bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Association between Macular Structure and Idiopathic Epiretinal Membrane
Authors: Ma I-Hsin , Yang Chung-May , Hsieh Yi-Ting 
Published: December 2020

AbstractPurposeThis study measured the anatomical characteristics of the macula in fellow eyes of patients with unilateral idiopathic epiretinal membrane (ERM) and compared them with normal control.DesignA retrospective observational study.ParticipantsA total of of 94 fellow eyes with unilateral idiopathic ERM were gathered as the study group, and their age and gender-matched subjects with no vitreomacular diseases were recruited as the control group.MethodsMacular structure parameters including foveal base width (FBW), central foveolar thickness (CFT), central subfield thickness (CST), area of foveal avascular zone (FAZ), and retinal artery trajectory (RAT) were measured using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography and were compared between two groups.Main outcome measuresMacular structure parameters were compared between the two groups. A wide-based foveal pit was defined as a FBW larger than the mean value plus one standard deviation of the normal population. Regression analysis was performed to evaluate factors that affect FBW.ResultsAmong the 94 fellow eyes of unilateral ERM; 71 eyes (75.5%) had a wide-based foveal pit. Both their FBW (418.9 ± 68.7 µm) and area of FAZ (0.38 ± 0.12 mm2) were significantly larger than those in the control group (323.2 ± 74.3 µm and 0.31± 0.17 mm2; p < 0.001 and p = 0.02, respectively), and they also had a thinner CFT and CST, and a wider RAT than the control group (p < 0.05 for all). In the control group, females had a wider FBW, a thinner CFT and CST, and a wider RAT than males (p < 0.05 for all). Regression analysis showed that female, a thinner CST and a larger FAZ were all associated with a larger FBW.ConclusionFellow eyes of the unilateral ERM had a larger FBW and FAZ, a thinner CFT and CST, and a wider RAT than the normal population. This implicates that centrifugal macular traction may result in the formation of idiopathic ERM. Females had a wider FBW, a thinner CST, and a wider RAT than males, which may explain the higher prevalence of idiopathic ERM in females.
Casual snacking as an automatic process: a grounded cognition framework
Authors: Teichert Thorsten , Wörfel Philipp , Ackermann Claire-Lise 
Published: December 2020

PurposeSnacking typically occurs as an automatic, consciously uncontrolled process which can lead to unintended health consequences. Grounded cognition informs about the multifaceted drivers of such automatic consumption processes. By integrating situation-, stimulus-, and person-specific factors, this study provides a holistic account of snacking.Design/methodology/approachA combined psychophysiological and behavioral experiment is conducted wherein participants can casually snack chocolate while participating in a survey setting. Implicit cognitions are assessed with the Implicit Association Test. The percentage of consumed chocolate serves as dependent variable in a Tobit regression with predictors at situation, stimulus and person level.FindingsChocolate snacking is positively influenced by personal craving tendencies, implicit food associations and situational contingency. We condense the results into an overarching framework in line with grounded cognition literature.Practical implicationsThe multidimensional framework can guide consumer protection efforts to reduce excessive snacking habits based on situation, stimulus and person.Originality/valueThis study integrates theory from social cognition, consumer research, and behavioral food research and, thereby, extends the existing body of knowledge on grounded cognitions underlying snacking consumption.
Machine learning and optimization-based modeling for asset management: a case study
Authors: Muñoz-Villamizar Andrés , Rafavy Carlos Yohan , Casey Justin 
Published: December 2020

PurposeThis research is inspired by a real case study from a pump rental business company across the US. The company was looking to increase the utilization of its rental assets while, at the same time, keeping the cost of fleet mobilization as efficient as possible. However, decisions for asset movement between branches were largely arranged between individual branch managers on an as-needed basis.Design/methodology/approachThe authors propose an improvement for the company's asset management practice by modeling an integrated decision tool which involves evaluation of several machine learning algorithms for demand prediction and mathematical optimization for a centrally-planned asset allocation.FindingsThe authors found that a feed-forward neural network (FNN) model with single hidden layer is the best performing predictor for the company's intermittent product demand and the optimization model is proven to prescribe the most efficient asset allocation given the demand prediction from FNN model.Practical implicationsThe implementation of this new tool will close the gap between the company's current and desired future level of operational performance and consequently increase its competitivenessOriginality/valueThe results show a superior prediction performance by a feed-forward neural network model and an efficient allocation decision prescribed by the optimization model.
Household disability costs and living standards in Turkey: evidence from a health reform
Authors: Ozdamar Oznur , Giovanis Eleftherios , Samuk Sahizer 
Published: December 2020

PurposeIn this study, we attempt to estimate the disability costs of households employing the Standard of Livings (SoL) approach and evaluate the impact of the Universal health system reform implemented in Turkey in 2008.Design/methodology/approachWe apply a Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), which simultaneously estimates the disability and living standard equations, including unobserved latent variables. Moreover, we apply a difference-in-differences (DiD) framework to investigate the impact of the universal health insurance (UHI) system and the Green Card programme on living standards. The empirical analysis relies on data derived from the cross-sectional Household Budget Surveys (HBS) during the period 2002–2013.FindingsOur findings suggest a negative and significant impact of disability on SoL, where disability costs reach the 23% of the household income, which is equivalent almost to $2,600 (USD). Furthermore, the disability costs are reduced from $4,450 to $2,260 due to the UHI and the Green Card programme.Research limitations/implicationsA major limitation of the study is the data structure, which is based on repeated cross-sectional surveys. By using panel data, it is possible to follow the same individual across time and to implement panel data models to control for unobserved heterogeneity and omitted-variable bias.Social implicationsDisability has adverse effects on living standards. The estimation of the disability-related costs may provide a useful guide on policy planning and the design of social benefits.Originality/valueThe contribution of this paper is that it is the first study estimating the disability-related costs in Turkey. Furthermore, the contribution lies in the investigation of the 2008 health reform and the Green Card programme and its impact on disability costs.
Linking supply chain disruptions with organisational performance of construction firms: the moderating role of innovation
Authors: Kissi Ernest , Agyekum Kofi , Musah Labaran , Owusu-Manu De-Graft , Debrah Caleb 
Published: December 2020

PurposeSupply chain (SC) disruption, whether demand sided or supply sided, is conversely perceived to affect organisational performance of construction firms. This paper, therefore, aims to examine the linkage of supply chain disruptions with organisational performance of construction firms through the moderating role of innovation.Design/methodology/approachUsing a quantitative research, approach the views of 84 construction professionals were elicited using a structured questionnaire. Ordinary least squares were utilised to validate the hypotheses set.FindingsThe study proved that there is a negative relationship between demand-related disruption and business performance as well as project performance. Also, it was clear from the study that supply-related disruptions had a significant impact on both project performance and business performance. Although SC innovation was seen to impact business performance, it had no relationship with project performance. Generally, innovation was seen to have a moderating effect of demand and supply disruption of project performance, but it played no moderating role in business performance.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that business firms must be innovative with the supply chain, as it moderated project success. The supply chain of a construction firm plays a very critical role on projects; hence, this study recommends that a supply chain manager ought to be innovative in their operations due to the moderating role SC innovation has on project performance and largely business performance.Originality/valueVarious studies on supply chain has been done on different sectors in the economy; however, little can be said about the construction industry on how supply chain disruptions affects business and project performance and how innovation moderates such effects.
Explicating the business model from a knowledge-based view: nature, structure, imitability and competitive advantage erosion
Authors: Chen Jin , Wang Luyao , Qu Guannan 
Published: December 2020

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize the business model (BM) from a knowledge-based view (KBV), to interpret its nature and knowledge structure and to investigate the relationship between its imitability and the erosion of firm’s competitive advantage.

Design/methodology/approach
Based on a systematic literature review, this study builds an integrated framework to explicate the nature and structure of the BM from a KBV. Moreover, on the analysis of two contrasting cases, the argument concerning the relationship between BM imitability and its strategic value is proposed, analyzed and supported.

Findings
The main finding of this study is that a BM can be viewed as a structured knowledge cluster that contains explicit and implicit parts. Its imitation is a dynamic process of knowledge diffusion across firm boundaries. Ceteris paribus, with a lower proportion of implicit knowledge, a BM is more likely to be imitated and the adopter’s competitive advantage is more likely to be eroded, and vice versa.

Practical implications
The proposed framework could provide managers with a deeper understanding of the nature and structure of the BM and help potential adopters develop a successful entry strategy by avoiding BMs that seem profitable but are incapable of maintaining competitive advantage.

Originality/value
As a complement to previous studies, the research conceptualizes the BM as a “structured knowledge cluster” to explicate its nature and knowledge structure from a KBV. The implicit part of the BM is explored, and its importance for the adopter’s competitive advantage is discussed and verified.
A framework for managing the agri-fresh food supply chain quality in Indian industry
Authors: Siddh Man Mohan , Soni Gunjan , Jain Rakesh , Sharma Milind Kumar , Yadav Vinod 
Published: December 2020

PurposeResearch in agri-fresh food supply chain quality (AFSCQ) has been given less consideration in developing countries as compared to developed countries and its role in achieving organizational sustainability has not been researched yet. Thus, this study aims to determine and combine numerous significant factors to establish a framework for managing AFSCQ practices favorable to organizational sustainability in the Indian context.Design/methodology/approachTo accomplish this, all-inclusive framework of AFSCQ has been established through succeeding phases of data collection, analysis using structural equation modelling along with refinement of data. The collection of data for this study was from the Indian food industry, which relates to agri-fresh food products.FindingsThe AFSCQ practices are conducive to enrich organizational sustainability, and then enhance economic, social and environmental performance indirectly. The study established relationships among the AFSCQ practices promising to enhance organizational sustainability.Originality/valueAFSCQ practices have a huge impact on organizational sustainability by means of practices that sum up activities along the whole supply chain. The organizational sustainability consists of economic, social and environmental sustainability.
VaR and market value of Fintech companies: an analysis and evidence from global data
Authors: Najaf Khakan , Schinckus Christophe , Chee Yoong Liew 
Published: December 2020

PurposeThis study aims at determining the portfolio value at risk (VAR) and market value of Fintech firms and compare it with their counterparts.Design/methodology/approachBy using on a dataset from 46 countries between 2009 and 2018, the authors use five measures of VaR to investigate their empirical dynamics in relation with the market value of Fintech and non-Fintech companies.FindingsThe empirical results indicate that Fintech firms' portfolios have a higher financial risk and a higher market value in comparison to non-fintech firms' portfolios. Furthermore, the authors also report that the Fintech firm portfolios experience more financial risk regardless of the holding period as long-term (one year) or short-term (quarter).Research limitations/implicationsThere are some limitations in this research. This research does not segregate Fintech firms into their different types of services, such as direct financial investment services, loan provision services, insurance services (InsurTech), etc. The authors only aggregate the Fintech firms by country and region. Future research may consider analysing Fintech firms by differentiating the kind of financial services they offerPractical implicationsGiven the importance of their market value, the results imply that Fintech companies might contribute significantly to financial fluctuations in case of large variations of the market. In terms of policy recommendation, this observation requires a particular attention from the regulatory bodies who need to find the best economic balance between promoting innovation/financial technology and regulating the Fintech companies.Originality/valueThis paper is the first study clarifying the relation of financial risk and market value for the Fintech firms, using the large enough database to obtain significant results. This article implies that Fintech companies require a robust risk management framework
Combining glomerular basement membrane and tubular basement membrane assessment improves the prediction of diabetic end‐stage renal disease
Authors: Zhao Lijun , Zhang Junlin , Lei Song , Ren Honghong , Zou Yutong , Bai Lin , Zhang Rui , Xu Huan , Li Lin , Zhao Yuancheng , Cooper Mark E. , Tong Nanwei , Zhang Jie , Liu Fang 
Published: December 2020

AbstractBackgroundTo address the prognostic value of combining tubular basement membrane (TBM) and glomerular basement membrane (GBM) thickness in diabetic nephropathy (DN).MethodsThis retrospective study enrolled 110 patients with type 2 diabetes and biopsy‐proven DN from 2011 to 2018. The pathological findings were confirmed according to the Renal Pathology Society classifications. GBM and TBM thicknesses were determined using the Haas' direct measurement/arithmetic mean method and orthogonal intercept method, respectively. Cox proportional hazard models were used to investigate the hazard ratios (HRs) for the influence of combined GBM and TBM thickness for predicting end‐stage renal disease (ESRD).ResultsPatients were assigned to three groups according to the median GBM and TBM thickness: GBMloTBMlo (GBM < 681 nm and TBM < 1200 nm), GBMhiTBMlo/GBMloTBMhi (GBM ≥ 681 nm and TBM < 1200 nm, or GBM < 681 nm and TBM ≥ 1200 nm), and GBMhiTBMhi (GBM ≥ 681 nm and TBM ≥ 1200 nm). The GBMhiTBMlo/GBMloTBMhi and GBMhiTBMhi groups displayed poorer renal function, a more severe glomerular classification and interstitial inflammation, and poorer renal survival rates than the GBMloTBMlo group The GBMhiTBMlo/GBMloTBMhi and GBMhiTBMhi groups had adjusted HRs of 1.49 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.21‐9.75) and 3.07 (95% CI, 2.87‐12.78), respectively, compared with the GBMloTBMlo group.ConclusionsTBM thickness enhanced GBM thickness for renal prognosis in patients with type 2 diabetes.
The Dynamics of Maya State Process: An Integrated Perspective from the San Lucas Neighborhood of Copán, Honduras
Authors: Landau Kristin V. 
Published: December 2020

ABSTRACTRecognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the city of Copán was a major center of Maya culture during the Classic Period (AD 250–900). While archaeologists have been traditionally concerned with the top‐down despotic power of Maya rulers, I show how infrastructural power—the ability of the state to affect the everyday lives of its residents—waxed and waned. As a representative subset of the city at large, the intermediate scale of neighborhoods best reveals effects of and reactions to state power. I focus on politcal dynamics at six households within the San Lucas neighorbood, attending to episodes of landscape engineering, architectural construction, and artifactual trends. I consider these changes together with political events recorded in hieroglyphic inscriptions at Copán Center. This correlation shows whether and how state policies altered the daily lives of residents. Incorporating a bottom‐up perspective from the intermediate scale of neighborhoods enables an integrated assessment of citywide political dynamics. [political dynamics, collective action theory, urbanism, neighborhoods, Maya]
Communication as Care across Borders: Forging and Co‐Opting Relationships of Obligation in Transnational Salvadoran Families
Authors: Arnold Lynnette 
Published: December 2020

ABSTRACTRecent scholarship on care urges close ethnographic attention to specific care practices rather than to the reflexive, meaning‐making accounts that dominated previous work, setting up a distinction between enacting and signifying care. However, as transnational Salvadoran families care through cross‐border communication, they produce and enact imaginaries of relational obligation that constitute asymmetrical care roles for migrants and nonmigrants. Communicative care practices thus simultaneously produce care and make care meaningful. As a multifunctional form of social action, care through communication works to sustain transnational kin ties even as it mirrors and incrementally reproduces global inequalities between North and South. The communicative mobilization of care across space and time thus regenerates kinship in ways that enact political belonging and exclusion. [care, communication, transnational families, migration, political economy]
Social support and diabetes distress among adults with type 2 diabetes covered by Alabama Medicaid
Authors: Presley Caroline A. , Mondesir Favel L. , Juarez Lucia D. , Agne April A. , Riggs Kevin R. , Li Yufeng , Pisu Maria , Levitan Emily B. , Bronstein Janet M. , Cherrington Andrea L. 
Published: December 2020

AbstractAimsDiabetes distress affects approximately 36% of adults with diabetes and is associated with worse diabetes self‐management and poor glycaemic control. We characterized participants’ diabetes distress and studied the relationship between social support and diabetes distress.MethodsIn this cross‐sectional study, we surveyed a population‐based sample of adults with type 2 diabetes covered by Alabama Medicaid. We used the Diabetes Distress Scale assessing emotional burden, physician‐related, regimen‐related and interpersonal distress. We assessed participants’ level of diabetes‐specific social support and satisfaction with this support, categorized as low or moderate–high. We performed multivariable logistic regression of diabetes distress by level of and satisfaction with social support, adjusting for demographics, disease severity, self‐efficacy and depressive symptoms.ResultsIn all, 1147 individuals participated; 73% were women, 41% White, 58% Black and 3% Hispanic. Low level of or satisfaction with social support was reported by 11% of participants; 7% of participants had severe diabetes distress. Participants with low satisfaction with social support were statistically significantly more likely to have severe diabetes distress than those with moderate–high satisfaction, adjusted odds ratio 2.43 (95% CI 1.30, 4.54).ConclusionsInterventions addressing diabetes distress in adults with type 2 diabetes may benefit from a focus on improving diabetes‐specific social support.
Resistance and tolerance of Douglas‐fir seedlings to inoculation with the fungal root pathogen Coniferiporia sulphurascens
Authors: Cruickshank Mike G. , Sturrock Rona N. , Pellow Kevin W. , Leal Isabel 
Published: December 2020

AbstractTwo‐year‐old interior Douglas‐fir seedlings in a greenhouse were artificially inoculated with Coniferiporia sulphurascens and grown for four years. The study population included 2,261 seedlings from 94 half‐sibling families distributed across four breeding zones. There was little mortality over the 4 years, but there was advanced stain internally at the root collar from infection by the fungus indicating host resistance/susceptibility. The breeding zones had no effect on stain incidence. The tallest trees had more staining, differing up to 30% incidence over the size range, and the families had at most ±6% incidence in stain from the average. Disease tolerance, assessed by height growth relative to controls, was affected by zone and family. The tallest families were the least tolerant, by at most 5% less than control tree height. There was little association between tolerance and resistance at the family level, meaning that both disease response mechanisms were likely separate. The most common response strategy at the family level was to combine higher resistance and tolerance, being about twice as common as lower resistance and tolerance trait combinations. Interior isolates of the fungus may have lower virulence than coastal isolates, which might help to explain the low genetic response to the fungus. Inoculum reduction versus tree breeding may be a better strategy for control of the disease for interior Douglas‐fir.
Accounting information, disclosure, and expected utility: Do investors really abhor uncertainty?
Authors: Johnstone D. J. 
Published: December 2020

AbstractInvestors are said to “abhor uncertainty,” but if there were no uncertainty they could earn only the risk‐free rate. A fundamental result in the analytical accounting literature shows that investors buying into a CARA‐normal CAPM market pay lower asset prices, gain higher ex‐ante expected returns, and obtain higher expected utility, when the market payoff has higher variance. New investors obtain similar “welfare” gains from risk under a log/power utility CAPM. These results do not imply that investors “abhor information.” To realize investors' ex‐ante expectations, the subjective probability distributions representing market expectations must be accurate. Greater payoff risk can add to investors' expected utility, but higher ex‐post(realized) utility comes from better information and more accurate ex‐ante expectations. An important implication for accounting is that greater disclosure can have the simultaneous effects of (i) exposing more fully or perceptibly firms' payoff uncertainty, thereby increasing new investors' expected utility, and (ii) improving market estimates of firms' payoff parameters (means, variances, covariances), thereby giving investors a better chance of realizing their expectations. Paradoxically, better information can be valuable to new investors by exposing more fully and more accurately the risk in firms' business operations and results–new investors maximizing expected utility want both more risk and better information.