of aerosolised viral particles from patients to airway practitioners during the COVID‐19 pandemic led to the widespread use of aerosol precautions, including personal protective equipment and modifications to anaesthetic technique. The risk of these aerosol precautions on peri‐operative airway complications has not been assessed outside of simulation studies. This prospective, national, multicentre cohort study aimed to quantify this risk. Adult patients undergoing general anaesthesia for elective or emergency procedures over a 96‐hour period were included. Data collected included use of aerosol precautions by the airway practitioner, airway complications and potential confounding variables. Mixed‐effects logistic regression was used to assess the risk of individual aerosol precautions on overall and specific airway complications. Data from 5905 patients from 70 hospital sites were included. The rate of airway complications was 10.0% (95%CI 9.2–10.8%). Use of filtering facepiece class 2 or class 3 respirators was associated with an increased risk of airway complications (odds ratio 1.38, 95%CI 1.04–1.83), predominantly due to an association with difficult facemask ventilation (odds ratio 1.68, 95%CI 1.09–2.61) and desaturation on pulse oximetry (odds ratio 2.39, 95%CI 1.26–4.54). Use of goggles, powered air‐purifying respirators, long‐sleeved gowns, double gloves and videolaryngoscopy were not associated with any alteration in the risk of airway complications. Overall, the use of filtering facepiece class 2 or class 3 respirators was associated with an increased risk of airway complications, but most aerosol precautions used during the COVID‐19 pandemic were not.
Early‐life liver cirrhosis and variable clinical presentation in telomere disease
Authors: Faingelernt Yaniv , Nassar Raouf , Ling Galina , Kodman Yona , Feuerstein Tamar , Yerushalmi Baruch
Published: September 2022

Aim

Telomeres are DNA sequences of tandem TTAGGG repeats that protect chromosome ends from degradation and instability. Constitutional loss‐of‐function telomerase mutations result in rapid telomere shortening, premature senescence and cell death. Liver cirrhosis is rare and has only been reported in adults. We present five family members of Bedouin‐Muslim origin, all of which carry the same mutation, and yet demonstrate an extremely variable phenotypical presentation, including liver cirrhosis during early childhood.

Methods

A multidisciplinary long‐term follow‐up of two healthy and three affected patients was analysed. The mutation (r.95G>C) was identified in all patients using Sanger sequencing. Telomere length samples were obtained and analysed.

Results

Clinical phenotypes were extremely variable, including age at first symptoms, organ involvement, disease severity and patient prognosis. The most prominent clinical phenotype is liver involvement, including end‐stage liver disease early in life, which affects three members of the family. Affected patients had markedly shorter telomeres.

Conclusion

We describe an unusual presentation of early liver failure in telomere disease patients. Little, if any, is known about the association between the genotype and phenotype among children with telomere disease and whether the mutation we have described (r.95G>C) is predisposed to early severe hepatic involvement.
Physical workplace adjustments to support neurodivergent workers: A systematic review
Authors: Weber Clara , Krieger Beate , Häne Eunji , Yarker Joanna , McDowall Almuth
Published: September 2022

Derived from the concept of neurodiversity, neurodivergence is an umbrella term for various conditions such as Autism‐Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention‐Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD/ADHD), Dyslexia, or Dyspraxia, which affect approximately 22% of the population. Sensory difficulties and overload are a common symptom. The provision of physical workplace adjustments for neurodivergent workers, such as workplace design solutions, has become popular in practice, yet their utility remains unsubstantiated. This review evaluates the evidence for physical workplace adjustments and their link to occupational longevity, performance and health/well‐being in neurodivergent workers. A systematic review (PRISMA guidelines) of studies published in English between 2000 and 2021 focused on these inclusion criteria: adult office workers clinically considered neurodiverse, their families, colleagues, employers, experts and vocational programme staff; at least one physical workplace adjustment; and all types of empirical study designs. The theoretical framing was based on the ecological model of person–environment fit supplemented by the International Classification of Functioning, (ICF) disability and health and environmental stress theory. Quality assessment and data synthesis were undertaken. Of the 319 studies identified, 20 met the eligibility criteria; the majority addressed ASD. Most studies described a combination of adjustments to address different environmental stimuli. The most frequent adjustments addressed sound distractions (e.g. single‐person offices) and light sensitivity (e.g. light control), which were related to occupational longevity, performance and health/well‐being. A range of other adjustments addressed aspects such as environmental control, crowding or decompression rooms. There is insufficient evidence to fully evaluate the usefulness of adjustments, partially due to methodological shortcomings. Despite the variety of challenges with the sensory physical environment acknowledged in the literature for neurodivergent conditions, there is a paucity of evidence. Given the potential of physical adjustments to improve work and health outcomes, we highlight the necessity for more theoretically driven and methodologically sound research.
Growth and retreat of the last British–Irish Ice Sheet, 31 000 to 15 000 years ago: the BRITICE‐CHRONO reconstruction
Authors: Clark Chris D. , Ely Jeremy C. , Hindmarsh Richard C. A. , Bradley Sarah , Ignéczi Adam , Fabel Derek , Ó Cofaigh Colm , Chiverrell Richard C. , Scourse James , Benetti Sara , Bradwell Tom , Evans David J. A. , Roberts David H. , Burke Matt , Callard S. Louise , Medialdea Alicia , Saher Margot , Small David , Smedley Rachel K. , Gasson Edward , Gregoire Lauren , Gandy Niall , Hughes Anna L. C. , Ballantyne Colin , Bateman Mark D. , Bigg Grant R. , Doole Jenny , Dove Dayton , Duller Geoff A. T. , Jenkins Geraint T. H. , Livingstone Stephen L. , McCarron Stephen , Moreton Steve , Pollard David , Praeg Daniel , Sejrup Hans Petter , Van Landeghem Katrien J. J. , Wilson Peter
Published: September 2022

The BRITICE‐CHRONO consortium of researchers undertook a dating programme to constrain the timing of advance, maximum extent and retreat of the British–Irish Ice Sheet between 31 000 and 15 000 years before present. The dating campaign across Ireland and Britain and their continental shelves, and across the North Sea included 1500 days of field investigation yielding 18 000 km of marine geophysical data, 377 cores of sea floor sediments, and geomorphological and stratigraphical information at 121 sites on land; generating 690 new geochronometric ages. These findings are reported in 28 publications including synthesis into eight transect reconstructions. Here we build ice sheet‐wide reconstructions consistent with these findings and using retreat patterns and dates for the inter‐transect areas. Two reconstructions are presented, a wholly empirical version and a version that combines modelling with the new empirical evidence. Palaeoglaciological maps of ice extent, thickness, velocity, and flow geometry at thousand‐year timesteps are presented. The maximum ice volume of 1.8 m sea level equivalent occurred at 23 ka. A larger extent than previously defined is found and widespread advance of ice to the continental shelf break is confirmed during the last glacial. Asynchrony occurred in the timing of maximum extent and onset of retreat, ranging from 30 to 22 ka. The tipping point of deglaciation at 22 ka was triggered by ice stream retreat and saddle collapses. Analysis of retreat rates leads us to accept our hypothesis that the marine‐influenced sectors collapsed rapidly. First order controls on ice‐sheet demise were glacio‐isostatic loading triggering retreat of marine sectors, aided by glaciological instabilities and then climate warming finished off the smaller, terrestrial ice sheet. Overprinted on this signal were second order controls arising from variations in trough topographies and with sector‐scale ice geometric readjustments arising from dispositions in the geography of the landscape. These second order controls produced a stepped deglaciation. The retreat of the British–Irish Ice Sheet is now the world’s most well‐constrained and a valuable data‐rich environment for improving ice‐sheet modelling.
Inhibition of transient receptor potential cation channel 6 promotes capillary arterialization during post‐ischaemic blood flow recovery
Authors: Numaga‐Tomita Takuro , Shimauchi Tsukasa , Kato Yuri , Nishiyama Kazuhiro , Nishimura Akiyuki , Sakata Kosuke , Inada Hiroyuki , Kita Satomi , Iwamoto Takahiro , Nabekura Junichi , Birnbaumer Lutz , Mori Yasuo , Nishida Motohiro
Published: September 2022

Background and Purpose

Capillary arterialization, characterized by the coverage of pre‐existing or nascent capillary vessels with vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), is critical for the development of collateral arterioles to improve post‐ischaemic blood flow. We previously demonstrated that the inhibition of transient receptor potential 6 subfamily C, member 6 (TRPC6) channels facilitate contractile differentiation of VSMCs under ischaemic stress. We here investigated whether TRPC6 inhibition promotes post‐ischaemic blood flow recovery through capillary arterialization in vivo.

Experimental Approach

Mice were subjected to hindlimb ischaemia by ligating left femoral artery. The recovery rate of peripheral blood flow was calculated by the ratio of ischaemic left leg to non‐ischaemic right one. The number and diameter of blood vessels were analysed by immunohistochemistry. Expression and phosphorylation levels of TRPC6 proteins were determined by western blotting and immunohistochemistry.

Key Results

Although the post‐ischaemic blood flow recovery is reportedly dependent on endothelium‐dependent relaxing factors, systemic TRPC6 deletion significantly promoted blood flow recovery under the condition that nitric oxide or prostacyclin production were inhibited, accompanying capillary arterialization. Cilostazol, a clinically approved drug for peripheral arterial disease, facilitates blood flow recovery by inactivating TRPC6 via phosphorylation at Thr69 in VSMCs. Furthermore, inhibition of TRPC6 channel activity by pyrazole‐2 (Pyr2; BTP2; YM‐58483) promoted post‐ischaemic blood flow recovery in Apolipoprotein E‐knockout mice.

Conclusion and Implications

Suppression of TRPC6 channel activity in VSMCs could be a new strategy for the improvement of post‐ischaemic peripheral blood circulation.