bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Application of Social Vulnerability Index to Identify High- risk Population of Contracting COVID-19 Infection: a state-level study
Authors: Lara-Garcia Odalys Estefania , Retamales Violeta Alvarez , Suarez Oswaldo Madrid , Parajuli Priyanka , Hingle Susan , Robinson Robert
Published: August 2020

Social factors that determine a population’s health are known as the social determinants of health. During the past few weeks, as COVID-19 cases grew exponentially, the discrepancy among the number of cases distribution was evident.By applying the social vulnerability index and analyzing data from a total of 102 counties across the state of Illinois, we investigated which factors enhanced the risk of contracting the infection and which were related to a lower risk of infection. Our results showed that social factors such as belonging to a minority group, speaking English less than well, living in a multi-unit structure, and households with individuals of age group of 17 or younger were associated with a higher risk of infection. On the other hand, we found that factors such as living in a mobile home, individuals of age group 65 or older, low income per capita and, older than age 5 with disability were protective. We propose that communities with disproportionate health burdens can be identified by the application of these factors. Future efforts need to focus on decreasing the gap of to decrease the gap of disparity by modifying these social factors.
Tertiary Lymphoid Structure and CD8 T Cell Exclusion in Minimally Invasive Adenocarcinoma
Authors: Wang Jin , Jiang Dongbo , Zheng Xiaoqi , Li Wang , Zhao Tian , Wang Di , Yu Huansha , Sun Dongqing , Li Ziyi , Zhang Jian , Zhang Zhe , Hou Likun , Jiang Gening , Zhang Fan , Yang Kun , Zhang Peng
Published: August 2020

Lung adenocarcinoma is the leading cause of cancer death. To characterize the tumor microenvironment (TME) of early-stage lung adenocarcinoma, we performed RNA-seq profiling on 59 pairs of minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA) tumors and matched adjacent normal lung tissues from Chinese patients. We observed mucin over-expression and glycosylation, and altered cytokine-cytokine interactions in MIA tumors, which also had distinct adaptive immune TME of higher CD4+ T cell infiltration, higher plasma B cell activation, and lower CD8+ T cell infiltration. The high expression of markers for B cells, activated CD4 T cells, and follicular helper T (Tfh) cells in MIA implicated the formation of tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS), which were supported by two independent single-cell RNA-seq data. Multiplex immunohistochemistry (mIHC) staining of 22 MIA tumors validated TLS formation and revealed an enrichment of follicular regulatory T cells (Tfr) in TLS follicles, which may explain the lower CD8+ T cell infiltration and attenuated anti-tumor immunity in MIA.

Significance

We discovered a potential immunosuppressive phenotype in MIA mediated by follicular regulatory T cells (Tfr) in TLS formation, which could be a potential mechanism of CD8+ T cell exclusion. Our study demonstrated how integrating tumor transcriptome and pathology can characterize the TME and elucidate potential mechanisms of tumor immune evasion.
Waves of COVID-19 pandemic. Detection and SIR simulations
Authors: Nesteruk Igor
Published: August 2020

Background

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic is still far from stabilizing. Of particular concern is the sharp increase in the number of diseases in June-July 2020. The causes and consequences of this sharp increase in the number of cases are still waiting for their researchers, but there is already an urgent need to assess the possible duration of the pandemic, the expected number of patients and deaths. The resumption of international passenger traffic needs the information for deciding which countries’ citizens are welcome guests. Correct simulation of the infectious disease dynamics needs complicated mathematical models and many efforts for unknown parameters identification. Constant changes in the pandemic conditions (in particular, the peculiarities of quarantine and its violation, situations with testing and isolation of patients) cause various epidemic waves, lead to changes in the parameter values of the mathematical models.

Objective

In this article, pandemic waves in Ukraine and in the world will be detected, calculated and discussed. The estimations for hidden periods, epidemic durations and final numbers of cases will be presented. The probabilities of meeting a person spreading the infection and reproduction numbers will be calculated for different countries and regions.

Methods

We propose a simple method for the epidemic waves detection based on the differentiation of the smoothed number of cases. We use the known SIR (susceptible-infected-removed) model for the dynamics of the epidemic waves. The known exact solution of the SIR differential equations and statistical approach were modified and used.

Results

The optimal values of the SIR model parameters were identified for four waves of pandemic dynamics in Ukraine and five waves in the world. The number of cases and the number of patients spreading the infection versus time were calculated. In particular, the pandemic probably began in August 2019. If current trends continue, the end of the pandemic should be expected no earlier than in March 2021 both in Ukraine and in the world, the global number of cases will exceed 20 million. The probabilities of meeting a person spreading the infection and reproduction numbers were calculated for different countries and regions.

Conclusions

The SIR model and statistical approach to the parameter identification are helpful to make some reliable estimations of the epidemic waves. The number of persons spreading the infection versus time was calculated during all the epidemic waves. The obtained information will be useful to regulate the quarantine activities, to predict the medical and economic consequences of the pandemic and to decide which countries’ citizens are welcome guests.
Spreading of COVID-19 in Italy as the spreading of a wave packet
Authors: Feoli A. , Iannella A. L. , Benedetto E.
Published: August 2020

We find that the spreading of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy can be described as the propagation of a wave packet in a dispersive medium where the effect of Lockdown is simulated by the dispersion relation of the medium. We start expanding a previous statistical analysis based on the official data provided by the Italian civil protection during 100 days, from March 2nd to June 9th. As the total number of people infected with the virus is uncertain, we have considered the trend of ICU patients and the sum of hospitalized patients and the deceased. Both the corresponding curves are well approximated by the same function depending on four free parameters. The model allows to predict the short term behavior of the pandemic and to estimate the benefits due to lockdown measures.
Correlation between daily infections and fatality rate due to Covid-19 in Germany
Authors: Mergel Dieter
Published: August 2020

The officially reported daily Covid-19 fatality rate is modelled with a trend line based on a nominal day-to-day reproduction rate and a cosine to take account of weekly fluctuations. Although the time trajectories of officially reported infections and fatalities are pronouncedly different, the reproduction rates obtained therefrom are similar. The long-term effective reproduction rate is around 0.835 and the administrative measures to contain the pandemic seem not to have an immediate reducing effect but well the ease of restrictions an increasing one. The fatality trajectory represented by its trend line can be projected from the number of daily infections by assuming a time lapse between symptom onset and death between 17 and 19 days and a time-dependent nominal lethality. The time trajectory of this lethality increases from 2.5% at March 16 when public life was restricted to 6% within 20 days indicating relatively more infections of vulnerable people. After stipulating face mask wearing at April 27, the nominal lethality decreases down to 1% later in summer. A detailed analysis shows that mask wearing really reduces the number of fatal infections and the officially reported daily infections in May and June are less lethal than before.
Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection: a scoping review of the literature
Authors: Sabbour Mohamed , El-Swaify Seif Tarek , Farrag Nourhan , Kamel Menna , Ali Sara H. , Amir Abdelrahman , Refaat Mazen A. , Dyab Menatalla A. , Nabhan Ashraf
Published: August 2020

Background

With the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new severe life-threatening inflammatory syndrome has been reported in some pediatric populations. Global attention was shifted towards the syndrome termed multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), with new case reports flooding in.

Objectives

The aim of this scoping review is to summarize the existing reports on MIS-C and focus on the demographics, diagnosis, clinical presentation, laboratory investigations, imaging studies, treatment, and patient outcomes.

Methods

We conducted a systemic search using LitCovid and MEDLINE electronic databases. We screened citations, titles and abstracts, then reviewed potentially relevant articles in full. After data extraction, we reported our final data under subheadings of demographics, diagnosis, clinical presentation, laboratory investigations, imaging studies, treatment, and patient outcomes.

Results

Our search strategy yielded 42 original studies reporting 674 pediatric patients fitting the case definition of MIS-C. The studies included 21 case reports, 16 case series and 5 cohort studies. The most common reported symptom of MIS-C was fever (98%). Gastrointestinal symptoms were common (N=557, 83%). Interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were measured in 125 patients and was elevated in 94 % (N=117). Echocardiography detected coronary artery lesions in 100 patients. Prophylactic and/or therapeutic heparin was required in 34% (N=227) of patients. The most commonly administered treatment modality targeting MIS-C was intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) (N=490). Corticosteroids (N=347) and aspirin (N=112) were also integral parts of the treatment regimens. Biologic therapy was integrated into the treatment regimen for 116 patients. Intensive care unit (ICU) admission was alarming (N=478, 71%). 9 fatalities were recorded due to MIS-C

Conclusions

We believe MIS-C bears pathophysiological resemblance to the well-known Kawasaki disease but with some key differences highlighted. Understanding those differences will aid our management plan for such patients.
Integrated intra- and intercellular signaling knowledge for multicellular omics analysis
Authors: Türei Dénes , Valdeolivas Alberto , Gul Lejla , Palacio-Escat Nicolàs , Ivanova Olga , Gábor Attila , Módos Dezső , Korcsmáros Tamás , Saez-Rodriguez Julio
Published: August 2020

Molecular knowledge of biological processes is a cornerstone in the analysis of omics data. Applied to single-cell data, such analyses can provide mechanistic insights into individual cells and their interactions. However, knowledge of intercellular communication is scarce, scattered across different resources, and not linked to intracellular processes. To address this gap, we combined over 100 resources in a single database. It covers the interactions and roles of proteins in inter- and intracellular signal transduction, as well as transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation. We also provide a comprehensive collection of protein complexes and rich annotations on the properties of proteins, including function, localization, and role in diseases. The resource is available for human, and via homology translation for mouse and rat. The data is accessible viaOmniPath’s web service, a Cytoscape plugin, and packages in R/Bioconductor and Python, providing convenient access options for both computational and experimental scientists. Our resource provides a single access point to knowledge spanning intra- and intercellular processes for data analysis, as we demonstrate in applications to study SARS-CoV-2 infection and ulcerative colitis.
ChipSeg: an automatic tool to segment bacteria and mammalian cells cultured in microfluidic devices
Authors: de Cesare Irene , Zamora-Chimal Criseida G. , Postiglione Lorena , Khazim Mahmoud , Pedone Elisa , Shannon Barbara , Fiore Gianfranco , Perrino Giansimone , Napolitano Sara , di Bernardo Diego , Savery Nigel , Grierson Claire , di Bernardo Mario , Marucci Lucia
Published: August 2020

Extracting quantitative measurements from time-lapse images is necessary in external feedback control applications, where segmentation results are used to inform control algorithms. While such image segmentation applications have been previously reported, there is in the literature a lack of open-source and documented code for the community. We describe ChipSeg, a computational tool to segment bacterial and mammalian cells cultured in microfluidic devices and imaged by time-lapse microscopy. The method is based on thresholding and uses the same core functions for both cell types. It allows to segment individual cells in high cell-density microfluidic devices, to quantify fluorescence protein expression over a time-lapse experiment and to track individual cells. ChipSeg enables robust segmentation in external feedback control experiments and can be easily customised for other experimental settings and research aims.
Eye-specific voluntary attention can induce a shift of perceptual ocular dominance
Authors: Lyu Lili , Han Qiu , He Xin , Bao Min
Published: August 2020

Ocular dominance plasticity in adults has been extensively studied in the recent decade. An interocular imbalance of visual input, e.g. monocular deprivation, has been proved to markedly reshape ocular dominance. As visual attention can be eye-specific, dissimilar visual inputs from the two eyes during monocular deprivation inevitably lead attention to be more allocated to the monocular input that conveys relatively intact information. Does the imbalanced attention across the eyes also contribute to reshaping ocular dominance? Here, using a novel “backwards-movie” adaptation paradigm, we showed that prolonged attention to the input in one eye was sufficient to shift perceptual ocular dominance in favor of the unattended eye. Furthermore, the effect was stronger when eye-specific attention was directed to the dominant eye, possibly due to fewer disturbances from the other eye during the adaptation. Taken together, these findings suggest that top-down attention plays an important role in short-term ocular dominance plasticity.

Statement of Relevance

An important goal in neuroscience is to understand and take advantage of adaptive neural plasticity. Ocular dominance plasticity resulting from imbalanced visual input signals across the two eyes has been intensively investigated. By developing a novel “backwards-movie” paradigm in which movie images played normally were presented to one eye while movie images of the same episode but played backwards were presented to the other eye, the current study for the first time demonstrates the non-negligible contributions of selective attention in reshaping ocular dominance. These findings expand the homeostatic compensation theory of monocular deprivation by highlighting the contributions of feedback signals. Furthermore, our method could be applied in future work to explore new possibilities in treating adults with amblyopia.
Spatially Restricted Immune Responses Allow for Root Meristematic Activity During Bacterial Colonisation
Authors: Emonet Aurélia , Zhou Feng , Vacheron Jordan , Heiman Clara Margot , Tendon Valérie Dénervaud , Ma Ka-Wai , Schulze-Lefert Paul , Keel Christoph , Geldner Niko
Published: August 2020

Plants circumscribe microbe-associated molecular pattern (MAMP)-triggered immune responses to weak points of the roots. This spatially restricted immunity was suggested to avoid constitutive responses to rhizosphere microbiota. To demonstrate its relevance, we combined cell-type specific expression of the plant flagellin receptor (FLS2) with fluorescent defence markers and mapped immune competency at cellular resolution. Our analysis distinguishes cell-autonomous and non-cell autonomous responses and reveals lignification to be tissue-independent, contrasting cell-type specific suberisation. Importantly, our analysis divides the non-responsive meristem into a central zone refractory to FLS2 expression, and a cortex that becomes highly sensitised by FLS2 expression, causing meristem collapse upon MAMP exposure. Meristematic epidermal expression generates super-competent lines that detect native bacterial flagellin and bypass the absence of response to commensals, providing a powerful tool for studying root immunity. Our precise manipulations and read-outs demonstrate incompatibility of meristematic activity and defence and the importance of cell-resolved studies of plant immunity.
Seed hemicelluloses tailor mucilage properties and salt tolerance
Authors: Yang Bo , Hofmann Florian , Usadel Björn , Voiniciuc Cătălin
Published: August 2020

While Arabidopsis seed coat epidermal cells have become an excellent genetic system to study the biosynthesis and structural roles of various cell wall polymers, the physiological function of the secreted mucilaginous polysaccharides remains ambiguous. Seed mucilage is shaped by two distinct classes of highly substituted hemicelluloses along with cellulose and structural proteins, but their interplay has not been explored.

We deciphered the functions of four distinct classes of cell wall polymers by generating a series of double mutants with defects in heteromannan, xylan, cellulose, or the arabinogalactan protein SALT-OVERLY SENSITIVE 5 (SOS5), and evaluating their impact on mucilage architecture and on seed germination during salt stress.

We discovered thatmuci10seeds, lacking heteromannan branches, had elevated tolerance to salt stress, while heteromannan elongation mutants exhibited reduced germination in CaCl2. In contrast, xylan made byMUCILAGE-RELATED21(MUCI21) was found to be required for the adherence of mucilage pectin to microfibrils made by CELLULOSE SYNTHASE5 (CESA5) as well as to a SOS5-mediated network.

Our results indicate that the substitution of xylan and glucomannan in seeds can fine-tune mucilage adherence and salt tolerance, respectively. The study of germinating seeds can thus provide insights into the synthesis, modification and function of complex glycans.
Structure-Based Design of a Cyclic Peptide Inhibitor of the SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease
Authors: Kreutzer Adam G. , Krumberger Maj , Parrocha Chelsea Marie T. , Morris Michael A. , Guaglianone Gretchen , Nowick James S.
Published: August 2020

This paper presents the design and study of a first-in-class cyclic peptide inhibitor against the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro). The cyclic peptide inhibitor is designed to mimic the conformation of a substrate at aC-terminal autolytic cleavage site of Mpro. Synthesis and evaluation of a first-generation cyclic peptide inhibitor reveals that the inhibitor is active against Mproin vitroand is non-toxic toward human cells in culture. The initial hit described in this manuscript, UCI-1, lays the groundwork for the development of additional cyclic peptide inhibitors against Mprowith improved activities.
Gender as a Social Determinant of Menstrual Health: A Mixed Methods Study Among Indian Adolescent Girls and Boys
Authors: Gundi Mukta , Subramanyam Malavika Ambale
Published: August 2020

Gender bias in the patriarchal Indian society becomes evident in the form of worse sexual and reproductive health outcomes for girls than boys. While girls face menstrual taboos that affect their health, boys’ understanding of, and participation in, the menstruation discourse remains limited. We investigate how gender through its micro-interactional and macro-structural ways makes menstruation a gendered experience for adolescents; how various social determinants influence girls’ gendered menstruation experience across social domains; and whether the lived gendered experience of menstruation harms girls’ health.

Using a sequential mixed-methods design semi-structured interviews of 21 boys and girls each; 12 adult key-respondent interviews; and a cross-sectional survey of 1421 adolescents from urban, rural and tribal settings of Nashik district, India, were conducted. Applying social constructivist theory and gender analysis framework, we thematically analysed the qualitative data. Multivariable regression analysis of survey data yielded risk ratios.

Adolescents’ experience of menstruation was gendered. Fewer boys (versus girls) reported receiving information in schools [Incidence Rate Ratio (IRR) at 95% CI: 0.34 (0.24, 0.49)]. Girls’ gendered menstrual experiences varied across social domains and various socioeconomic backgrounds. Girls’ menstrual health was poorer among those with a lived experience of gendered menstruation [IRR: 0.22 (0.05, 0.90)]. Key respondents shared the need to engage boys in the menstruation discourse though apprehensive regarding its consequences. Gender bias along with other social factors negatively influence social construction regarding menstruation. Further, the discrimination is embodied by girls as poor health, thus perpetuating health inequalities across socioeconomic settings.
Pollen dispensing schedules in buzz-pollinated plants: Experimental comparison of species with contrasting floral morphologies
Authors: Kemp Jurene E. , Vallejo-Marín Mario
Published: August 2020

In buzz-pollinated plants, bees apply vibrations to remove pollen from anthers that have small apical pores or slits. These poricidal anthers potentially function as mechanism to stagger pollen release, but this has rarely been tested across plant species differing in anther morphology.

InSolanumsectionAndroceras, three pairs of buzz-pollinatedSolanumspecies have undergone independent evolutionary shifts between large- and small-flowered taxa. These shifts in flower size are accompanied by replicate changes in anther morphology, and we used these shifts in anther morphology to characterise the association between anther morphology and pollen dispensing schedules. We characterised pollen dispensing schedules by applying simulated bee-like vibrations directly to anthers to elicit pollen release. We then compared pollen dispensing schedules across anther morphologies, and we further investigated how vibration velocity affects pollen release. Finally, we assessed whether particular anther traits, presented in the Buchmann-Hurley model, can predict pollen dispensing schedules.

We show that replicate transitions inSolanumanther morphology are associated with consistent changes in pollen dispensing schedules. We found that small-flowered taxa with small anthers release their pollen at higher rates than their large-flowered counterparts, showing an association between general anther morphology and pollen dispensing. Further, higher vibration velocities resulted in quicker pollen dispensing and more total pollen released, which suggested that bees that produce high-energy vibrations can access more reward than bees producing low-energy vibrations. Finally, both the pollen dispensing rate and the amount of pollen released in the first vibration were negatively related to anther wall area, but, surprisingly, we did not observe any association between pore size and pollen dispensing.

Our results provide the first empirical demonstration that the pollen dispensing properties of poricidal anthers depend on both floral characteristics and bee vibration properties, and suggest that morphological modification of anthers could provide a mechanism to exploit different pollination environments.
Separation and identification of permethylated glycan isomers by reversed phase nanoLC-NSI-MSn
Authors: Kurz Simone , Sheikh M. Osman , Lu Shan , Wells Lance , Tiemeyer Michael
Published: August 2020

High performance liquid chromatography has been employed for decades to enhance detection sensitivity and quantification of complex analytes within biological mixtures. Among these analytes, glycans released from glycoproteins and glycolipids have been characterized as underivatized or fluorescently tagged derivatives by HPLC coupled to various detection methods. These approaches have proven extremely useful for profiling the structural diversity of glycoprotein and glycolipid glycosylation but require the availability of glycan standards and secondary orthogonal degradation strategies to validate structural assignments. A robust method for HPLC separation of glycans as their permethylated derivatives, coupled with in-line MSn fragmentation to assign structural features independent of standards, would significantly enhance the depth of knowledge obtainable from biological samples. Here, we report an optimized workflow for LC-MS analysis of permethylated glycans that includes sample preparation, mobile phase optimization, and MSnmethod development to resolve structural isomers on-the-fly. We report baseline separation and MSnfragmentation of isomeric N- and O-glycan structures, aided by supplementing mobile phases with Li+, which simplifies adduct heterogeneity and facilitates cross-ring fragmentation to obtain valuable monosaccharide linkage information. Our workflow has been adapted from standard proteomics-based workflows and, therefore, provides opportunities for laboratories with expertise in proteomics to acquire glycomic data with minimal deviation from existing buffer systems, chromatography media, and instrument configurations. Furthermore, our workflow does not require a mass spectrometer with high-resolution/accurate mass capabilities. The rapidly evolving appreciation of the biological significance of glycans for human health and disease requires the implementation of high-throughput methods to identify and quantify glycans harvested from sample sets of sufficient size to achieve appropriately powered statistical significance. The LC-MSn approach we report generates glycan isomeric separations, robust structural characterization, and is amenable to auto-sampling with associated throughput enhancements.
(1R,3S)-3-(1H-Benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)-1,2,2-trimethylcyclopentane-1-carboxylic acid as a new anti-diabetic active pharmaceutical ingredient
Authors: Kovalenko Sergiy M. , Konovalova Irina S. , Merzlikin Sergiy I. , Chuev Vladimir P. , Kravchenko Dmitry V.
Published: August 2020

The chiral title compound, C16H20N2O2, which can be used for producing active pharmaceutical ingredients for treatment of type 2 pancreatic diabetes and other pathologies dependent on insulin resistance, was prepared from (1R,3S)-camphoric acid and o-phenylenediamine. It crystallized from an ethanol solution in the chiral monoclinic P21
space group. The five-membered ring adopts a twisted conformation with the methyl-substituted C atoms displaced by −0.273 (5) and 0.407 (5) Å from the mean plane through the other three atoms. In the crystal, molecules are linked by O—H...N hydrogen bonds, forming chains along the a-axis direction. Hirshfeld surface analysis and two-dimensional fingerprint plots were used to analyze the intermolecular contacts present in the crystal.
The electrochemical behavior of corrosion and passivation for Q235 carbon steel in acidic phosphate buffer solutions without and with NO2−
Authors: Hu Xiaochen , Zhang Pei , Zhou Yong , Yan Fuan
Published: August 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to reveal the mechanism of nitrite (NO2−) for the surface passivation of carbon steels in acidic environments through investigating the influences of 0.01 mol/L NaNO2addition on the corrosion and passivation behaviors of Q235 carbon steel in acidic phosphate buffer (APB) solutions (pH 2 to 6).

Design/methodology/approach

The electrochemical techniques including open circle potential evolution, potentiodynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry were applied.

Findings

In APB solutions without NO2−, the Q235 steel presented the electrochemical behaviors of activation (A), activation-passivation-transpassivation and self-passivation-transpassivation at pH 2 to 4, pH 5 and pH 6, respectively; the corrosion rate decreased with the up of pH value, and the surface passivation occurred in the pH 5 and pH 6 solutions only: the anodic passivation at pH 5 and the spontaneous passivation at pH 6.

Originality/value

In APB solutions without NO2−, the corrosion rate decreased with the up of pH value, and the surface passivation occurred in the pH 5 and pH 6 solutions only: the anodic passivation at pH 5 and the spontaneous passivation at pH 6. With the addition of 0.01 mol/L NaNO2, into APB solutions, the variation of corrosion rate showed the same rule, but the surface passivation occurred over the whole acidic pH range, including the anodic passivation at pH 2 to 4 and the spontaneous passivation at pH 5 to 6.
From isolated labels and nudges to sustained tinkering: assessing long-term changes in sustainable eating at a lunch restaurant
Authors: Kaljonen Minna , Salo Marja , Lyytimäki Jari , Furman Eeva
Published: August 2020

Purpose

The critical role of diet in climate change mitigation has raised behavioural approaches to the top of the agenda. In this paper, the authors take a critical look at these behavioural approaches and call for a more dynamic, practice-oriented understanding of long-term changes in sustainable food consumption and supply.

Design/methodology/approach

This approach is based on the experiences from a long-term experiment promoting sustainable eating in a workplace lunch restaurant using a series of informational and nudging techniques. In the experiment, the authors found that focussing solely on eating behaviours did not help to capture the multi-level change processes mobilised. The authors therefore propose a more dynamic, practice-oriented methodology for examining long-term changes in sustainable eating. The emprical data of the experiment are based on qualitative and quantitative data, consisting of customer survey, customer and kitchen personnel focus group discussions and monitoring data on the use of food items in the restaurant and their climate impacts.

Findings

The results draw attention to a series of practical challenges restaurants face when promoting sustainable eating. Directing analytical attention to tinkering helped to reveal the tensions brought about by labelling and nudging in menu planning and recipe development. The results show how tinkering required attentiveness to customers' wishes in both cases. Nudging offered more freedom for the restaurant to develop menus and recipes. In the case scrutinised, however, nudging customers towards tastier and more satiating vegetarian dishes included the use of dairy. This partly watered down the climate benefits gained from reduced meat consumption.

Originality/value

Rather than looking separately at changes in consumer behaviour and in the supply of food, the authors show how we need analytical concepts that enable the evaluation of their mutual evolution. Tinkering can assist us in this endeavour. Its adaptive, adjustive character, however, calls for caution. The development of praxis in food services and catering requires critical companions from the transdisciplinary research community. Research can provide systematic knowledge on the impacts of labels and nudges on kitchen praxis. However, research itself also needs to tinker and learn from experiments. This necessitates long-term speculative research strategies.
Competitive productivity in South African public–private partnerships
Authors: Fjellstrom Daniella , Frick Paul
Published: August 2020

Purpose

This study aims to develop the concept of competitive productivity focussing on the interplay between national competitive productivity (NCP) and firm competitive productivity (FCP) based on the following research question: how does the competitive productivity framework explain the influence that government has on public–private procurement programmes?

Design/methodology/approach

A case study is conducted on the South African Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme. Data were collected using an exploratory, mixed methods design, starting with national level secondary data on five bid windows between 2011 and 2014, followed by eight in-depth qualitative interviews with industry experts.

Findings

The findings indicate that non-financial factors, such as trust (through consistent and transparent government policy) as well as a pragmatic attitude on the part of government, increased competition and ultimately resulted in a productive procurement process.

Social implications

By understanding what moderating factors influence competitiveness in African procurement programmes, using competitive productivity (CP) as a framework, the research contributes to development of government policy and procurement programmes. Incidentally, there is little doubt that improving infrastructure and in turn a greater percentage of access to electricity leads to increased competitiveness of the nation, firms and individuals, thus enabling companies to grow and operate with more stability.

Originality/value

Originality is demonstrated through the interplay of NCP and FCP, where the constructs of culture, benchmarking and performance were found to have the strongest influence of the six constructs of the CP model.
Understanding industrialised house building as a company’s dynamic capabilities
Authors: Stehn Lars , Engström Susanne , Uusitalo Petri , Lavikka Rita
Published: August 2020

Purpose

To further the understanding of industrialised house building (IHB) from a temporal, emergent corporate-ability perspective, this study aims to trace the build-up of corporate assets in an IHB company over time. The research draws on dynamic capabilities, acknowledging not only what assets the company have developed and currently are exploiting, but also how these assets were develop and managed (i.e. enhanced, combined, protected and potentially reconfigured) to sustain long-term competitiveness.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study design was used to form a narrative that covers the evolution of an IHB company over a 25-year period. Corporate archival material, analysis of original data from a large number of research studies during 1993-2013 and retrospective reflections of owners and managers, including crosschecking interpretations of archival material, developed and triangulated the narrative.

Findings

The study presents rich empirical findings on the build-up of corporate assets. Starting from a successive process of exploration and exploitation formation of dynamic capabilities eventually played out into an exponential dynamic capability build-up. The IHB case company displays the ability to not only continuously exploit and renew resources and competences, but also to sense, seize and reconfigure cumulative assets over time. The exponential development of dynamic capabilities resonates to literature on higher-order dynamic capabilities implying that: the accumulated and higher-order dynamic capabilities are difficult to imitate and a (any) company must possess higher-order dynamic capabilities to be able to exploit and/or take up IHB.

Originality/value

The study is complementing and potentially challenging frequent framings of the IHB concept. Previous research has addressed and characterised IHB mainly by encapsulating a moment in time and, thus, characteristics are momentary and represent static views on IHB. However, IHB has seen a strong development over the past 25 years, and the study reflects on this development from the perspective of one of the IHB-forerunner companies in Sweden. By exploring from a company perspective the developments, reconfiguration and capacity to develop/reconfigure over time in a changing environment, the study introduces an alternative understanding of IHB as dynamic capabilities.
Fall detection smart-shoe enabled with wireless IoT device
Authors: J. Abanah Shirley , Sundarsingh Esther Florence , V. Saraswathi , S. Sankareshwari , S. Sona
Published: August 2020

Purpose

Fall detection is a primary necessity for elderly people with medically tested nervous problems. This paper aims important to detect fall and prevent fatal injuries and untreated attention for long hours.

Design/methodology/approach

The project is focused on developing a smart shoe with force-sensitive resistors placed at plantar pressure points to detect fall. This could draw immediate medical attention to the patient. The device is developed using sensors, microcontroller and accelerometer integrated into a compact module. A rule-based detection algorithm helps in transmitting the alert to an Internet of Things device when a fall is detected.

Findings

Based on the pressure applied, there is a change in resistive value of force sensitivity resistor. When it reaches the threshold value, fall gets detected and alert gets triggered through telegram bot with latitude and longitude details of the location.

Originality/value

The challenge in developing this device is to make it wearable reducing the overall hardware complexity. The entire module placed inside the sole of the shoe avoids inconvenience to the patients.
Determining the factors influencing the level of awareness and usage of open source digital repository software by academic librarians in India
Authors: Kampa Raj Kishor , Patra Nihar Kanta
Published: August 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the level of awareness and usage of open source digital repository software (DRS). The paper also studies the factors, which influence the level of awareness and usage of different open source DRS by academic librarians in India.

Design/methodology/approach

The study administered an online questionnaire to academic librarians in India to know their level of awareness and usage of open source DRS. The questionnaire aimed to gather the awareness and usage of open source DSR. In total, 374 complete responses were collected from academic librarians in India and the collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Moreover, Fishers’ exact test was used to identify whether factors i.e. qualification and participation in workshop/seminar influence the level of awareness and usage of open source DRS.

Findings

The results of the study reveal that the level of awareness and usage of open source DRS, namely, DSpace (Mean = 2.92, SD = 0.906) and Greenstone digital library software (GSDL) (Mean = 2.18, SD = 0.699) are high amongst the academic librarians in India. In total, 33.4%, 11.5% of the participants are using DSpace and GSDL, respectively, on regular basis. Fishers’ exact test shows that factor(s) i.e. qualifications and participation in workshop/seminar affect the level of awareness and usage of open source DRS. The results show that there exits strong relation between participation in workshop/seminar and awareness and usage of DSpace (Fishers’ exact test = 13.473, p < 0.05).

Originality/value

This paper is the new type of study exploring level of awareness and usage of open source DRS by academic librarians in India. It identifies the factors that affect the awareness and usage of open source DRS. It is the first study to analyze the statistical significance between Indian librarians’ participation in workshop/seminar and their level of awareness and usage of different open source DRS.
Built environment dimensions in the context of a gas station in Brazil
Authors: Benetti Corrêa da Silva Marcelo , Bebber Suélen , Sperandio Milan Gabriel , Ravizzoni Veronese Angélica , Testolin Jéssica , Camargo Maria Emília
Published: August 2020

Purpose

This paper aims to identify the built environment attributes and dimensions to assess customers’ satisfaction concerning the built environment in a gas station located in southern Brazil. Besides, this study aims to verify the dimensions that most impact customers’ satisfaction and the attributes that are most relevant to customers.

Design/methodology/approach

The research was operationalized through a survey and data were analyzed with confirmatory factor analysis. Multiple regression analysis was used to assess the impact of the dimensions on perceived customer satisfaction, while stepwise linear multiple regression was used to identify the most significant attributes.

Findings

The factor analysis result indicates that 66.77% of the variance explained concerns to six built environment dimensions (or factors). The regression analysis shows that overall satisfaction with the gas station is predicted by the dimensions appearance, functionality and location, and positively related to seven attributes. In relation to the built environment satisfaction, the location and functionality of the dimension are its predictors and positively related to five attributes.

Research limitations/implications

Further studies in different contexts are required to test the reliability of the built environment dimensions – comfort, functionality, configuration, location and appearance. Also, the study calls for further debate about the built environment related to the occupant or user satisfaction and other factors that can impact it.

Originality/value

This study identifies the need to evaluate the impacts of post-occupancy evaluation of measurable factors related to the user’s judgment.
A change in granularity: measure space utilization through smart technologies
Authors: Tagliaro Chiara , Zhou Yaoyi , Hua Ying
Published: August 2020

Purpose

Workplace space utilization data reveals patterns of space usage, the occupants’ presence and mobility within the office building. Nowadays, emerging technology such as smart sensors and devices can revolutionize the measurement of space utilization data, which is originally dominated by human observers with paper and pencil. However, these novel instruments are often used in an old fashion, which restricts the exploitation of their full potential. This study aims to shed new light on the benefits and limits of using smart technology in measuring space utilization data and discusses the challenges and opportunities in analyzing the data measured by smart sensors.

Design/methodology/approach

First, the literature regarding common methods and previous studies about office space utilization measurement was reviewed. Then, a data set consisting of space utilization data collected through Passive Infra-Red sensors for 35 meeting rooms in a bank building was carefully evaluated. Finally, the space utilization results based on methods calculated in two different granularities were compared.

Findings

The number of occupied hours calculated at an hour level was 1.32-hour larger than that calculated at a minute level. As both results show the concept of space utilization, which was the amount of time that the space was occupied, this paper revealed a gap between the two space utilization calculation methods and further discussed the issues and challenges for future space utilization data analysis and benchmarking.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study critically addressing office space utilization issues by comparing calculation methods in different granularity.
Shell and tube heat exchanger thermal-hydraulic analysis equipped with baffles and corrugated tubes filled with non-Newtonian two-phase nanofluid
Authors: Abbasian Arani Ali Akbar , Moradi Reza
Published: August 2020

Purpose

Using turbulators, obstacles, ribs, corrugations, baffles and different tube geometry, and also various arrangements of these components have a noticeable effect on the shell and tube heat exchangers (STHEs) thermal-hydraulic performance. This study aims to investigate non-Newtonian fluid flow characteristics and heat transfer features of water and carboxyl methyl cellulose (H2O 99.5%:0.5% CMC)-based Al2O3 nanofluid inside the STHE equipped with corrugated tubes and baffles using two-phase mixture model.

Design/methodology/approach

Five different corrugated tubes and two baffle shapes are studied numerically using finite volume method based on SIMPLEC algorithm using ANSYS-Fluent software.

Findings

Based on the obtained results, it is shown that for low-mass flow rates, the disk baffle (DB) has more heat transfer coefficient than that of segmental baffle (SB) configuration, while for mass flow rate more than 1 kg/s, using the SB leads to more heat transfer coefficient than that of DB configuration. Using the DB leads to higher thermal-hydraulic performance evaluation criteria (THPEC) than that of SB configuration in heat exchanger. The THPEC values are between 1.32 and 1.45.

Originality/value

Using inner, outer or inner/outer corrugations (outer circular rib and inner circular rib [OCR+ICR]) tubes for all mass flow rates can increase the THPEC significantly. Based on the present study, STHE with DB and OCR+ICR tubes configuration filled with water/CMC/Al2O3 with f = 1.5% and dnp = 100 nm is the optimum configuration. The value of THPEC in referred case was 1.73, while for outer corrugations and inner smooth, this value is between 1.34 and 1.57, and for outer smooth and inner corrugations, this value is between 1.33 and 1.52.
Classical waqf, juristic analogy and framework of awqāf doctrines
Authors: Abdullah Mohammad
Published: August 2020

Purpose

This paper aims to analyse the Sharīʿah premises of waqf (Islamic endowment), followed by dilating on the nature of argumentation among the classical jurists on its rules and principles. The paper critically analyses the edifice of the applied juristic analogy of different early jurists in deriving various waqf doctrines. The objective of analysing the jurisprudential framework of waqf in its classical mould is to conceptualise the methods, mechanism and nature of juristic analogies in deriving the waqf principles. This analysis is critical to understand the scope of jurisprudential flexibility in modern awqāf.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is an outcome of a library-based research. It uses the classical jurisprudential treatises of waqf with an aim to analyse the Sharīʿah basis of the institution, the premises of its key principles and the applied juristic analogy to derive the same. The paper covers the classical waqf books and treatises from the four Sunni schools of jurisprudence and uses a textual analysis method.

Findings

The paper finds that in its initial phase, the conceptual framework of waqf was not unanimously agreed by all jurists, rather its Sharīʿah permissibility remained critically disputed among them for a while. Though, the opinion of those jurists who approved the Sharīʿah-validity of waqf was to prevail in the later stage, disagreement persisted with reference to its necessary features and defining criteria. It is found that in the classical waqf literature, two most disputed aspects of waqf jurisprudence constituted the requirements for completion of a waqf and its ownership status.

Research limitations/implications

This study neither covers the historical contribution of waqf among the Muslim societies nor touches on the empirical aspects of modern waqf. Rather, the focus of the study is limited to analysing the classical jurisprudential discourse of waqf and distillation process of its rulings.

Practical implications

The objective of analysing the classical juristic discourse of waqf is to underline the premises of classical juristic analogy in determining the framework of fiqh al-awqāf (jurisprudence of waqf) in its classical permutations and to learn how to adopt a similar approach for deduction of new waqf rulings.

Originality/value

This paper adds original value to the body of waqf literature for analysing the classical waqf rulings distillation process along with examining the methods and mechanism of juristic analogy.