bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Projection of gut microbiome pre and post-bariatric surgery to predict surgery outcome
Authors: Izhak Meirav Ben , Eshel Adi , Cohen Ruti , Shapiro Liora Madar , Meiri Hamutal , Wachtel Chaim , Leung Conrad , Messick Edward , Jongkam Narisra , Mavor Eli , Sapozhnikov Shimon , Maharshak Nitsan , Abu-Abeid Subhi , Alis Avishai , Mahler Ilanit , Meoded Aviel , Eldar Shai Meron , Koren Omry , Louzoun Yoram 
Published: August 2020

AbstractBackgroundBariatric surgery is often the preferred method to resolve obesity and diabetes, with ~800,000 cases worldwide yearly and high outcome variability. The ability to predict the long-term Body Mass Index (BMI) change following surgery has important implications on individuals and the health care system in general. Given the tight connection between eating habits, sugar consumption, BMI, and the gut microbiome, we tested whether the microbiome before any treatment is associated with different treatment outcomes, as well as other intakes (high-density lipoproteins (HDL), Triglycerides, etc.).ResultsA projection of the gut microbiome composition of obese (sampled before and after bariatric surgery) and slim patients into principal components was performed and the relation between this projection and surgery outcome was studied. The projection reveals 3 different microbiome profiles belonging to slim, obese, and obese who underwent bariatric surgery, with post-surgery more different from the slim than the obese. The same projection allowed for a prediction of BMI loss following bariatric surgery, using only the pre-surgery microbiome.ConclusionsThe gut microbiome can be decomposed into main components depicting the patient’s development and predicting in advance the outcome. Those may be translated into better clinical management of obese individuals planning to undergo metabolic surgery.ImportanceBMI and diabetes can affect the gut microbiome composition.Bariatric surgery has large variabilities in outcome.The microbiome was previously shown to be a good predictor for multiple diseases.We analyzed here the gut microbiome before and after bariatric surgery and show that:The microbiome before surgery can be used to predict surgery outcome.Post-surgery microbiome drifts further away from the slim microbiome than pre-surgery obese patients.These results can lead to a microbiome-based pre-surgery decision whether to perform surgery.
From martial law to Sunflower: the evolution of Taiwan's student movement
Authors: Hsu Jenshuo 
Published: August 2020

PurposeThis paper explores how the student movement in Taiwan transformed after the abolition of martial law. After democratization, there were three large-scale student protests, in 1990, 2008 and 2014. This paper explores the development through this period of student movement organizations, issues and interrelations between organizations and individuals.Design/methodology/approachThe study of the process of transformation and development is based on an analysis of newspaper and magazine articles and books about the student movement. To provide an insider's view, magazines, statements and meeting memos written by activists are also included.FindingsAs a legacy of the student movement in the 1980s, the 1990 Wild Lily protest advocated democratization and organized a cross-school alliance. This pattern declined, however, because it proved hard to recruit participants after democratization. Instead, student activists returned to education-related issues, and the scale of student organizations remained small. The 2008 Wild Strawberry protest was carried out by autonomous, self-organized groups, which reflected the emergence of individuals as activists. Afterward, student movement organizations attempted to create multiple networks consisted of various issues and participants. These groups built solidarity by cooperating on education and political issues and became the base for the 2014 Sunflower protest.Originality/valueThis paper explores the rarely described historical context for the student movement between large-scale student protests in Taiwan and provides a more comprehensive understanding of the interrelation of organizations and individuals in contemporary social movements.
The Anchor Borrowers Programme and youth rice farmers in Northern Nigeria
Authors: Olanrewaju Opeyemi , Osabohien Romanus , Fasakin James 
Published: August 2020

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the impact of Anchor Borrowers Programme (APB) on youth rice farmers’ productivity (yield/ha).Design/methodology/approachUsing cross-sectional data from youth rice farmers in Kaduna State, Northern Nigeria, probit regression was used to examine the determinants of participation in ABP amongst the youth rice farmers. In addition, the instrumental variable (IV) regression approach that could mitigate selection bias due to unobservable factors resulting from the cross-sectional nature of the data was also used to determine the impact of the ABP on rice productivity of youth farmers.FindingsFindings from the study indicated that marital status, education, access to credit and membership of cooperative association were the significant determinants of participation in the ABP amongst the youth rice farmers.Practical implicationsThe implication of the result is that participation in the ABP leads to an increase in yield by about 42.46%, which shows the effectiveness of the ABP in the study area.Originality/valueThis study provides a rigorous econometric analysis of the determinants of ABP and its impact on rice productivity amongst youth farmers in Northern Nigeria. Thus, the study recommends improvement in credit accessibility, participation in the cooperative association and more education of the farmers to sustain the inputs distribution aim of the ABP.
The effects of customer involvement on perceived service performance and word-of-mouth: the mediating role of service co-creation
Authors: Cheung Millissa Fung Yi , To Wai Ming 
Published: August 2020

PurposeThis study aims to use the framework of customer dominant logic to explore the mediating role of service co-creation on the relationships between customer involvement and perceived service performance and between customer involvement and word-of-mouth (WOM). It also investigates the moderating role of customer relational-motivational orientation on the relationship between customer involvement and service co-creation.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire survey was conducted to collect responses from 289 Hong Kong's customers in different service settings. Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed research model.FindingsThe results of structural equation modeling showed that the freedom of co-creation and the degree of collaboration fully mediated the effect of customer involvement on perceived service performance and WOM. Additionally, relational-motivational orientation moderated the relationships between customer involvement and the freedom of co-creation and between customer involvement and the degree of collaboration.Practical implicationsThis research provides implications to managers on how to facilitate an environment that stimulates customer co-creation. Customer-contact employees must be trained with the necessary interpersonal skills to serve customers with different levels of relational-motivational orientation.Originality/valueThe study is one of the first to identify customer involvement as a key antecedent of service co-creation attributes and the moderating role of relational-motivational orientation on the relationships between customer involvement and service co-creation attributes.
Systematising multidisciplinary sustainable building design processes utilising BIM
Authors: Zanni Mariangela , Ruikar Kirti , Soetanto Robby 
Published: August 2020

PurposeSustainability considerations are often treated as an add-on to building design, following ad-hoc processes for their implementation. The purpose of this study was to investigate, model and facilitate the early stages of building information modelling (BIM) enabled sustainable building design (SBD) by formalising the ad-hoc working relationships of the best practices in order to standardise the optimal collaboration workflows.Design/methodology/approachFour stages of data collection were conducted, including a total of 32 semi-structured interviews with industry experts from 17 organisations. Fourteen “best practice” case studies were identified, and roles and responsibilities, resources, information exchanges, interdependencies, timing and sequence of events and critical decisions were examined.FindingsThe research classified the critical components of SBD into a framework utilising content and thematic analyses. These components were coordinated explicitly into a systematic process, which followed concurrent engineering (CE) principles utilising Integrated DEFinition (IDEF) 3 structured diagramming technique. Then, Green BIM Box (GBB) workflow management prototype tool was developed to analyse communication and delivery of BIM-enabled SBD in a centralised system.Originality/valueThis study represents an improvement to previous attempts to systematically define the BIM-enabled SBD process for the early stages. The results support the idea that a transparent SBD process, which follows specified communication patterns, can assist in achieving sustainability efficiently in terms of time, cost and effort.
Modeling the enablers of humanitarian supply chain management: a hybrid group decision-making approach
Authors: Agarwal Sachin , Kant Ravi , Shankar Ravi 
Published: August 2020

PurposeThis paper intends to explore and appraise the humanitarian supply chain management enablers (HSCMEs) for efficient and effective humanitarian operations. This research aims to analyze the interaction of enablers for humanitarian supply chain management (HSCM) using a proposed hybrid framework consists of fuzzy Delphi (FD), interpretive structural modeling (ISM)–matriced impacts croises multiplication appliquee a un classement (MICMAC) and revised Simos approach.Design/methodology/approachThis research is deliberate to identify 28 HSCMEs through a literature review and experts' opinions; out of which 20 HSCMEs are selected using FD. ISM is applied to know contextual relationship among the selected HSCMEs for developing a hierarchical model. The MICMAC analysis classifies the HSCMEs based on driving power and dependence power to validate the developed hierarchical ISM structure. The revised Simos technique is used to prioritize the HSCMEs to access its relative significance in humanitarian operations.FindingsThe finding of the analysis suggests that government policy and leadership support obtained the highest priority, having high driving power and low dependence power is significantly strategic and emerged as the leading driver for the HSCM implementation.Research limitations/implicationsISM model presents an insight into interrelationship among HSCMEs, but this cannot quantify the impact of each HSCMEs.Practical implicationsDisaster relief aid agencies and stakeholders may focus on the enablers having high driving power and higher weight in designing and executing an effective and efficient humanitarian supply chain and to improve their activities and strategies of HSCM.Social implicationsThis research helps humanitarian logisticians and humanitarian organizations to make better decisions to improve their operational performance in pre and postdisaster phases.Originality/valueThis paper explores the application of proposed hybrid framework to analyze the HSCMEs that can be considered as the original contribution.
The effect of corporate social responsibility performance on financial performance: the case of food industry
Authors: Partalidou Xanthi , Zafeiriou Eleni , Giannarakis Grigoris , Sariannidis Nikolaos 
Published: August 2020

PurposeThe present study examines the impact of the different dimensions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance on the financial performance of food companies.Design/methodology/approachAs proxies for the financial performance, two different indices are employed: a single index, namely, operating income and an aggregate financial index, namely, economic score. The CSR performance based on Thomson Reuter’s data stream methodology involves three distinct aspects of the CSR concept: environmental, social and governance for the time spanning 2012–2017.FindingsFindings based on estimated generalized least squares (EGLS) indicate that the higher level of environmental performance (as described by an aggregate environmental index), the publishing of a stand-alone sustainable report and the implementation of quality principles, such as Total Quality Management (TQM), Lean and Six Sigma positively affect the financial performance.Originality/valueThe results provide useful implications to stakeholders, mainly to corporate managers and investors for uptaking initiatives aiming toward the eco-efficiency of the food company.
Turkish and Slovenian health ministries' use of Twitter: a comparative analysis
Authors: Okay Aydemir , Ašanin Gole Pedja , Okay Ayla 
Published: August 2020

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how the health ministries of Turkey and Slovenia use Twitter as government agencies obliged to communicate with the public.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed a content analysis methodology to examine how Turkish (TR) and Slovenian (SLO) health ministries use Twitter for informing and encouraging behavior change in the public. A total of 662 “tweets” were analyzed. Drawing on prior studies, a coding scheme was developed and employed, and χ2 and t-tests were conducted for data analysis. Additionally, this study aimed at effecting a content analysis according to the “four models” method of Grunig and Hunt regarding efforts made to build communication with the public.FindingsThis study uncovered that the TR and SLO health ministries did not utilize two-way communication principles for Twitter communication, and their frequency of Twitter use is inadequate.Research limitations/implicationsThe sampled tweets were selected by using a scientific sampling method. However, this might not have been substantial enough to represent the entirety of tweets in the study timeframe. Analyzing tweets across a longer timeframe would be helpful in confirming this study's findings. This study was also limited to two countries and to publicly available tweets; the messages of health ministries' followers to the ministries themselves were not examined. The findings of this study may not be generalizable to other countries. Other potential studies, with a particular focus on this topic, may be able to measure individual perceptions of the credibility and usefulness of messages from health ministries and their willingness to engage in two-way communication.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first to evaluate how the health ministries of Turkey and Slovenia communicate on Twitter and to apply the four models of Grunig and Hunt with regard to Twitter. This study also identified that noncompeting government agencies were not minded to communicate with their publics.
Meaningful gamification for psychological empowerment: exploring user affective experience mirroring in a psychological self-help system
Authors: Li Manning , Chau Patrick Y.K. , Ge Lin 
Published: August 2020

PurposeInspired by the dynamic changes in our daily lives enabled via quantified-self technologies and the urgent need for more studies on the human-computer interaction design mechanisms adopted by these applications, this study explores the value of user affective experience mirroring and examines the empowerment effect of meaningful gamification in a psychological self-help system (PSS) that aids people in work stress relief.Design/methodology/approachBased on an analysis of the existing systems and theories in relevant fields, we conducted mixed-method research, involving semi-structured interviews, experience sampling experiments and user bio data triangulations, to identify the benefits of user affective experience mirroring and examine the impact of visual impact metaphor–based (VIM) meaningful gamification on PSS users.FindingsFor a gamified PSS, users generally perceive VIM as arousing more feelings of enjoyment, empathy, trust and usefulness, empowering them to gain more mastery and control over their emotional well-beings, especially with relieving their occupational stress and upbringing their level of perceived happiness. Overtime, VIM-based meaningful gamification further boosts such value of a PSS.Research limitations/implicationsWeaving together meaningful gamification and psychological empowerment theories, the results emphasized that successful empowerment of user through gamification in PSSs relies heavily on whether a deeper and meaningful affective connection can be established with the users, in short, “meaningful gamification for psychological empowerment”. Such an understanding, as demonstrated in our research framework, also sheds light on the design theories for persuasive technology and human influence tactics during human computer interactions.Practical implicationsThe results of the study demonstrate to practitioners how to make the best use of gamification strategies to deeply relate to and resonate with users. Even without complicated game-play design, meaningful gamification mechanisms, such as VIM facilitate the empowerment of users while gaining their appreciation, establishing a deeper connection with them and eventually generating persuasive effects on intended future behavioural outcomes.Social implicationsThe effective management of work-related stress with handy tools such as a VIM-based PSS can be beneficial for many organizations and, to a large extent, the society.Originality/valueThis study proposed and empirically demonstrated the empowerment effect of meaningful gamification for PSS users. In this cross-disciplinary study, theories from different research domains were synthesized to develop a more thorough and multi-faceted understanding of the optimal design strategies for emerging information systems like this VIM-based PSS.
Emotional competence at work
Authors: Ikävalko Heini , Hökkä Päivi , Paloniemi Susanna , Vähäsantanen Katja 
Published: August 2020

PurposeThe study investigated emotional competence at work and elaborated emotional competence in relation to sociocultural aspects of emotions at work.Design/methodology/approachEmotional competence at work was explored via interviews, surveys and observations. The study was conducted over one year, during which an emotion-training intervention was conducted within a medium-sized company, operating in the healthcare sector.FindingsThe study shed light on emotional competence at work, identifying three domains: individual emotional competence, emotional competence within interactions and emotional competence embedded in workplace practices.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was conducted in one organization.Practical implicationsOrganizational developers are recommended to implement activities such as training interventions in order to build emotional competence; this applies not only at the individual level but also to achieve interaction among members of the organization within collective workplace practices.Originality/valuePrevious studies on emotional competence have been limited to the individual level. The sociocultural approach to emotional competence adopted in this study recognizes – in addition to the individual and interactional level of emotional competence – emotional competence at work as related to practices at work.
Barriers for sustainability reporting: evidence from Indo-Pacific region
Authors: Dissanayake Dinithi , Kuruppu Sanjaya , Qian Wei , Tilt Carol 
Published: August 2020

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the barriers for sustainability reporting practices in five different countries in the Indo-Pacific region.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses surveys and semi-structured interviews to explore the main barriers faced by the managers of listed companies in undertaking sustainability reporting.FindingsThe findings of the study reveal that the main barriers for sustainability reporting are attributable to lack of knowledge and understanding, additional cost involved, time constraints, lack of awareness and education in sustainability reporting and a lack of initiatives from government. These vary between three groups of countries: those with more developed reporting, those with less developed reporting and those with strong cultural constraints to reporting.Research limitations/implicationsThis study adapts Lewin’s field theory and three-step model of change to be applied to group dynamics at a broader country level rather than at an organisational level.Practical implicationsThe barriers identified in this paper are important for reporting companies to come up with strategies to mitigate existing barriers and for regulatory authorities to provide subsidies and other incentives to supplement the efforts of these listed companies. Also, non-reporting companies could use the findings as a measure of cautiousness to set up the necessary processes to have a smooth sustainability reporting process in their companies.Originality/valueThis is one of the few studies that explore the barriers for sustainability reporting in five countries in the Indo-Pacific region.
Technical efficiency of health-care systems in selected middle-income countries: an empirical investigation
Authors: Nassar Heba , Sakr Hala , Ezzat Asmaa , Fikry Pakinam 
Published: August 2020

PurposeThis paper aims to evaluate the technical efficiency of the health-care systems in 21 selected middle-income countries during the period (2000–2017) and determine the source of inefficiency whether it is transient (short run) or persistent (long run).Design/methodology/approachThe study uses the stochastic frontier analysis technique through employing the generalized true random effects model which overcomes the drawbacks of the previously introduced stochastic frontier models and allows for the separation between unobserved heterogeneity, persistent inefficiency and transient inefficiency.FindingsPersistent efficiency is lower than the transient efficiency; hence, there are more efficiency gains that can be made by the selected countries by adopting long-term policies that aim at reforming the structure of the health-care system in the less efficient countries such as South Africa and Russia. The most efficient countries are Vietnam, Mexico and China which adopted a social health insurance that covers almost the whole population with the aim of increasing access to health-care services. Also, decentralization in health-care has assisted in adopting health-care policies that are suitable for both the rural and urban areas based on their specific conditions and health-care needs. A key success in the implementation of the adopted long-term policies by those countries is the continuous monitoring and evaluation of their outcomes and comparing them with the predefined targets and conducting any necessary modifications to ensure their movement in the right path to achieve their goals.Originality/valueAlthough several studies have evaluated the technical efficiency both across and within countries using non-parametric (data envelopment analysis) and parametric (stochastic frontier analysis) approaches, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to evaluate the technical efficiency of selected middle-income countries during the period (2000–2017) using the generalized true random effects stochastic frontier analysis model.