bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Triangulation of qualitative and quantitative approaches for the study of gay bears' food intake in São Paulo, Brazil
Authors: Unsain Ramiro Fernandez , Sato Priscila de Morais , Ulian Mariana Dimitrov , Sabatini Fernanda , Silva Oliveira Mayara Sanay da , Scagliusi Fernanda Baeza
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The authors aimed to triangulate food intake data obtained by two qualitative methods (in-depth interviews and participant observations) and one quantitative method (food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ)). The purpose of this paper was to analyze the kind of data each method produced and how these different pieces of information are methodologically related to the characteristics and limitations of different methods used and theoretically connected to participants' identities and masculinities.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis was based on data from an ethnographic study; whose participants were 35 men who self-identified as gay bears. The participants' food intake was investigated through participant observations, in-depth interviews and an FFQ.

Findings

The qualitative methods indicated an overconsumption of meat and beer and a rejection of fresh foods, especially fruits and vegetables, as diacritical signs of the bears' identity. The FFQ showed a major consumption of minimally processed food, with fruits and vegetables being eaten more than meat. The authors proposed that the participants have compartmentalized their many habitual intakes and assessed one of them, separately, according to the method used (what was being asked and the context of that moment). Additionally, the authors connected these two patterns of habitual intake to the participants' identities and masculinities, questioning the existence of a constant hegemonic masculinity among this group.

Originality/value

The triangulation of methods employed in the present study is seldom addressed in the literature. This approximation provided a rich discussion regarding the connections between eating, sexuality, gender and identity, through a novel methodological and theoretical lens.
Effects of hip protective clothing on thermal wear comfort of clothing ensembles
Authors: Wardiningsih Wiah , Troynikov Olga
Published: February 2021

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the influence of hip protective clothing on ensemble performance attributes related to thermal comfort. It also explores the effect on protective pads of various materials and the arrangements of material. The thermal comfort characteristics are thermal insulation and moisture vapour resistance.

Design/methodology/approach

For this research, four ensembles of clothing were used: one ensemble without hip protective clothing and three ensembles with hip protective clothing. A thermal manikin was used to test the thermal insulation and moisture vapour resistance of the ensembles.

Findings

The findings revealed that incorporating hip protective clothing into the clothing ensembles influenced the thermal resistance and moisture vapour resistance of the ensemble. In the “all zones group,” the influence of the hip protective clothing depended on clothing style, with hipster-style clothing producing insignificant changes. In the “hip zones group” and “stomach and hip zones group,” hip protective clothing strongly influenced the thermal comfort attributes of ensembles. Pad material and volume play important roles in these changes in thermal comfort attributes.

Originality/value

These outcomes are useful for the design and engineering of hip protective clothing, where maximizing protection while minimizing thermal and moisture vapour resistance is critical for wear comfort and adherence in warm or hot conditions. The designer should consider that material, volume and thickness of protective pad affect the overall thermal comfort attributes of the hip protective clothing.
Fused filament printing of specialized biomedical devices: a state-of-the art review of technological feasibilities with PEEK
Authors: Rezvani Ghomi Erfan , Eshkalak Saeideh Kholghi , Singh Sunpreet , Chinnappan Amutha , Ramakrishna Seeram , Narayan Roger
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The potential implications of the three-dimensional printing (3DP) technology are growing enormously in the various health-care sectors, including surgical planning, manufacturing of patient-specific implants and developing anatomical models. Although a wide range of thermoplastic polymers are available as 3DP feedstock, yet obtaining biocompatible and structurally integrated biomedical devices is still challenging owing to various technical issues.

Design/methodology/approach

Polyether ether ketone (PEEK) is an organic and biocompatible compound material that is recently being used to fabricate complex design geometries and patient-specific implants through 3DP. However, the thermal and rheological features of PEEK make it difficult to process through the 3DP technologies, for instance, fused filament fabrication. The present review paper presents a state-of-the-art literature review of the 3DP of PEEK for potential biomedical applications. In particular, a special emphasis has been given on the existing technical hurdles and possible technological and processing solutions for improving the printability of PEEK.

Findings

The reviewed literature highlighted that there exist numerous scientific and technical means which can be adopted for improving the quality features of the 3D-printed PEEK-based biomedical structures. The discussed technological innovations will help the 3DP system to enhance the layer adhesion strength, structural stability, as well as enable the printing of high-performance thermoplastics.

Originality/value

The content of the present manuscript will motivate young scholars and senior scientists to work in exploring high-performance thermoplastics for 3DP applications.
Is the reference desk used for reference interviews
Authors: Bøyum Idunn , Byström Katriina , Pharo Nils
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate why users turn to the university library’s reference desk and whether librarians make use of the opportunity to conduct reference interviews to disclose any unexpressed information needs.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents the results from a qualitative exploration study where interactions between librarians and users were observed in authentic situations at the reference desk and analyzed using a modified version of Radford and Connaway’s (2013) categorization of inquiries.

Findings

Most inquiries were seemingly easy to answer and pertained to collections and procedures in the library. Lending out desk supplies accounted for a high proportion of the activity. Only a small number of requests were subject-oriented and reference interview techniques were only used in 5% of the recorded inquiries. This means that the users’ information needs were not probed in the vast majority of the interactions.

Research limitations/implications

The study is exploratory and mirrors the activity that takes place in one specific library. The low number of reference interview techniques used may indicate a lack of interest in users’ information needs, which signifies a risk of the reference desk being reduced to an arena for instrumental and superficial interaction between librarians and users.

Originality/value

This study illustrates current developments in work at a physical library desk. Few recent studies address face-to-face interactions between librarians and users.
Equity crowdfunding: US Title II offerings using sentiment analysis
Authors: Dority Bree , Borchers Sarah J. , Hayes Suzanne K.
Published: February 2021

Purpose

This study aims to investigate how the language used in US Title II equity crowdfunding campaign descriptions relates to campaign success.

Design/methodology/approach

Data on >3,200 equity offerings from 12 Title II platforms was obtained from 2013 to 2016. The aspects of the campaign descriptions that are focused on are tone and two measures of readability: information quantity – the amount of information available to the investor and information quality – the ease of understanding of the passage of text. Tobit regressions with sector-clustered standard errors are used for estimation while controlling for company-specific variables, market sentiment and platform, regional, sector and time effects. Results are robust to alternative estimation approaches.

Findings

Inverse U-shaped relationships exist between information quantity, information quality and tone and Title II equity crowdfunding campaign success. Overall, less is more as it appears that an intermediate level of information – quantity, quality and tone – is optimal in terms of being a factor that contributes to equity crowdfunding campaign success.

Originality/value

Extends the use of textual analysis to the equity crowdfunding environment in the USA where such analysis is lacking and provides empirical evidence that the language used (e.g. sentiment) in US Title II equity-based crowdfunding campaign descriptions does influence campaign success. It provides empirical evidence of and extends the concept of information overload to the entrepreneurial finance sub-field and indicates tone may be an additional information attribute to consider in this context as contributing to overload.
Gender and entrepreneurial propensity: risk-taking and prosocial preferences in labour market entry decisions
Authors: Reichert Patrick , Bird Matthew D. , Farber Vanina
Published: February 2021

Purpose

This study aims to examine gender differences in risk-taking and prosociality through a hypothetical labour market entry choice experiment.

Design/methodology/approach

To explore differences between male and female subjects by risk levels and framing effects, a labour market entry choice task that manipulated risk conditions was administered to business school students whereby subjects chose between a managerial job at a company, starting a commercial business or starting a social enterprise. The experimental design isolated and tested the influence of the type of value creation, risk propensity and framing effects. The results were then statistically analysed to test for significant differences between the two gender groups.

Findings

Results indicate that in low-risk conditions women prefer the prosocial entrepreneurial option while men opt for purely commercial entrepreneurial activities. As risk increases, differences between men and women initially converge and then reverse under conditions of extreme risk, where men select the social entrepreneurial choice at a higher rate than women.

Research limitations/implications

The research was conducted within the single country context of Peru and carried out using a specific subset of potential entrepreneurs (i.e. business school students). Second and related, the experimental labour entry task was hypothetical. Whether decisions would hold if business school students faced an actual occupational choice remains open to further investigation.

Practical implications

The practical implication of the paper suggests that Peruvian business school students react differently towards potential labour market opportunities depending on their gender. Perhaps, because of gender biases common in the Latin American context, women appear to respond more positively to low-risk prosocial opportunities. However, as risk increases, contextual factors appear to become less important and reveal core sets of prosocially anchored men and commercially anchored women.

Originality/value

This research provides new insights into risk-taking and prosocial differences between men and women facing labour entry decisions, especially in a developing country context with strong gender norms, and is particularly useful to those with an interest in entrepreneurial propensity and in the identification and development of entrepreneurial women.
Millennial social entrepreneurial intent and social entrepreneurial self-efficacy: a comparative entrepreneurship study
Authors: Zhang Yang , Trusty Juanita , Goroshnikova Tatiana , Kelly Louise , Kwong Kwok K. , McGuire Stephen J.J. , Perusquia Juan , Prabhu Veena P. , Shen Minghao , Tang Robert
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to propose and test predictors of millennials’ social entrepreneurial intent (SEI), mediating mechanisms and influential contextual factors.

Design/methodology/approach

This study includes survey data from 1,890 respondents, 315 each from China, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, Russia and the USA.

Findings

Empirical results show that social entrepreneurial self-efficacy (SESE) mediated the relationship between perseverance and proactive personality and the dependent variable SEI in all six countries. Life satisfaction positively moderated this relationship among US students and negatively moderated it among Chinese students. In China dissatisfaction appears to enhance SEI, while in the US satisfaction appears to do so.

Originality/value

This paper identifies the mediating role of SESE and the moderating role of life satisfaction when explaining SEI, as well as providing data from millennials in six countries.
Influence of ultrasounds on interfacial microstructures of Cu-Sn solder joints
Authors: Han Xu , Li Xiaoyan , Yao Peng , Chen Dalong
Published: February 2021

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the interfacial microstructures of ultrasonic-assisted solder joints at different soldering times.

Design/methodology/approach

Solder joints with different microstructures are obtained by ultrasonic-assisted soldering. To analyze the effect of ultrasounds on Cu6Sn5 growth during the solid–liquid reaction stage, the interconnection heights of solder joints are increased from 30 to 50 μm.

Findings

Scallop-like Cu6Sn5 nucleate and grow along the Cu6Sn5/Cu3Sn interface under the traditional soldering process. By comparison, some Cu6Sn5 are formed at Cu6Sn5/Cu3Sn interface and some Cu6Sn5 are randomly distributed in Sn when ultrasonic-assisted soldering process is used. The reason for the formation of non-interfacial Cu6Sn5 has to do with the shock waves and micro-jets produced by ultrasonic treatment, which leads to separation of some Cu6Sn5 from the interfacial Cu6Sn5 to form non-interfacial Cu6Sn5. The local high pressure generated by the ultrasounds promotes the heterogeneous nucleation and growth of Cu6Sn5. Also, some branch-like Cu3Sn formed at Cu6Sn5/Cu3Sn interface render the interfacial Cu3Sn in ultrasonic-assisted solder joints present a different morphology from the wave-like or planar-like Cu3Sn in conventional soldering joints. Meanwhile, some non-interfacial Cu3Sn are present in non-interfacial Cu6Sn5 due to reaction of Cu atoms in liquid Sn with non-interfacial Cu6Sn5 to form non-interfacial Cu3Sn. Overall, full Cu3Sn solder joints are obtained at ultrasonic times of 60 s.

Originality/value

The obtained microstructure evolutions of ultrasonic-assisted solder joints in this paper are different from those reported in previous studies. Based on these differences, the effects of ultrasounds on the formation of non-interfacial IMCs and growth of interfacial IMCs are systematically analyzed by comparing with the traditional soldering process.
Factors affecting electronic invoice adoption and tax compliance process efficiency
Authors: Qi Yulan , Che Azmi Anna
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that affect the adoption of electronic invoices and in turn the impact of these factors on the tax compliance process efficiency of companies.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire survey was distributed to 276 users who adopted electronic invoicing. Partial least squares regression was used to analyze the collected data.

Findings

This study found that perceived benefits and trust in e-government had a positive influence on the adoption of electronic invoices. At the same time, the adoption of electronic invoice was found to have a positive impact on the overall efficiency of the tax compliance process. Moreover, the factors affecting adoption of electronic invoices can have a mediating effect on that adoption and tax compliance process efficiency.

Research limitations/implications

This study only explored these influencing factors on companies that have adopted electronic invoicing. Future research should distinguish between adopters and non-adopters.

Practical implications

The results of this study can guide tax authorities and other electronic invoice suppliers when promoting the adoption of electronic invoicing.

Social implications

This research can provide guidance to tax authorities to improve their own electronic invoice system by creating a workforce that have the skills to strengthen citizen’s trust in the electronic invoice system.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the electronic adoption literature by examining those factors that impact tax compliance processes efficiency.
Conceptualization and challenges: examining district and school leadership and schools as learning organizations
Authors: Welsh Richard , Williams Sheneka , Bryant Karen , Berry Jami
Published: February 2021

Purpose

Conceptualizing schools as learning organizations provides a potential avenue to meet the pressing challenges of school improvement in the USA. District and school leaders play an important role in creating and sustaining the conditions for a learning organization, yet little is known about how leadership responds to learning-resistant contexts in their mission to improve schools. This study aims to examine the relationship between the district and school leadership and schools as learning organizations. The focus is on the conceptualization of schools as learning organizations and the challenges involved in creating and sustaining conditions and processes in which to improve schools.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses semi-structured interviews with district and school leaders in the state of Georgia and data from completed dimensions of a learning organization questionnaire (DLOQ) study to analyze how district and school leaders conceptualize or make sense of schools as learning organizations and overcome challenges associated with creating and sustaining a learning organization in learning-resistant contexts.

Findings

The analysis find that participants perceive their school or district as a learning organization when the structure allows others to work together to learn and grow for the benefit of students.

Originality/value

This study is unique in that it adds to a growing number of studies that examine schools as learning organizations using the DLOQ and sheds light on the nature of learning-resistant contexts.
The influence of ethical leadership and team learning on team performance in software development projects
Authors: Chamtitigul Nattaya , Li Weining
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of team learning processes (information acquisition, information processing and information storage and retrieval) on team performance in software development projects and to assess the effect of ethical leadership and its influence on these processes.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors examined 354 software development project teams in Thailand. A quantitative study was conducted through a Web-based survey, with structural equation modelling used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The results of this study revealed that ethical leadership is positively correlated with the team learning processes of information acquisition, information processing and information storage and retrieval. However, only information processing and information storage and retrieval are positively related to team performance. The results indicate that ethical leadership has a positive direct effect on team performance. The results also show that the positive relationship between ethical leadership and team performance is partially mediated by team learning processes, namely, information processing and information storage and retrieval.

Research limitations/implications

This study highlights the importance of ethical leadership and guides managers towards considering the characteristics of both ethical leadership and team learning processes for enhancing team performance in software development projects.

Originality/value

This is the first study to the best of authors’ knowledge to examine the role of team learning processes in mediating the relationship between ethical leadership and team performance, particularly concerning software development projects. The present research contributes to the literature on team performance management, emphasising the manner in which ethical leadership can result in team learning and team performance. The findings of this study can be used to encourage organisations to develop ethical leadership behaviours and team learning processes in software development projects.
Shouting across the digital divide: the import of social interactions in virtual teams
Authors: Rogers Bryan L. , Madden Laura T. , Grubb Leah K. , Karriker Joy H.
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to extend the current understanding of virtual team (VT) workers’ willingness to continue working in VTs and the forces driving their affective reactions to teamwork. Specifically, this paper applies the input-mediator-output-input (IMOI) literature to investigate the influence of workers’ perceptions of their peers’ skills and peers’ interactions on perceptions of the teamwork process and subsequent affective reactions.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper draws on a sample of 997 virtual and face-to-face (FtF) students embedded in 242 project teams to test the hypotheses using multi-group comparisons in structural equation modeling (SEM).

Findings

Results support the assertion that team processes are essential in translating team skills and interactions into satisfaction with the team. Further, this paper finds that skills are more influential on teammate satisfaction for FtFs than they are for VTs; and, conversely, that VTs’ interactions are more pivotal regarding teammate satisfaction through VT processes than they are in FtFs.

Research limitations/implications

The effort contributes to the IMOI literature by showing how teams overcome virtuality to perform effectively and how team-embedded members react differently across VT and FtF contexts.

Originality/value

These findings are particularly notable given that prior research has suggested VT performance may not be contingent on social bonds within the team. Although this is possibly true for performance, the findings suggest that social interactions are, in fact, crucial to teams’ affective reactions.
Like, tag and share: bolstering social media marketing to improve intention to visit a nature-based tourism destination
Authors: Gaffar Vanessa , Tjahjono Benny , Abdullah Taufik , Sukmayadi Vidi
Published: February 2021

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the influence of social media marketing on tourists’ intention to visit a botanical garden, which is one of the popular nature-based tourism destinations in Indonesia.

Design/methodology/approach

This study sent questionnaires to 400 followers of the botanical garden’s Facebook account who responded to the initial calls for participation and declared that they have not visited the garden before. Analyses were conducted on 363 valid responses using the structural equation model.

Findings

The findings revealed several key determinants influencing the image of the botanical garden and its future value proposition, particularly in supporting the endeavour to shift from a mere recreational destination to a nature-based tourism destination offering educational experiences.

Originality/value

This paper offers a fresh look into the roles of social media marketing in increasing the intention to visit a tourism destination that is considerably affected by the destination image.
Loyalty to holiday style: motivational determinants
Authors: Laškarin Ažić Marina , Suštar Natali
Published: February 2021

Purpose

This study aims to understand the push and pull motivations of leisure tourists who stay for one or more nights on the Opatija Riviera and explores the causal connection between motivations and loyalty intention with regard to holiday style. It verifies path discrepancy based on generational and educational differences.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected over a four-month period that included the low and high seasons of 2019. In total, 246 useable questionnaires were collected through on-site research. First, exploratory factor analysis was conducted as this was the first tourist loyalty study to be conducted in the Opatija Riviera region. Then, to test for causal significance amongst relationships and differences at the path level, the partial least square method and multigroup analysis (MGA) was undertaken.

Findings

The results showed that overall satisfaction fully mediates the relationship between the two established motivations (novelty seeking and outdoor activity) and loyalty to holiday style and partially between relaxation and loyalty to holiday style. Further, MGA results indicated a significant discrepancy in the relationship between preferred holiday style with regard to educational and age difference.

Originality/value

This study offers new insights regarding a relatively new type of tourist loyalty by developing a theoretical framework that assesses the relationship between loyalty intention and motivation, as well as overall satisfaction.
Travellers’ destination choice among university students in China amid COVID-19: extending the theory of planned behaviour
Authors: Wang Lei , Wong Philip Pong Weng , Zhang Qi
Published: February 2021

Purpose

Prior tourism literature neglected the negative motivational or attitudinal elements influencing individuals’ travel destination decisions. This study aims to examine the relationships between animosity, ethnocentrism, attitude, subjective norm (SN), perceived behavioural control (PBC), destination overall image (DOI) and destination visit intention (DVI).

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative approach was used using a survey methodology involving 402 student responses. The proposed hypotheses were empirically tested with SPSS and AMOS.

Findings

The results demonstrated that animosity and ethnocentrism negatively influenced DOI and DVI. A positive relationship was reported between attitude, DOI and DVI. Additionally, SN and PBC positively influenced DVI. Ethnocentrism, PBC and DOI were also identified with statistically significant differences through gender. Meanwhile, statistically significant differences in attitude, PBC, DOI and DVI were evident between postgraduate students and the counterparts.

Originality/value

This study extends the existing knowledge on how animosity and ethnocentrism influenced DOI and DVI in tourism literature and benefitted Western tourism and key stakeholders in tourism.
Role of information technology in enabling managerial dynamic capabilities
Authors: Majhi Siddharth Gaurav , Mukherjee Arindam , Anand Ambuj
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this conceptual paper is to explicate the role played by information technology (IT) in enabling managerial dynamic capabilities. By doing so, this paper seeks to address a critical theoretical gap regarding IT’s role in enabling dynamic capabilities (DCs). DCs are knowledge-intensive and information-intensive processes and play a crucial role in facilitating strategic renewal of firms operating in volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous business environments. Although managers play a central role in the DCs framework, extant research has only focused on the role of IT in enabling firm-level and process-level DCs.

Design/methodology/approach

This conceptual paper uses the literatures on dynamic managerial capabilities, individual-level information system use, social capital, human capital, managerial cognition and technology-enabled learning to build propositions that link managerial IT use with the enablement of dynamic managerial capabilities.

Findings

This paper introduces a new construct called individual IT leveraging capability (IILC) and provides theoretically grounded arguments that link IILC with managerial social capital, managerial cognition and managerial human capital. It also explicates the relationships between managerial social capital, managerial cognition and managerial human capital and the dynamic managerial capabilities of sensing, seizing and reconfiguring.

Research limitations/implications

The establishment of the linkage between IT and dynamic managerial capabilities extends the literature on the business value of IT. This work also adds to the literature on dynamic managerial capabilities by providing a theoretically grounded argument that IT can act as an antecedent of such capabilities.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is arguably the first to theorize the role of IT in enabling managerial DC and thus addresses a critical gap in academic research literature.
The prediction of the cyclic mechanical behavior of stainless steel 304L at room temperature
Authors: Messai Hala , Meziani Salim , Fouathia Athmane
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the performance of the Chaboche model in relation to the database identification, tests with imposed deformations were conducted at room temperature on 304L stainless steel specimens.

Design/methodology/approach

The first two tests were performed in tension-compression between ±0.005 and ±0.01; in the third test, each cycle is composed of the combination of a compression tensile cycle between ±0.01 followed by a torsion cycle between ±0.01723 (non-proportional path), and the last, uniaxial ratcheting test with a mean stress between 250 MPa and −150 MPa. Several identifications of a Chaboche-type model were then performed by considering databases composed of one or more of the cited tests. On the basis of these identifications, the simulations of a large number of ratchet tests in particular were carried out.

Findings

The results present the effect of the optimized parameters on the prediction of the behavior of materials which is reported in the graphs, Optimizations 1 and 2 of first and second tests and Optimization 4 of the third test giving a good prediction of the increasing/decreasing pre-deformation amplitude.

Originality/value

The quality of the model's predictions strongly depends on the richness of the database used for the identification of the parameters.
Workforce ethnic diversity in older people’s care services: thinking back and thinking ahead in COVID-19 times
Authors: Manthorpe Jill , Moriarty Jo
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a light on long-standing, structural race inequality in Britain. This paper aims to review historic patterns of ethnic diversity among the workforce employed in services for older people to present some of the lessons that can be learned from the pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

A historical overview was undertaken of research about ethnic diversity in the social care workforce.

Findings

Too often, the ethnic diversity of the social care workforce has been taken as evidence that structural racial inequalities do not exist. Early evidence about the impact of coronavirus on workers from black and minority ethnic groups has led to initiatives aimed at reducing risk among social care employers in the independent sector and in local government. This offers a blueprint for further initiatives aimed at reducing ethnic inequalities and promoting ethnic diversity among the workforce supporting older people.

Research limitations/implications

The increasing ethnic diversity of the older population and the UK labour force highlights the importance of efforts to address what is effective in reducing ethnic inequalities and what works in improving ethnic diversity within the social care workforce and among those using social care services for older people.

Originality/value

The ethnic makeup of the workforce reflects a complex reality based on multiple factors, including historical patterns of migration and gender and ethnic inequalities in the UK labour market.
Dynamics of oil price shocks and emerging stock market volatility: a generalized VAR approach
Authors: Agarwalla Megha , Sahu Tarak Nath , Jana Shib Sankar
Published: February 2021

Purpose

This study aims to establish the dynamic relationship between international crude oil prices and Indian stock prices represented by the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) energy index.

Design/methodology/approach

Using Johansen’s cointegration test, vector error correction (VEC) model, impulse response function and variance decomposition test the study tries to ascertain the short-term and long-term dynamic association between the oil price shock and the movement of stock price and Granger causality test is applied to find out the nature of causality.

Findings

Considering vector autoregression estimation, the present study analyzes the relationship between the variables and tries to make a valid conclusion. The result of the co-integration test exhibits the presence of a long-term association between these two macro-economic variables during the period under study. Also, in the short-run VEC Granger causality result reveals that the movement of international crude oil price significantly influences the Indian stock price.

Research limitations/implications

To get a more robust result the study can be further extended by taking a longer time period with data of shorter time-frequency such as daily or weekly and further by using more sophisticated econometric and statistical tools. Further, the study can be extended to firm-level investigation considering the forward trading concentration with the Indian oil basket.

Social implications

In today’s globalized era, forecasting of share price movement helps investors in predicting the market and invest accordingly. Through this liquidity of the markets enhance and markets become more active in the global arena.

Originality/value

This study represents fresh findings in the changing time period the linkage between crude oil prices and stock prices which are of value to the academicians, researchers, policymakers, investors, market regulators, etc.
What are the social and personal drivers to engage in co-creation? A study of UK 7–13-year-olds
Authors: Thomas Robert James , White Gareth Reginald Terence , Samuel Anthony
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the social and personal drivers of co-creation in children.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 463 children aged between 7 and 13 years were recruited. Using electronic event-based diaries, 2,631 entries were captured during an 18-month period.

Findings

Data from 861 entries identified a series of anomalous external social and personal factors that drove children to engage in co-creation. These were for maintaining external relationships, dealing with addiction to the co-creation process and dealing with personal loneliness.

Research limitations/implications

The study reveals new, unconventional and gender-specific behaviours that might assist marketers in understanding children’s complex relationships with co-creation and brands.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of its kind to examine children’s social and personal drives to engage in co-creation.
Do gamified elements affect young people’s use behaviour on consumption-related mobile applications?
Authors: Wut Edmund , Ng Peggy , Leung Ka Shing Wilson , Lee Daisy
Published: February 2021

Purpose

This study aims to investigate whether gamified elements affect the use behaviour of young people (between age 12 and 25 years) on consumption-related mobile applications.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was conducted on 151 young people between the ages of 12 and 25 years.

Findings

The results showed that use behaviour on consumption mobile applications was affected by gamification. Behavioural intention to use was affected by the performance expectancy (PE) and effort expectancy (EE) of mobile application designs. Mobile applications characteristics do not affect behavioural intention to use mobile applications but through the mediator mobile application designs.

Research limitations/implications

This study also proposes mechanisms that explain how mobile apps characteristics affect EE and PE through app designs. Use behaviour is affected by Gamification elements. Affective need and social need link up uses and gratification (U&G) theory and unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT)in gamification context. This study confirms the affective need affecting behavioural intention (Thongsri et al., 2018). In this regard, the mechanism between the relationship of affective need and behavioural intention was showed. Affective need through both PE and EE influencing behavioural intention.

Practical implications

Corporations should consider adding gamified elements into consumption-related mobile apps to increasing usage behaviour. Lucky draws, quizzes and games could be built in for mobile apps. Mobile app designs and characteristics could improve user experience by allowing consumers to perform their search and buying processes easily. Mobile app designs will not directly influence “behavioral intention to use” but use behaviour.

Social implications

Practitioners need to look at the problem from technological and customer perspectives. From technological viewpoint, both mobile apps characteristics and design are important in affecting user behaviour. From customer’s perspective, it would be helpful to add gaming elements to the mobile apps and induce emotion. One may also use visual image to create an immersive experience on the development of storyline. Prospective customers might focus on what is going on in the story and pay less attention on its own logic. Thus, simply lucky draw might not have a true effect since player have its own belief working. A suitable story element could have positive effect on mobile apps use behaviour.

Originality/value

This study is one of the first to examine the association between gamification and use behaviour on consumption-related mobile applications. A new framework was proposed by integrating UTAUT model and U&G theory.
Crop Choice, Drought and Gender: New Insights from Smallholders’ Response to Weather Shocks in Rural Uganda
Authors: Agamile Peter , Dimova Ralitza , Golan Jennifer
Published: February 2021

We analyse gender differences in the response of smallholder farmers to droughts, taking the duration and severity of the event into account. Using a novel weather shock measure that combines spatial rainfall data with detailed cropping calendars, survey data from Uganda and standard econometric techniques, we find that adverse weather events provide an opportunity for women to enter the commercial crop market by allocating land from subsistence to income generating crops. This counterintuitive pattern is, in part, explained by the greater propensity of men to allocate time to non‐agricultural activities in the event of weather shocks.
Complex interactions between environmental DNA (eDNA) state and water chemistries on eDNA persistence suggested by meta‐analyses
Authors: Jo Toshiaki , Minamoto Toshifumi
Published: February 2021

Understanding the processes of environmental DNA (eDNA) persistence and degradation is essential to determine the spatiotemporal scale of eDNA signals and accurately estimate species distribution. The effects of environmental factors on eDNA persistence have previously been examined; however, the influence of the physiochemical and molecular states of eDNA on its persistence is not completely understood. Here, we performed meta‐analyses including 26 previously published papers on the estimation of first‐order eDNA decay rate constants, and assessed the effects of filter pore size, DNA fragment size, target gene, and environmental conditions on eDNA decay rates. Almost all supported models included the interactions between the filter pore size and water temperature, between the target gene and water temperature, and between the target gene and water source, implying the influence of complex interactions between the eDNA state and environmental conditions on eDNA persistence. These findings were generally consistent with the results of a reanalysis of a previous tank experiment which measured the time‐series changes in marine fish eDNA concentrations in multiple size fractions after fish removal. Our results suggest that the mechanism of eDNA persistence and degradation cannot be fully understood without knowing not only environmental factors but also cellular and molecular states of eDNA in water. Further verification of the relationship between eDNA state and persistence is required by obtaining more information on eDNA persistence in various experimental and environmental conditions, which will enhance our knowledge on eDNA persistence and support our findings.
Why did the animal turn? Time‐varying step selection analysis for inference between observed turning‐points in high frequency data
Authors: Munden Rhys , Börger Luca , Wilson Rory P. , Redcliffe James , Brown Rowan , Garel Mathieu , Potts Jonathan R.
Published: February 2021

Step selection analysis (SSA) is a fundamental technique for uncovering the drivers of animal movement decisions. Its typical use has been to view an animal as ‘selecting’ each measured location, given its current (and possibly previous) locations. Although an animal is unlikely to make decisions precisely at the times its locations are measured, if data are gathered at a relatively low frequency (every few minutes or hours) this is often the best that can be done. Nowadays, though, tracking data are increasingly gathered at very high frequencies, often ≥1 Hz, so it may be possible to exploit these data to perform more behaviourally‐meaningful step selection analysis.

Here, we present a technique to do this. We first use an existing algorithm to determine the turning‐points in an animal's movement path. We define a ‘step’ to be a straight‐line movement between successive turning‐points. We then construct a generalised version of integrated SSA (iSSA), called time‐varying iSSA (tiSSA), which deals with the fact that turning‐points are usually irregularly spaced in time. We demonstrate the efficacy of tiSSA by application to data on both simulated animals and free‐ranging goats Capra aegagrus hircus, comparing our results to those of regular iSSA with locations that are separated by a constant time‐interval.

Using (regular) iSSA with constant time‐steps can give results that are misleading compared to using tiSSA with the actual turns made by the animals. Furthermore, tiSSA can be used to infer covariates that are dependent on the time between turns, which is not possible with regular iSSA. As an example, we show that our study animals tend to spend less time between successive turns when the ground is rockier and/or the temperature is hotter.

By constructing a step selection technique that works between observed turning‐points of animals, we enable step selection to be used on high‐frequency movement data, which are becoming increasingly prevalent in modern biologging studies. Furthermore, since turning‐points can be viewed as decisions, our method places step selection analysis on a more behaviourally‐meaningful footing compared to previous techniques.
Receptor‐interacting protein kinase 2 contributes to host innate immune responses against Fusobacterium nucleatum in macrophages and decidual stromal cells
Authors: Park Ji‐Yeon , Lee Tae‐Sung , Noh Eui Jeong , Jang Ah‐Ra , Ahn Jae‐Hun , Kim Dong‐Yeon , Jung Do‐Hyeon , Song Eun‐Jung , Lee Yeon‐Ji , Lee Yun‐Ji , Lee Sung Ki , Park Jong‐Hwan
Published: February 2021

Problem

Chorioamnionitis is caused by a bacterial infection that ascends from the vagina and can cause adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs). Fusobacterium nucleatum (F. nucleatum) is a periodontal pathogen associated with the occurrence of APOs. In this study, we evaluated whether receptor‐interacting protein kinase 2 (Ripk2), an adaptor protein of the cytosolic receptors nucleotide‐binding oligomerization domain (NOD)1 and NOD2, in macrophages and human decidual stromal cells (hDSCs) contributes to immune responses against F. nucleatum.

Method of Study

Bone marrow‐derived macrophages (BMDMs) isolated from wild‐type (WT) and Ripk2‐deficient mice and hDSCs were cultured with F. nucleatum (MOI 1, 10, 100). BMDMs and hDSCs were assessed using enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay, Western blot analysis, real‐time PCR, and nitrite assay.

Results

Fusobacterium nucleatum‐induced production of IL‐6, but not of TNF‐α and IL‐10, was lower in Ripk2‐deficient BMDMs than in WT cells. Western blotting revealed a decrease in F. nucleatum‐induced p65 phosphorylation in Ripk2‐deficient macrophages, whereas mitogen‐activated protein kinases activation was comparable between WT and Ripk2‐deficient cells. The production of nitric oxide (NO) in response to F. nucleatum and the gene and protein expression of inducible NO synthase was impaired in Ripk2‐deficient BMDMs. In hDSCs, F. nucleatum upregulated the gene and protein expression of NOD1, NOD2, and Ripk2 in a time‐dependent manner. F. nucleatum also increased the production of IL‐6, CXCL8, and CCL2, whereas this production was decreased by the Ripk2 inhibitors SB203580 and PP2.

Conclusions

In conclusion, Ripk2 signaling appears to contribute to the F. nucleatum‐induced immune response and can be a preventive and therapeutic target against APOs.
Is vacuum‐assisted closure therapy feasible for children with deep sternal wound infection after cardiac surgery? The pooling results from current literature
Authors: Wu Yuhao , Wang Junke , Dai Jiangtao , Wang Gang , Li Hongbo , Li Yonggang , Wu Chun , Wei Guanghui
Published: February 2021

Vacuum‐assisted closure (VAC) has been used for children with deep sternal wound infections (DSWI); however, the safety and efficiency have not been determined. A meta‐analysis was performed for outcomes of VAC therapy in children with DSWI after cardiac surgery. Electronic databases, including PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane Library CENTRAL were searched systematically from January 1990 to October 2020 for the literature which reported the outcomes of VAC therapy for children with DSWI after cardiac surgery. Meta‐regression and subgroup analyses were performed to find risk factors for prolonged length of VAC therapy and hospital stay. Eleven studies were included in this study, involving 217 subjects. VAC therapy was performed due to mediastinitis after congenital heart diseases (CHD) repair. In children with DSWI after cardiac surgery, length of VAC therapy, and hospital stay were 11.1 days (95% CI, 9.6‐12.5 days) and 29.8 days (95% CI, 22.8‐36.9 days), respectively. Incidence of infectious and wound‐related complications was 8.5% (95% CI, 4.1%‐13.0%). Overall mortality in this setting was 5.8% (95% CI, 2.5%‐9.1%). In conclusion, in children with DSWI after cardiac surgery, length of VAC therapy and hospital stay were 11.1 and 29.8 days, respectively. Overall mortality was 5.8%. Although not significant, delayed chest closure, complex CHD, and Gram‐negative bacilli/fungal infections may potentially contribute to prolonged duration of VAC treatment.