bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Effectiveness of Advance Care Planning Training for Care Home Staff: a Systematic Review
Authors: Barber-Fleming Victoria Ann , Mann Mala , Mead Gillian , Gleeson Aoife
Published: March 2023

In line with population ageing, the number of global deaths is predicted to increase. There have been projections that, within the next 20 years, in England and Wales, care homes may become the most common place of death. In order to respect the autonomy of their residents, it is therefore, vital that care home staff are able to have Advance Care Planning conversations. However, care home staff may lack the knowledge or confidence to have such discussions. Further, a systematic review found a paucity of evidence about whether Advance Care Planning training interventions for care home staff are effective. New, higher quality studies are now available, justifying this review update. We sought to address two questions: 1) ‘What Advance Care Planning education interventions exist for care home staff?’ and 2) ‘how effective are these interventions?’ All measurable outcomes of effectiveness (e.g. health system/resource-related, patient/relative-related, staff-related) including both qualitative and quantitative measures of effectiveness were considered.

Design

The review adheres to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta- Analyses (PRISMA) and is registered on PROSPERO (ID: CRD42022337865). Original research evaluating Advance Care Planning education for care home staff and reporting any measurable outcome of effectiveness was included. We searched Ovid Medline All, Ovid Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, EBSCO CINAHL, EBSCO ERIC, and Ovid PsycINFO from March 2018 (3 months prior to original review search cut-off) to June 2022, with supplemental journal and website searches. The results were synthesised by narrative synthesis.

Findings

The current review update almost doubled the number of included studies in a relatively short period. This review includes 10 studies (n = 310 care homes), from the UK, Belgium, Norway and Canada. UK studies were mainly related to the Gold Standard Framework for Care Homes. Two studies adopted multi-component education interventions. Outcome measures included resident/family, staff and health service-related concepts. Even after identifying a further 5 papers, there remains insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of Advance Care Planning education interventions for care home staff.

Conclusions

Advance Care Planning education interventions are heterogeneous and often complex in their design, flexibility, target populations, and outcomes. There remains insufficient data to determine the effectiveness of Advance Care Planning education interventions for care home staff, with a particularly urgent need to agree on outcome measures of the effectiveness. Future research could consider updating the existing Delphi consensus on outcome measures for evaluating Advance Care Planning, in light of this systematically collected evidence, with a view to agreeing outcomes that are specific to Advance Care Planning education interventions for care home staff.
Photoluminescence brightening of single-walled carbon nanotubes through conjugation with graphene quantum dots
Authors: Sajjadi Sayyed Hashem , Wu Shang-Jung , Reggente Melania , Sharif Niloufar , Boghossian Ardemis A.
Published: March 2023

Spanning the tissue transparency window, the near-infrared (NIR) photoluminescence (PL) of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) can optically penetrate biological tissue for deep-tissue imaging and optical sensing. SWCNTs are often functionalized with single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) to yield biocompatible, responsive, and selective sensors. However, the low brightness of these ssDNA-wrapped SWCNTs sensors restricts the depth at which such sensors can be implanted in the tissue. This work demonstrates the PL enhancement of ssDNA-wrapped SWCNTs by incorporating biocompatible graphene quantum dots (GQDs). Two kinds of GQDs, pristine (PGQDs) and nitrogen-doped (NGQDs), were fabricated and characterized. Thermodynamically, both GQDs were shown to significantly increase the fluorescence efficiency of ssDNA-SWCNTs with the same degree of PL enhancement after 3 h. Furthermore, a correlation between the diameter of the SWCNTs and the PL enhancement factor was found; the larger the SWCNT diameter, the higher the PL increase upon adding GQDs. For instance, a 30-fold enhancement was achieved for (8,6) chirality while it was only 2-fold for the (6,5) chirality. Our experiments showed that adding GQDs increases the surface coverage of SWCNTs suspended by ssDNA, limiting water molecules’ access to the nanotube surface, thus increasing the fluorescence efficiency. Kinetically, NGQDs brightened SWCNTs much faster than PGQDs. The PL intensity reached a plateau in 2 min following the addition of NGQDs, while it was still increasing even after 1 h upon the addition of PGQDs. We show that NGQDs can act as reducing agents to decrease the amount of dissolved oxygen, which quenches the SWCNTs PL. This advancement provides a promising tool for engineering the brightness of NIR sensors for biomedical applications such as single-molecule imaging of individual SWCNTs using NIR confocal microscopy and deep tissue sensing.
Comparative Proteomic Analysis of Paired Human Milk Fat Globules and Membranes and Mouse Milk Fat Globules Identifies Core Cellular Systems Contributing to Mammary Lipid Trafficking and Secretion
Authors: Carli Jayne F. Martin , Monks Jenifer , McManaman James L.
Published: March 2023

Human milk delivers critical nutritional and immunological support to the infant. The milk fat globule and its membrane contain many bioactive components, yet the mechanism of milk fat secretion and how milk fat globule (MFG) components are regulated are poorly defined. In this study, we perform quantitative proteomic profiling of milk fat globules from human and mouse milk, as well as from isolated membranes physically disrupted from human milk fat globules.

Using paired analyses of the human samples we report membrane enrichment of the proteins involved in docking/tethering the lipid droplet to the membrane as well as minor components involved in the signaling pathway for secretion. Comparing abundance between human and mouse milk fat globules we find that 8 of 12 major milk fat globule proteins are shared between the two species. Comparative pathway enrichment analyses between human and mouse samples reveal similarities in shared membrane trafficking and signaling pathways involved in milk fat secretion. Our results advance knowledge of the composition and relative quantities of proteins in human and mouse milk fat globules in greater detail, provide a quantitative profile of specifically enriched human milk fat globule membrane proteins, and identify core cellular systems involved in milk lipid secretion.
Far From Home: Evolution of haploid and diploid populations reveals common, strong, and variable pleiotropic effects in non-home environments
Authors: Chen Vivian K. , Johnson Milo S. , Hérissant Lucas , Humphrey Parris T. , Yuan David C. , Li Yuping , Agarwala Atish , Hoelscher Samuel B. , Petrov Dmitri A. , Desai Michael M. , Sherlock Gavin
Published: March 2023

Adaptation is driven by the selection for beneficial mutations that provide a fitness advantage in the specific environment in which a population is evolving. However, environments are rarely constant or predictable. When an organism well adapted to one environment finds itself in another, pleiotropic effects of mutations that made it well adapted to its former environment will affect its success. To better understand such pleiotropic effects, we evolved both haploid and diploid barcoded budding yeast populations in multiple environments, isolated adaptive clones, and then determined the fitness effects of adaptive mutations in “non-home” environments in which they were not selected. We find that pleiotropy is common, with most adaptive evolved lineages showing fitness effects in non-home environments. Consistent with other studies, we find that these pleiotropic effects are unpredictable: they are beneficial in some environments and deleterious in others. However, we do find that lineages with adaptive mutations in the same genes tend to show similar pleiotropic effects. We also find that ploidy influences the observed adaptive mutational spectra in a condition-specific fashion. In some conditions, haploids and diploids are selected with adaptive mutations in identical genes, while in others they accumulate mutations in almost completely disjoint sets of genes.
Fat2 polarizes Lar and Sema5c to coordinate the motility of collectively migrating epithelial cells
Authors: Williams Audrey Miller , Horne-Badovinac Sally
Published: March 2023

Migrating epithelial cells globally align their migration machinery to achieve tissue-level movement. Biochemical signaling across leading-trailing cell-cell interfaces can promote this alignment by partitioning migratory behaviors like protrusion and retraction to opposite sides of the interface. However, how the necessary signaling proteins become organized at this site is poorly understood. The follicular epithelial cells ofDrosophila melanogasterhave two signaling modules at their leading-trailing interfaces—one composed of the atypical cadherin Fat2 and the receptor tyrosine phosphatase Lar, and one composed of Semaphorin 5c and its receptor Plexin A. Here we show that these modules form one interface signaling system with Fat2 at its core. Trailing edge-enriched Fat2 concentrates both Lar and Sema5c at cells’ leading edges, likely by slowing their turnover at this site. Once localized, Lar and Sema5c act in parallel to promote collective migration. Our data suggest a model in which Fat2 couples and polarizes the distributions of multiple effectors that work together to align the migration machinery of neighboring cells.
Modulated protein-sterol interactions drive oxysterol-induced impaired CXCR4 signalling
Authors: Verma Anant , Asthana Suramya , Saini Deepak Kumar , Ayappa K. Ganapathy
Published: March 2023

CXCR4 is a G-protein coupled receptor which mediates signalling for diverse functions such as cell proliferation and migration, hematopoiesis and plays a role in embryogenesis and development. Signal transduction occurs primarily through transmembrane helices that function in the multicomponent lipid environment of the plasma membrane. Elevated levels of plasma membrane oxysterols occur in cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, physiological stress and inflammatory conditions. We use experimental and simulation approaches to study the impact of oxysterol chemistry and composition on CXCL12-mediated CXCR4 signalling. Experiments on HeLa cells show a pronounced decrease in calcium oscillation response for the tail oxidized sterols in comparison with the ring oxidized sterols with 22(R) hydroxycholesterol showing a near complete loss of signalling followed by 27-hydroxycholesterol and 25-hydroxycholesterol. All-atom molecular dynamics simulations reveal that tail oxidized, 27-hydroxycholesterol, displaces cholesterol and ubiquitously binds to several critical signalling residues, as well as the dimer interface. Enhanced 27-hydroxycholesterol binding alters CXCR4 residue conformations, disrupts the toggle switch and induces secondary structure changes at both N and C termini. Our study provides a molecular view of the observed mitigated CXCR4 signalling in the presence of oxysterols revealing that disruption of cholesterol-protein interactions, important for regulating the active state, is a key factor in the loss of CXCR4 signalling. Additionally, a signalling class switching from Gαito Gαsas revealed by increased CREB and ERK phosphorylation is observed in the experiments.
The effect of lifelong physical (in)activity on knee extensor force control
Authors: Pethick Jamie
Published: March 2023

It is well-documented that older adults exhibit a greater magnitude and decreased complexity of muscle force fluctuations in comparison to young adults. To date, however, research on this age-related loss of force control has focused on heterogeneous groups of inactive/moderately active older adults, despite accumulating evidence that high levels of lifelong physical activity (such as that exhibited by Masters athletes) has a protective effect on neuromuscular function and morphology. The present study compared healthy young adults (aged < 35; n = 14), healthy but inactive older adults (aged > 55; n = 13) and Masters athletes (aged > 55; n = 14) in order to discern the effects of lifelong physical (in)activity on muscle force control. Force control was assessed during isometric knee extension contractions at 10, 20 and 40% maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) and was quantified according to the magnitude (coefficient of variation [CV]) and complexity (approximate entropy [ApEn]; detrended fluctuation analysis [DFA] α) of force fluctuations. Inactive older adults exhibited significantly greater CV, indicative of poorer force steadiness, than young adults and Masters athletes during contractions at 10, 20 and 40% MVC (allP< 0.001). There were no significant differences in CV between the young adults and Masters athletes. These results indicate that lifelong physical activity has a protective effect against the age-related loss of muscle force control and suggest that, up to this point, our understanding of the age-related loss of muscle force control has been confounded by the effects of physical inactivity.

Key points

Ageing is associated with a decrease in muscle force control (i.e., poorer steadiness and adaptability), though to date this has largely been studied in inactive older adults

Lifelong physical activity, such as that exhibited by Masters athletes, has a protective role against many age-related decrements in neuromuscular physiology and function

This study compared force control, during contractions at intensities typical of the requirements of activities of daily living, in healthy young adults, healthy but inactive older adults and age-matched Masters athletes

Masters athletes exhibited significantly better force steadiness than their inactive counterparts and no difference in steadiness compared to young adults

Lifelong physical activity appears to modulate the age-related loss of force control, indicating that our current understanding of this loss of force control may be contaminated by the negative effects of inactivity
Unexpected plasma gonadal steroid and reproductive hormone levels across the mouse estrous cycle
Authors: Wall Ellen G. , Desai Reena , Aung Zin Khant , Yeo Shel Hwa , Grattan David R. , Handelsman David J. , Herbison Allan E.
Published: March 2023

Despite the importance of the mouse in biomedical research, the levels of circulating gonadal steroids across the estrous cycle are not established with any temporal precision. Using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, now considered the gold standard for steroid hormone analysis, we aimed to generate a detailed profile of gonadal steroid levels across the estrous cycle of C57BL/6J mice. For reference, luteinizing hormone (LH) and prolactin concentrations were measured in the same samples by sandwich ELISA. Terminal blood samples were collected at 8-hour intervals (10 am, 6 pm, 2 am) throughout the four stages of the estrous cycle. As expected, the LH surge was detected at 6 pm on proestrus with a mean (±SEM) concentration of 11±3 ng/mL and occurred coincident with the peak in progesterone levels (22±4 ng/mL). Surprisingly, estradiol concentrations peaked at 10 am on diestrus (51±8 pg/mL), with levels on proestrus 6 pm reaching only two-thirds of this value (31±5 pg/mL). We also observed a proestrous peak in prolactin concentrations (132.5±17 ng/mL) that occurred earlier than expected at 2 am. Estrone and androstenedione levels were often close to the LOD and showed no consistent changes across the estrous cycle. Testosterone levels were rarely above the LOD (0.01 ng/mL). These observations provide the first detailed assessment of fluctuating gonadal steroid and reproductive hormone levels across the mouse estrous cycle and indicate that species differences exist between mice and other spontaneously ovulating species.
Meta-Research: understudied genes are lost in a leaky pipeline between genome-wide assays and reporting of results
Authors: Richardson Reese AK , Navarro Heliodoro Tejedor , Nunes Amaral Luis A , Stoeger Thomas
Published: March 2023

Present-day publications on human genes primarily feature genes that already appeared in many publications prior to completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003. These patterns persist despite the subsequent adoption of high-throughput technologies, which routinely identify novel genes associated with biological processes and disease. Although several hypotheses for bias in the selection of genes as research targets have been proposed, their explanatory powers have not yet been compared. Our analysis suggests that understudied genes are systematically abandoned in favor of better-studied genes between the completion of -omics experiments and the reporting of results. Understudied genes remain abandoned by studies that cite these -omics experiments. Conversely, we find that publications on understudied genes may even accrue a greater number of citations. Among 45 biological and experimental factors previously proposed to affect which genes are being studied, we find that 33 are significantly associated with the choice of hit genes presented in titles and abstracts of - omics studies. To promote the investigation of understudied genes we condense our insights into a tool,find my understudied genes(FMUG), that allows scientists to engage with potential bias during the selection of hits. We demonstrate the utility of FMUG through the identification of genes that remain understudied in vertebrate aging. FMUG is developed in Flutter and is available for download at fmug.amaral.northwestern.edu as a MacOS/Windows app.
Genome instability footprint under rapamycin and hydroxyurea treatments
Authors: Li Jing , Stenberg Simon , Yue Jia-Xing , Mikhalev Ekaterina , Thompson Dawn , Warringer Jonas , Liti Gianni
Published: March 2023

The mutational processes dictating the accumulation of mutations in genomes are shaped by genetic background, environment and their interactions. Accurate quantification of mutation rates and spectra under drugs has important implications in disease treatment. Here, we used whole-genome sequencing and time-resolved growth phenotyping of yeast mutation accumulation lines to give a detailed view of the mutagenic effects of rapamycin and hydroxyurea on the genome and cell growth. Mutation rates depended on the genetic backgrounds, but were only marginally affected by rapamycin. As a remarkable exception, rapamycin treatment was associated with frequent chromosome XII amplifications, which compensated for rapamycin induced rDNA repeat contraction on this chromosome and served to maintain rDNA content homeostasis and fitness. In hydroxyurea, a wide range of mutation rates were elevated regardless of the genetic backgrounds, with a particularly high occurrence of aneuploidy that associated with dramatic fitness loss. Hydroxyurea also induced a high T-to-G transversion rate that reversed the common G/C-to-A/T bias in yeast and gave rise to a broad range of structural variants, including mtDNA deletions. The hydroxyurea mutation footprint was consistent with the activation of error-prone DNA polymerase activities and non-homologues end joining repair pathways. Taken together, our study provides an in-depth view of mutation rates and signatures in rapamycin and hydroxyurea and their impact on cell fitness, which brings insights for assessing their chronic effects on genome integrity.
Evaluating The Efficacy Of Endotracheal Epinephrine Administration At Standard Versus High Dose During Resuscitation Of Severely Asphyxiated Newborn Lambs: A Randomized Preclinical Study
Authors: Polglase Graeme R. , Brian Yoveena , Tantanis Darcy , Blank Douglas A. , Badurdeen Shiraz , Crossley Kelly J. , Kluckow Martin , Gill Andrew W. , Camm Emily , Galinsky Robert , Songstad Nils Thomas , Klingenberg Claus , Hooper Stuart B. , Roberts Calum T.
Published: March 2023

Background

Epinephrine treatment is recommended during neonatal resuscitation, if ventilation and chest compressions are ineffective. Endotracheal administration is an option, if the preferred intravenous route is unavailable. We aimed to determine the efficacy of endotracheal epinephrine for achieving return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), and maintaining physiological stability after ROSC, at standard and higher dose, in severely asphyxiated newborn lambs.

Methods

Near-term fetal lambs were instrumented for physiological monitoring, and asphyxiated until asystole. Resuscitation was commenced with ventilation and chest compressions as per ILCOR recommendations. Lambs were randomly allocated to: IV Saline placebo (5 ml/kg, n=6), IV Epinephrine (20 micrograms/kg, n=9), Standard-dose ET Epinephrine (100 micrograms/kg, n=9), and High-dose ET Epinephrine (1 mg/kg, n=9). After three allocated treatment doses, rescue IV Epinephrine was administered if ROSC had not occurred. Lambs achieving ROSC were ventilated and monitored for 60 minutes before euthanasia. Brain histology was assessed for micro-hemorrhage.

Results

ROSC in response to allocated treatment (without rescue IV Epinephrine) occurred in 1/6 Saline, 9/9 IV Epinephrine, 0/9 Standard-dose ET Epinephrine, and 7/9 High-dose ET Epinephrine lambs respectively. Three Saline, six Standard-dose ET Epinephrine, and one High-dose ET Epinephrine lambs achieved ROSC after rescue IV Epinephrine. Blood pressure during CPR increased after treatment with IV Epinephrine and High-dose ET Epinephrine, but not Saline or Standard-dose ET Epinephrine.

After ROSC, both ET Epinephrine groups had lower pH, higher lactate, and higher blood pressure than the IV Epinephrine group. Cortex micro-hemorrhage was more frequent in the High-dose ET Epinephrine lambs (8/8 lambs examined, versus 3/8 in IV Epinephrine lambs).

Conclusions

The currently recommended dose of ET Epinephrine was ineffective in achieving ROSC. In the absence of convincing clinical or preclinical evidence of efficacy, use of ET Epinephrine at this dose may not be appropriate.

High-dose ET Epinephrine requires further evaluation before clinical translation.
Heat inactivation of foetal bovine serum causes protein contamination of extracellular vesicles
Authors: Urzì Ornella , Moschetti Marta , Lässer Cecilia , Johansson Junko , D’Arrigo Daniele , Olofsson Bagge Roger , Crescitelli Rossella
Published: March 2023

Both the release of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in cell cultures and the cargo that these EVs carry can be influenced by cell culture conditions such as the presence of foetal bovine serum (FBS). Although several studies have evaluated the effect of removing FBS-derived EVs by ultracentrifugation (UC), less is known about the influence of FBS heat inactivation on the cell-derived EVs. To assess this, three protocols based on different combinations of EV depletion by UC and heat inactivation were evaluated, including FBS that was ultracentrifuged but not heat-inactivated, FBS that was heat inactivated before EV depletion, and FBS that was heat inactivated after EV depletion. The FBS samples were then added to the culture media of three melanoma cell lines, and after 72 h both large and small EVs were isolated by differential UC. We demonstrated by transmission electron microscopy, protein measurement, and quantification of the number of particles that heat inactivation performed after EV depletion reduced the purity of small EVs but had no effect on large EV purity. Quantitative mass spectrometry analysis of FBS-derived small EVs showed that the EV protein content was different when FBS was heat inactivated after EV depletion compared to EVs isolated from FBS that was not heat inactivated or that was heat inactivated prior to EV depletion. Moreover, several of the quantified proteins were wrongly attributed to be of human origin because the EVs were of obvious bovine origin. Our results demonstrated that proteins of bovine origin coming from FBS-derived EVs could mistakenly be attributed to human cell-derived EVs in EV proteomic studies. Moreover, we concluded that heat inactivation performed after EV depletion induced the release of proteins that might contaminate EV samples, and the recommendation is therefore to always perform heat inactivation prior to EV depletion.
Extending the servicescape conceptualization: accounting for perceptions of crowding and risks under the pandemic
Authors: Nath Atanu Kumar , Saha Parmita , Mei Xiang Ying
Published: March 2023

Purpose

Though many conceptual and empirical studies have been conducted on the servicescape, limited research has focused on how the COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped factors influencing the servicescape. This paper aims to propose an extension of Bitner’s original conceptualization, including pandemic-induced physical and social constraints on servicescape in the form of crowding, consumer risk perception during the crisis and their impact on consumers' and employees’ behavioral changes in retail and hospitality sectors.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper critically reviewed the past and emerging servicescape and risk literature. It then examines and delineates the concepts of crowding, density and associated risk perceptions to offer an extended servicescape framework. Alongside, scales were proposed to measure the constructs and guidelines given to conduct future empirical studies.

Findings

This paper discussed the major impact on servicescape during a pandemic situation, to what extent risk is perceived during consumption and the impact of crowding and store density on employee and customer behavioral responses.

Research limitations/implications

This paper principally contributes by explicitly including specific risk dimensions and crowding and proposes the scales to measure consumers’ understanding of pandemic-induced perceptions of risk, crowding and density within servicescapes for further empirical testing. Alongside this, the identification and concretization of different types of perceived risks under COVID-19 provide critical and useful marketing implications.

Originality/value

This study identifies relevant risk dimensions, proposes crowding as an independent construct apart from servicescape physicality and proposes relevant measures for empirical verification.
Contractor payment delays: a systematic review of current trends and future directions
Authors: Adaku Ebenezer , Osei-Poku Victor , Ottou Jemima Antwiwaa , Yirenkyi-Fianko Adwoa
Published: March 2023

Purpose

The phenomenon of delayed payment to contractors, particularly in the construction industry, is a vital one and has implications for the health of economies of both developing and developed countries. However, the knowledge of this phenomenon seems patchy and scattered. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the knowledge on the subject matter with directions for future research.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic literature review coupled with a scientometric analysis was used to identify the main strands of delayed payment to contractor research as a basis for qualitative analysis and directions for future investigations.

Findings

Current trends of delayed payment to contractor research are categorised into five broad themes, namely: causes, effects, mitigation measures, ethical and law and regulatory issues. On the basis of these themes, directions for future research are proffered.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors knowledge, this is the first attempt at providing a comprehensive and an integrated knowledge on delayed payment to contractor research with pointers for further investigation and policy directions.
Determination of the space-dependent blood perfusion coefficient in the thermal-wave model of bio-heat transfer
Authors: Alosaimi M.A. , Lesnic D.
Published: March 2023

Purpose

When modeling heat propagation in biological bodies, a non-negligible relaxation time (typically between 15-30 s) is required for the thermal waves to accumulate and transfer, i.e. thermal waves propagate at a finite velocity. To accommodate for this feature that is characteristic to heat transfer in biological bodies, the classical Fourier's law has to be modified resulting in the thermal-wave model of bio-heat transfer. The purpose of the paper is to retrieve the space-dependent blood perfusion coefficient in such a thermal-wave model of bio-heat transfer from final time temperature measurements.

Design/methodology/approach

The non-linear and ill-posed blood perfusion coefficient identification problem is reformulated as a non-linear minimization problem of a Tikhonov regularization functional subject to lower and upper simple bounds on the unknown coefficient. For the numerical discretization, an unconditionally stable direct solver based on the Crank–Nicolson finite difference scheme is developed. The Tikhonov regularization functional is minimized iteratively by the built-in routine lsqnonlin from the MATLAB optimization toolbox. Both exact and numerically simulated noisy input data are inverted.

Findings

The reconstruction of the unknown blood perfusion coefficient for three benchmark numerical examples is illustrated and discussed to verify the proposed numerical procedure. Moreover, the proposed algorithm is tested on a physical example which consists of identifying the blood perfusion rate of a biological tissue subjected to an external source of laser irradiation. The numerical results demonstrate that accurate and stable solutions are obtained.

Originality/value

Although previous studies estimated the important thermo-physical blood perfusion coefficient, they neglected the wave-like nature of heat conduction present in biological tissues that are captured by the more accurate thermal-wave model of bio-heat transfer. The originalities of the present paper are to account for such a more accurate thermal-wave bio-heat model and to investigate the possibility of determining its space-dependent blood perfusion coefficient from temperature measurements at the final time.
Mapping the desktop research in Pakistan: a bibliometric analysis
Authors: Wahid Nazia , Amin Usama , Khan Muhammad Ajmal , Siddique Nadeem , Warraich Nosheen Fatima
Published: March 2023

Purpose

This study aims to map the “Desktop Research” (DR) output in Pakistan, as part of the growing field of research globally. It also ascertains the productive institutions and prolific authors along with their collaboration patterns.

Design/methodology/approach

Bibliometric techniques were used to quantitatively analyze the DR published in Pakistan. The publications from 1981 to 2021 were retrieved from Scopus. A total of 1,802 publications were retrieved and used for analysis.

Findings

Results indicated an unpredictable increase in DR output from approximately 100 to 400 records during the past five years. The year 2020 was most productive in DR research showing the excess use of secondary data by researchers in COVID-19. The focus of researchers towards DR was consistently rising. Medical journals were found to publish DR extensively. Majority of the publications were contributed by collaborative work and researchers of the USA were found as the most collaborative with Pakistani authors. Publications of single category journals, open access journals and international collaboration get more citations.

Research limitations/implications

The results of the analysis rely only on a single database, Scopus, for retrieving the publication data.

Practical implications

The study has practical implications for the policymakers and higher education development organizations to introduce the DR as a course in academic schools.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to review DR in the context of Pakistan through bibliometric analysis. This comprehensive overview provides a better understanding of the development of the field and possible practice implications.
iStage: a deep learning based framework to determine the stage of disaster management cycle from a social media message
Authors: Singla Annie , Agrawal Rajat
Published: March 2023

Purpose

This study aims to propose iStage, i.e. an intelligent hybrid deep learning (DL)-based framework to determine the stage of the disaster to make the right decisions at the right time.

Design/methodology/approach

iStage acquires data from the Twitter platform and identifies the social media message as pre, during, post-disaster or irrelevant. To demonstrate the effectiveness of iStage, it is applied on cyclonic and COVID-19 disasters. The considered disaster data sets are cyclone Fani, cyclone Titli, cyclone Amphan, cyclone Nisarga and COVID-19.

Findings

The experimental results demonstrate that the iStage outperforms Long Short-Term Memory Network and Convolutional Neural Network models. The proposed approach returns the best possible solution among existing research studies considering different evaluation metrics – accuracy, precision, recall, f-score, the area under receiver operating characteristic curve and the area under precision-recall curve.

Originality/value

iStage is built using the hybrid architecture of DL models. It is effective in decision-making. The research study helps coordinate disaster activities in a more targeted and timely manner.
Information processing of food safety messages: what really matters for restaurant customers?
Authors: Shafieizadeh Kiyan , Alotaibi Salman , Tao Chen-Wei (Willie)
Published: March 2023

Purpose

This study aims to examine how customers’ perceptions of the quality and credibility of restaurants’ food safety information influence customers’ information adoption and, consequently, their trust in the restaurant and purchase intention. It also explores the moderating effects of customers’ food safety knowledge and health consciousness.

Design/methodology/approach

Participants were asked to read a food safety message from a chain restaurant’s website before taking a self-administered online survey. Using a cross-sectional design, a total of 526 valid responses were collected in the USA through Amazon Mechanical Turk. A two-step approach consisting of a measurement model and a structural equation model was applied to test the direct and indirect effects. Additionally, hierarchical regression models were developed to test the moderating effects.

Findings

Results show that perceived information quality significantly affects perceived information credibility and has a significant direct and indirect influence on information adoption. Furthermore, information adoption has a direct positive influence on customers’ trust in the restaurant and an indirect effect on purchase intention (full mediation effect of trust). Finally, the moderation effects of health consciousness and food safety knowledge were supported.

Practical implications

Restaurateurs can apply research findings to increase the likelihood that customers adopt their food safety information and to enhance customers’ trust and, consequently, purchase intention in restaurants.

Originality/value

Reflecting on framing theory and information processing theory, this study examines the ways that customers process restaurants’ food safety information by developing an original conceptual framework with strong empirical data support.
Is this time the same? Housing market performance during SARS and COVID-19*
Authors: Lu Siru , Wang Chongyu , Wong Siu Kei , Shi Shuai
Published: March 2023

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the housing market responses to two outbreaks of respiratory diseases in Hong Kong during the Information Era – the 2003 SARS and COVID-19 outbreaks.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors first investigate the aggregate housing price changes during SARS and COVID-19. Next, the authors conduct a battery of univariate analyses pertaining to the relationship between district-level housing price movements and geographic and demographic patterns during the pandemic periods. Finally, to shed light on the housing price dynamics at the micro level, the authors conduct an estate-level analysis with the data of 234 residential estates from 2003 to 2020, focusing on the impacts of SARS and COVID-19 on the idiosyncratic volatility of residential estates.

Findings

Overall, SARS and COVID-19 outbreaks are negatively associated with housing prices. However, unlike SARS, the impact of COVID-19 on housing prices was moderate and transient. The geographic imbalances of the epidemic-induced underperformance are observed at the district and estate levels. Finally, the estate-level analysis presented in this paper indicates that the average idiosyncratic volatility of residential estates is 1.5% higher during the SARS period but 3.7% lower during the COVID-19 period. Lower volatility during COVID-19 is likely explained by household learning from the SARS period.

Practical implications

Regulators and investors could resort to efficient information disclosure to attenuate idiosyncratic volatility's adverse impact on housing market returns.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the authors are among the first to examine housing market responses to the 2003 SARS and COVID-19 outbreaks using the Hong Kong housing market as a laboratory.
Board diversity on firm performance from resource-based view perspective: new evidence from Pakistan
Authors: Khan Ismail , Khan Iftikhar , Khan Ikram Ullah , Suleman Shahida , Ali Shoukat
Published: March 2023

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the impact of extensive board diversity on firm performance from the perspective of resource-based view (RBV) theory in the context of Pakistan.

Design/methodology/approach

The analyses are made using a panel random-effects model and generalized method of moment (GMM) across 188 non-financial firms listed in the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) over the period of 2009–2020. The robustness of findings is checked through alternative measurements of the variables and alternative estimation techniques.

Findings

The results show that board members' nationality, ethnicity and educational level diversities are significantly positively related to firm performance. In contrast, age and educational background diversities negatively affect firm performance. However, gender and tenure diversities have an insignificant relationship with firm performance.

Research limitations/implications

This study is conducted in the context of Pakistani firms; thus, the findings may not be generalizable to other economies because different economies have different institutional settings and governance structures.

Practical implications

The policy-makers should encourage the inclusion of board members' nationality, ethnicity and educational level diversities having relevant educational backgrounds to improve firms' competitive performance. The suggested structure of the corporate board may improve firm performance by attracting multiple stakeholders and fulfilling their expectations.

Social implications

The appointment of a director should be based on merit rather than on political connections or personnel relationships to improve social welfare and avoid their negative impact on firm competitive performance.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the impact of board diversity on firm accounting-based performance and market-based performance in the emerging economy of Pakistan. This study uses RBV theory to provide a unique corporate governance structure based on board diversity, particularly in Pakistan.
Nexus between entrepreneurial orientation and intellectual capital
Authors: Chaudhary Sanjay , Dhir Amandeep , Farronato Nicola , Nicotra Melita , Pironti Marco
Published: March 2023

Purpose

The importance of knowledge-based assets and the capability to leverage them has been the subject of scholarly interest in entrepreneurial orientation literature. The authors attempt to understand the dominant themes in the prior literature and propose directions for future research.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors performed a systematic review of 79 studies to answer the research questions: (1) What are the predominant themes in the literature on the role of intellectual capital and entrepreneurial orientation? (2) What are the potential fields of future research?

Findings

The findings suggest that current research engages the topics of intellectual capital, the capability to leverage knowledge assets and entrepreneurial orientation. The thematic analysis reveals the role of knowledge management, organizational learning, intellectual capital and absorptive capacity in entrepreneurial firms. The authors propose a theoretical model to explain how intellectual capital and its management influence firm-level entrepreneurial behavior.

Originality/value

Understanding the association between intellectual capital and the capability to leverage knowledge assets is crucial in a dynamic business environment. Effective deployment of knowledge is vital while searching for new entrepreneurial opportunities.
A bibliometric analysis and assessment of container terminal operations research
Authors: Dragović Branislav , Zrnić Nenad , Tzannatos Ernestos , Kosanić Nenad , Dragović Andro
Published: March 2023

Purpose

The paper undertakes a bibliometric analysis and assessment of journal publications in the field of container terminal operations research (CTOR), in an attempt to identify high-impact papers (HIPs) published in Science Citation Index/Social Science Citation Index (SCI/SSCI) journals of CTOR subject category from 1973 to 2020.

Design/methodology/approach

A structured approach for identifying the HIPs is developed based on the utilization of bibliometric and network analyses.

Findings

The CTOR papers are assessed in terms of publication outputs, distribution of outputs in SCI/SSCI journals, authorship, institutions and countries, as well as citation life cycles of papers with the highest total citations since their publication until the year 2020. The results show that between 1989 and 2015, there were 82 HIPs in the field of CTOR, which have been cited at least 200 times, with more than 50% of these citations allocated in the second part of paper citation life cycle according to the database of Google Scholar.

Practical implications

The practical implication of the aforementioned reviewing and assessing journal publications of CTOR is that it offers the ability to reveal the tone of its development through addressing main characteristics of the relevant HIPs as determined by the highly cited papers in this field of research.

Originality/value

This paper offers a unique analysis and assessment in the field of CTOR by identifying the relevant HIPs and their associated scientific actors (authors, institutions and countries), thus facilitating the future research effort in the field of CTOR.
Wave after wave: unboxing 40 years of auditing ethics research
Authors: Mardawi Zeena , Seguí-Mas Elies , Tormo-Carbó Guillermina
Published: March 2023

Purpose

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that aims to present a comprehensive view of the auditing ethics literature by unboxing 40 years of efforts in the field.

Design/methodology/approach

This study combined bibliometric, social network and content analysis by analyzing 114 articles published in accounting and top business ethics journals on the Web of Science database from 1980 to 2021.

Findings

The results show a rising interest in this topic and reveal auditors’ ethical decision-making and moral reasoning as the most discussed topics in the literature. The work also clusters the literature according to keywords and scopes, identifying literature gaps and suggesting new avenues for future research.

Practical implications

The research results assist provide an overarching image of the auditing ethics field. In addition, these results draw possible future avenues to bridge the void in the current auditing ethics literature by presenting indispensable directions for potential research. For example, future research could pay more attention to whistleblowing, fraud, personal auditor characteristics, auditor ethical sensitivity, auditor ethical conflict, ethical climate and underreporting of time. Moreover, the rapidly changing business environment necessitates the auditing ethics research to move to more practical implications to mitigate previous mistakes and avoid any future risks.

Originality/value

All crises are an ideal breeding ground to motivate fraud and audit failures. In fact, auditing ethics research has been subordinated to the different economic crises. However, despite increasing awareness of the topic’s relevance, no comprehensive study focuses on auditing ethics literature. Now, the devastating effects of the COVID-19 crisis are producing a new wave of financial distresses and avoiding former mistakes is timelier than ever. With this novel and integrated approach, this work goes one step forward, developing a comprehensive picture of the auditing ethics literature.
Orthographic and phonological processing effects on the reading abilities of young children learning to read Malayalam alphasyllabary
Authors: Joy Jeena Mary , Venkatesh Lakshmi , Mathew Samuel N. , Narayanan Swapna
Published: March 2023

Background

Learning to read is a complex process that involves phonological and orthographic processing abilities, broader language skills and cognitive processes across all writing systems. Although these components remain common, the pace of acquisition of phonological and orthographic processing and reading abilities differ across writing systems.

Methods

This study aimed to understand the developmental pattern of reading and phonological processing, assess their interrelationship and study the predictors of reading ability among 175 children, learning to read Malayalam and attending Grades 1–3. They completed various reading (akshara reading, word and nonword reading) and phonological processing (rhyme recognition, syllable deletion, syllable segmentation, phoneme deletion, phoneme substitution, rapid naming and nonword repetition) tasks.

Results

Grade and reading level‐based analysis was performed to collate the results. Results revealed a significant overlap of phonological processing and reading abilities among children in Grades 2 and 3. Reading scores demonstrated a weak‐to‐moderate significant correlation with the phonological processing tasks. Although skilled readers performed significantly better on all phonological processing tasks, their scores did not reach ceiling. Syllable‐level tasks were easier compared to phoneme‐level tasks, and they significantly predicted the reading abilities of children.

Conclusions

The findings contribute to the existing body of evidence for akshara writing systems, specifically in Malayalam alpha‐syllabary. The development of phonological processing and reading in Malayalam extends beyond the third grade, and syllable processing contributed to increased variance in reading accuracy among inexperienced readers.
Effect of cold plasma processing on physicochemical and nutritional quality attributes of kiwifruit juice
Authors: Kumar Sitesh , Pipliya Sunil , Srivastav Prem Prakash
Published: March 2023

Cold plasma treatment of kiwifruit juice was studied in the domain of 18–30 kV of voltage, 2–6 mm of juice depth, and 6–10 min of treatment time using the response surface methodology (RSM). The experimental design utilized was a central composite rotatable design. The effect of voltage, juice depth, and treatment time on the various responses, namely peroxidase activity, color, total phenolic content, ascorbic acid, total antioxidant activity, and total flavonoid content, was examined. While modeling, the artificial neural network (ANN) showed greater predictive capability than RSM as the coefficient of determination (R2) value of responses was greater in the case of ANN (0.9538–0.9996) than in RSM (0.9041–0.9853). The mean square error value was also less in the case of ANN than in RSM. The ANN was coupled with a genetic algorithm (GA) for optimization. The optimum condition obtained from ANN‐GA was 30 kV, 5 mm, and 6.7 min, respectively.