bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ultrahigh yields of giant vesicles obtained through mesophase evolution and breakup
Authors: Cooper Alexis , Subramaniam Anand Bala
Published: June 2024

Self-assembly odry amphiphilic lipid films on surfaces upon hydration is a crucial step in the formation of cell-like giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs). GUVs are useful as model biophysical systems, as chassis for synthetic biology, and in biomedical applications. Here via combined quantitative measurements of the molar yield and distributions of sizes and high-resolution imaging of the evolution of lipid films on surfaces, we report the discovery of a previously unknown pathway for the assembly of GUVs which can lead to ultrahigh yields of > 50 %. This yield is about 60 % higher than any GUV yield reported to date. The “shear-induced fragmentation” pathway occurs in membranes containing 3 mol % of the poly(ethylene glycol) modified lipid PEG2000-DSPE (1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-[methoxy(polyethylene glycol)-2000]), when a lipid-dense foam-like mesophase forms upon hydration. The membranes in the mesophase fragment and close to form GUVs upon application of fluid shear. Experiments with varying mol % of PEG2000-DSPE and with lipids with partial molecular similarity to PEG2000-DSPE show that ultrahigh yields are only achievable under conditions where the lipid-dense mesophase forms. The increased yield of GUVs compared to mixtures without PEG2000-DSPE was general to other flat supporting surfaces such as stainless steel sheets and to various lipid mixtures. Since FDA-approved liposomal and lipid nanoparticle formulations use PEG2000-DSPE, these results provide a useful route to obtaining ultrahigh yields of GUVs that are suitable for biomedical applications.
Evidence of Activity-Silent Working Memory in Prefrontal Cortex
Authors: Tao Weicheng , Libedinsky Camilo
Published: June 2024

The lateral prefrontal cortex encodes working memory and motor preparation information, but the underlying neural mechanisms are debated. Recurrent neural network models relying on persistent neural activity have been challenged by the observation of periods of absent activity and information during memory maintenance, implying the existence of activity-silent mechanisms. To assess whether activity-silent mechanisms are needed for working memory maintenance, we recorded neural activity in macaque prefrontal cortex during a delayed-saccade task. We replicated the observation of periods of absent activity and decreased information between bursts of gamma power, but we show that these results are consistent with models that rely exclusively on persistent activity. However, an assessment of the length of periods with absent selective activity across the population revealed that activity-silent mechanisms are indeed needed to maintain memory information, although this is only evidenced in a small fraction of trials.
Differences in Methanotrophic Community Structure in Two Methane-Rich Habitats: Oil Natural Gas Field & Paddy Field
Authors: Verma Akanksha , Maitra S.S.
Published: June 2024

Methanotrophic bacterial isolates were identified in this study using the molecular detection method, isolated using microbiological techniques, and studied their cellular shape using atomic force microscopy. Two methanotrophic bacterial species belonging to theMethylocaldumandMethylomonasgenera were provisionally designated as Isolate 1 and Isolate 5, thus isolated from the Oil-Natural Gas Field and Paddy Field, respectively. The Oil-Natural Gas Field Isolate 1 showed 91.82-97.25% sequence homology to the reference Methanotrophic species, whereas Paddy Field Isolate 5 showed 79.72-84.99% sequence homology to the referenceMethylomonasspecies in the NCBI database. As per the phylogenetic analysis, Oil-Natural Gas Field Isolate 1 and Paddy Field Isolate 5 are possibly new species ofMethylocaldumandMethylomonasgenus, respectively. In addition, the microscopic study also supported the molecular identification and phylogenetic analysis of isolated species by showing the cocci and rod shapes for the Oil-Natural Gas Field Isolate 1 and Paddy Field Isolate 5, respectively.
Mild traumatic brain injury is associated with increased thalamic subregion volume in the subacute period following injury
Authors: Baird Maggie E , Beare Richard , Seal Marc L , Yang Joseph Yuan-Mou , Anderson Jacqueline F. I.
Published: June 2024

Structural vulnerability of the thalamus remains under investigated in mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), and few studies have addressed its constituent nuclei using robust segmentation methods. This study aimed to investigate thalamic subnuclei volume in the subacute period following mTBI. Trauma control (TC) and mTBI patients aged 18 – 60 years old completed an MRI neuroimaging protocol including both high resolution structural (T1w) and diffusion weighted sequences at 6 – 11 weeks following injury (mean: 57 days; sd 11). Each thalamus was segmented into its constituent subnuclei, which were grouped into eight lateralised subregions. Volumes of the subregions were calculated. Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density (NODDI) maps with parameters optimised for grey matter were computed for the same subregions. Group differences in subregion volumes and NODDI parameters were investigated using Bayesian linear modelling, with age, sex, and intracranial volume included as covariates. Comparisons of mTBI (n = 39) and TC (n = 28) groups revealed evidence of relatively increased grey matter volume in the mTBI group for the bilateral medial and right intralaminar subregions (BF10> 3). Of the subregions which showed volume differences, there was no evidence for differences in NODDI metrics between groups. This study demonstrates that in the subacute period following mTBI, there is evidence of increased volume in specific thalamic subregions. Putative mechanisms underpinning the increased volume observed here are disordered remyelination, or myelin debris yet to be cleared.

Significance statement

Despite the prevalence of continued cognitive, somatic, and vestibular symptoms in the subacute period (6 – 12 weeks) following an mTBI, a clear neuropathophysiological profile is yet to be determined. One key vulnerable structure in mTBI could be the thalamus, a subcortical grey matter structure which comprises numerous subregions. The present study investigated whether changes in thalamic subregion volume are evident in the subacute period. For the first time, we show that at approximately 8 weeks following injury, mTBI is associated with increased volume in specific thalamus subregions. This provides an important avenue for continued investigation into the clinical significance of these findings.
Single-cell multi-omics and spatial multi-omics data integration via dual-path graph attention auto-encoder
Authors: Lv Tongxuan , Zhang Yong , Liu Junlin , Kang Qiang , Liu Lin
Published: June 2024

Single-cell multi-omics data integration enables joint analysis of the resolution at single-cell level to provide comprehensive and accurate understanding of complex biological systems, while spatial multi-omics data integration is benefit to the exploration of cell spatial heterogeneity to facilitate more diversified downstream analyses. Existing methods are mainly designed for single-cell multi-omics data with little consideration on spatial information, and still have the room for performance improvement. A reliable multi-omics data integration method that can be applied to both single-cell and spatially resolved data is necessary and significant. We propose a single-cell multi-omics and spatial multi-omics data integration method based on dual-path graph attention auto-encoder (SSGATE). It can construct neighborhood graphs based on single-cell expression data and spatial information respectively, and perform self-supervised learning for data integration through the graph attention auto-encoders from two paths. SSGATE is applied to data integration of transcriptomics and proteomics, including single-cell and spatially resolved data of various tissues from different sequencing technologies. SSGATE shows better performance and stronger robustness than competitive methods and facilitates downstream analysis.
Long-range neuropeptide relay as a central-peripheral communication mechanism for the context-dependent modulation of interval timing behaviors
Authors: Zhang Tianmu , Wu Zekun , Song Yutong , Li Wenjing , Sun Yanying , Zhang Xiaoli , Wong Kyle , Schweizer Justine , Nguyen Khoi-Nguyen Ha , Kwan Alex , Kim Woo Jae
Published: June 2024

Neuropeptides play crucial roles in regulating context-dependent behaviors, but the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. We investigate the role of the neuropeptide SIFa and its receptor SIFaR in regulating two distinct mating duration behaviors in maleDrosophila: Longer-Mating-Duration (LMD) and Shorter-Mating-Duration (SMD). We found that SIFaR expression in specific neurons is required for both LMD and SMD behaviors. Social context and sexual experience lead to synaptic reorganization between SIFa and SIFaR neurons, altering internal states of brain. We revealed that the SIFa-SIFaR/Crz-CrzR neuropeptide relay pathway is essential for generating distinct interval timing behaviors, with Crz neurons being responsive to the activity of SIFa neurons. Additionally, CrzR expression in non-neuronal cells is critical for regulating LMD and SMD behaviors. Our study provides insights into how neuropeptides and their receptors modulate context-dependent behaviors through synaptic plasticity and calcium signaling, with implications for understanding the neural circuitry underlying interval timing and neuropeptidergic system modulation of behavioral adaptations.
Incoherent tune measurement of an ion storage ring using single ions
Authors: Liao T. , Guo C. , Yan X. L. , Zhou X. , Xing Y. M. , Wang M. , Yuan Y. J. , Zhang Y. H. , Zhou X. H. , Zhang M. , Ge W. W. , Jiao H. Y. , Jiang Y. L. , Mao L. J. , Chen R. J. , Fu C. Y. , Mao R. S. , Yang J. C. , Litvinov S. A. , Litvinov Yu. A.
Published: June 2024

The measurement of betatron tunes is important in the studies of beam dynamics in circular accelerators. Here, we report a new method to extract the fractional tune values using revolution times of single ions stored for a few hundred turns in a heavy-ion storage ring utilizing a single time-of-flight detector. The experiment was done at the experimental Cooler Storage Ring (CSRe) in Lanzhou. The unbunched cocktail secondary beam was injected into the ring and allowed to coast without further excitation. Since the average number of simultaneously stored ions inside the 128.8 m-circumference ring was merely ∼20, the obtained tune values are considered to be incoherent. Given that the revolution time of an individual ion is related to its momentum, the chromaticity of the ring could be addressed. Moreover, the data indicate a possible beam mismatch in vertical direction y^ at the injection into CSRe. The new method is developed for ultralow beam intensities and is thus a sensitive approach to tune measurements. Thanks to its simplicity, the method can straightforwardly be employed at other circular accelerators by applying the same detection approach.

Published by the American Physical Society
2024
Anomalous diffusion of the heavy quarks through the fractional Langevin equation
Authors: Prakash Jai
Published: June 2024

The dynamics of heavy quarks within the hot QCD medium have been revisited, considering the influence of anomalous diffusion. This study has been conducted using the framework of the fractional Langevin equation involving the Caputo fractional derivative. We introduce a numerical scheme for the fractional Langevin equation and demonstrate that the mean-squared displacement of the particle exhibits anomalous diffusion, deviating from a linear relationship with time. Our analysis calculates various entities, such as mean-squared momentum, momentum spread, and the nuclear suppression factor RAA. Notably, our findings indicate that superdiffusion strongly suppresses the RAA compared to normal diffusion in the hot QCD medium. The possible impacts on other parameters are also discussed.

Published by the American Physical Society
2024
CESPED: A benchmark for supervised particle pose estimation in cryo-EM
Authors: Sanchez-Garcia Ruben , Saur Michael , Vargas Javier , Poelking Carl , Deane Charlotte M.
Published: June 2024

Cryo-EM is a powerful tool for understanding macromolecular structures, yet current methods for structure reconstruction are slow and computationally demanding. To accelerate research on pose estimation, we present CESPED, a data set specifically designed for supervised pose estimation in cryo-EM. Alongside CESPED, we provide a package to simplify cryo-EM data handling and model evaluation. We evaluate the performance of a baseline model, Image2Sphere, on CESPED, which shows promising results but also highlights the need for further improvements. Additionally, we illustrate the potential of deep learning-based pose estimators to generalize across different samples, suggesting a promising path toward more efficient processing strategies.

Published by the American Physical Society
2024
Compact stellarator-tokamak hybrid
Authors: Henneberg S. A. , Plunk G. G.
Published: June 2024

Tokamaks and stellarators are the leading two magnetic confinement devices for producing fusion energy, begging the question of whether the strengths of the two could be merged into a single concept. To meet this challenge, we propose a first-of-its kind optimized stellarator-tokamak hybrid. Compared to a typical tokamak coil set, only a single simple type of stellarator coil has to be added which leads to a compact, volume- and transport-preserving magnetic field, with an added rotational transform that reaches levels thought to enhance stability.

Published by the American Physical Society
2024
Detection of Approaching Critical Transitions in Natural Systems Driven by Red Noise
Authors: Morr Andreas , Boers Niklas
Published: June 2024

Detection of critical slowing down (CSD) is the dominant avenue for anticipating critical transitions from noisy time-series data. Most commonly, changes in variance and lag-1 autocorrelation [AC(1)] are used as CSD indicators. However, these indicators will only produce reliable results if the noise driving the system is white and stationary. In the more realistic case of time-correlated red noise, increasing (decreasing) the correlation of the noise will lead to spurious (masked) alarms for both variance and AC(1). Here, we propose two new methods that can discriminate true CSD from possible changes in the driving noise characteristics. We focus on estimating changes in the linear restoring rate based on Langevin-type dynamics driven by either white or red noise. We assess the capacity of our new estimators to anticipate critical transitions and show that they perform significantly better than other existing methods both for continuous-time and discrete-time models. In addition to conceptual models, we apply our methods to climate model simulations of the termination of the African Humid Period. The estimations rule out spurious signals stemming from nonstationary noise characteristics and reveal a destabilization of the African climate system as the dynamical mechanism underlying this archetype of abrupt climate change in the past.

Published by the American Physical Society
2024
Efficient Large-Scale Many-Body Quantum Dynamics via Local-Information Time Evolution
Authors: Artiaco Claudia , Fleckenstein Christoph , Aceituno Chávez David , Kvorning Thomas Klein , Bardarson Jens H.
Published: June 2024

During time evolution of many-body systems entanglement grows rapidly, limiting exact simulations to small-scale systems or small timescales. Quantum information tends, however, to flow towards larger scales without returning to local scales, such that its detailed large-scale structure does not directly affect local observables. This allows for the removal of large-scale quantum information in a way that preserves all local observables and gives access to large-scale and large-time quantum dynamics. To this end, we use the recently introduced to organize quantum information into different scales, allowing us to define and that we employ to systematically discard long-range quantum correlations in a controlled way. Our approach relies on decomposing the system into subsystems up to a maximum scale and time evolving the subsystem density matrices by solving the subsystem von Neumann equations in parallel. Importantly, the information flow needs to be preserved during the discarding of large-scale information. To achieve this without the need to make assumptions about the microscopic details of the information current, we introduce a second scale at which information is discarded, while using the state at the maximum scale to accurately obtain the information flow. The resulting algorithm, which we call local-information time evolution, is highly versatile and suitable for investigating many-body quantum dynamics in both closed and open quantum systems with diverse hydrodynamic behaviors. We present results for the energy transport in the mixed-field Ising model and the magnetization transport in the XX spin chain with onsite dephasing where we accurately determine the power-law exponent and the diffusion coefficients. Furthermore, the information lattice framework employed here promises to offer insightful results about the spatial and temporal behavior of entanglement in many-body systems.

Published by the American Physical Society
2024
Ultrasound-assisted synthesis of a Eu3+-functionalized ZnII coordination polymer as a fluorescent dual detection probe for highly sensitive recognition of HgII and L-Cys
Authors: Farahmand Kateshali Arash , Soleimannejad Janet , Janczak Jan
Published: June 2024

A new ZnII coordination polymer (CP) based on 2,3-pyrazine dicarboxylic acid (H2pzdc) and 4,4′-bipyridine (bpy) (ZCP) was synthesized using a facile slow evaporation method. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction revealed that ZCP is a two-dimensional porous CP, [Zn2(pzdc)2(bpy)(H2O)2]
n
, with van der Waals forces as the dominant interaction within its layers forming a 63 network. Employing energetic ultrasound irradiation, nanoscale ZCP (nZCP) was successfully synthesized and Eu3+ ions were incorporated within its host lattice (Eu@nZCP). The resulting platform exhibits superior fluorescence characteristics and demonstrates notable optical durability. Therefore, it was used as a dual detection fluorescent sensing platform for the detection of mercury and L-cysteine (L-Cys) in aqueous media through a turn-off/on strategy. In the turn-off process, the fluorescence emission of Eu@nZCP progressively quenches by the addition of HgII
via a photo-induced electron transfer (PET) mechanism. The fluorescence of Eu@nZCP is quenched to establish a low fluorescence background through the incorporation of HgII. This devised turn-on fluorescent system is suitable for the recognition of L-Cys (based on the strong affinity of L-Cys to the HgII ion) through a quencher detachment mechanism. This method attained a relatively wide linear range, spanning from 0.001 to 25 µM, with the low detection limit of 5 nM for the sensing of HgII. Also, the corresponding limit of detection (LOD) for L-Cys is 8 nM in a relatively wide linear range, spanning from 0.001 to 40 µM.
Poly[[{μ2-5-[(dimethylamino)(thioxo)methoxy]benzene-1,3-dicarboxylato-κ4
O
1,O
1′:O
3,O
3′}(μ2-4,4′-dipyridylamine-κ2
N
4:N
4′)cobalt(II)] dimethylformamide hemisolvate monohydrate]
Authors: Qin Hui-Yu , Zhang Bing-Guang , Sun Qiao-Zhen
Published: June 2024

In the crystal structure of the title compound, {[Co(C11H9NSO5)(C10H9N3)]0.5C3H7NO·H2O}
n
or {[Co(dmtb)(dpa)]·0.5DMF·H2O}
n
(dmtb2– = 5-[(dimethylamino)thioxomethoxy]-1,3-benzenedicarboxylate and dpa = 4,4′-dipyridylamine), an assembly of periodic [Co(C11H9NSO5)(C10H9N3)]
n
layers extending parallel to the bc plane is present. Each layer is constituted by distorted [CoO4N2] octahedra, which are connected through the μ
2-coordination modes of both dmtb2– and dpa ligands. Occupationally disordered water and dimethylformamide (DMF) solvent molecules are located in the voids of the network to which they are connected through hydrogen-bonding interactions.
(2,5-Dimethylimidazole){N,N′,N′′,N′′′-[porphyrin-5,10,15,20-tetrayltetra(2,1-phenylene)]tetrakis(pyridine-3-carboxamide)}manganese(II) chlorobenzene disolvate
Authors: Yang Jun , Zhang Cuijuan , Chu Jiaxiang
Published: June 2024

In the title compound, [Mn(C68H44N12O4)(C5H8N2)]·2C6H5Cl, the central MnII ion is coordinated by four pyrrole N atoms of the porphyrin core in the basal sites and one N atom of the 2,5-dimethylimidazole ligand in the apical site. Two chlorobenzene solvent molecules are also present in the asymmetric unit. Due to the apical imidazole ligand, the Mn atom is displaced out of the 24-atom porphyrin mean plane by 0.66 Å. The average Mn—Np (p = porphyrin) bond length is 2.143 (8) Å, and the axial Mn—NIm (Im = 2,5-dimethylimidazole) bond length is 2.171 (8) Å. The structure displays intermolecular and intramolecular N—H...O, N—H...N, C—H...O and C—H...N hydrogen bonding. The crystal studied was refined as a two-component inversion twin.
COVID-19 and human resource management: status, trends and research directions
Authors: Sachdeva Leena , Jena Lalatendu Kesari , Badhotiya Gaurav Kumar , Baharul Islam K.M. , Mujtaba Bahaudin Ghulam , Pal Suchitra
Published: June 2024

Purpose

This study aims to conduct an extensive bibliometric analysis of research across COVID-19 and human resource management (HRM). It captures an exhaustive conceptual understanding of theoretical foundations, research trends, developments and research directions in the HRM domain.

Design/methodology/approach

A set of 505 HRM and COVID-19-specific articles collected from the Scopus database were systematically analyzed using a two-tier method. In the first tier of analysis, the evolution and current state of research are identified using citation analysis. In the second tier, network analysis and content analysis of research clusters and thematic mapping are done to identify the prominent research themes and research gaps and suggest future research directions.

Findings

The study highlights the emergence of six research clusters: SHRM and competitive advantage, employer branding and employee engagement, crisis management and resilience, challenges, career shock and job demand resources and burnout. The thematic mapping categorizes the themes into four categories: motor, basic, emerging or declining, and niche research themes published on COVID-19 and HRM. To understand the socio-cultural dynamics and cross-cultural issues during human resource management, the findings emphasized the need for the increased contribution of researchers and practitioners, especially from the developing and emerging nation’s context. Increased co-authorship among influential authors and institutions will also help formulate strategies and policies to effectively deal with similar pandemics.

Originality/value

Unlike the previous literature review, the present findings provide meaningful insights for formulating people management techniques, policies, and practices in response to COVID-19 or similar pandemics.
Honeycomb-configured dissipative nanofluid flow within a squeezed channel with entropy generation: regression and numerical evaluations
Authors: Hussain Syed Modassir , Sharma Rohit , Mishra Manoj Kumar , Singh Jitendra Kumar
Published: June 2024

Purpose

Nanosized honeycomb-configured materials are used in modern technology, thermal science and chemical engineering due to their high ultra thermic relevance. This study aims to scrutinize the heat transmission features of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) honeycomb-structured graphene nanofluid flow within two squeezed parallel plates under Joule dissipation and solar thermal radiation impacts.

Design/methodology/approach

Mass, energy and momentum preservation laws are assumed to find the mathematical model. A set of unified ordinary differential equations with nonlinear behavior is used to express the correlated partial differential equations of the established models, adopting a reasonable similarity adjustment. An approximate convergent numerical solution to these equations is evaluated by the shooting scheme with the Runge–Kutta–Fehlberg (RKF45) technique.

Findings

The impression of pertinent evolving parameters on the temperature, fluid velocity, entropy generation, skin friction coefficients and the heat transference rate is explored. Further, the significance of the irreversibility nature of heat transfer due to evolving flow parameters are evaluated. It is noted that the heat transference rate performance is improved due to the imposition of the allied magnetic field, Joule dissipation, heat absorption, squeezing and thermal buoyancy parameters. The entropy generation upsurges due to rising magnetic field strength while its intensification is declined by enhancing the porosity parameter.

Originality/value

The uniqueness of this research work is the numerical evaluation of MHD honeycomb-structured graphene nanofluid flow within two squeezed parallel plates under Joule dissipation and solar thermal radiation impacts. Furthermore, regression models are devised to forecast the correlation between the rate of thermal heat transmission and persistent flow parameters.
Income mobility and crime: a hierarchical cluster analysis on principal components for 27 OECD countries
Authors: Berrittella Maria
Published: June 2024

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to investigate the linkages between intergenerational income mobility and crime for 27 OECD countries, considering different types of crime, family ties, enforcement, in terms of punishment rate and perceived quality of the legal system, redistributive outcomes and government expenditure.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the Global Database of Intergenerational Mobility (GDIM), the empirical analysis is conducted by coupling the principal components analysis with the hierarchical clustering. The variance tests verify the robustness of the clusters.

Findings

Income mobility is higher in those countries where there is high public investment devoted to education and high perception of rule of law to buffer the adverse effects of crime on income mobility. The redistributive policies must be oriented to better the wealth distribution and not only income equality opportunity to decrease crime and to increase income mobility. A plausible existence of “hidden” income mobility emerges from the linkages between income mobility and frauds.

Social implications

More redistributive policies for education, income and wealth equality should be applied in those countries with low income mobility and high violent crime rates; higher punishment rates should be applied to reduce the rates of thefts and frauds in high income mobility countries.

Originality/value

The main contribution is the identification of what type of crime leads to downward income mobility, as well as the role of perceived quality of the legal system, government and family ties in the association between income mobility and crime, suggesting also the potential existence of “hidden” income mobility.

Peer review

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-07-2023-0520
Perception and willingness to participate in warehouse receipt system: insights from cashew farmers in the Bono region of Ghana
Authors: Asare Jeffery Kofi , Mensah Nicholas Oppong , Agyemang Priscilla , Matthew Anderson , Dhaka Surjeet Singh
Published: June 2024

Purpose

The warehouse receipt system (WRS) is critical for farmers because it addresses agricultural market inefficiencies, provides credit access, reduces postharvest losses and increases access to profitable markets. However, its use and implementation across the commodity value chain remain relatively limited in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly among cash crop producers. This study examines cashew farmers' perceptions of WRS implementation and determinants of farmer participation.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 153 cashew farmers from the Bono region of Ghana were sampled using a multistage sampling approach. Perception index analysis and Cragg's double hurdle model were used for the analysis.

Findings

The results revealed that farmers strongly perceived that WRS augmented credit and market access. In addition, farm size, household size, annual income, perception of collateral and higher selling price determined farmers' willingness to participate in WRS.

Research limitations/implications

Despite the existence of other cashew farmers in Ghana, the study was limited to cashew farmers in Bono Region.

Originality/value

Despite the plethora of benefits of WRS, it is surprising that its implementation in the cashew subsector is geographically limited to East Africa. Thus, this study is the first to provide empirical evidence on the perception of WRS implementation and further examine farmers' willingness to participate in WRS in Ghana.

Peer review

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-12-2023-0946.
The geography of the craft beer scene in Budapest
Authors: Bakucs Zoltán , Fertő Imre
Published: June 2024

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the locational determinants of the craft beer industry in Budapest, Hungary, between 2009 and 2022.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use various count data models to determine the relationship between the number of microbreweries and locational factors.

Findings

The authors find that demand and supply-side factors, including income, unemployment, level of education, population density and the number of local businesses, affect the number of craft breweries. Whilst agglomeration effects proxied by breweries per capita in a district have a positive coefficient, the number of breweries in neighbouring districts is not significant. In addition, the authors do not observe any negative impact of COVID-19-related restrictions. The picture of a still-evolving, resilient craft beer sector emerges from our analysis.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first specific studies on the craft beer sector in the Central and Eastern European region and the first to evaluate the location choices of craft breweries in Hungary within a municipality using an up-to-date data set. The authors’ analysis covers 14 years, from the early stages of craft brewery proliferation in Budapest until 2022, testing several hypotheses with respect to the location choices of these businesses.
Disentangling user fatigue in WeChat use: the configurational interplay of fear of missing out and overload
Authors: Zhang Heng , Li Hongxiu , Li Chenglong , Lu Xinyuan
Published: June 2024

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine how the interplay of stressor (e.g. fear of missing out, FoMO) and strains (e.g. perceived social overload, communication overload, information overload and system feature overload) in social networking sites (SNS) use can contribute to users’ SNS fatigue from a configurational view.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected among 363 SNS users in China via an online survey, and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) was applied in this study to scrutinize the different combinations of FoMO and overload that contribute to the same outcome of SNS fatigue.

Findings

Six combinations of casual conditions were identified to underlie SNS fatigue. The results showed that FoMO, perceived information overload and system feature overload are the core conditions that contribute to SNS fatigue when combined with other types of overloads.

Originality/value

The current work supplements the research findings on SNS fatigue by identifying the configurations contributing to SNS fatigue from the joint effects of stressor (FoMO) and strain (perceived social overload, communication overload, information overload and system feature overload) and by providing explanations for SNS fatigue from the configurational perspective.
Public spending efficiency in the countries of the gulf cooperation council
Authors: Asiri Nasser
Published: June 2024

Purpose

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have been increasingly investing in their economic and social development in recent years, yet the effectiveness of their spending remains unknown although they have been taking reforms to advance their spending efficiency practices.

Design/methodology/approach

The study applies a quantitative approach to analyze panel data using a multiple regression model based on the World Economic Forum (WEF) reports of the global competitiveness index (GCI) from 2009 until 2018.

Findings

The results show that policies' strength has a positive and significant influence, while national infrastructure and workforce empowerment have a negative and significant influence over the extent of spending efficiency implementation in the GCC countries.

Research limitations/implications

GCI disclosure assessment criteria changed in 2019 and then stopped in 2020 due to COVID-19. A different version of GCI was published in 2020, which focuses on recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, and no other issues have been published since then. This represented a barrier to recent data collection.

Practical implications

Practical contribution is the value added by this study to a minimal literature on spending efficiency in the GCC countries. This study’s theoretical contribution to knowledge is the integration of the new institutional sociology (NIS) perspective of institutional theory and the resource slack theory to investigate a set of factors rarely explored in relation to their impact on governmental spending efficiency.

Social implications

This study provides the following recommendations for policymakers: The GCC government should direct government training bodies and universities (in business majors) to include mandatory spending efficiency subjects to enhance current knowledge. Also, the governmental-related bodies of spending efficiency should make agreements with universities and research centers to improve the diverse R&D aspects of government spending efficiency. Another important recommendation is to enforce the adoption of the GRC concept regarding spending efficiency practices for governmental employees to guide them towards implementing spending efficiency practices.

Originality/value

This study's theoretical contribution to knowledge is the integration of the new institutional sociology (NIS) perspective of institutional theory and the resource slack theory to investigate a set of factors rarely explored in relation to their impact on governmental spending efficiency. Also, the practical contribution is the value added by this study to a minimal literature on spending efficiency in the GCC countries. The research has established empirical evidence to support the findings above.
How customer community engagement and employee dynamic learning capability impact service performance through customization? A firm–customer synergistic perspective
Authors: He Jiaxun , Hu Jingyi , Zhang Fan
Published: June 2024

Purpose

The emergence and rapid expansion of social media platforms have transformed the dynamics of consumer–brand communication. While consumer–brand relationship is driven on marketing campaigns in regular manner, social media (e.g. WeChat groups) creates boundaryless connections between external forces (e.g. customer community engagement) and internal resources (e.g. sales force). Therefore, this paper aims to provide a firm–customer synergistic perspective to explain service performance (SP) through service customization, which is significantly contributing to the research of consumer–brand relationship field in the current era.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey including two sets of questionnaires are employed for data collection, with one completed by frontline salesperson of Casarte and the other by their customers. A total of 242 dyadic-level data are adopted to test the hypothesis.

Findings

The findings shed light on the mechanism that drive SP by firm–customer interactions. These insights hold distinct managerial implications for firms seeking to leverage digital tools to efficiently meet customer demands.

Originality/value

This study contributes to understanding consumer–brand relationship within social media environment. It offers a synergistic perspective combined both outside-in and inside-out thinking, and explains how consumer–brand relationship can be fostered from both customers and salespeople. It highlights the significance of customer community engagement and salespeople dynamic learning capability as crucial factors in building strong consumer–brand relationship.
Heat transfer analysis of thermal radiative over a stretching curved surface using molybdenum disulfide and silicon dioxide composite material under the influence of solar radiation
Authors: Obalalu Adebowale Martins , Darvesh Adil , Aselebe Lateefat , Salawu Sulyman Olakunle , Issa Kazeem
Published: June 2024

Purpose

The primary focus of this study is to tackle a critical industry issue concerning energy inefficiency. This is achieved through an investigation into enhancing heat transfer in solar radiation phenomena on a curved surface. The problem formulation of governing equations includes the combined effects of thermal relaxation, Newtonian heating, radiation mechanism, and Darcy-Forchheimer to enhance the uniqueness of the model. This research employs the Cattaneo–Christov heat theory model to investigate the thermal flux via utilizing the above-mentioned phenomenon with a purpose of advancing thermal technology. A mixture of silicon dioxide (SiO_2)\ and Molybdenum disulfide (MoS_2) is considered for the nanoparticle’s thermal propagation in base solvent propylene glycol. The simulation of the modeled equations is solved using the Shifted Legendre collocation scheme (SLCS). The findings show that, the solar radiation effects boosted the heating performance of the hybrid nanofluid. Furthermore, the heat transmission progress increases against the curvature and thermal relaxation parameter.

Design/methodology/approach

Shifted Legendre collocation scheme (SLCS) is utilized to solve the simulation of the modeled equations.

Findings

The findings show that, the solar radiation effects boosted the heating performance of the hybrid nanofluid. The heat transmission progress increase against the curvature and thermal relaxation parameter.

Originality/value

This research employs the Cattaneo–Christov heat theory model to investigate the thermal flux via utilizing the above-mentioned phenomenon with a purpose of advancing thermal technology.
Propagation of plane waves at the initially stressed surface of an orthotropic nonlocal rotating half space under dual-phase-lag model
Authors: Boora Kirti , Deswal Sunita , Kalkal Kapil Kumar
Published: June 2024

Purpose

The purpose of the current manuscript is to investigate the reflection of plane waves in a rotating, two-dimensional homogeneous, initially stressed, nonlocal orthotropic thermoelastic solid half-space based on dual-phase-lag model.

Design/methodology/approach

The reflection phenomenon has been utilized to study the effects of initial stress, rotation and nonlocal parameter on the amplitude ratios. During the reflection phenomenon three coupled waves, namely quasi displacement primary wave (qP), quasi thermal wave (qT) and quasi displacement secondary wave (qSV) have been observed in the medium, propagating with distinct velocities. After imposing the suitable boundary conditions, amplitude and energy ratios of the reflected waves are obtained in explicit form.

Findings

With the support of MATLAB programming, the amplitude ratios and energy ratios are plotted graphically to display the effects of rotation, initial stress and nonlocal parameters. Moreover, the impact of anisotropy and phase lags is also observed on the reflection coefficients of the propagating waves.

Originality/value

In the current work, we have considered rotation and nonlocality parameters in an initially stressed orthotropic thermoelastic half-space, which is lacking in the published literature in this field. The introduction of these parameters in a nonlocal orthotropic thermoelastic medium provides a more realistic model for these studies. The present work is valuable for the analysis of orthotropic thermoelastic problems involving rotation, initial stress and nonlocality parameters.
Numerical assessment of viscoelastic tetra hybrid nanofluid flow across a stretchable rotatory disk under the Soret and Dufour aspects
Authors: Patgiri Bhagyashri , Paul Ashish , Sarma Neelav
Published: June 2024

Purpose

Fluid flows through rotatory disks are encountered in industrial and practical engineering processes, such as computer storage devices, gas turbine rotators, rotating machinery, air cleaning machines, etc. The primary purpose of this research is to examine the combined aspects of variable electrical conductivity, thermal radiation, Soret and Dufour effects on a magnetohydrodynamic Maxwell single-walled carbon nanotubes–graphene oxide–multi-walled carbon nanotubes–copper (SWCNT–GO–MWCNT–Cu)/sodium alginate tetra-hybrid nanofluid flow through a stretchable rotatory disk.

Design/methodology/approach

The modeled administrative equations of the present flow problem are converted to a non-dimensional system of ordinary differential equations by applying suitable similarity conversion and then solved numerically by implementing the bvp4c method. The impressions of noteworthy dimensionless parameters on velocity, temperature, concentration distributions, Nusselt number, skin friction and Sherwood number are reported via graphs and tables.

Findings

The authors figured out that the developed values of the rotation parameter diminish the temperature but enhance both the radial and angular velocities. Further, the mass and heat transmission rates are better for tetra-hybrid nanofluids than for ternary and hybrid nanofluids.

Originality/value

The present study emphasizes a special type of fluid called the tetra-hybrid nanofluid. The existing literature has not discussed the Maxwell tetra hybrid nanofluid flow through a stretchable rotatory disk with variable electrical conductivity. Besides, the novel aspects of magnetohydrodynamics, thermal radiation, Soret and Dufour effects are also incorporated into the present flow problem.
Robust and transferable end-to-end navigation against disturbances and external attacks: an adversarial training approach
Authors: Zhang Zhiwei , Nair Saasha , Liu Zhe , Miao Yanzi , Ma Xiaoping
Published: June 2024

Purpose

This paper aims to facilitate the research and development of resilient navigation approaches, explore the robustness of adversarial training to different interferences and promote their practical applications in real complex environments.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the authors first summarize the real accidents of self-driving cars and develop a set of methods to simulate challenging scenarios by introducing simulated disturbances and attacks into the input sensor data. Then a robust and transferable adversarial training approach is proposed to improve the performance and resilience of current navigation models, followed by a multi-modality fusion-based end-to-end navigation network to demonstrate real-world performance of the methods. In addition, an augmented self-driving simulator with designed evaluation metrics is built to evaluate navigation models.

Findings

Synthetical experiments in simulator demonstrate the robustness and transferability of the proposed adversarial training strategy. The simulation function flow can also be used for promoting any robust perception or navigation researches. Then a multi-modality fusion-based navigation framework is proposed as a light-weight model to evaluate the adversarial training method in real-world.

Originality/value

The adversarial training approach provides a transferable and robust enhancement for navigation models both in simulation and real-world.
Immigration and the Brexit Catastrophe: Empire, Citizenship and Ignorance
Authors: Hansen Randall
Published: June 2024

The article examines British immigration policy in the run‐up to and after Brexit. It explains how the Conservatives presided over policies that demonised, demeaned and deported black Britons whilst admitting hundreds of thousands of immigrants they promised to keep out. This happened because of (a) how early postwar nationality policy interacted with subsequent immigration policy and (b) elite ignorance. The ensuing Windrush scandal resulted from the interaction of the British Nationality Act 1948 with Home Secretary Theresa May's hostile environment policy. Meanwhile, since Brexit, net immigration figures have doubled. This is because Conservative Home Secretary Priti Patel ended the free movement of EU citizens and authored a new immigration policy that utterly failed to consider the British economy's dependence on low‐skilled labour. The outcomes reflect profoundly on the British economy, on the history of nationality law, and on immigration policy.
Understanding dairy farmers' trade‐offs between environmental, social and economic sustainability attributes in feeding systems: The role of farmers' identities
Authors: Oyinbo Oyakhilomen , Hansson Helena
Published: June 2024

There is scope for improving the sustainability of intensive dairy farms through the uptake of sustainable production practices such as more grass‐based feeding systems. Such feeding systems can reduce feed‐food competition and the environmental impacts of feed production, among other farm‐level and societal benefits. However, empirical research on how farmers' feed choices mis(align) with sustainability transitions and the associated drivers is limited. This paper explores the trade‐offs that farmers make between the environmental, social and economic sustainability impacts of grass‐based feeding systems based on data from Swedish dairy farmers. Using an identity‐based utility framework and a hybrid latent class model, we find substantial heterogeneity in dairy farmers' trade‐offs between feed‐related sustainability attributes: greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity, animal welfare, feed self‐sufficiency, feed cost and milk yield. Furthermore, our findings demonstrate that farmers who are strongly interested in the environmental and social sustainability impacts of their dairy feeding systems, beyond economic gains, are motivated mainly by their pro‐environmental and pro‐social identities. Overall, our findings imply that identity‐enhancing interventions are promising policy instruments for encouraging the uptake of more grass‐based feeding systems.
Repeated intentional foreign body ingestion, what can be done?
Authors: Hoey Paris , Ryan Kimberley , McDonald Clancy , Brown Nathan J , Boon Kym , Grimpen Florian , Appleyard Mark
Published: June 2024

Repeated intentional foreign body ingestion (RIFBI) in patients with Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD) is a common clinical presentation to the emergency department. The relationship between repeated foreign body ingestion and a co‐existent personality disorder diagnosis is complex, making it challenging to manage. Our institution implemented a novel interdisciplinary model of care for RIFBI as a way of improving health outcomes in this cohort of patients. Our observations following the model of care are presented herein. We encourage other health networks to adopt this model of care for managing RIBFI in EUPD.