bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Success and failure factors in implementing quality management systems in small- and medium-sized enterprises: a mixed-method study
Authors: Mehrabioun Mohammadi Mohammad , Jalali Ali , Hasani Arezoo 
Published: April 2021

PurposeThis manuscript concentrates on addressing the success and failure factors to satisfy the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) need when facing challenges during the implementation of the quality management systems (QMSs) such as lack of both the financial and human resources and inadequate technical knowledge of quality management and employee indifference.Design/methodology/approachThis research employs a mixed-method research approach in three different steps. First, based on interviews and a review of previous research, a list of critical factors influencing the success and failure of QMS implementation in SMEs is provided. After conducting the interview and extracting the results, a quantitative questionnaire is recruited as a complementary tool to demonstrate the accuracy of the literature review and interview findings and to increase the validity and reliability of the data. By applying the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) method, the factors affecting the failure and success of QMS implementation are identified separately. In the third step, a focus group meeting is used to name the factors and identify the relationships among them. The relationships among the factors are also shown using the concept map. Finally, after conducting the focus group meeting, several key issues have been extracted from practice and literature to realize the critical success and failure factors.FindingsThe current study reveals that the factors supporting the SMEs during the implementation of the QMSs may be classified into nine groups. Of these, six factors are related to critical success factors (CSFs), and three factors are related to critical failure factors (CFFs).Originality/valueThere have been several studies developed and conducted to address the success factors supporting the QMSs in SMEs. However, the scope of these studies has only been set on either qualitative or quantitative approaches. Hence, the proposed method presented in this essay, which is, in turn, a new contribution, attempts to use a combined approach based on both the semistructured interviews and survey methods. The results of this study can be used as a reference by scholars and practitioners to identify the relevant issues of QMSs and their application in SMEs.
The role of knowledge diffusion in evolving governance principles for Islamic banking
Authors: Malik Adnan , Ullah Karim , Jan Shafiullah , Atiq Muhammad , Abdullah Ali 
Published: April 2021

Purpose
This study aims to describe the role of knowledge diffusion in evolving governance principles for Islamic banking.

Design/methodology/approach
This study develops a discursive theoretical debate using the discourse analysis method on the Sharīʿah principles related to interest (Riba), excessive uncertainty (Gharrar) and profit and loss sharing and their convergence with the conventional banking principles of profitability, solvency and liquidity.

Findings
The study proposes a novel framework that describes how knowledge diffusion bridge-up the Sharīʿah and banking principles in terms of integration of banking principles by Sharīʿah scholars, integration of Sharīʿah principles by managers and the resultant, emergent principles for the governance of Islamic banking.

Practical implications
The proposed framework can inform professionals on how knowledge of banking practices and Sharīʿah can help them in governing Islamic banking. The Board of Directors may adopt a holistic approach for encouraging enhanced interactions between Sharīʿah scholars and managers. Such interaction may be increasing harmony, reducing conflicts and better coordination resulting in Sharīʿah-compliant and market wise viable products and services, thus increasing banking profitability.

Originality/value
This is the first study, which acknowledges and illustrates the role of the knowledge diffusion process in evolving governance principles for Islamic banks. This paper contributes to the theory of corporate governance by using the knowledge, aptitude and practice theory lens to examine conceptually how Islamic banking governance principles emerged through the knowledge diffusion process.
Depiction of possible solutions to improve the cold supply chain performance system
Authors: Kumar Neeraj , Tyagi Mohit , Sachdeva Anish 
Published: April 2021

PurposeA poor performance of the cold supply chain (CSC) may increase the loss of quality and potency of perishables and temperature-sensitive products that deteriorate the financial and environmental aspects of the same. The purpose of the current research work is to identify the critical performance factors (criteria) and their co-factors (sub-criteria) that are responsible for the performance measurement of CSC and suggest the best possible solutions (alternatives) to improve the same.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve the objective of the research, a hierarchical model has been developed and analyzed using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)-Fuzzy TOPSIS as a hybrid approach to obtain the severity weights of the identified criteria and prioritization toward their relative importance for the best possible alternatives.FindingsAnalysis reveals that the criteria “energy consumption” comes out to be the most critical criteria, and alternative “application of passive cold devices” is the most effective solution for improving the performance of CSC. Higher energy consumption leads to a higher rate of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions increasing the global warming phenomenon, high operational cost and degradation of natural energy resources. The Application of Passive Cold Devices (PCDs) utilizes solar energy to operate the refrigeration units reducing the energy consumption, environmental and operating cost of CSC.Research limitations/implicationsThe research work provides several insights into the critical issues related to the CSC and suggests significant findings that enable the management and decision-makers to adopt these practices for performance evaluation and improvement of the same. The key findings of the work, such as “application of passive cold devices” and “application of IoT in cold chain logistics”, facilitate an improved platform to improve the CSC performance and proposed several directions that will enhance the merit of future research.Originality/valueThe presented study consolidates the various perspectives associated with CSC performance, explores the most critical criteria and proposes the best suitable cold chain practices for organizational growth. The work also provides an analytical analysis with the essence of practicalities and sensitivity analysis to support the robustness of the results. By enriching the literature and quantitative analysis of the new proposed model, this paper forms vast managerial and research implications in the field of CSC.
Key criteria for selecting green suppliers for construction projects in the UAE
Authors: Asaad AbdulRahman , El-Sayegh Sameh Monir 
Published: April 2021

Purpose
This paper aims to identify and assess the key criteria for selecting green suppliers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) construction industry.

Design/methodology/approach
A total of 20 criteria were identified and shortlisted through an extensive literature review. These criteria were grouped into four categories: technical and commercial bid, company characteristics, environmental and socioeconomic. A questionnaire was then developed and distributed to construction professionals in the UAE. A total of 39 professionals responded to the survey including contractors, consultants, owners and suppliers. The respondents performed pairwise comparisons among the selection criteria. Data was then analyzed using the Expert Choice Software.

Findings
The research findings highlighted that the technical and commercial bid category was ranked as the most important with a weight of 0.338, followed by socioeconomic, company characteristics and environmental categories weighing 0.239, 0.225 and 0.199, respectively. The UAE construction professionals also ranked health and safety, material’s quality and tender price as the top three most important criteria when selecting a sustainable supplier.

Practical implications
This research addresses the lack of literature toward green supplier selection in the UAE. In addition, it assists contractors in selecting the appropriate supplier and promotes sustainable practices in the construction industry.

Originality/value
Material suppliers play an important role in the successful delivery of construction projects. Selecting the appropriate supplier is of paramount importance to project success. Several methods can be used to evaluate and select the best-fit suppliers. However, the selection criteria in such methods are primarily based on traditional construction projects rather than sustainable construction projects. Recently, there is an increase in the number of sustainable construction projects in the UAE. Therefore, identifying and assessing the key criteria for selecting green suppliers is needed. This paper fills the gap in literature as to selecting green suppliers in construction projects.
Digital skills in tourism. A study from the Next Tourism Generation (NTG) Alliance
Authors: Zaragoza-Sáez Patrocinio , Marco-Lajara Bartolomé , Ubeda-Garcia Mercedes 
Published: April 2021

Purpose
This paper aims to identify the gap existing between the current and future needs regarding digital skills, as well as the training needs for the 2030 horizon in Spanish tourism organisations belonging to five subsectors (accommodation, food and beverage, destination management, visitor attractions and travel agents and tour operators).

Design/methodology/approach
A mixed research methodology, which combined qualitative and quantitative approaches, served as the basis for this research work. Qualitative research took place between April 2018 and March 2019 and went through three stages: desk research, focus groups and interviews. Quantitative research developed from January to June 2019 by means of an online administered survey (Qualtrics). In total, 139 Spanish tourism organisations participated.

Findings
Tourism organisations analysed consider that digital skills are still an unresolved issue. Employees are willing to operate in environments where technology has an increasingly leading role. However, organisations believe that there remains a lot to be done until employees have, both at present and by the year 2030, a suitable level of digital skills enabling them to operate in the tourism subsectors analysed.

Originality/value
This study is framed within the European project called Next Tourism Generation (NTG), which involves 14 partners from eight countries. The findings obtained will help to develop a Europe Blueprint Strategy for digital skills within the tourism and hospitality sector, to provide employees, employers, entrepreneurs, teachers, trainers and students with a set of core digital skills represented in a skills matrix.
The role of detective experience on homicide clearances
Authors: Goodison Sean E. 
Published: April 2021

PurposeThe study aims to examine the effect of detective experience on the likelihood of clearing a homicide, while controlling for additional extralegal and case/investigative characteristics.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses homicide and policing data collected from case files in a mid-sized US city. Detective experience is measured in multiple ways. Analytical models include extralegal variables, case characteristics, and proxies of investigative quality as controls. The study uses logistic regression with a dichotomous clearance outcome.FindingsThe results suggest a robust and significant inverse relationship between the years spent as a homicide detective and the likelihood of case closure. However, years of experience with the department overall has a significant and positive relationship to clearance. Investigation-related variables and case characteristics contribute more to model explanatory power than extralegal factors.Originality/valueThe potential role of experience has not been fully explored, with contradictory findings over time. This work builds on previous research to highlight the potential role of experience in clearing cases, while questioning previous assumptions tied to the belief that more experience improves investigative outcomes.
Spatial clustering of willingness to pay for ecosystem services
Authors: Toledo‐Gallegos Valeria M. , Long Jed , Campbell Danny , Börger Tobias , Hanley Nick 
Published: April 2021

AbstractVariations of willingness to pay (WTP) in geographical space have been characterised by the presence of localised patches of higher and lower values. However, to date, spatial valuation studies have not explored whether the distribution of hot (cold) spots of WTP is particular to each environmental good or if it follows similar patterns to other, comparable, environmental goods. We address this question by contrasting the spatial patterns of hot (cold) clusters of WTP for improvements in several ecosystem services. We geocoded individual‐specific WTP estimates derived from a discrete choice experiment exploring preferences for ecosystem service improvements for three different catchment areas in Scotland comprising urban, agricultural, riverine and estuarine ecosystems. The local Moran's I statistic was used to find statistically significant local clusters and identify hot spots and cold spots. Finally, Multi‐type Ripley's K and L functions were used to contrast the spatial patterns of local clusters of WTP among ecosystem services, and across case studies. Our results show that hotspots of WTP for environmental improvements tend to occur close to each other in space, regardless of the ecosystem service or the area under consideration. Our findings suggest that households sort themselves according to their preferences for estuarine ecosystem services.
Sustainable biosynthesis of chemicals from methane and glycerol via reconstruction of multi‐carbon utilizing pathway in obligate methanotrophic bacteria
Authors: Le Hoa Thi Quynh , Nguyen Anh Duc , Park Ye Rim , Lee Eun Yeol 
Published: April 2021

SummaryObligate methanotrophic bacteria can utilize methane, an inexpensive carbon feedstock, as a sole energy and carbon substrate, thus are considered as the only nature‐provided biocatalyst for sustainable biomanufacturing of fuels and chemicals from methane. To address the limitation of native C1 metabolism of obligate type I methanotrophs, we proposed a novel platform strain that can utilize methane and multi‐carbon substrates, such as glycerol, simultaneously to boost growth rates and chemical production in Methylotuvimicrobium alcaliphilum 20Z. To demonstrate the uses of this concept, we reconstructed a 2,3‐butanediol biosynthetic pathway and achieved a fourfold higher titer of 2,3‐butanediol production by co‐utilizing methane and glycerol compared with that of methanotrophic growth. In addition, we reported the creation of a methanotrophic biocatalyst for one‐step bioconversion of methane to methanol in which glycerol was used for cell growth, and methane was mainly used for methanol production. After the deletion of genes encoding methanol dehydrogenase (MDH), 11.6 mM methanol was obtained after 72 h using living cells in the absence of any chemical inhibitors of MDH and exogenous NADH source. A further improvement of this bioconversion was attained by using resting cells with a significantly increased titre of 76 mM methanol after 3.5 h with the supply of 40 mM formate. The work presented here provides a novel framework for a variety of approaches in methane‐based biomanufacturing.
Chromosome‐level genome assembly of the Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) using PacBio sequencing and Hi‐C technology
Authors: Peng Yongdong , Li Hong , Liu Zhengzhu , Zhang Chuansheng , Li Keqiang , Gong Yuanfang , Geng Liying , Su Jingjing , Guan Xuemin , Liu Lei , Zhou Ruihong , Zhao Ziya , Guo Jianxu , Liang Qiqi , Li Xianglong 
Published: April 2021

AbstractThe Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) is the only fox species occurring in the Arctic and has adapted to its extreme climatic conditions. Currently, the molecular basis of its adaptation to the extreme climate has not been characterized. Here, we applied PacBio sequencing and chromosome structure capture technique to assemble the first V. lagopus genome assembly, which is assembled into chromosome fragments. The genome assembly has a total length of 2.345 Gb with a contig N50 of 31.848 Mb and a scaffold N50 of 131.537 Mb, consisting of 25 pseudochromosomal scaffolds. The V. lagopus genome had approximately 32.33% repeat sequences. In total, 21,278 protein‐coding genes were predicted, of which 99.14% were functionally annotated. Compared with 12 other mammals, V. lagopus was most closely related to V. Vulpes with an estimated divergence time of ~7.1 Ma. The expanded gene families and positively selected genes potentially play roles in the adaptation of V. lagopus to Arctic extreme environment. This high‐quality assembled genome will not only promote future studies of genetic diversity and evolution in foxes and other canids but also provide important resources for conservation of Arctic species.
Premature phase II study of amrubicin as palliative chemotherapy for previously treated malignant pleural mesothelioma
Authors: Watanabe Kageaki , Okuma Yusuke , Kawai Shoko , Nagamata Makoto , Hosomi Yukio 
Published: April 2021

AbstractBackgroundTreatment options for malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) are limited. Anthracyclines are considered key drugs for treating MPM. However, their use is limited by severe cardiac toxicities. Amrubicin (AMR) is a next‐generation anthracycline that is commonly used to treat lung cancer. Here, we conducted a phase II trial of this drug in patients with previously treated MPM.MethodsEligible patients with MPM having adequate organ function and a performance status of 0–2 were enrolled after disease progression following pemetrexed/platinum therapy. Patients received 35 mg/m2 AMR on days 1–3 every three weeks until tumor progression or the appearance of unacceptable toxicities. The primary endpoint was the objective response rate. Median progression‐free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), number of treatment cycles, and adverse events were evaluated as secondary endpoints.ResultsThis trial was discontinued because of low accrual. From September 2013 to July 2018, five patients with MPM were enrolled. Stable disease (SD) was observed in three patients (60%), and progressive disease was noted in two patients (40%). The median PFS was 2.4 (range, 1.2–11.2) months, and the median OS was 9.1 (range, 6.2–22.0) months. The median number of treatment cycles was three (range, 2–11). Grade 1/2 toxicities were observed in all patients. Grade 3/4 neutropenia was observed in four patients (80%), but there were no cases of febrile neutropenia.ConclusionsDespite the absence of the responders, the observation of SD in three patients suggests that AMR could have potential for treating MPM.
Longitudinal changes in skeletal muscle mass in patients with advanced squamous cell lung cancer
Authors: Lee Jongsoo , Kim Eun Young , Kim Eunji , Kim Kwang Gi , Kim Young Jae , Kim Young Saing , Ahn Hee Kyung , Lee Sang‐Woong 
Published: April 2021

AbstractBackgroundSkeletal muscle depletion (sarcopenia) is associated with poor prognosis in patients with lung cancer. We analyzed changes in skeletal muscle area using serial computed tomography (CT) until the death of patients with advanced squamous cell lung cancer (SQCLC).MethodsThis retrospective study comprised 70 consecutive patients who underwent palliative chemotherapy for SQCLC. The cross‐sectional area of the skeletal muscle at the level of the first lumbar vertebra (L1) was measured using chest CT. An artificial intelligence algorithm was developed and used for the serial assessment of the muscle area. Sarcopenia was defined as an L1 skeletal muscle index <46 cm2/m2 in men and < 29 cm2/m2 in women.ResultsThe median age was 69 years; 62 patients (89%) had metastatic disease at the time of initial diagnosis. Sarcopenia was present in 58 patients (82.9%) at baseline; all patients experienced net muscle loss over the disease trajectory. The median overall survival was 8.7 (95% confidence interval 5.9–11.5) months. The mean percentage loss of skeletal muscle between the first and last CT was 16.5 ± 11.0%. Skeletal muscle loss accelerated over time and was the highest in the last 3 months of life (p < 0.001). Patients losing skeletal muscle rapidly (upper tertile, >3.24 cm2/month) had shorter overall survival than patients losing skeletal muscle slowly (median, 5.7 vs. 12.0 months, p < 0.001).ConclusionsPatients with advanced SQCLC lose a significant amount of skeletal muscle until death. The rate of muscle area reduction is faster at the end of life.
Alterations in connectivity of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis during early abstinence in individuals with alcohol use disorder
Authors: Flook Elizabeth A. , Feola Brandee , Benningfield Margaret M. , Silveri Marisa M. , Winder Danny G. , Blackford Jennifer Urbano 
Published: April 2021

AbstractBackgroundFor individuals with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), long‐term recovery is difficult in part due to symptoms of anxiety that occur during early abstinence and can trigger relapse. Research in rodent models of AUD has identified the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), a small, sexually dimorphic, subcortical region, as critical for regulating anxiety‐like behaviors during abstinence, particularly in female mice. Furthermore, prolonged alcohol use and subsequent abstinence alter BNST afferent and efferent connections to other brain regions. To our knowledge, however, no studies of early abstinence have investigated BNST structural connectivity in humans during abstinence; this study addresses that gap.MethodsNineteen participants with AUD currently in early abstinence and 20 healthy controls completed a diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scan. BNST structural connectivity was evaluated using probabilistic tractography. A linear mixed model was used to test between‐groups differences in BNST network connectivity. Exploratory analyses were conducted to test for correlations between BNST connectivity and alcohol use severity and anxiety within the abstinence group. Sex was included as a factor for all analyses.ResultsThe BNST showed stronger structural connectivity with the BNST network in early abstinence women than in control women, which was not seen in men. Women also showed region‐specific differences, with stronger BNST‐hypothalamus structural connectivity but weaker vmPFC‐BNST structural connectivity than men. Exploratory analyses also demonstrated a relationship between alcohol use severity and vmPFC‐BNST structural connectivity that was moderated by sex.ConclusionsThis study is the first to demonstrate BNST structural connectivity differences in early abstinence and revealed key sex differences. The sex‐specific differences in BNST structural connectivity during early abstinence could underlie known sex differences in abstinence symptoms and relapse risk and help to inform potential sex‐specific treatments.