bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Examining institutional credit access among agricultural households in Eastern India: trends, patterns and determinants
Authors: Kumar Anjani , Das Raya , K S Aditya , Bathla Seema , Jha Girish K.
Published: October 2020

Purpose

This paper is an attempt to understand the pattern of credit among agricultural households in Eastern India and to identify the correlates of their access to institutional credit for policy imperatives.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses unit-level data from the All-India Debt and Investment Survey of the 59th and 70th rounds of the National Sample Survey Office for the years 2002–2003 and 2012–2013. Cragg's double-hurdle model and the Heckman selection model are used to estimate the determinants of access to and the amount of institutional loans taken by households. These models also account for potential selection bias in the findings.

Findings

The study reveals that access to credit is strongly associated with the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of agricultural households. However, about half of the farmers in the eastern states of India lack access to institutional credit despite the government's attempts to include them in the ambit of formal financial services. Thus, strategies for developing agriculture in Eastern India must include efforts to bring small and marginal farmers under the coverage of institutional credit.

Research limitations/implications

These data are based on the responses given by the sample households and not the experimental data. The data pertain to the year 2013.

Originality/value

The findings emphasize that strategies for developing agriculture in Eastern India must give special push to enhance small and marginal farmers' access to institutional credit.
The stewardship organization: essential characteristics and conditions of feasibility
Authors: Lehrer Mark , Segal Lydia
Published: October 2020

Purpose

The paper explores the nature and facilitating conditions of “stewardship organizations,” that is, organizations in which stewardship behavior rather than principal–agent behavior defines the operative principles of management.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper falls into two parts: the first part of the analysis develops a theory of the stewardship organization, and the second part develops a contingency framework concerning the feasibility of stewardship organizations.

Findings

Stewardship organizations are characterized by three interlocking traits: (1) the overall mission of the organization, (2) the organization's internal control systems and (3) the “motivational environment” of the stewardship organization. Since stewardship organizations cannot be identified on the basis of stated mission alone, it is necessary to determine whether the mission involves a higher calling that has been internalized by organizational members to the point of constituting a vital part of how the organization runs on a day-to-day basis.

Practical implications

One key role of leadership in such organizations is to manage mission drift and to reduce the ambiguity of the mission and organization goals.

Social implications

Litmus tests are proposed for identifying an authentic stewardship organization in contradistinction to those whose socially minded values are ancillary or a marketing ploy.

Originality/value

This is the first systematic attempt to characterize the stewardship organization. After providing three specific examples of such organizations, the contribution identifies key markers of bona fide stewardship organizations.
Healthcare professionals with calling are less likely to be burned out: the role of social worth and career stage
Authors: Goštautaitė Bernadeta , Bučiūnienė Ilona , Dalla Rosa Anna , Duffy Ryan , Kim Haram Julia
Published: October 2020

Purpose

The association of calling with burnout is not well understood. This study investigates how calling influences burnout and what the roles of social worth and career stage are in this relation. Drawing from the Conservation of Resources Theory, we expect that calling may be negatively associated with burnout through increased social worth and that career stage moderates these relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a sample of 566 healthcare professionals, we conducted regression analyses with bootstrapping procedures to test the proposed hypotheses.

Findings

The findings show that social worth mediates the negative relation between calling and burnout. Additionally, the positive relation between calling and social worth was more pronounced for late-career employees; yet, the negative relation between social worth and burnout was stronger for early-career employees.

Practical implications

The findings suggest that searching and pursuing a professional calling is beneficial for individuals. Additionally, social worth is crucial in this relation and could be used to actively prevent burnout.

Originality/value

The study advances our understanding of the consequences of calling for employees by explaining the underlying mechanism between calling and burnout and its importance at different career stages.
Diversity, climate and innovative work behavior
Authors: Bogilović Sabina , Bortoluzzi Guido , Černe Matej , Ghasemzadeh Khatereh , Žnidaršič Jana
Published: October 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to extend current discussion on the drivers of innovative work behavior (IWB) by exploring how individual perceived diversities (visible dissimilarity and cognitive group diversity) and climates (team/clan and innovative/entrepreneurial) impact IWB.

Design/methodology/approach

Data had been collected from a cross-national study of working professionals (n = 584) from five different cultural contexts.

Findings

Findings of this study indicated that cognitive group diversity mediated the negative relationship between visible dissimilarity and IWB. Further, both innovative/entrepreneurial and team/clan climates moderated the relationship between visible dissimilarity and cognitive group diversity. Such a moderation effect reduced the negative effect that visible dissimilarity had on IWB.

Research limitations/implications

A cross-sectional single-source data set.

Practical implications

From a managerial perspective, climates (team/clan and innovative/entrepreneurial) are central for IWB in the diverse (visible and cognitive) working environment. Thus, organizations should pay attention to create a climate (team/clan or/and innovative/entrepreneurial) that reduces the negative impact of perceived diversity in the working environment while supporting IWB.

Originality/value

This study is the first of its kind that is based on social categorization theory, empirically examining how different types of diversity (visible dissimilarity and cognitive group diversity) simultaneously reduce individuals’ IWB. Furthermore, this paper provides insights that climates (team/clan and innovative/entrepreneurial) are crucial for IWB in the diverse working environment.
Teachers’ perceptions of educational reform: the schools’ readiness, supporting mechanisms and contributions of the reform
Authors: Avidov-Ungar Orit , Arviv-Elyashiv Rinat
Published: October 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceptions of teachers toward national reform in education according to the reform stage (Initiation, Implementation or Institutionalization) attained in their school. The study aim to examined: How do teachers perceive the current reform?; Is there a correlation between teachers' perceptions and reform stage?; To what extent are teachers' perceptions affected by school's mechanisms and school's readiness?

Design/methodology/approach

The research methodology is quantitative. Teachers (N = 288) completed a written questionnaire. One-way ANOVA was used to investigate teachers' perceptions of the reform and its contributions to school effectiveness and to teachers' working conditions according to reform stage, while controlling for managerial position, teaching experience and school level. Multivariate modeling was used to examine the relationships between the variables.

Findings

Teachers' overall attitudes toward the changes associated with the education reform lay between moderately negative and neutral. Reform was perceived to have made a greater contribution to school effectiveness than to teacher working conditions. School readiness for reform and the presence of school mechanisms supporting reform explained much (41%) of the variance in teachers' attitudes. Teachers holding leadership roles and those whose schools were in the Institutionalization stage exhibited more positive attitudes toward the reform and perceived it as having improved their working conditions to a greater extent than those without leadership roles or whose schools were in the Initiation or Implementation stages, respectively.

Originality/value

Teachers' attitudes toward reform have not previously been examined in the context of reform stage.
Strengthening work engagement through high-performance human resource practices
Authors: Goyal Charu , Patwardhan Manoj
Published: October 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the individual high-performance human resource practices (HPHRPs) and work engagement (WE) among the employees in the service industry in India.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected from a sample of 234 employees working in the service sector in India with the help of a survey questionnaire method. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate the data. To test the hypothesized relationship, structural equation modelling was used.

Findings

The results revealed that five HPHRPs have a positive impact on the WE of employees in the service sector in India. Internal career opportunities negatively impact WE.

Research limitations/implications

The study sample is limited to the service sector in India. Researchers are encouraged to study employee and organizational performance measures other than WE which could be impacted by high-performance work practices.

Practical implications

Managers seeking to strengthen WE could implement these HPHRPs in their firms operating in Indian service sector.

Originality/value

The paper is an attempt to provide empirical evidence on how the individual HPHRPs impacts WE in an organization. Earlier research has shown the impact of bundled HPHRPs on WE. Thus, this study is first to empirically test the direct relationship of individual HPHRPs with WE.
Household food insecurity and hunger in Babile district, Ethiopia
Authors: Aweke Chanyalew Seyoum , Lahiff Edward , Wordofa Muluken Gezahegn , Hassen Jemal Y.
Published: October 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine household food gap and food insecurity in Eastern Ethiopia. Differences in food gap and food insecurity were also examined in terms of gender of the household head and location.

Design/methodology/approach

A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods such as household survey, key informant interview and focused group discussion were utilized for this study. Households were drawn randomly from the study area.

Findings

In terms of food availability, more than half of the households experienced a food gap during the year, especially during the months of July and August. In terms of gender, female-headed households had more months of food shortage compared to their male counterparts. This disparity was also reflected in poorer food access among female-headed households as shown by the higher HFIAS. Differences in food insecurity were obtained in terms of gender of the household head and location. Livestock ownership, cereal crop production, extension contact and household size significantly influenced household food access.

Research limitations/implications

Findings are valid only for low-land agroecologies

Originality/value

This study contributes to the existing literature by examining household food gap and food insecurity using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. It adds value in examining disparities between male-headed and female-headed households. Literature related to seasonal household food insecurity is limited in Ethiopia. This study contributes in this regard by examining seasonal food insecurity between post-harvest and pre-harvest seasons.
Do credit ratings influence the demand/supply of audit effort?
Authors: Lim Hyoung Joo , Mali Dafydd
Published: October 2020

Purpose

Firm management has an incentive to improve credit ratings to enjoy the reputational and financial benefits associated with higher credit ratings. In this study, the authors question whether audit effort in hours can be considered incrementally increasing with credit ratings. Based on legitimacy theory, the authors conjecture that firms with higher credit ratings will demand higher levels of audit effort to signal audit and financial quality compared to firms with higher levels of credit risk.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conduct empirical tests using a sample of Korean-listed firms using a sample period covering 2001–2015.

Findings

The results show that firms with higher credit ratings demand higher audit effort in hours compared to client firms with lower credit ratings. The authors interpret that firms with higher ratings (lower risk) demand higher levels of audit effort in hours to reduce information asymmetry and to demonstrate that financial reporting systems are robust based on audit effort signaling audit quality. The authors also interpret that firms with lower credit ratings do not have incentives to signal similar audit quality. The authors also capture the “Big4 auditor expertise” effect by demonstrating that client firms audited by nonBig4 auditors demand additional audit effort with increasing credit rating compared to Big4 clients.

Research limitations/implications

Audit effort is considered a signal of firm risk in the literature. This study’s results show evidence that audit effort is inversely related to firm risk.

Practical implications

The results show that audit hour information is informative and likely managed by firm stakeholders. Internationally, it is not possible to capture the audit demand of clients because listing audit hours on financial statements is not a rule. Given that audit hours can be considered informative, the authors believe that legislators could consider implementing a policy to mandate that audit hours be recorded on international annual reports to enhance transparency.

Originality/value

South Korea is one of few countries to list audit effort on annual reports. Therefore, the link between audit effort and credit ratings is unique in South Korea because it is one of few countries in which market participants likely monitor audit effort.
Mechanism between perceived organizational support and work engagement: explanatory role of self-efficacy
Authors: Musenze Ibrahim Abaasi , Mayende Thomas Sifuna , Wampande Ahmed Jowalie , Kasango Joseph , Emojong Ongario Ronald
Published: October 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between perceived organizational support (POS) and work engagement and the mediating effect of self-efficacy on the POS–work engagement relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire survey was developed and distributed to a sample of primary school teachers drawn from the education industry.

Findings

Analysis of the data supports a strong positive relationship between the extent of POS and work engagement. This study also found that self-efficacy mediated the relationship between POS and work engagement.

Research limitations/implications

This study has important implications for managers. First, it motivates managers, by providing justification for provision of support to employees for increased engagement at work. Based on the results of this study, POS is associated with enhanced work engagement levels. Second, evidence from this study illustrates to the organization the importance of developing an environment of support to further enhance work engagement. When employees do not acknowledge and feel supported from their respective organizations, work engagement levels may be sub-optimal. This research is limited, as the data were collected at one point of time, and this has implications for employees and organizations.

Originality/value

There is increasing recognition of the importance of POS in enhanced work engagement levels. Within this context, no previous research has empirically examined the mediating effect of self-efficacy on the relationship between POS and work engagement in the setting of primary education sector.
Return and volatility spillover effects between the Turkey and the Russia stock market
Authors: Kutlu Melih , Karakaya Aykut
Published: October 2020

Purpose

This study aimed to investigate return and volatility spillover between the Borsa Istanbul (BIST) and the Moscow Stock Exchange (RTS).

Design/methodology/approach

This study used generalized autoregressive conditionally heteroscedasticity (GARCH) model for volatility and the Aggregate Shock (AS) model for return and volatility spillover. The data are divided into six sub-periods. Period events take place between Turkey and Russia.

Findings

BIST investors considered the return and volatility of the RTS, it is observed that Moscow Stock Exchange investors considered only the return of BIST at the full sample. It is only a return spillover from BIST to RTS and neither the return nor the volatility of the RTS is spillover to BIST in the pre-crisis period. No evidence of return and volatility spillover between the BIST and the RTS in the post-crisis period. The returns and volatility spillovers between Russia and Turkey are mutual feedback in the jet crisis period.

Practical implications

Economic developments between Turkey and Russia is growing rapidly in recent years. The return and volatility analysis between the stock exchanges of these two countries is important for investment decisions.

Originality/value

There are many studies in the literature about emerging markets. There are also Turkish and Russian stock exchanges in these studies. However, this study only examined return and volatility spillover analysis between the Turkish and Russian stock exchanges and prevents the results from being overlooked among other countries.
The Vietnamese business cycle in an estimated small open economy New Keynesian DSGE model
Authors: Nguyen Phuong V.
Published: October 2020

Purpose

The primary purpose of this paper is to investigate the sources of the business cycle fluctuations in Vietnam. To this end, the author develops a small open economy New Keynesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (SOE-NK-DSGE) model. Accordingly, this model includes various features, such as habit consumption, staggered price, price indexation, incomplete exchange-rate pass-through (ERPT), the failures of the law of one price (LOOP) and the uncovered interest rate parity. It is then estimated by using the Bayesian technique and Vietnamese data 1999Q1–2017Q1. Based on the estimated model, this paper analyzes the sources of the business cycle fluctuations in this emerging economy. Indeed, this research paper is the first attempt at developing and estimating the SOE-NK-DSGE model with the Bayesian technique for Vietnam.

Design/methodology/approach

A SOE-NK-DSGE model—Bayesian estimation.

Findings

This paper analyzes the sources of the business cycle fluctuations in Vietnam.

Originality/value

This research paper is the first attempt at developing and estimating the SOE-NK-DSGE model with the Bayesian technique for Vietnam.
Conceptualizing recourses as antecedents to the economic performance of family-based microenterprise – the moderating role of competencies
Authors: Ahamad Shamsuddin , Al-jaifi Hamdan Amerali , Mostafiz Md Imtiaz
Published: October 2020

Purpose

The development of family-based microenterprises has attracted the attention of regulators, microfinance institutions and other stakeholders in either developing or least developed countries. In the finance literature, several studies have examined the determinants of the family-based microenterprises development; however, there are several venues that need to be examined. The study aims to explain the economic profit of microenterprises from resource-based theory and human capital perspectives.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on critical review and theoretical grounding, this study proposes a conceptual framework, which bridges intangible resources with economic growth of microenterprises.

Findings

After reviewing previous studies and based on the underpinning theoretical framework, the study finds that human capital is one of the variables that has received a little attention and yet to be examined as a moderating role. Based on the human capital theorist, individual's competencies help enterprises to perform better in business, as enterprises that possess competencies and capabilities are more likely to have higher levels of growth and profitability.

Practical implications

This finding provides useful implications for the stakeholders and policymakers and contributes in the future literature.

Originality/value

Based on critical review and theoretical grounding, this study proposes a conceptual framework, which bridges intangible resources with economic growth of microenterprises.
Association between employee department and responsible gambling program perceptions: extension and follow-up study
Authors: Abarbanel Brett , Kraus Shane , Huang Qing (Tiffany) , Gray Heather , Louderback Eric , LaPlante Debi , Bernhard Bo
Published: October 2020

Purpose

This study investigates how employees perceive responsible gambling (RG) programs, which are part of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) framework for minimizing negative impacts associated with problematic gambling. Casino employees have different levels of interaction with gamblers, which could affect employees' opinions about RG.

Design/methodology/approach

Surveys at two time periods – baseline (N = 2,192) and one-year follow-up (N = 852) to a new RG program – asked employees at MGM Resorts International (MGM) about their (1) perceptions of program effectiveness, (2) gambling behaviors and beliefs and (3) perceived level of employer support. Two one-way MANCOVAs, with years employed in the gambling industry as the covariate, extended results from a prior study. An additional two-way MANCOVA examined contact-level and year-over-year differences.

Findings

Employees who have high contact with gamblers, such as those in security or casino dealer positions, viewed RG programs as less effective than employees who have low contact with gamblers, such as those in culinary or corporate positions.

Practical implications

Employees are vital to harm reduction CSR strategies and MGM should work toward a program with varied RG training content and delivery, depending on the likelihood of employee interaction with active gamblers.

Originality/value

RG programs are key CSR initiatives for hospitality organizations with gambling licenses. Employees play an interactive role in delivering these programs, so their perceptions and understanding help assess program value. This is the first study to examine employee perceptions of a newly-implemented RG program with baseline and follow-up data.
Motives and performance outcomes of mass customization capability: evidence from Chinese manufacturers
Authors: Sheng Hongyan , Feng Taiwen , Chen Lucheng , Chu Dianhui , Zhang Weijie
Published: October 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this study aims to develop and test a motives-mass customization (MC) capability-performance model by dividing MC capability into product-oriented MC capability and service-oriented MC capability.

Design/methodology/approach

This research tests the hypothesized relationships using survey data from 277 Chinese manufacturing firms.

Findings

The results indicate that instrumental, relational and moral motives all have significantly positive impacts on product-oriented and service-oriented MC capability. The authors also find that product-oriented MC capability partially mediates the impacts of relational and moral motives on operational, environmental and economic performance, while service-oriented MC capability partially mediates the impacts of instrumental, relational and moral motives on operational, market, environmental and economic performance.

Originality/value

This study complements the existing MC literature by describing MC capability into two dimensions: product-oriented MC capability and service-oriented MC capability.
Ideological and financial spaces of budgetary responses to COVID-19 lockdown strategies: comparative analysis of Russia and Ukraine
Authors: Vakulenko Veronika , Khodachek Igor , Bourmistrov Anatoli
Published: October 2020

Purpose

To compare Russian and Ukrainian central governments' reaction to the pandemic, reflected in extraordinary budgetary allocations and to provide our understanding of how those allocations can be attributed to the two countries’ different social, economic and political contexts.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is built on secondary data analysis over a six-month period, i.e. January–June 2020, during which the real-time events were documented in a research diary. The data sources included budgetary and other relevant legislature, official reports from international agencies, news, press conferences and videos of interviews with key stakeholders.

Findings

The findings showed that uncertainty caused by COVID-19 and the corresponding lockdown policies in Russia and Ukraine have produced two divergent patterns of budgetary allocations: step-by-step budgetary allocations in Russia vs one emergency budget decision in Ukraine.

Originality/value

The paper explains the divergence of the central governments' budgetary decisions based on the same lockdown policy, in light of the different ideological and financial legitimized action spaces that frame governmental decisions.
Analysis of discrete-time semi-Markov model for a two-unit warm standby system subject to degradation
Authors: Temraz Neama
Published: October 2020

Purpose

The present paper analyzed a model consisting of one unit with a warm standby unit where the main unit has three states: up, degraded and down.

Design/methodology/approach

The semi-Markov model under the regenerative method is used to construct the mathematical model for the system.

Findings

The effectiveness measures of the system are discussed such as availability, reliability, steady-state availability and mean time to system failure. The life and repair times of the system units are assumed to be discrete follow discrete Weibull distribution. Also, the parameters of the discrete Weibull distribution are assumed to be fuzzy with bell-shaped membership function. An application is introduced to show the results obtained for the system and the profit of the presented model.

Originality/value

Rarely papers in literature treated the topic of the discrete-time semi-Markov process using a regenerative point technique.
Entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance in a sanctioned economy – does the CEO play a role?
Authors: Cannavale Chiara , Zohoorian Nadali Iman , Esempio Anna
Published: October 2020

Purpose

Entrepreneurship, in many low-resilient economies, plays a critical role in overcoming external shocks. Thus, it is crucial in such situation that entrepreneurial firms can survive and even grow so that the whole economy can benefit from a higher level of resilience. The purpose of this study is to understand how entrepreneurial orientation (EO) brings about firms' performance through the moderating role of CEOs' self-transcendence values in the context of a low-resilient sanctioned economy.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a quantitative research that employs hierarchical regression analysis of a sample of 114 Iranian entrepreneurial firms composed of 62 knowledge-based and 52 creative firms.

Findings

The analysis revealed that in the low-resilient sanctioned economy, Iran, EO-performance link is moderated by the level of CEOs' self-transcendence value, that is, higher level of CEO self-transcendence leads to stronger impact of EO on performance. This moderation is not different in creative sector vs. knowledge-based sector of the economy.

Originality/value

This paper addresses a major gap in the traditional EO-performance relationship which is related to the role of CEO values. Also, the context of Iran's low level of economic resilience adds more novelty to this study, emphasizing on the role of CEO personal values of self-transcendence in times of crisis. The results could also be generalized in many economies now facing the COVID-19 pandemic crisis during which CEOs' self-transcendence values are vitally important in overcoming the difficulties of doing business in such situation.
The role of omnichannel tendency in digital information processing
Authors: Rodríguez-Torrico Paula , San-Martín Sonia , San José Cabezudo Rebeca
Published: October 2020

Purpose

Nowadays some consumers consider themselves as “omnichannels” – they combine both physical and digital channels expecting a seamless shopping experience – since they view their shopping process from a multiple-channel viewpoint. Giving that situation, the aim of this paper is to test the role of consumers’ omnichannel tendency (omni-tendency) in the information processing in the digital channel.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), emotions as well as utilitarian and hedonic experiences are proposed to understand consumer attitude towards the digital store. Through a survey, data were collected from 284 digital shoppers. PLS path modelling and PLS-MGA were used to test the research hypotheses.

Findings

The results confirm that emotions positively affect the evaluation of the experiences, which in turn improves the attitude towards the digital store. Focusing on the differences among consumers, the findings show that for consumers with low omni-tendency the emotions are key to improve the evaluation of their experiences. Moreover, regarding the attitude, consumers with more omni-tendency follow the central route to process the information; and consumers with less omni-tendency follow the peripheral route.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the literature in three ways. First, this research includes the study of omni-tendency, as a consumer trait, in the information processing developed in the digital channel, ignored in the literature. Second, this work contributes to information processing theories in digital context confirming, specifically the applicability of ELM into the omnichannel context. This offers support to the application of traditional theories to explain new phenomena. Third, and in line with the previous contribution, this work goes a step further in understanding ELM theory by including other constructs –the omni-tendency and emotions– to explain the information processing in the digital context.
The influence of high-commitment work system on work well-being: the mediating role of psychological empowerment and the moderating role of leader trust
Authors: Li Xiufeng , Lin Congcong
Published: October 2020

Purpose

We draw on the conservation of resources theory to explore when and how a high-commitment work system (HCWS) improves employees' work well-being.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 64 branches in a high-tech company, involving 64 supervisors and 434 employees to examine the influence of branch-level HCWS on employees' work well-being at individual level.

Findings

Consistent with our predictions, the results indicate that a well-designed human resource management (HRM) system (i.e. HCWS) helps to enhance employees' work well-being. Psychological empowerment is seen as an important mechanism linking HCWS with work well-being. The effects of HCWS on psychological empowerment and work well-being are significantly positive only when leader trust in employees is high.

Originality/value

This study indicates a novel resource theoretical perspective regarding the HRM system-employee well-being relationship. It provides insights into how contextual resources (HCWS) enhance employees' work well-being by potentiating the effect of personal resources (psychological empowerment). Just as the old saying goes, “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime,” the leader trust serves as a critical valve.
Ambiguous discursive practices in health-care project plans: a keyword-assisted critical discourse analysis of the term “patient”
Authors: Lunkka Nina , Lukkarila Pirjo , Laulainen Sanna , Suhonen Marjo
Published: October 2020

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to investigate ambiguous language use in health-care project plans in a manner that accounts for the wider, institutional, public health-care context.

Design/methodology/approach

The article deployed a case study approach and drew from Fairclough's critical discourse analysis (CDA) as well as a keyword analysis to investigate two time-sequenced versions of the same project planning document for a health-care project in Finland.

Findings

In the project plans investigated, the study identified patient as a keyword possessing various meanings within the public health-care context. By examining the discursive practices around the keyword patient, the study demonstrated their role in constituting the institutional context as well as the function of this context in constraining these practices.

Originality/value

By looking at the potential of the CDA to investigate discursive practices of the keyword in two sequential versions of a project plan within the broader context of public health care, the study adds to the scant existing literature on critically oriented health-care project communication studies.
Seismic dispersion and attenuation in layered porous rocks with fractures of varying orientations
Authors: Xu Denghui , Han Tongcheng , Fu Li‐Yun
Published: October 2020

Wave‐induced fluid flow plays an important role in affecting the seismic dispersion and attenuation of fractured porous rocks. While numerous theoretical models have been proposed for the seismic dispersion and attenuation in fractured porous rocks, most of them neglect the wave‐induced fluid flow resulting from the background anisotropy (e.g. the interlayer fluid flow between different layers) that can be normal in real reservoirs. Here, according to the theories of poroelasticity, we present an approach to study the frequency‐dependent seismic properties of more realistic and complicated rocks, i.e. horizontally and periodically layered porous rock with horizontal and randomly orienting fractures, respectively, distributed in one of the two periodical layers. The approach accounts for the dual effects of the wave‐induced fluid flow between the fractures and the background pores and between different layers (the interlayer fluid flow). BecauseC33(i.e., the modulus of the normally incident P‐wave) is directly related to the P‐wave velocity widely measured in the seismic exploration, and its comprehensive dispersion and attenuation are found to be most significant, we study mainly the effects of fracture properties and the stiffness contrast between the different layers on the seismic dispersion and attenuation ofC33. The results show that the increasing stiffness contrast enhances the interlayer fluid flow of the layered porous rocks with both horizontal and randomly orienting fractures and weakens the wave‐induced fluid flow between the fractures and the background pores, especially for the layered porous rock with horizontal fractures. The modelling results also demonstrate that for the considered rock construction, the increasing fracture density reduces the interlayer fluid flow while improves the dispersion and attenuation in the fracture‐relevant frequency band. Increasing fracture aspect ratio is found to reduce the dispersion and attenuation in the fracture‐relevant frequency band only, especially for the layered porous rock with horizontal fractures.
Literacy, social justice and inclusion: a large‐scale design experiment to narrow the attainment gap linked to poverty
Authors: Ellis Sue , Rowe Adele
Published: October 2020

This paper describes the development and use of a tool designed to support educators to use a broad range of professional knowledge to enable inclusive literacy teaching that delivers social justice and narrows the attainment gap associated with poverty. The tool encourages teachers to formally recognise and act on a wide range of evidence about students as learners and to design their literacy curriculum and teaching according to this evidence. The research operationalised a Capabilities approach to inclusion and a design experiment methodology, working with 48 schools, 650 teachers and 12,783 students. A paired sample T‐test showed a significant improvement in standardised age scores and that the ‘tail of underachievement’ shortened for all social groups. Goodman and Kruskal's gamma showed a weakening of the relationship between poverty and attainment. This gives cause for cautious optimism that attainment gaps associated with economic disadvantage can be narrowed if educators act on a wider range of evidence in literacy teaching, and if education researchers develop and trial tools to support them.
Corruption as Infrastructure: Rendering the New Saigon Global
Authors: Kim Hun
Published: October 2020

Corruption is regularly treated as a barrier to infrastructure, development and growth. However, in Saigon, corruption itself has become an infrastructure in Vietnam's late‐socialist urban transformation. This infrastructure facilitates not only growth in the form of transnational investment, property speculation and construction, but allows for different kinds of planning and development practice as well. Perceptions about corruption in Vietnam, and in Saigon specifically, shape market and planning practices that structure the terms on which interested parties from abroad and internally speculate upon and ultimately develop urban projects. This is not a static formulation of corruption. Rather, corruption and the various political and policy responses to it constantly shape how brokers, developers and financiers renegotiate how the city becomes a knowable object for investment, legible to the calculations of both risk and reward used by global investors as well as to those who enact the embedded bureaucratic, legal and political practices that create Saigon's built environment. In this article I argue that different definitions and policy responses to corruption in effect create variable ways of seeing the city (as well as modes of being seen) that have an impact on the material realities of the metropolis—the types of connections produced with transnational finance, the legal and regulatory structure under which urbanization unfolds, and the types of players, firms and officials involved.
Association of placenta‐derived extracellular vesicles with pre‐eclampsia and associated hypercoagulability: a clinical observational study
Authors: Chen Y , Huang P , Han C , Li J , Liu L , Zhao Z , Gao Y , Qin Y , Xu Q , Yan Y , Wang Y , Ren J , Men J , Dong J , Zhang J , Xue F
Published: October 2020

Objective

Pre‐eclampsia (PE) is a pregnancy‐associated condition initiated by placental factors. We have demonstrated that placental extracellular vesicles (pcEVs) cause hypertension and proteinuria in pregnant and non‐pregnant mice.

Study design

An observational study with both case‐control and longitudinal designs.

Setting

A single centre at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Tianjin Medical University.

Population

We collected blood samples and clinical information from 54 PE patients, 33 normally pregnant women at 30–36 gestational weeks and on postpartum days 1 and 4 for the cross‐sectional study, and at 22–31, 32–35 and 36–40 weeks for the longitudinal study. Non‐pregnant women were also recruited.

Methods

Blood samples were analysed using flow cytometry, coagulation tests and ELISA.

Main outcome measures

The primary outcome was plasma pcEV and other extracellular vesicles (EVs), and their expressions of anionic phospholipids and von Willebrand factor (VWF). Secondary variables included coagulation, ADAMTS‐13 and the anionic phospholipid‐binding proteins.

Results

Plasma pcEVs progressively increased from pregnant women during non‐menstrual period (NW) to PE patients (interquartile range [IQR] for NW: 206/microlitre [116–255], normal pregnancy [NP]: 1108/microlitre [789–1969] and PE: 8487/microlitre [4991–16 752]) and predicted PE. EVs from endothelial cells, platelets and erythrocytes accounted for <10% of pcEVs. VWF became hyper‐adhesive in PE patients and contributed to the pregnancy‐associated hypercoagulability.

Conclusion

Placental, platelet‐ and endothelial cell‐derived EVs were significantly elevated in PE patients, but only pcEVs predicted PE. These EVs played a causal role in the pregnancy‐induced hypercoagulability.

Tweetable abstract

Placenta‐derived extracellular vesicles predict pre‐eclampsia and the associated hypercoagulability.
There is no place like home: Information asymmetries, local asset concentration, and portfolio returns
Authors: Ling David C. , Naranjo Andy , Scheick Benjamin
Published: October 2020

Using a unique setting with significant cross‐market information asymmetries and a large sample of individual commercial property holdings, we provide robust evidence showing that local information plays a significant role in the linkage between local asset concentrations and return outperformance. We further document a significant positive relation between local asset concentration and portfolio returns in markets where information asymmetry is most severe. Two novel identification strategies that exploit a local lender's ability to price the local investor's information advantage and exogenous variation in sales price disclosure laws across states confirm an information‐based effect that is distinct from risk‐based or behavioral explanations.
Tofu products: A review of their raw materials, processing conditions, and packaging
Authors: Zheng Li , Regenstein Joe M. , Teng Fei , Li Yang
Published: October 2020

Tofu is a traditional product made mainly from soybeans, which has become globally popular because of its inclusion in vegetarian, vegan, and hypocaloric diets. However, with both commercial production of tofu and scientific research, it remains a challenge to produce tofu with high quality, high nutrition, and excellent flavor. This is because tofu production involves multiple complicated steps, such as soybean selection, utilization of appropriate coagulants, and tofu packaging. To make high‐quality tofu product, it is important to systematically understand critical factors that influence tofu quality. This article reviews the current research status of tofu production. The diversity of soybean seeds (the raw material), protein composition, structural properties, and nutritional values are reviewed. Then, selection of tofu coagulants is reviewed to provide insights on its role in tofu quality, where the focus is on the usage of mix coagulants and recent developments with new coagulants. Moreover, a comprehensive summary is provided on recent development in making high‐fiber tofu using Okara (the major by‐product during tofu production), which has a number of potential applications in the food industry. To help encourage automatic, environmental friendly, and high‐efficient tofu production, new developments and applications in production technology, such as ultrasound and high‐pressure process, are reviewed. Tofu packaging, including packaging materials and techniques, is evaluated as it has been found to have a positive impact on extending the shelf life and improving the quality of tofu products. Finally, the future research directions and potential areas for new developments are discussed.
Chromosome‐level genome assembly of Paralithodes platypus provides insights into evolution and adaptation of king crabs
Authors: Tang Boping , Wang Zhongkai , Liu Qiuning , Wang Zhengfei , Ren Yandong , Guo Huayun , Qi Tingting , Li Yuetian , Zhang Huabin , Jiang Senhao , Ge Baoming , Xuan Fujun , Sun Yue , She Shusheng , Yam Chan Tin , Sha Zhongli , Jiang Hui , Li Haorong , Jiang Wei , Qin Yanli , Wang Kun , Qiu Qiang , Wang Wen , Li Xinzheng , Ng Ngan Kee , Zhang Daizhen , Li Yongxin
Published: October 2020

The blue king crab, Paralithodes platypus, which belongs to the family Lithodidae, is a commercially and ecologically important species. However, a high‐quality reference genome for the king crab has not yet been reported. Here, we assembled the first chromosome‐level blue king crab genome, which contains 104 chromosomes and an N50 length of 51.15 Mb. Furthermore, we determined that the large genome size can be attributed to the insertion of long interspersed nuclear elements and long tandem repeats. Genome assembly assessment showed that 96.54% of the assembled transcripts could be aligned to the assembled genome. Phylogenetic analysis showed the blue king crab to have a close relationship with the Eubrachyura crabs, from which it diverged 272.5 million years ago. Population history analyses indicated that the effective population of the blue king crab declined sharply and then gradually increased from the Cretaceous and Neogene periods, respectively. Furthermore, gene families related to developmental pathways, steroid and thyroid hormone synthesis, and inflammatory regulation were expanded in the genome, suggesting that these genes contributed substantially to the environmental adaptation and unique body plan evolution of the blue king crab. The high‐quality reference genome reported here provides a solid molecular basis for further study of the blue king crab's development and environmental adaptation.
C1QTNF4 gene p.His198Gln mutation is correlated with early‐onset systemic lupus erythematosus in Iranian patients
Authors: Pakzad Bahram , Shirpour Reza , Mousavi Maryam , Karimzadeh Hadi , Salehi Amirhossein , Kazemi Mehdi , Amini Guilda , Akbari Mojtaba , Salehi Rasoul
Published: October 2020

Background

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with multifactorial etiology. Several studies show that genetic factors have an important part in the incidence of SLE. The C1QTNF4 gene is involved in the regulation of the inflammatory pathways by pro‐inflammatory function. In the present study, we have evaluated the association between C1QTNF4 gene p.His198Gln mutation and risk of SLE.

Methods

Forty SLE patients and 40 control subjects were recruited in this case‐control study. Genotyping of C1QTNF4 p.His198Gln mutation was performed using real‐time polymerase chain reaction high resolution melting method.

Results

We found a significant association between this mutation (GG + GC) with the risk of SLE (odds ratio = 6.33, 95% CI = 1.28‐31.11). Furthermore, we observed that in the patient group, this mutation leads to early‐onset SLE (19.7 ± 4.34 years for mutation carriers compared to 27.7 ± 11.4 years for wild type carriers; P = .003).

Conclusion

Our results suggest that this mutation (p.His198Gln) potentially has an important role in SLE risk in the Iranian population.
Effective Marginal Tax or Benefit? The Medicare Levy and Australian Defence Personnel
Authors: Manning Elizabeth
Published: October 2020

Does the phase‐in of the Australian Medicare levy as family income increases always contribute to a high effective marginal tax rate (EMTR)? Or are there circumstances in which the targeted nature of the Medicare levy in Australia can result in an effective marginal benefit (EMB) to family income as the income of the secondary income earner increases? This paper explains the concept of an EMB, providing examples and estimating the impact across different income ranges. The paper concludes that the existence of EMBs may lessen the impact of high EMTRs to some extent for the families affected. This is of particular importance to Australian Defence Force families in which the secondary income earner moves in and out of employment as the family relocates due to the defence posting cycle.