bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Olson's Gap or Olson's Extinction? A Bayesian tip-dating approach to resolving stratigraphic uncertainty
Authors: Brocklehurst Neil
Published: June 2020

Adaptive radiations and mass extinctions are of critical importance in structuring terrestrial ecosystems. However, the causes and progress of these transitions often remain controversial, in part because of debates surrounding the completeness of the fossil record and biostratigraphy of the relevant fossil-bearing formations. The early–middle Permian, when a substantial faunal turnover in tetrapods coincided with a restructuring of the trophic structure of ecosystems, is such a time. Some have suggested the transition is obscured by a gap in the tetrapod fossil record (Olson's Gap), while others suggest a correlation between North American and Russian tetrapod-bearing formations allows the interval to be documented in detail. The latter biostratigraphic scheme has been used to support a mass extinction at this time (Olson's Extinction). Bayesian tip-dating methods used frequently in phylogenetics are employed to resolve this debate. Bayes factors are used to compare the results of analyses incorporating tip age priors based on different stratigraphic hypotheses, to show which stratigraphic scheme best fits the morphological data and phylogeny. Olson's Gap is rejected, and the veracity of Olson's Extinction is given further support. Tip-dating approaches have great potential to resolve debates surrounding the stratigraphic ages of critical formations where appropriate morphological data is available.
SARS-CoV-2 ORF8 can fold into human factor 1 catalytic domain binding site on complement C3b: Predict functional mimicry
Authors: Singh Jasdeep , Kar Sudeshna , Hasnain Seyed Ehtesham , Ganguly Surajit
Published: June 2020

Pathogens are often known to use host factor mimicry to take evolutionary advantage. As the function of the non-structural ORF8 protein of SARS-CoV-2 in the context of host-pathogen relationship is still obscure, we investigated its role in host factor mimicry using computational protein modelling techniques. Modest sequence similarity of ORF8 of SARS-CoV-2 with the substrate binding site within the C-terminus serine-protease catalytic domain of human complement factor 1 (F1; PDB ID: 2XRC), prompted us to verify their resemblance at the structural level. The modelled ORF8 protein was found to superimpose on the F1 fragment. Further, protein-protein interaction simulation confirmed ORF8 binding to C3b, an endogenous substrate of F1, via F1-interacting region on C3b. Docking results suggest ORF8 to occupy the binding groove adjacent to the conserved “arginine-serine” (RS) F1-mediated cleavage sites on C3b. Comparative H-bond interaction dynamics indicated ORF8/C3b binding to be of higher affinity than the F1/C3b interaction. Hence, ORF8 is predicted to inhibit C3b proteolysis by competing with F1 for C3b binding using molecular mimicry with a possibility of triggering unregulated complement activation. This could offer a mechanistic premise for the unrestrained complement activation observed in large number of SARS-CoV-2 infected patients.
Peripheral electrical stimulation augments cerebral collateral circulation if performed within a critical time window
Authors: Ding Ming-Chieh , Kundu Aritra , Sullender Colin T. , Dunn Andrew
Published: June 2020

Ischemic stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability in the world. Recent advances in acute stroke care have dramatically improved clinicians’ abilities to reperfuse occluded blood vessels. With these advances, the importance of adjunctive therapies to supplement or complement reperfusion therapy is receiving greater interest. Cerebral collateral circulation is one of such area that is now gaining greater interest in acute stroke care. In this study, we investigate the use of peripheral electrical stimulation to induce functional hyperemia in a mouse animal model in the setting of acute stroke. Using a laser speckle contrast imaging system, we evaluated the use of peripheral electrical stimulation at 1 hour and 3 hours after stroke induction. Results demonstrated that stimulation initiated 1 hour following stroke significantly increase collateral cerebral blood flow, while stimulation at 3 hours after stroke had no appreciable effect. These results suggest that augmentation cerebral collateral circulation may be possible in the setting of acute stroke although there may be a critical time window in which this would have to be initiated.
Observation of an α-synuclein liquid droplet state and its maturation into Lewy body-like assemblies
Authors: Hardenberg Maarten C. , Sinnige Tessa , Casford Sam , Dada Samuel , Poudel Chetan , Robinson Lizzy , Fuxreiter Monika , Kaminksi Clemens , Kaminski Schierle Gabriele S. , Nollen Ellen A. A. , Dobson Christopher M. , Vendruscolo Michele
Published: June 2020

Misfolded α-synuclein is a major component of Lewy bodies, which are a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease. A large body of evidence shows that α-synuclein can self-assemble into amyloid fibrils, but the relationship between amyloid formation and Lewy body formation still remains unclear. Here we show, bothin vitroand in aC. elegansmodel of Parkinson’s disease, that α-synuclein undergoes liquid-liquid phase separation by forming a liquid droplet state, which converts into an amyloid-rich hydrogel. This maturation process towards the amyloid state is delayed in the presence of model synaptic vesiclesin vitro. Taken together, these results suggest that the formation of Lewy bodies is linked to the arrested maturation of α-synuclein condensates in the presence of lipids and other cellular components.
Cholesterol 25-hydroxylase suppresses SARS-CoV-2 replication by blocking membrane fusion
Authors: Zang Ruochen , Case James Brett , Gomez Castro Maria Florencia , Liu Zhuoming , Zeng Qiru , Zhao Haiyan , Son Juhee , Rothlauf Paul W. , Hou Gaopeng , Bose Sayantan , Wang Xin , Vahey Michael D. , Kirchhausen Tomas , Fremont Daved H. , Diamond Michael S. , Whelan Sean P.J. , Ding Siyuan
Published: June 2020

Cholesterol 25-hydroxylase (CH25H) is an interferon-stimulated gene (ISG) that shows broad antiviral activities against a wide range of enveloped viruses. Here, using an ISG screen against VSV-SARS-CoV and VSV-SARS-CoV-2 chimeric viruses, we identified CH25H and its enzymatic product 25-hydroxycholesterol (25HC) as potent inhibitors of virus replication. Mechanistically, internalized 25HC accumulates in the late endosomes and blocks cholesterol export, thereby restricting SARS-CoV-2 spike protein catalyzed membrane fusion. Our results highlight a unique antiviral mechanism of 25HC and provide the molecular basis for its possible therapeutic development.
Gene Expression Imputation with Generative Adversarial Imputation Nets
Authors: Viñas Ramon , Azevedo Tiago , Gamazon Eric R. , Liò Pietro
Published: June 2020

A question of fundamental biological significance is to what extent the expression of a subset of genes can be used to recover the full transcriptome, with important implications for biological discovery and clinical application. To address this challenge, we present GAIN-GTEx, a method for gene expression imputation based on Generative Adversarial Imputation Networks. In order to increase the applicability of our approach, we leverage data from GTEx v8, a reference resource that has generated a comprehensive collection of transcriptomes from a diverse set of human tissues. We compare our model to several standard and state-of-the-art imputation methods and show that GAIN-GTEx is significantly superior in terms of predictive performance and runtime. Furthermore, our results indicate strong generalisation on RNA-Seq data from 3 cancer types across varying levels of missingness. Our work can facilitate a cost-effective integration of large-scale RNA biorepositories into genomic studies of disease, with high applicability across diverse tissue types.
Comparison of CRISPR/Cas endonucleases forin vivoretinal gene editing
Authors: Li Fan , Wing Kristof , Wang Jiang-Hui , Luu Chi D. , Bender James A. , Chen Jinying , Wang Qi , Lu Qinyi , Nguyen Tran Minh Thuan , Young Kaylene M , Wong Raymond C.B. , Pébay Alice , Cook Anthony L. , Hung Sandy S.C. , Liu Guei-Sheung , Hewitt Alex W.
Published: June 2020

CRISPR/Cas has opened the prospect of direct gene correction therapy for some inherited retinal diseases. Previous work has demonstrated the utility of adeno-associated virus (AAV) mediated delivery to retinal cellsin vivo; however, with the expanding repertoire of CRISPR/Cas endonucleases, it is not clear which of these are most efficacious for retinal editingin vivo. We sought to compare CRISPR/Cas endonuclease activity using both single and dual AAV delivery strategies for gene editing in retinal cells. Plasmids of a dual vector system with SpCas9, SaCas9, Cas12a, CjCas9 and sgRNA targetingYFPand a single vector system with SaCas9/YFP sgRNA were generated and validated in YFP-expressing HEK293A cell by flow cytometry and T7E1 assay. Paired CRISPR/Cas endonuclease and its best performing sgRNA was then packaged into an AAV2 capsid derivative, AAV7m8, and injected intravitreally into CMV-Cre::Rosa26-YFP mice. SpCas9 and Cas12a achieved better knockout efficiency than SaCas9 and CjCas9. Moreover, no significant difference inYFPgene editing was found between single and dual CRISPR/SaCas9 vector systems. With a marked reduction of YFP-positive retinal cells, AAV7m8 delivered SpCas9 was found to have the highest knockout efficacy among all investigated endonucleases. We demonstrate that the AAV7m8-mediated delivery of CRISPR/SpCas9 construct achieves the most efficient gene modification in neurosensory retinal cellsin vitroandin vivo.
Loss of hepatic aldolase B activates Akt and promotes hepatocellular carcinogenesis by destabilizing Aldob/Akt/PP2A protein complex
Authors: He Xuxiao , Li Min , Yu Hongming , Liu Guijun , Wang Ningning , Yin Chunzhao , Tu Qiaochu , Narla Goutham , Tao Yongzhen , Cheng Shuqun , Yin Huiyong
Published: June 2020

Loss of hepatic fructose-1, 6-bisphosphate aldolase B (Aldob) leads to a paradoxical upregulation of glucose metabolism to favor hepatocellular carcinogenesis but the upstream signaling events remain poorly defined. Akt is highly activated in HCC and targeting Akt is being explored as a potential therapy for HCC. Herein we demonstrate that Aldob suppresses Akt activity through a protein complex containing Aldob, Akt, and protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), leading to inhibition of cell viability, cell cycle progression, glucose metabolism and tumor growth. Interestingly, Aldob directly interacts with phosphorylated Akt (p-Akt) and promotes the recruitment of PP2A to dephosphorylate p-Akt, and this scaffolding effect of Aldob is independent of its enzymatic activity. Loss of Aldob or disruption of Aldob/Akt interaction in Aldob R304A mutant restores Akt activity and tumor promoting effects. Consistently, Aldob and p-Akt expression are inversely correlated in human HCC tissues, and Aldob downregulation coupled with p-Akt upregulation predicts a poor prognosis for HCC. We have further discovered that a specific small-molecule activator of PP2A (SMAP) efficiently attenuates HCC tumorigenesis in Aldob-deficient cell lines and xenografts. Our work reveals a novel non-glycolytic role of Aldob in negative regulation of Akt activation, suggesting that inhibiting Akt activity and reactivating PP2A may be a potential therapeutic approach for HCC treatment.
Virtual manipulation of bird tail postures demonstrates drag minimisation when gliding
Authors: Song Jialei , Cheney Jorn A. , Usherwood James R. , Bomphrey Richard J.
Published: June 2020

Aerodynamic function of the avian tail has previously been studied using observations of bird flight, physical models in wind tunnels, theoretical modelling and flow visualization. However, none of these approaches has provided rigorously quantitative evidence concerning tail functions since: appropriate manipulation and controls cannot be achieved using live animals; and the aerodynamic interplay with wings and body challenges reductive theoretical or physical modelling approaches. Here, we have developed a comprehensive analytical drag model, calibrated by high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and used it to investigate the aerodynamic action of the tail by virtually manipulating its posture. The bird geometry used for CFD was reconstructed previously using stereo photogrammetry of a freely gliding barn owl and validated against wake measurements. Using this CFD-calibrated drag model, we predicted the drag production for 16 gliding flights with a range of tail postures. These observed postures are set in the context of a wider parameter sweep of theoretical postures, where the tail spread and elevation angles were manipulated virtually. The observed postures of our gliding bird corresponded to near minimal total drag.

Author Summary

The aerodynamic contribution of bird tails is challenging to study; strong interactions between wings, body and tail make models isolating the contributions of different body parts difficult to interpret. Further, methods for direct manipulation are limited, and confounding compensation is likely in live, free-flying birds. To circumvent these issues, we applied high-fidelity CFD to a range of measured gliding owl geometries in order to develop a comprehensive analytical drag model. This enabled the drag implications of virtually-manipulated tail postures to be explored. The theoretical postures that cause minimum drag match those used by owls. The drag model demonstrates the importance of the viscous component of drag, which is of particular relevance to fliers at the scale of birds and, increasingly, smaller UAVs.
The changing value of higher education as a currency of opportunity
Authors: Wright Ewan , Wei Haitao
Published: June 2020

Purpose

The worldwide expansion of higher education participation has destabilised the value of higher education as a currency of opportunity. An increasing number of graduates are experiencing the precarity of unemployment, under-employment and low salaries. This study aimed to investigate how university students in China understand and respond to the changing relationship between higher education and career opportunities.

Design/methodology/approach

The research team conducted 100 in-depth interviews with final-year undergraduates at one elite and one lower-tier university in a metropolitan city in Guangdong Province.

Findings

The students were acutely aware of fierce competition in the graduate labour market. When asked “what matters most” for post-graduation career prospects, they identified elite universities and high-status fields of study as “traditional” currencies of opportunity. Nonetheless, to stand out in a competitive environment, they perceived a growing need to supplement higher education credentials through university experiences (internships, student governance, study abroad programmes), party membership, personal connections and (overseas) postgraduate education. Moreover, in a “race to the top”, they discussed how qualitatively distinctive university experiences and elite postgraduate education are “new” currencies of opportunity for high-status professional employment.

Originality/value

The study demonstrates how intensified competition for graduate employment can result in an “opportunity trap”. The students were participating in an “arms race” to accumulate positional advantages for their post-graduation careers. The net impact of such efforts on a systemic level is to create an upward spiral in what students are expected to do in preparation for their post-graduation careers and further destabilise the value of higher education as a currency of opportunity.
How personality traits influence management styles of construction project managers
Authors: Ling Florence Y.Y. , Zhang Zhe , Wong Wei Ting
Published: June 2020

Purpose

This research investigates the dominant personality traits of construction project managers (PMs) and how their personality influences their management styles.

Design/methodology/approach

An industry-wide survey with 70 PMs was conducted in Singapore. The survey data were subjected to inferential statistical tests. In-depth interviews were conducted with four subject matter experts.

Findings

Majority of the sample PMs are male with age, education level and experience well spread. The dominant personality traits of PMs are found to be: high in Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Openness and low in Neuroticism. PMs adopt “team leadership” style in which they place high emphasis on both the work that they need to complete and the people they lead. Their Agreeableness and Conscientiousness may improve over time.

Research limitations/implications

The correlations and regressions cannot prove causality.

Practical implications

It is discovered that PMs who have high conscientiousness and high openness personalities are more likely to be leaders who are concerned for both the people that they lead and production outcomes. The implication is that employers may wish to conduct personality tests at the time of hiring to ensure good job match.

Originality/value

This study is novel because it integrated two areas of knowledge – personality traits and management style. The regression analysis discovered that Openness and Conscientiousness traits may be used to predict PMs' management styles. This suggests that if personality tests are administered at hiring stage, the outcomes may be used to match potential hires to the jobs that they are being considered for.
Using virtual reality to facilitate communication in the AEC domain: a systematic review
Authors: Wen Jing , Gheisari Masoud
Published: June 2020

Purpose

The architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry exists in a dynamic environment and requires several stakeholders to communicate regularly. However, evidence indicates current communication practices fail to meet the requirements of increasingly complex projects. With the advent of Industry 4.0, a trend is noted to create a digital communication environment between stakeholders. Identified as a central technology in Industry 4.0, virtual reality (VR) has the potential to supplement current communication and facilitate the digitization of the AEC industry. This paper aims to explore how VR has been applied and future research directions for communication purpose.

Design/methodology/approach

This research follows a systematic literature assessment methodology to summarize the results of 41 research articles in the last 15 years and outlines the applications of VR in facilitating communication in the AEC domain.

Findings

Relevant VR applications are mainly found in building inspection, facility management, safety training, construction education and design and review. Communication tools and affordance are provided or built in several forms: text-based tools, voice chat tool, visual sharing affordance and avatars. Objective and subjective communication assessments are observed from those publications.

Originality/value

This review contributes to identifying the recent employment areas and future research directions of VR to facilitate communication in the AEC domain. The outcome can be a practical resource to guide both industry professionals and researchers to recognize the potentials of VR and will ultimately facilitate the creation of digital construction environments.
Shradhanjali.com: creating Blue Ocean
Authors: Ghura Amarpreet Singh , Kumar Ishwar
Published: June 2020

Learning outcomes

Through a discussion of the case, students will be able to conduct “Pros and Cons” analysis for entering a new market. Conduct “SWOT” analysis for entering a new market. Explain how to create a Blue Ocean Market Space, by implementing the concept of value-innovation. Demonstrate the role of “strategy canvas” and “The four action framework” in creating Blue Ocean Market Space.

Case overview/synopsis

This case describes a situation in which Vivek Vyas (Vyas) and Vimal Popat (Popat) first generation entrepreneurs starts their venture shradhanajali.com in June 2011. The monthly revenues range in between INR 75,000 and INR 80,000. Shradhanjali.com has garnered customers from major parts of India, USA, Canada, UK and Africa. It was in 2019 when Vyas and Popat co-founders of Shradhanjali.com were in their office at Rajkot, Gujarat reading an article in financial express, which had a mention of India’s 10 most wacky startups which used technology and internet to get closer to users. One of the startups reported by financial express was offering people to book cremation for the funeral of the deceased loved ones. Looking at the article Popat thought to enter a new market space by mid of 2020, where new offering to customers to book online pujas across temples in India on the birth and death anniversaries of their loved ones. The purpose of this case is to provide an opportunity for the participants to make use of management tools such as Pros and Cons; and SWOT analysis to decide whether shradhanjali.com should penetrate more into this world of e-commerce and offer online puja service to their customers. However, the two co-founders are undecided whether to add online puja service in their service portfolio as they do now know the way forward to convert the idea of online puja into a viable business? Participants need to take into consideration the data given for shradhajali.com and make assumptions and resolve the dilemma through which Vyas and Popat are going through.

Complexity academic level

The case involves various issues with first generation online startup in strategic management field such “Pros and Cons” analysis and challenges faced during the new market creation phase. Thus, this case can be used for covering multiple perspectives related to blue ocean strategy (e.g. application of strategy canvas and the four action framework).

Supplementary materials

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

Subject code

CSS 11: Strategy.
Keep calm and carry on: European consumers and the development of persistent resilience in the face of austerity
Authors: Szmigin Isabelle T. , O'Loughlin Deirdre Mary , McEachern Morven , Karantinou Kalipso , Barbosa Belem , Lamprinakos Grigorios , Fernández-Moya María Eugenia
Published: June 2020

Purpose

In the context of European consumers’ experiences of austerity, this study aims to advance current resilience theory in marketing through developing persistent resilience from a context of austerity influenced consumption.

Design/methodology/approach

Following an interpretivist approach, 38 face to face, in-depth interviews were conducted with European consumers from Ireland, UK, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece who were affected in some way by the global financial crisis.

Findings

Building upon limited conceptual and empirical investigations in social geography, the analysis identifies the themes of persistent stressors and temporal orientation as constants, alongside day-to-day coping, relating and pragmatism, consumer adjustment, repertoires of resistance and transformation as key elements of persistent resilience within the consumption context of austerity.

Research limitations/implications

The study addresses the limited theoretical and empirical focus on persistent resilience and austerity and directly contributes to consumer behaviour and marketing theory in understanding persistent resilience and its implications.

Practical implications

Changes to behaviours as a result of persistent resilience included reducing and stopping consumption, discount shopping, alternative consumption in the form of growing or making and mindful consumption through wastage reduction and re-use.

Social implications

The study highlights the significant social impact of austerity while also identifying positive outcomes for social relations among family, friends and the wider community.

Originality/value

This study develops and extends Golubchikov’s (2011) theory of persistent resilience through exploring European consumer responses to austerity, identifying key consumption characteristics relevant for marketing theory and practice.
“It’s not like this here”: teaching a Youth Lens in South Korea
Authors: Murfield Ryan
Published: June 2020

Purpose

This paper aims to identify challenges in a first attempt at teaching the Youth Lens in a secondary English classroom in South Korea.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper includes the author's observations of a senior English class in an international school in South Korea.

Findings

The author advocates that intersections of time, geography and culture have a significant influence that cannot be ignored when teaching about adolescence. Additionally, when bringing a Youth Lens into the classroom teachers need to be prepared to fully embrace its embedded questions of power between youth and adults.

Originality/value

This paper extends existing academic conversation on a Youth Lens to include both an international setting and instances in which the teacher is not of the majority demographic in the classroom.
The CEO’s emotional bias and the delegation of decision-making rights
Authors: Souissi Yasmine , Salhi Bassem , Jarboui Anis
Published: June 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to document the relation between the bank’s regional CEO’s emotional bias (optimism and loss aversion) and the delegation of decision rights to the account manager.

Design/methodology/approach

The partial least squares (PLS) method is applied to investigate the degree to which bank’s regional CEO delegate decisions and the circumstances that drive variation in delegation.

Findings

The results show that delegation does not appear to be monolithic; instead, the results show that delegation varies with the personal characteristics of the bank’s regional CEO.

Practical implications

Banks are invited to take into account the effect of the emotional biases of the directors on the delegation of its power.

Originality/value

The authors put forward an original effort that is intended to discuss in particular the effect of psychological biases on the decentralization of the decision-making rights.
Information literacy and consciousness
Authors: Budd John M.
Published: June 2020

Purpose

While there is a huge literature devoted to information literacy (IL), much of which is devoted to course or content design and some sort of assessment. What is presented in this paper is the proposition that the design of IL would benefit greatly by the infusion of the development of consciousness and conscious states. The understanding of consciousness and its place in the absorption of information, and ultimately, knowledge growth is presented.

Design/methodology/approach

Reviews of information literacy (brief) and consciousness (more extensive) are applied to the proposition that consciousness is an essential element of successful information literacy instruction. The reviews are of a critical nature.

Findings

Consciousness and its complexity are explicated to a considerable extent. While there are somewhat varied conceptions of consciousness, a relatively unified definition is suggested. The complexities of consciousness and its development render students more able to explicate the agreements and disagreements in the information landscape. In short, a developed consciousness among students makes for more critical approaches to difficult informational events. Then, the connections between IL and consciousness, which includes the awareness of informational states, conclude the paper.

Research limitations/implications

This paper offers a new mode for an inquiry into the content and structure of information literacy instruction.

Originality/value

The paper adds a heretofore unattended condition for success in information literacy for instructors and students.
Culture and competitiveness in small-scale Latin-American forestry-based enterprising communities
Authors: Jardon Carlos M. , Martinez–Cobas Xavier
Published: June 2020

Purpose

Small-scale forestry-based enterprising communities are particularly associated with their territory and, therefore, are very conditioned by the local culture. This paper aims to explore the relationship between culture and competitiveness in small-scale Latin-American forestry-based enterprising communities.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used 212 surveys in companies linked to the production, industrialisation and commercialisation sector of the forestry industry in the province of Misiones (Argentina), using partial least squares to analyse the relationships thereof.

Findings

Culture and competitive advantages improve the growth of small-scale timber businesses and growth, in turn, increases financial performance. However, culture does not have an impact on competitive advantage and no interaction effect of culture on competitive advantage was detected. The results can indicate that there might be a need to incorporate other concepts and operationalisation that are better suited to the geographical and industrial contexts in developing countries.

Research limitations/implications

The literature and measures used to operationalise variables in the survey did not necessarily succeed in capturing the culture in the studied small- and medium-sized enterprises. In addition, the design of the sample and subjective measures may partially condition the results.

Practical implications

For business managers and consultants, this study indicates that they must take into account the local culture to improve performance. Entrepreneurs must reorient the company strategy towards the long term, integrating local culture into their strategy to generate competitive advantages.

Social implications

Political authorities and social agents should also take into consideration the cultural aspects of the territory when implementing regulations and specific actions to improve the industry and strengthen the sense of community. The results highlight the vitality of animators and development agencies and of any factor that fosters social cohesion.

Originality/value

The paper shows a new approach to the relationship between culture and competitiveness in small-scale forestry-based enterprising communities, combining performance in a formal sector with the bazaar model.
Retaining the adolescent workforce in family businesses
Authors: Telling Richard , Goulding Philip John
Published: June 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to critically explore the linkage between adolescent work, parent–child relationships and offspring career choice outcomes in a family business context. It examines the aforementioned in light of the stay/go decision faced by adolescent family members.

Design/methodology/approach

Findings are derived from semi-structured interviews with 15 individuals from five Italian families operating family catering businesses in Yorkshire (UK). The approach represents a sample spanning four generations, designed to capture data from individuals who had experienced adolescent work at the family business.

Findings

The findings offer evidence that the “familiarity” of family business impacts on offspring career choices, providing a safety net or a trap which can impede exit decisions. Returning after periods of study leave that represent the transition from adolescence to adulthood, offspring continue to use the family business as a base from which to explore their career options. Alternatively, when parent–child relationships break down, family business escape strategies assume priority for offspring.

Research limitations/implications

The study focussed exclusively on migrant Italian families within the catering sector. The sample included different generational representations among the five families. It lays the ground for future research of a similar nature among other family business ethnicities and across other economic sectors.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to understanding offspring career choice outcomes in a family business context. The empirical evidence suggests that parent–child relationships are instrumental to understanding the stay/go decision as well as previous stages of the socialisation process of embedding in the family business.
Half human, half machine – augmenting service employees with AI for interpersonal emotion regulation
Authors: Henkel Alexander P. , Bromuri Stefano , Iren Deniz , Urovi Visara
Published: June 2020

Purpose

With the advent of increasingly sophisticated AI, the nature of work in the service frontline is changing. The next frontier is to go beyond replacing routine tasks and augmenting service employees with AI. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether service employees augmented with AI-based emotion recognition software are more effective in interpersonal emotion regulation (IER) and whether and how IER impacts their own affective well-being.

Design/methodology/approach

For the underlying study, an AI-based emotion recognition software was developed in order to assist service employees in managing customer emotions. A field study based on 2,459 call center service interactions assessed the effectiveness of the AI in augmenting service employees for IER and the immediate downstream consequences for well-being relevant outcomes.

Findings

Augmenting service employees with AI significantly improved their IER activities. Employees in the AI (vs control) condition were significantly more effective in regulating customer emotions. IER goal attainment, in turn, mediated the effect on employee affective well-being. Perceived stress related to exposure to the AI augmentation acted as a competing mediator.

Practical implications

Service firms can benefit from state-of-the-art AI technology by focusing on its capacity to augment rather than merely replacing employees. Furthermore, signaling IER goal attainment with the help of technology may provide uplifting consequences for service employee affective well-being.

Originality/value

The present study is among the first to empirically test the introduction of an AI-fueled technology to augment service employees in handling customer emotions. This paper further complements the literature by investigating IER in a real-life setting and by uncovering goal attainment as a new mechanism underlying the effect of IER on the well-being of the sender.
Property valuation in the UK: material uncertainty and COVID-19
Authors: French Nick
Published: June 2020

Purpose

An understanding of uncertainty has always been an integral part of property valuations. No valuation is certain, and the valuer needs to convey to the user of the valuation in the degree of uncertainty pertaining to the market value.

Design/methodology/approach

This practice briefing is a short overview of the importance of understanding uncertainty in valuation in normal markets and the particular difficulties now with the material uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Findings

This paper discusses how important it is for the valuer and the client to communicate and understand the uncertainty in the market at any point of time. The COVID-19 has had a significant impact on property values and the importance of clarity within valuation reports.

Practical implications

This paper looks at the importance of placing capital and rental value changes due to material uncertainty in valuation reports.

Originality/value

This provides guidance on how professional bodies are advising their members, around the world, on how to report valuations and market value in the context of material uncertainty.
A gamified approach to promoting empathy in children
Authors: Saleme Pamela , Dietrich Timo , Pang Bo , Parkinson Joy
Published: June 2020

Purpose

Gamification has gained popularity in social marketing research; however, its application remains limited to a few contexts, and relatively little is known about how innovative gamification technologies such as augmented reality can be applied to social marketing programme design. This paper aims to demonstrate the application of gamification to a social marketing pilot programme designed to increase children’s empathy and empathic behaviour.

Design/methodology/approach

Informed by social cognitive theory (SCT), a mixed-method research design was adopted using pre- and post-programme surveys (n = 364) to assess effectiveness using paired samples t-test. Qualitative data included observations, participant’s questions and a feedback activity at the end of the programme. A thematic analysis was undertaken to examine the data and detect meaningful insights.

Findings

Children’s affective empathy and empathic behaviour outcomes were improved following the pilot programme. However, no effects were observed for cognitive empathy and social norms. Thematic analysis revealed three themes to further improve the game: developmentally appropriate design, user experience and game design.

Research limitations/implications

Findings demonstrated challenges with the application of SCT outlining a disconnect between the design of the gamified programme and theory application.

Practical implications

This study provides initial evidence for the application of innovative gamification technologies to increase empathy in children.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to examine how a gamified social marketing programme can increase empathy in children.
The micro-trends of emerging adventure tourism activities in Nepal
Authors: Wengel Yana
Published: June 2020

Purpose

This paper aims to review two micro-trends influencing the landscape of adventure tourism activities in Nepal. In spite of being a popular adventure tourism destination for more than half a century, the offer of adventure tourism activities in Nepal remained limited until recently.

Design/methodology/approach

This study underpinned by interpretive epistemology used netnographic methods of data collection. As such, 15 stakeholderss’ interviews were conducted, and 25 grey literature sources were collected.

Findings

The findings suggest that a bottom-up approach to the development of emerging adventure sports and the upsurge of domestic adventure tourism are the micro-trends influencing the adventure tourism landscape in Nepal. This paper discusses skiing and mountain biking as emerging land-based adventure activities. One distinguishing feature is that those initiatives are driven by locals passionate about this sport. Furthermore, skiing and mountain biking are promoted for both international and domestic tourists. Overall, the findings highlight the growth of the domestic adventure tourism market in Nepal.

Practical implications

This study recommends shifting attention from focussing merely on international visitors and to establish domestic adventure tourism market. For practitioners, including tourism agencies and wider industry stakeholders, it might be important to explore the demand in adventure tourism and create products for domestic adventure tourism.

Social implications

Creating and expanding adventure tourism activities for locals would not only provide economic benefit but also contribute to well-being and recreation opportunities for Nepali.

Originality/value

To date, research on adventure tourism activities in Nepal other than mountaineering remains scant. This paper contributes towards understanding the micro-trends influencing the landscape of adventure tourism activities in Nepal and for the first time, explores the trends of Nepal’s domestic adventure tourism market.
Emotional awareness amongst middle leadership
Authors: Lambert Steve
Published: June 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this viewpoint paper is to explore middle leaders' ability to recognise emotions in the context of workplace research, and to propose measures that might support them in their role.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper combines a contemporary literature review with reflections from practice to develop more nuanced understandings of middle leadership. This paper applied the Geneva Emotional Recognition Test (GERT) to explore the level of emotional recognition of 86 individuals (teachers to headteachers (equivalent to school principals)).

Findings

The preliminary findings suggest that teachers and headteachers have higher levels of emotional recognition than middle and senior leaders. This paper subsequently argues that the task-orientated nature middle leadership compounds an individual's ability to engage effectively in relationship-orientated tasks. This explains why middle leaders scored lower on the GERT assessment. This is further inhibited by the anti-correlation in the brain's ability to deal with the task-positive network (TDM) and default mode network (DMN) processing functions where individuals operate in one neural mode for long periods.

Research limitations/implications

The viewpoint paper proposes a number of implications for middle leaders and suggests that middle leaders should proactively seek out opportunities to be engaged in activities that support the DMN function of the brain and subsequently the relationship-orientated aspects of leadership, for example, coaching other staff members. However, it has to be recognised that the sample size is small and further work is needed before any generalisations can be made.

Originality/value

This paper offers a contemporary review of the role of middle leaders underpinned by a preliminary study into individuals' ability to recognise emotions.
A multi-objective mixed-integer linear model for sustainable fruit closed-loop supply chain network
Authors: Jabarzadeh Younis , Reyhani Yamchi Hossein , Kumar Vikas , Ghaffarinasab Nader
Published: June 2020

Purpose

This paper aims to present a closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) optimization problem for a perishable agricultural product to achieve three pillars of sustainability, including minimizing total network costs and carbon dioxide emissions from different network activities and maximizing responsiveness to demands simultaneously.

Design/methodology/approach

The research problem is formulated as a multi-objective mixed-integer linear programming model, and classical approaches, including the LP-Metric and weighted Tchebycheff method, have been applied to solve the optimization model. A set of test problems has been proposed to validate the model, and the results are presented.

Findings

Computational time to find Pareto optimal solutions by using the weighted Tchebycheff method was twice as much as that of the LP-Metric method. Also, the result of the study is a mathematical model that can be applied to other products that are close to the fruit, such as vegetables.

Research limitations/implications

The present study is limited to fruits supply chains and the inventory is considered at the distribution centers only. The study also considers only one type of transport.

Practical implications

The paper can assist supply chain managers to define strategies to achieve a sustainable CLSC network configuration for the fruits.

Originality/value

This study is one of the early studies to consider environmental indicators in fruits supply chain design along with two other indicators of sustainability, namely, economic and social indicators. Therefore, this can help supply chain managers to achieve sustainability by optimizing location decisions, inventory quantities and flow between facilities.
The effect of political risk on shareholder value and the mitigating role of corporate social responsibility (CSR)
Authors: Chatjuthamard Pattanaporn , Jiraporn Pornsit , Sarajoti Pattarake , Singh Manohar
Published: June 2020

Purpose

The study investigates the effect of political risk on shareholder value, using an event study and a novel measure of firm-level political risk recently developed by Hassan et al. (2017). In addition, the authors explore how corporate social responsibility (CSR) influences the effect of political risk on shareholder wealth.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors exploit the guilty plea of Jack Abramoff, a well-known lobbyist, on January 3, 2006, as an exogenous shock that made lobbying less effective and less useful in the future, depriving firms of an important tool to reduce political exposure.

Findings

The results show that the market reactions are significantly more negative for firms with more political exposure. Additional analysis corroborates the results, including propensity score matching, instrumental-variable analysis and Oster's (2019) method for testing coefficient stability. Finally, the authors note that the adverse effect of political risk on shareholder value is substantially mitigated for firms with strong social responsibility, consistent with the risk mitigation hypothesis.

Originality/value

This study is the first to explore the effect of political risk on shareholder value using a novel measure. Furthermore, it is also the first to show that CSR alleviates the cost of political risk to shareholders.
Options trading strategy based on ARIMA forecasting
Authors: Rostan Pierre , Rostan Alexandra , Nurunnabi Mohammad
Published: June 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate a profitable and original index options trading strategy.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology is based on auto regressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) forecasting of the S&P 500 index and the strategy is tested on a large database of S&P 500 Composite index options and benchmarked to the generalized auto regressive conditional heteroscedastic (GARCH) model. The forecasts validate a set of criteria as follows: the first criterion checks if the forecasted index is greater or lower than the option strike price and the second criterion if the option premium is underpriced or overpriced. A buy or sell and hold strategy is finally implemented.

Findings

The paper demonstrates the valuable contribution of this option trading strategy when trading call and put index options. It especially demonstrates that the ARIMA forecasting method is a valid method for forecasting the S&P 500 Composite index and is superior to the GARCH model in the context of an application to index options trading.

Originality/value

The strategy was applied in the aftermath of the 2008 credit crisis over 60 months when the volatility index (VIX) was experiencing a downtrend. The strategy was successful with puts and calls traded on the USA market. The strategy may have a different outcome in a different economic and regional context.