bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
DETERMINANTS OF HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS (HIV) TRANSMISSION AMONG CHILDREN BORN TO HIV-INFECTED MOTHERS ON PMTCT PROGRAM IN KILIFI COUNTY: A CASE CONTROL STUDY
Authors: Koriow Rukiya Mohammed , Oyugi Julius Otieno , Muasya Christine , Moindi Rodgers Onsomu
Published: June 2023

Background

Elimination and prevention of mother to child human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission remains a global public health concern. Identification of significant risk factors of mother to child transmission is essential in reducing the burden of pediatric HIV in terms of cost of treatment, morbidity and mortality. Only a few studies have been done to demonstrate the importance of Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) cascade, including the indicators and how missing one of the crucial steps of the cascade could increase the risk of infant HIV transmission. This study seeks to determine maternal risk factors related to HIV transmission among children born to HIV-infected mothers enrolled in PMTCT program in Kilifi County between July 2018 and June 2019.

Methods

This was a retrospective unmatched case control study. Systematic random sampling was used to select medical records of 183 exposed infants (61 cases and 122 controls). A structured tool was used to collect data. Proportions and frequency distribution was done in univariate analysis and in bivariate analysis, chi-square and logistic regression (odds ratio) was used to determine any association and strength of association between categorical variables.

Results

Receiving maternal HAART in ANC was established as the major determinant of a favorable HEI outcome in this study. Infants whose mothers had received maternal HAART in ANC were 52.55 (14.89 - 185.48) times more likely to be HIV negative compared to those whose mothers did not receive maternal HAART in ANC. Disclosure of HIV status by the mother at ANC was 3.18 (1.28 - 7.90) times more likely to determine a favorable outcome of the HEI compared to non-disclosure. When adjusted for other factors, it was 6.27 (1.20 - 20.05) times more likely to determine a favorable outcome.

Conclusion

The study established the importance of PMTCT service delivery in reduction of vertical transmission of HIV. Women who defaulted on the PMTCT cascade services had higher odds of having a HIV positive infant compared to women who accessed all the PMTCT services at the recommended time.
Clinical trial and real-world data: A comparative study in patients with diabetic kidney disease
Authors: Kurki Samu , Halla-aho Viivi , Haussmann Manuel , Lähdesmäki Harri , Leinonen Jussi , Koskinen Miika
Published: June 2023

Objective

A growing body of research is focusing on clinical real-world data (RWD) to supplement or replace randomized controlled trials (RCTs). However, due to the disparities in data generation mechanisms between RCTs and RWDs, differences are likely and necessitate scrutiny to validate the merging of these datasets.

Materials and Methods

We compared the temporal and completeness characteristics of pharmaceutical RCT data from 5,734 diabetic kidney disease patients with corresponding RWD from electronic health records (EHRs) of 23,523 patients. Demographics, diagnoses, medications, laboratory measurements, and vital signs were analyzed using visualization, descriptive statistics, statistical testing, and cluster analysis.

Results

RCT and RWD sets exhibited significant differences in prevalence, longitudinality, completeness, and sampling density. The cluster analysis revealed distinct patient subgroups within both RCT and RWD sets, as well as clusters containing patients from both sets.

Discussion and Conclusions

The results highlight the differences between RCT and RWD datasets, and their respective data generation mechanisms. Nonetheless, in certain instances, RWD has the potential to enrich RCT data. These discrepancies should be taken into account during the planning stages of an RCT-RWD study, and we stress the importance of validation to verify the feasibility of combining RCT and RWD. Moreover, advanced methods are needed to mitigate these differences, for instance, when building an external control arm.
Tracking national opinion about wastewater monitoring as a standard complement of public health tools in the United States
Authors: LaJoie A. Scott , Holm Rochelle H. , Anderson Lauren B. , Ness Heather D. , Smith Ted
Published: June 2023

National opinion on a wide variety of public health topics can change over time or have highly contextual nuisances. As the COVID-19 pandemic has progressed, we aimed to see how public perceptions have changed regarding the acceptance of using wastewater for community health monitoring in the metropolitan United States. This study is an annual update of prior inquiry into knowledge of wastewater-based epidemiology, privacy concerns surrounding the collection of wastewater samples and the use of data acquired along with privacy awareness from an online survey administered in the winter of 2023. We found public support for monitoring of toxins (90.8%), disease (90.6%), terror (86.8%), illicit drugs (70.5%), prescription medications (68.6%), and gun residue (59.8%) remained high. Most respondents supported monitoring of the entire city (77.6%). This longitudinal research has shown year-upon-year only slight increases in public support of wastewater monitoring for public health protection and continues to show an absence of significant nationwide privacy concerns as long as catchment population sizes ensure fully anonymous households. This support is conditional and is probably best understood through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic where the value proposition of public protection was popularized. The survey also consistently showed the public would support expansion of wastewater monitoring as a standard complement of public health tools into other areas of public health protection.
Infrastructure tools to support an effective Radiation Oncology Learning Health System
Authors: Kapoor Rishabh , Sleeman William , Ghosh Preetam , Palta Jatinder
Published: June 2023

Purpose

Radiation Oncology Learning Health System (RO-LHS) is a promising approach to improve the quality of care by integrating clinical, dosimetry, treatment delivery, research data in real-time. This paper describes a novel set of tools to support the development of a RO-LHS and the current challenges they can address.

Methods

We present a knowledge graph-based approach to map radiotherapy data from clinical databases to an ontology-based data repository using FAIR concepts. This strategy ensures that the data is easily discoverable, accessible, and can be used by other clinical decision support systems. It allows for visualization, presentation, and data analyses of valuable information to identify trends and patterns in patient outcomes. We designed a search engine that utilizes ontology-based keyword searching, synonym-based term matching that leverages the hierarchical nature of ontologies to retrieve patient records based on parent and children classes, connects to the Bioportal database for relevant clinical attributes retrieval. To identify similar patients, a method involving text corpus creation and vector embedding models (Word2Vec, Doc2Vec, GloVe, and FastText) are employed, using cosine similarity and distance metrics.

Results

The data pipeline and tool were tested with 1660 patient clinical and dosimetry records resulting in 504,180 RDF tuples and visualized data relationships using graph-based representations. Patient similarity analysis using embedding models showed that the Word2Vec model had the highest mean cosine similarity, while the GloVe model exhibited more compact embeddings with lower Euclidean and Manhattan distances.

Conclusions

The framework and tools described support the development of a RO-LHS. By integrating diverse data sources and facilitating data discovery and analysis, they contribute to continuous learning and improvement in patient care. The tools enhance the quality of care by enabling the identification of cohorts, clinical decision support, and the development of clinical studies and machine learning programs in radiation oncology.
Phenome-wide association of acne susceptibility loci highlights shared and unique biology
Authors: Kim Minsoo , Cheng Carol
Published: June 2023

The latest genome-wide association studies (GWAS) comprising 20,165 acne cases and 595,231 controls have successfully identified 42 genomic regions associated with increased risk of acne. Yet, it remains unclear the extent to which these individual acne susceptibility loci contribute to other disorders. To begin to identify shared and unique biology underlying acne pathogenesis, we conducted phenome-wide association (PheWAS) of the 42 acne loci across 110 phenotypes with large-scale, well-powered GWAS results that broadly span autoimmune, endocrine, psychiatric, cardiovascular, dermatologic conditions, and cancer, as well as serum and urine biomarkers. Much of the acne loci did not share GWAS signals with any of 110 phenotypes, suggesting that there may be acne-specific biology in these genomic regions. Conversely, we also identified shared genetic effects at several loci with testosterone, sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), non-albumin protein levels, liver enzymes (AST, AST/ALT ratio), and blood cell phenotypes (MCV, MCH, eosinophil count), some of which recapitulate known acne pathophysiology. Overall, this work highlights shared and unique genetic effects of individual acne GWAS loci via phenome-wide investigation. All GWAS summary statistics used herein and code to reproduce bioinformatic data analyses are publicly available.
Functional gradient perturbation in Wilson disease correlates with structural lesions and transcriptomic specializations
Authors: Hu Sheng , Li Chuanfu , Wang Yanming , Wei Taohua , Wang Xiaoxiao , Dong Ting , Yang Yulong , Ding Yufeng , Qiu Bensheng , Yang Wenming
Published: June 2023

Functional dysregulations in multiple regions are caused by excessive copper deposition in the brain for Wilson disease (WD). While the biological mechanism of these dysregulations was thought to be the absent or reduced expression of the ATP7B protein in the liver, mechanisms for such gene impacting brain function remain unexplored. Here, we used a large cohort of resting-state fMRI data (105 WD patients and 93 healthy controls) to derive the functional connectome gradient, and its WD-related alterations were further evaluated. Then, we used Neurosynth, clinical data, and whole-brain gene expression to examine the meta-analytic cognitive function, clinical phenotypes, and transcriptional specializations related to WD gradient alterations. In parallel, spatial correlation between gradient and gray matter volume was accessed for both WD patients and healthy controls. Compared to controls, WD patients exhibited principal gradient alterations in both global and system levels and regional alterations mainly distributed in the sensorimotor, visual, ventral attention, subcortical, and default mode networks. Meta-analytic terms and clinical characters showed the correlations of these gradient alterations in motor-related processing, higher-order cognition, neurological symptom, and age. Results of spatial correlation revealed structure-function decoupling in multiple networks, especially in subcortical and visual networks. Within the cortex, the gradient alterations derived transcriptional specializations of WD that mainly display properties indicative of ion homeostasis, neural development, and motor controls. Within the subcortical regions, we for the first time characterized the role of the ATP7B gene impacting subcortical function. Transcriptional specializations of WD within both cortex and subcortical regions were also associated with neurological and psychiatric disorders, explaining the mechanism underlying complex clinical symptoms from the biological level for WD. In addition, we further illustrated that structural lesion and gradient perturbation shared similar transcriptional specializations in both cortex and subcortical regions for WD. These findings bridged functional gradient perturbation to structural lesions and transcriptional profiles in WD, possibly promoting our understanding of the neurobiological underpinnings underlying the emergence of complex neurological and psychiatric phenotypes.
Genetic analysis of 42 Y-STR loci in Han and Manchu populations from the three northeastern provinces in China
Authors: Song Wenqian , Zhou Shihang , Yu Weijian , Fan Yaxin , Liang Xiaohua
Published: June 2023

Background

Y-STR polymorphisms are useful in tracing genealogy and understanding human origins and migration history. This study aimed to fill a knowledge gap in the genetic diversity, structure, and haplogroup distribution of the Han and Manchu populations from the three northeastern provinces in China (Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang).

Methods

A total of 1,048 blood samples were collected from unrelated males residing in Dalian. Genotyping was performed using the AGCU Y37+5 Amplification Kit, and the genotype data were analyzed to determine allele and haplotype frequencies, genetic and haplotype diversity, discrimination capacity, and haplotype match probability. Population pairwise genetic distances (Fst) were calculated to compare the genetic relationships among Han and Manchu populations from Northeast China and other 36 populations using 27 Yfiler Plus loci set. Multi-dimensional scaling and phylogenetic analysis were employed to visualize the genetic relationships among the 40 populations. Moreover, haplogroups were predicted based on 27 Yfiler Plus loci set.

Results

The Han populations from Northeast China exhibited genetic affinities with both Han populations from the Central Plain and the Sichuan Qiang population, despite considerable geographical distances. Conversely, the Manchu population displayed a relatively large genetic distance from other populations. The haplogroup analysis revealed the prevalence of haplogroups E1b1b, O2, O3, and Q in the studied populations, with variations observed among different ethnic groups.

Conclusion

The study contributes to our understanding of genetic diversity and history of the Han and Manchu populations in Northeast China, the genetic relationships between populations, and the intricate processes of migration, intermarriage, and cultural integration that have shaped the region’s genetic landscape.
The effect of a visual arts and exercise program on communication and social skills of students with autism spectrum disorders
Authors: Broupi Alexandra Eleftheria , Kokaridas Dimitrios , Tsimaras Vasileios , Varsamis Panagiotis
Published: June 2023

Purpose

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) present challenges in their social and communication skills such as difficulties in developing interpersonal relationships and verbal and nonverbal communication; repetitive and restricted behaviors concerning resistance to environmental change, stereotyped movements and unusual reactions to sensory stimuli; and significant delays in motor development and performance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a combined visual arts and exercise program on the communication and social behavior skills of people with ASD.

Design/methodology/approach

The research was conducted in a Creative Employment Center of People with Disabilities, and the sample consisted of 18 participants with ASD divided randomly into a control group (CG) (n = 8) and an experiment group (EG) (n = 10). The Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) was used prior and after the implementation of the intervention program. EG participants attended an intervention program, whereas CG individuals followed their daily routine activities, and they only completed the SCQ prior and after the program.

Findings

EG demonstrated statically significant improvements in communication skills and social behavior, compared to the results of the CG. Furthermore, participants with Asperger’s syndrome showed a higher improvement rate compared to participants with autism, while no statistically significant differences were noticed concerning gender and age of the participants.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to investigate the effect of a combined visual arts and adapted physical activity program on the social and communication skills of people with ASD.
A partial solution for the replication crisis in economics
Authors: Briggs William M.
Published: June 2023

Purpose

Important research once thought unassailable has failed to replicate. Not just in economics, but in all science. The problem is therefore not in dispute nor are some of the causes, like low power, selective reporting, the file drawer effect, publicly unavailable data and so forth. Some partially worthy solutions have already been offered, like pre-registering hypotheses and data analysis plans.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a review paper on the replication crisis, which is by now very well known.

Findings

This study offers another partial solution, which is to remind researchers that correlation does not logically imply causation. The effect of this reminder is to eschew “significance” testing, whether in frequentist or Bayesian form (like Bayes factors) and to report models in predictive form, so that anybody can check the veracity of any model. In effect, all papers could undergo replication testing.

Originality/value

The author argues that this, or any solution, will never eliminate all errors.
How business process management culture supports digital innovation: a quantitative assessment
Authors: Distel Bettina , Plattfaut Ralf , Kregel Ingo
Published: June 2023

Purpose

Current research suggests culture as a driving force of successful digital innovation (DI) that may not only built an organization's capability to digitally innovate but also reduce impeding factors within the organization. Only few empirical accounts support this hypothesis so far. Details of how culture supports DI are yet under-researched. This article aims to investigate the relationship between culture, organizational DI capabilities and DI barriers.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors address this issue by using survey data from German municipalities (n = 668), build a structural equation model (SEM) and analyze data using partial least squares SEM.

Findings

Results indicate that the business process management (BPM) culture dimensions continuous improvement and process innovation support DI capabilities. Barriers exist that partially mediate the impact of culture on capabilities.

Originality/value

The results of this study show that BPM culture is not a uniform construct and that its dimensions have both positive and negative impact on the building of organizational digitalization capabilities.
Customer experience in five-star hotel businesses: is it an “experience” for customers?
Authors: Şanlıöz-Özgen H. Kader , Kozak Metin
Published: June 2023

Purpose

Concerning the development of “experience” as an economic phenomenon, this study aims to analyse customers' evaluations of their experiences in five-star hotel businesses and to identify if the hospitality experience is evaluated as an “experience” by its specific aspects.

Design/methodology/approach

Structural and thematic narrative analyses in a multi-dimensional setting were applied to stories from 107 participants who stayed in five-star hotel businesses.

Findings

Customers evaluate their overall experience as an “experience” reflected by experiential statements. However, they demonstrate higher cognitive orientation at the sub-experience levels (food and beverage, rooms, etc.).

Research limitations/implications

The paper sheds light on the fact that customers may evaluate their experiences with cognitive and experiential aspects. The study focuses on participants' lived experiences to understand the customer perspective with the “experience” concept leading to the memorability of customer experiences in hotel businesses. Further research is required with a larger sample group, mixed-methods implementation and longitudinal and comparable examination to understand seasonal, motivational and cultural differences.

Practical implications

The paper reveals various aspects of customer experiences in five-star hotel businesses around the variety of their offerings evaluated by cognitive and experiential perceptions so that dedicated efforts of the managers will be enhanced with a better and strategic understanding of the “experience” concept to achieve business goals.

Originality/value

The study offers insightful findings relating to customers’ service- and experience-based experiences and how “experience” is perceived by customers from various angles in the five-star hotel businesses.
Enhancing effectiveness of online training program through assessment of participant engagement index
Authors: Wavre Shrikant Prabhakar , Kuknor Sunaina
Published: June 2023

Purpose

This study focuses on the identification of key attributes to measure participant engagement in an online training program (OTP) to improve training effectiveness through active and positive learning engagement with learners learning ownership.

Design/methodology/approach

As a qualitative study, 18 semi-structured interviews were conducted with corporate and L&D (learning and development) experts from multinational companies operating in India. The interviews were transcribed, and the data was analyzed using content analysis. One focused group discussion was conducted for validity.

Findings

The study found six factors for developing the participant engagement index (EI) namely, 1. Quality of questions, 2. Attention to details, 3. Quality of output during training activities, 4. Connecting to practical examples, 5. Professional approach (adhering to guidelines), 6. Team dynamics. Each identified attribute pertaining to these factors was further validated into cognitive, behavioral, and emotional engagement components forming a part of the EI.

Practical implications

This study provides insights for HRD managers, functional managers, L&D experts, and participants to leverage engagement measurement attributes for collaborative learning in OTP for effective learner ownership and learning outcomes. Further, this study will assist trainers to focus and prioritize their efforts to increase participant involvement and engagement in OTP.

Originality/value

It contributes to the growing field of virtual training for enhancing learning engagement, learning enhancement, and learner accountability. The author's contribution to this study is to evaluate the key attributes of the participant’s EI for meeting training goals, which is unique to the study
The nail in the coffin? Pandemic and social dialogue in Poland
Authors: Czarzasty Jan , Mrozowicki Adam
Published: June 2023

Purpose

In the context of debates on the role of social partners in shaping anti-crisis policies, the article explores the developments of social dialogue in Poland following the outbreak of the pandemic. The central research question is whether the crisis has helped to revitalise social dialogue or has it further revealed its weaknesses that were apparent before it.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on the combination of literature review and the analysis of primary data derived from 22 expert interviews with the representatives of trade unions, employers and ministries collected in 2020–2021 in four essential industries (education, health care, social care and logistics).

Findings

The analysis suggests that the pandemic led to reinforcement of “illusory corporatism” in Poland, deepened mistrust among social partners and triggered a shift to informal channels of influencing policymaking. The weakness of the social partners and the strong position of the right-wing populist government meant that fears of recession and a health crisis were insufficient to develop “crisis” corporatism. While business interests were represented better than labour in policymaking, limited labour-friendly outcomes have been achieved as a result of workers’ mobilisation and unilateral decisions of the government rather than tripartite social dialogue.

Originality/value

Based on original empirical research, the article contributes to the discussion on the impact of the crisis on social dialogue under patchwork capitalism. It points to the role of strong governments and informality in circumventing tripartite structures and the importance of essential workers’ mobilisation in response to the lack of social dialogue.
When causal attribution meets cuisine type: how consumer power and moral identity moderate virtual kitchen patronage
Authors: Leung Xi Yu , Cai Ruiying , Zhang Huiying , Bai Billy
Published: June 2023

Purpose

Virtual kitchens are a new business phenomenon, and how customers react to the new business model is still a largely unexplored topic. The purpose of this study is to examine the underlying mechanisms of consumers’ different responses to their reasoning of the new and disruptive business model of the virtual kitchen.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the attribution theory and situated focus theory of power, this study conducts three online experiments to test the proposed framework. A total of 487 US residents who had prior experience with restaurant food delivery participated in the studies.

Findings

The results indicate that external attribution (vs internal attribution) and ethnic cuisine (vs mainstream cuisine) are more likely to elicit customers’ empathy and justice, leading to higher purchase intentions with virtual kitchens. A mainstream virtual kitchen is better off attributing itself to external factors. The significant effects of causal attribution and cuisine type on purchase intention only exist with powerful customers and those with high moral identity.

Research limitations/implications

The results of this study provide valuable insight to virtual kitchen businesses to better position and market themselves to gain customers’ support. The findings also suggest that ethnic and mainstream restaurants should strategize their marketing communications about virtual kitchens differently.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to provide in-depth insight into the growing phenomenon of virtual kitchens. It also contributes to the extant literature on attribution theory and situated focus theory of power.
Characteristics of crises resilient organizations in the hospitality and tourism industry
Authors: Aydogan Merve , de Esteban Curiel Javier , Antonovica Arta , Cetin Gurel
Published: June 2023

Purpose

COVID-19, like many previous crises, proved once more that some hospitality and tourism organizations are more crises resilient than others. Despite increasing frequency and magnitude of crises, little is known about the features of crises resilient organizations and mitigation strategies they adopt. If the characteristics of such resiliency are identified, those strengths might be targeted. Hence, the purpose of this study is to identify characteristics of crises resilient organizations by analyzing the interface between different organizational characteristics, recovery strategies they adopted and impacts of COVID-19 on individual hospitality and tourism organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

A global sample of 202 respondents from 20 countries and four continents, representing different sectors of the hospitality and tourism industry, participated in the survey. Descriptive analysis and cluster analysis were used to rank the items and group hospitality and tourism organizations based on their crises resiliency.

Findings

Service quality, loyal customers, branding, high paid in capital, domestic market base, hygiene and safety image, information and communication technology adoption, product and market diversification and restructuring debts emerged as major characteristics and strategies of crises resilient organizations. Using cluster analysis, four different groups of organizations were identified. Based on the impacts of COVID-19 on these organizations, Cluster-1 emerged as significantly more crises resilient, whereas Cluster-4 organizations were significantly more vulnerable to crises. Their characteristics and mitigation strategies they adopted were discussed.

Research limitations/implications

The paper not only identified features of crises resilient organizations and successful mitigation strategies but also measured their impact on various performance indicators. Future studies might use characteristics, mitigation strategies and performance indicators identified in this study.

Practical implications

Based on the findings, tourism organizations would focus on strengthening characteristics and implementing strategies that make crises resilient organizations. Public bodies and destination management would also set their decision criteria based on these findings to create a more resilient tourism industry.

Originality/value

This research not only identifies how hospitality and tourism organizations are affected by COVID-19 but also how these impacts change based on different organizational characteristics and strategies. Understanding which organizational characteristics affect the crises vulnerability of hospitality and tourism organizations might inform risk and crises management literature and structural design elements in tourism businesses, hence offer both theoretical and practical implications.
Research on parametric design of men's suit lapel based on knowledge
Authors: Lin Kai , Liu Kaixuan
Published: June 2023

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to improve the efficiency of pattern-making for suit lapels in the apparel industry, to master the perceptual knowledge of suit lapels and to establish a mapping relationship between suit lapel styles and perceptual judgment.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, notch lapel, peak lapel and shawl lapel are studied, and the authors extract the structural features in the order of drafting as the input values for model training. At the same time, after the expert screening, four perceptual evaluation dimensions based on a priori knowledge are selected as output values, which are finally classified using a decision tree algorithm.

Findings

The results show that different design parameters produce different perceptions of people's vision and, thus, different perceptual judgments. The decision tree model can effectively classify the perceptual judgment of the lapel shape.

Originality/value

The findings of this study help garment factories to provide optimal judgment of basic parameters before the production of a suit lapel and to improve the efficiency of the design.
Managing Norwegian public libraries as civil public spheres: recent controversies
Authors: Larsen Håkon
Published: June 2023

Purpose

This paper contains a theoretically inspired discussion of recent Norwegian controversies related to the management of public library space as a civil public sphere.

Design/methodology/approach

This study engages with theories of civil public spheres and their application within a Nordic context. The theories are applied in discussions of recent controversies related to the management of Norwegian public libraries as civil public spheres, as represented in professional journals and press articles.

Findings

Through the discussion, it becomes apparent that the value of neutrality and librarians' inclusive practices on the part of societal minorities might be conflicting when managing public libraries as civil public spheres.

Originality/value

This paper engages with recent library controversies in Norway and discusses them in light of recent scholarly work on library activism in a Nordic context, as well as recent theorizations of civil public spheres in the Nordic countries. It thus connects ongoing discussions among Norwegian librarians with recent library research and ongoing theorization of civil public spheres within the Nordic model.
Why do consumers leave fast fashion stores? Role of shoppers' confusion
Authors: Hwang Joohye , Tung Tracie , Cho Hira
Published: June 2023

Purpose

The study aims to examine fast fashion consumers' negative in-store experiences focusing on the effect of the two store environment factors, product overload and store ambiance, on their confusion and consequent shopping avoidance behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

A research model of fast fashion consumers' confusion and store avoidance behavior is proposed using the Stimulus–Organism–Response framework. A pretest and the main online survey with 281 samples are analyzed, and the structural equation modeling (SEM) is conducted to test the proposed model.

Findings

The SEM results support the proposed paths statistically. Consumers' confusion, measured with the two dimensions, inefficiency and helplessness, is significantly influenced by their perceived product overload and negative perception of store ambiance in the fast fashion shopping environment. Subsequently, fast fashion consumers' confusion results in less time spent in the store.

Originality/value

The study sheds light on utilitarian shopping value in the fast fashion shopping environment by focusing on the fast fashion consumers' confusion in association with overloaded information caused by too many products and store ambiance.

Research limitations/implications

The study implies that improving fast fashion stores' inherent issues with too many products and store ambiance might help consumers mitigate their confusion and prevent customer attrition. However, the study includes only two factors. Future studies may include other various fast fashion store factors. Additionally, one of the dimensions of confusion, irritation, did not emerge in this study. More work is needed to investigate fast fashion consumers' confusion, such as using a multigroup analysis by age.
Field, place or space? A carnal ethnography of a therapeutic space-construct
Authors: Galazka Anna Milena
Published: June 2023

Purpose

In advancing the academic discourse around the theory of field, place and space in ethnographic research, this paper proposes a carnal sociological reading of the meaning and form of the Lindsay Leg Clubs – third-sector community leg care centres for older adults with leg problems – as a therapeutic space-construct.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on non-formulaic, polymorphic ethnographic research in the UK Lindsay Leg Clubs conducted through multiple on-site and extramural engagements with the Leg Club community between 2019 and 2023 and an interview with the Leg Club founder and president, Professor Ellie Lindsay OBE. Wacquant's (2015) reflexive, enactive ethnographic approach is applied to develop an intellectual and carnal know-how of Leg Clubs as therapeutic space-constructs.

Findings

The researcher's “flesh and blood” experience of the Leg Clubs reveals the importance of cognitive and embodied appreciation of sounds, smells, sights, movements, the structures of wound stigma, centre-stage physical bodies of members and the volunteers, the material arrangement of the place and the researcher's own visceral and intellectual, biographical relation to the fieldwork to understand the therapeutic form and meaning of Leg Club spaces.

Originality/value

Applying the carnal sociology approach to reveal the therapeutic form and meaning of the Leg Club spaces makes concrete the abstract distinctions between field, place and space in ethnographic research, hence advancing the discourse around the theory of field in ethnography. A carnal sociological reading of the Leg Club spaces has implications for an embodied understanding of broader community care spaces.
Conceptualising and measuring positive mental health literacy: a systematic literature review
Authors: Cresswell-Smith Johanna , Solin Pia , Wahlbeck Kristian , Tamminen Nina
Published: June 2023

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to systematically review how positive mental health literacy has been conceptualised and measured over the last 20 years. Positive mental health recognises the benefits of feeling good and functioning effectively. Developing clarity around conceptualisation and knowledge (or literacy) of what constitutes positive mental health is an area of continued development, and an important step in measuring the impact of mental health promotion.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic review of literature was performed to investigate how positive mental health literacy has been conceptualised and measured over the last 20 years. Databases searched included EDS, Scopus, ERIC, PsycINFO, CINAHL and SocIndex with fulltext. Search terms relating to positive mental health were combined with proximity operators within four words denoting knowledge, competence or literacy.

Findings

A total of 464 records were assessed on title level, with six articles included for final review. The final studies included three measures assessing participants’ knowledge of positive mental health, some of which included more distal themes such as awareness of coping strategies and emotional awareness. One measure, the Mental Health Promoting Knowledge – 10, stood out as the most fitting measure of positive mental health literacy.

Research limitations/implications

Our review approaches an under reported area of study, highlighting an area in need for further development with a few limitations. When building the search strategy, care was taken to line it up with literacy around positive mental health and its synonyms. The word “mental health” without positive specification was omitted in the final search strategy, increasing the risk of it also omitting potential articles of interest.

Practical implications

Our findings therefore highlight a knowledge gap in relation to conceptualisations and measures of positive mental health literacy, unfolding an area for further development. A more harmonised understanding of what is meant by positive mental health is an important step towards clarifying the concept and facilitating future study of the topic. Measures of positive mental health literacy could be an important indicator for mental health promotion.

Social implications

New ways of measuring positive mental health literacy can be a useful way to establish benefits of mental health promotion, taking a salutogenic approach to mental health.

Originality/value

These findings expose an apparent knowledge gap in relation to conceptualisations and measures of positive mental health literacy, highlighting an area in need for further development. Measures of positive mental health literacy could be an important indicator for mental health promotion.
Study on wear characteristics and authorized limits of switch rails of high-speed turnout
Authors: Wang Pu , Wang Shuguo , Ge Jing , Si Daolin , Yang Dongsheng
Published: June 2023

Purpose

It is quite universal for high-speed turnouts to be exposed to the wear of the stock rail of the switch rail during the service process. The wear will cause the change of railhead profile and the relative positions of the switch rail and the stock rail, which will directly affect the wheel–rail contact state and wheel load transition when a train passes the turnout and will further impose serious impacts on the safety and stability of train operation. The purpose of this paper is to provide suggestions for wear management of high-speed turnout.

Design/methodology/approach

The actual wear characteristics of switch rails of high-speed turnouts in different guiding directions were studied based on the monitoring results on site; the authorized wear limits for the switch rails of high-speed turnout were studied through derailment risk analysis and switch rail strength analysis.

Findings

The results show that: the major factor for the service life of a curved switch rail is the lateral wear. The wear characteristics of the curved switch rail of a facing turnout are significantly different from those of a trailing turnout. To be specific, the lateral wear of the curved switch rail mainly occurs in the narrower section at its front end for a trailing turnout, but in the wider section at its rear end when for a facing turnout. The maximum lateral wear of a dismounted switch rail from a trailing turnout is found on the 15-mm wide section and is 3.9 mm, which does not reach the specified limit of 6 mm. For comparison, the lateral wear of a dismounted switch rail from a facing turnout is found from the 35-mm wide section to the full-width section and is greater than 7.5 mm, which exceeds the specified limit. Based on this, in addition to meeting the requirements of maintenance rules, the allowed wear of switch rails of high-speed turnout shall be so that the dangerous area with a tangent angle of wheel profile smaller than 43.6° will not contact the switch rail when the wheel is lifted by 2 mm. Accordingly, the lateral wear limit at the 5-mm wide section of the curved switch rail shall be reduced from 6 mm (as specified) to 3.5 mm.

Originality/value

The work in this paper is of reference significance to the research on the development law of rail wear in high-speed turnout area and the formulation of relevant standards.
The cruise industry workforce crunch – generational changes in work values of job seekers
Authors: Raub Steffen , Cruz Margarita , Gorka Jens , Hodari Demian , Saul Lionel
Published: June 2023

Purpose

In the wake of COVID-19, the cruise industry is experiencing an unprecedented talent management challenge. Extant research suggests a broad range of work values that may attract job candidates to the cruise industry. The purpose of this study is to assess whether there are significant differences in the importance ratings of these work values for the millennials, compared to those of the preceding generation X.

Design/methodology/approach

With the support of a leading recruitment agency, the authors obtained responses to an online survey of 1,320 job candidates, of whom 830 were millennials. Using a quantitative approach, the authors asked them to assess the importance of eight work value domains. The authors ranked these domains for the millennials and for generation X and compared mean importance ratings using t-tests.

Findings

The results of this study reveal that differences between millennials and generation X in the ranking of the eight work value domains do exist. The authors did not find support for any systematic differences in terms of “extrinsic” versus “intrinsic” work values. However, the results show that the importance of “ego-driven” work values (e.g. support, development, compensation, work–life balance and comfort) is significantly higher for millennials. Conversely, for the more “altruistic” factors, there are no significant differences between the two generations.

Originality/value

Based on a very large sample of job candidates from the cruise industry, the results support the predictions of generational theories. The authors show that differences in work value ratings between generation X and the millennials exist. The authors also provide a novel perspective on the dimensions along which these differences materialize.
A hierarchical modelling framework for estimating individual‐ and population‐level reproductive success from movement data
Authors: Eisaguirre Joseph M. , Williams Perry J. , Brockman Julia C. , Lewis Stephen B. , Barger Christopher P. , Breed Greg A. , Booms Travis L.
Published: June 2023

Rapidly advancing animal telemetry technologies paired with new statistical models can provide insight into the behaviour of otherwise unobservable free‐living animals. Changes in behaviour apparent from pairing telemetry with statistical models often occur as animals undertake key life‐history activities, such as reproduction. For many species that are secretive or occupy remote areas, these life‐history events are difficult to detect with conventional survey techniques, and consequently, vital rates are difficult to estimate.

We present a hierarchical modelling framework, which integrates movement data observed via animal‐borne telemetry and optional, infrequent survey data, to estimate individual‐ and population‐level reproductive success. The approach combines a mechanistic movement model and survival model, and allows for assessing the effects of hypothesized individual and environmental covariates on reproductive success. We first tested our approach with simulated data, and then applied it to movement data from migratory golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) breeding in southcentral Alaska across four breeding seasons.

We show that results supported our biological hypotheses that changes in movement coincided with the timing of reproductive failures, and that changes in movement could be used to assess breeding success (and failure) at the individual and population levels. The analysis also provided evidence of inter‐annual variation in population‐level nest success and the timing of nesting failures.

This new approach is adaptable to many species that care for young and can be tracked with telemetry devices, and can provide not only individual‐level information useful for testing ecological hypotheses, but estimates of demographic parameters that can directly inform conservation and management if tagged animals are representative of the population.
Taxing sugar‐sweetened beverages: A nonlinear pricing approach
Authors: Nuño‐Ledesma José G. , Wu Steven Y. , Balagtas Joseph V.
Published: June 2023

Taxation is frequently implemented to discourage the consumption of sugary beverages. Despite their popularity, little is known about the impacts of taxes when sellers practice price discrimination. To address this issue, we use a standard nonlinear pricing model with one product and two buyer types to study the effects of taxation on (i) consumption, (ii) consumer and producer surpluses, and (iii) the seller's choice of market segmentation scheme. We find that a tax would lead to reductions in consumption, consumer surplus, and expected profit. Additionally, the measure increases the likelihood that the sellers would exclude buyers with low preferences for the beverage to exclusively serve buyers with high willingness to pay for the product.
The weight of the future
Authors: Mittermaier Amira
Published: June 2023

In this “hundreds” honoring Kathleen Stewart, I reflect on how a turn to affect can attune us to the emergent, to unfinished worlds, to futures as they throw themselves together, to things slipping in and out of existence, and to what lies nascent in the atmosphere. In darker moments, such as the aftermath of revolutions, the weight of the future can become unbearable.
The squeegee man
Authors: Dattatreyan Ethiraj Gabriel
Published: June 2023

In this “hundreds” honoring Kathleen Stewart, I evoke a scene from my childhood to dwell on misrecognition and the intensities of what José Estaban Muñoz (2020) describes as a “sense of Brown,” that plural yet particular relatedness that emerges out of the displacements and intimacies of coloniality.