bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Compensatory sequence variation between trans-species small RNAs and their target sites
Authors: Johnson Nathan R. , dePamphilis Claude W. , Axtell Michael J. 
Published: June 2019

AbstractTrans-species small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) are delivered to host plants from diverse pathogens and parasites and can target host mRNAs. How trans-species sRNAs can be effective on diverse hosts has been unclear. Multiple species of the parasitic plant Cuscuta produce trans-species sRNAs that collectively target many host mRNAs. Confirmed target sites are nearly always in highly conserved, protein-coding regions of host mRNAs. Cuscuta trans-species sRNAs can be grouped into superfamilies that have variation in a three-nucleotide period. These variants compensate for synonymous-site variation in host mRNAs. By targeting host mRNAs at highly conserved protein-coding sites, and simultaneously expressing multiple variants to cover synonymous-site variation, Cuscuta trans-species sRNAs may be able to successfully target homologous mRNAs from diverse hosts.One Sentence SummaryThe parasitic plant Cuscuta produces a diverse set of sRNAs that compensate for sequence variation in mRNA targets in diverse hosts.
A multimedia case-based reasoning framework for assembly sequence planning
Authors: Chen Junhao , Jia Xiaoliang 
Published: June 2019

Purpose
Assembly sequence planning (ASP) is a crucial job during assembly process design. However, it is still difficult to reuse the existing solution to solve a new ASP problem. In particular, with the rapid development of digital technologies, the reusable assembly information of an existing solution is not concentrated in one multimedia but dispersed in multiple heterogeneous multimedia, e.g. text, three-dimensional graphics, even images and videos. This paper aims to propose a multimedia case (MC)-based reasoning framework to solve ASP by reusing the existing solution whose assembly information is dispersed in multimedia.

Design/methodology/approach
The proposed framework is designed with the introduction of the MC. An MC seamlessly integrates the dispersed assembly information of an existing solution. Under the proposed concept and architecture, the assembly information of an existing solution is extracted to build assembly descriptors of multimedia. Therefore, the MC is captured by organizing the assembly descriptors of corresponding multimedia.

Findings
By means of the framework proposed, it is possible to reuse the existing solution whose assembly information is dispersed in multimedia to solve ASP. Moreover, the extraction method of assembly information can flexibly parse most of the multimedia. Finally, the MC has the capability to represent the existing solution by collecting dispersed assembly information.

Originality/value
The proposed framework can discover the similar existing solution and avoid the potential failures confronted in the past so that the feasibility of ASP result can be improved as much as possible.
Identification of nonlinear state-space time-delay system
Authors: Liu Xin , Zhang Hang , Zhu Pengbo , Yang Xianqiang , Du Zhiwei 
Published: June 2019

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate an identification strategy for the nonlinear state-space model (SSM) in the presence of an unknown output time-delay. The equations to estimate the unknown model parameters and output time-delay are derived simultaneously in the proposed strategy.Design/methodology/approachThe unknown integer-valued time-delay is processed as a latent variable which is uniformly distributed in a priori known range. The estimations of the unknown time-delay and model parameters are both realized using the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm, which has a good performance in dealing with latent variable issues. Moreover, the particle filter (PF) with an unknown time-delay is introduced to calculated the Q-function of the EM algorithm.FindingsAlthough amounts of effective approaches for nonlinear SSM identification have been developed in the literature, the problem of time-delay is not considered in most of them. The time-delay is commonly existed in industrial scenario and it could cause extra difficulties for industrial process modeling. The problem of unknown output time-delay is considered in this paper, and the validity of the proposed approach is demonstrated through the numerical example and a two-link manipulator system.Originality/valueThe novel approach to identify the nonlinear SSM in the presence of an unknown output time-delay with EM algorithm is put forward in this work.
When do interest rates matter? Two methodological approaches to loyalty
Authors: Pan Huifeng , Ha Hong-Youl 
Published: June 2019

Purpose
Changes in consumers’ awareness of interest rates (deposits and loans) are important for making financial decisions, particularly in the banking industry. However, little is known about the effect of consumer awareness on customer orientation and loyalty. The purpose of this paper is to examine how changes in consumers’ awareness of interest rates in Korea can influence customer loyalty, considering banks’ efforts to improve customer orientation. The authors explicitly rationalize the fact that consumers’ awareness of interest rates can play an important role in moderating the strength of the relationship between customer orientation and loyalty.

Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected from participants (n=327) who had made banking transactions based on their real income in Seoul. Participants mainly focused on personal loans and debts, and most people had banked with a specific bank (one of the main Korean banks) for longer than three years. The authors tested the effect of interest rates using two methodologies, namely, a field study using SEM and an experimental design.

Findings
The study tested these relationships with survey data and two simulated experiments. The findings indicated that the influence of customer orientation on customer loyalty decreased with the increase in loan interest rate awareness. Moreover, the customer orientation-loyalty link weakened with the increase in awareness of central bank base rates. Conversely, the awareness that loan rates were decreasing strengthened the relationship.

Research limitations/implications
Banks need to know the importance of periodic consultation services with valuable consumers who transact with one or more banks because changes in the consumer awareness of interest rates influence customer loyalty (or switching behavior), particularly when their awareness of loan interest rates increases.

Originality/value
This paper is, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the first to investigate the consequence of such a change in consumers’ awareness of both deposit and loan interest rates with regard to the relationship between customer orientation and loyalty.
Regret type matters
Authors: Tzeng Shian-Yang , Shiu Jerry Yuwen 
Published: June 2019

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate post-purchase regret and its relationships with complaint and risk aversion in a four-dimensional framework.Design/methodology/approachUsing 548 effective samples, this study employed structural equation modeling to test proposed hypotheses.FindingsBased on levels of perceived self-responsibility, post-purchase regret due to forgone alternatives, under consideration and over consideration was positively associated with customer complaining, whereas post-purchase regret due to significance change exhibited no such correlation. Moreover, a higher level of risk aversion increased the effect of utilitarian motivation on post-purchase regret due to over consideration but decreased this effect on post-purchase regret due to under consideration.Research limitations/implicationsFirst, regret can positively influence consumer complaints. Next, consumers are unlikely to complain to third parties unless they experience strong action regret. Finally, risk aversion can alleviate or reinforce the effect of utilitarian motivation on regret. Future research could examine the customer group who feel less or no regret of their purchases to contribute to regret theory.Practical implicationsTo reduce regret among such consumers, marketers are advised to apply precision marketing techniques to reach their target consumers. Second, to forestall customer regret due to forgone alternatives, sellers should proactively provide target buyers with information regarding their products and those of competing brands. Third, another method of minimizing regret is to ensure that consumers’ risk-aversion activities are effective.Originality/valueThis study empirically demonstrated a multidimensional scale of regret to illuminate the multicausal role of regret in relation to consumers’ complaining and risk-aversion behaviors.
Hydroponic cultivation: life cycle assessment of substrate choice
Authors: Vinci Giuliana , Rapa Mattia 
Published: June 2019

Purpose
Nowadays, hydroponic cultivation represents a widely used agricultural methodology. The purpose of this paper is to study comparatively on hydroponic substrates. This study is highlighting the best substrate to be involved in hydroponic systems, considering its costs and its sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach
Seven substrates were evaluated: rock wool, perlite, vermiculite, peat, coconut fibres, bark and sand. Life cycle assessment (life cycle inventory, life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) and life cycle costing (LCC)) was applied to evaluate the environmental and economic impact. Through the results of the impacts, the carbon footprint of each substrate was calculated.

Findings
Perlite is the most impacting substrate, as highlighted by LCIA, followed by rock wool and vermiculite. The most sustainable ones, instead, are sand and bark. Sand has the lower carbon footprint (0.0121 kg CO2 eq.); instead, bark carbon footprint results in one of the highest (1.1197 kg CO2 eq.), while in the total impact analysis this substrate seems to be highly sustainable. Also for perlite the two results are in disagreement: it has a high total impact but very low carbon footprint (0.0209 kg CO2 eq.) compared to the other substrates. From the LCC analysis it appears that peat is the most expensive substrate (€6.67/1,000 cm3), while sand is the cheaper one (€0.26/1,000 cm3).

Originality/value
The LCA and carbon footprint methodologies were applied to a growing agriculture practice. This study has highlighted the economic and environmental sustainability of seven substrates examined. This analysis has shown that sand can be the best substrate to be involved in hydroponic systems by considering its costs and its sustainability.
From precision agriculture to Industry 4.0
Authors: Trivelli Leonello , Apicella Andrea , Chiarello Filippo , Rana Roberto , Fantoni Gualtiero , Tarabella Angela 
Published: June 2019

Purpose
Circumstances that are have a significant impact on it. In particular, environmental sustainability related to the increase of worldwide population, and market demand for agricultural products (with consumers more and more aware about cultivation and breeding techniques and interested in healthy and high-quality products) represent two of the key challenges that the agricultural sector is going to face in next years. In such a landscape, technological innovations that can support organizations and entrepreneurs to face these problems become increasingly important, and Industry 4.0 is the most striking example. Indeed, the Industry 4.0 paradigm aims to integrate digital technologies into business processes to raise productivity levels and to develop new business models. Accordingly, digital technologies play a similar role in the precision agriculture domain, and the purpose of this paper is to understand if the technologies at the basis of these two paradigms are the same or not.

Design/methodology/approach
The present work investigates how the two domains of Industry 4.0 and precision agriculture are connected to one another by analyzing the most used technologies in both the fields in order to highlight common patterns and technological overlaps. To reach such goal, an approach combining manual and automated analysis was developed.

Findings
The research work generated three main results: a dictionary of precision agriculture technologies including 324 terms; a graph, describing the connections between the technologies composing the dictionary; and a representation of the main technological clusters identified.

Originality/value
These show how the two domains under analysis are directly connected and describe the most important technologies to leverage when approaching digital transformation processes in the agricultural sector.
Analyzing the influence of job satisfaction on hostage employee loyalty in Isfahan Province Gas Company
Authors: Jahanbazi Goujani Afshin , Shahin Arash , Nasr Isfahani Ali , Safari Ali 
Published: June 2019

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of job satisfaction on hostage employee loyalty in Isfahan Province Gas Company (IPGC).Design/methodology/approachThe statistical population of this study included the formal recruited employees of IPGC out of which, 212 employees have been selected using a stratified random sampling method. A questionnaire has been developed and used for data collection regarding job satisfaction and employee loyalty. In this study along with the other studies of the authors, employees of IPGC were classified into four different categories on the basis of loyalty matrix, and the majority (78 percent) of them were located in the hostage category. Structural equation modeling has been used for data analysis.FindingsThe findings imply that job satisfaction does not have a significant influence on the loyalty of hostage employees.Practical implicationsOrganizations are encouraged to identify the individual and organizational factors and obstacles, take necessary measures to increase job satisfaction and maintain the level of employee loyalty and gradually shift them from the hostage category to the apostle category, which results in an increased number of loyal and satisfied employees.Originality/valueThis study indicates how the application of the concepts of loyalty matrix, particularly its hostage category, can be expanded in the field of organizational behavior management.
The role of psychological capital in employee creativity
Authors: Yu Xiaofen , Li Donghua , Tsai Chia-Han , Wang Chunhsien 
Published: June 2019

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the roles of four distinct but related aspects of psychological capital – optimism, hope, self-efficacy and resilience – in facilitating employee creativity. Drawing on the psychological capital perspective and the creativity literature, we propose that optimism and hope increase employee self-efficacy and resilience, which benefits employee creativity. Moreover, the authors hypothesize that self-efficacy and resilience have mediating roles in the psychological capital context, which, in turn, has a positive effect on individual employees’ creativity.Design/methodology/approachData were obtained from a survey of multiple manufacturing firms on individual employee psychological capital and creativity. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses regarding psychological capital and creativity in a sample of 468 individual employees.FindingsThe results provide evidence that only resilience plays a mediating role between optimism and hope and employee creativity. The authors found that psychological capital is positively related to employee creativity.Practical implicationsThese findings provide guidance for understanding how to better address the psychological capital that contributes to employee creativity in the workplace. Specifically, this study provides a rationale for facilitating the development of employee creativity by exposing the effect and path of psychological capital.Originality/valueThis study is the first to examine the antecedents and mediating role of four distinct yet correlated dimensions of psychological capital on employee creativity. The findings of this study contribute to the theoretical development of a conceptual model that investigates the black box of the four aspects of psychological capital and creativity.
The effects of employee stock ownership plans on career development in a new era
Authors: Xiao Hongjun , Shi Ying , Varma Arup 
Published: June 2019

PurposeChina’s workforce is currently experiencing increased career-related stress. Employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) may be used to help employees overcome these challenges. Little is known about how ESOPs affect employee career development. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between ESOPs and employee career sustainability and provide guidance for corporate management.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employed a multiple linear regression model using a sample of 614 companies that implemented ESOPs between July 2014 and September 2017.FindingsEmployees’ career development benefited when ESOP funds originated from employee compensation and self-raised funds, and when the plan’s stock came from a source other than the secondary market. Career development also improved when employees and senior executives held a higher proportion of a firm’s total shares. In addition, the benefits to employee career development were greater in manufacturing enterprises, non-state-owned enterprises, and in Southern China.Research limitations/implicationsThis study combined individual and organization research using person–organization fit theory and demonstrated that well-designed ESOPs are beneficial for career stability and sustainability. This work was based on data from Chinese companies; future studies could usefully investigate the effects of ESOPs in other countries and their particular impact in technology-intensive industries.Practical implicationsDecision makers in firms or government can use ESOPs to address employees’ career-related stress and challenges, especially during industry transformation.Originality/valueThe paper fills a gap in ESOPs research by showing the positive effects of ESOPs on career development.
Decision making under uncertainty? R&D activity and market value during financial crisis
Authors: Sofronas Christos , Archontakis Fragiskos , Smart Palie 
Published: June 2019

PurposeIn the research & development (R&D) and innovation management literature, the question of whether or not to perform research in the private sector is always a pertinent one. Several studies have used market value to measure its association with a firm’s R&D performance. Nevertheless, in Europe there have been considerably less studies as compared to the USA because the analysis is complicated by data issues and different country-specific laws. The purpose of this paper is to further advance this field of research. The study provides insights into the strategic decision behind conducting R&D.Design/methodology/approachThe econometric analysis is based on a unique panel data set of 133 companies in 13 European countries which is collected from the Bloomberg database covering the time period from 2002 to 2012.FindingsThe empirical findings are as follows: there is weak evidence in support of the hypothesis that R&D expenditure positively affects the firm’s market value, a fact which is confirmed by other published works; there is weak evidence that economic events can disrupt the connection of R&D programs with the market value of firms; and for a highly controversial topic in the literature, data suggest that small firms are rather favoured more from R&D expenditure than large firms.Originality/valueThe current study expands the discussion regarding the effect of R&D on the market value of firms via empirical evidence, within the specific environment of the European financial crisis. Future managerial, informed-based, decisions can be drawn on the present results.
The prioritisation and satisfaction on Thai’s Rating of Energy and Environmental Sustainability criteria
Authors: Riratanaphong Chaiwat , Jermsiriwattana Pongkorn 
Published: June 2019

PurposeThe environmental performance of buildings can be measured by using an existing green building indicator system. In Thailand, the Thai’s Rating of Energy and Environmental Sustainability (TREES) has been applied to 70 buildings including condominiums. It is important to collect feedback from stakeholders to identify the criteria of green features that respond to the expectation of condominium’s potential buyers as well as the satisfaction of current occupants. This paper aims to examine prioritised aspects from potential buyers and occupant satisfaction of the TREES criteria in the case study, a green condominium in Bangkok, Thailand.Design/methodology/approachThe case study was conducted at IDEO Mobi Sathorn in Bangkok, the only condominium certified with the TREES system so far. Research methods include interviews, observations, document analysis and the surveys from the condominium’s potential buyers and current occupants.FindingsThe findings indicate that the condominium’s potential buyers are more concerned about site and landscape, indoor environmental quality and energy and atmosphere, whereas the current occupants are more satisfied about water conservation, site and landscape and energy and atmosphere in comparison with the other TREES criteria. Despite the provision of green features in the condominium, occupants are less satisfied about green innovation as showed in the least satisfied percentage of TREES criteria. In Facilities Management perspective, the paper shows connections between TREES criteria and FM functions in multi-unit residential project. The findings show that the application of TREES criteria focuses on the provision of value in FM, whereas stakeholder perceptions regarding the TREES criteria contribute to the perception of value in FM.Practical implicationsThe findings and reflections upon the finding can help to understand the impact of green building aspects of the TREES system on perceptions of different stakeholders, that is, potential buyers and current occupants of the condominium. Recommendations for real estate developers and facilities managers regarding the development of green building concept on the TREES system are provided.Originality/valueThere has been no prior research in this area. The paper provides better understanding with regard to prioritised aspects from the potential buyers and occupant satisfaction of TREES criteria in Bangkok green condominium. This paper provides empirical data regarding stakeholder perception on TREES criteria that can be used to compare with similar data of the TREES-certified condominiums when they are available in the future.