bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Pursuing a Grand Theory: Douglass C. North and the early making of a New Institutional Social Science (1950-1981)
Authors: Telles Keanu 
Published: March 2024

PurposeThe paper provides a detailed historical account of Douglass C. North's early intellectual contributions and analytical developments in pursuing a Grand Theory for why some countries are rich and others poor.Design/methodology/approachThe author approaches the discussion using a theoretical and historical reconstruction based on published and unpublished materials.FindingsThe systematic, continuous and profound attempt to answer the Smithian social coordination problem shaped North's journey from being a young serious Marxist to becoming one of the founders of New Institutional Economics. In the process, he was converted in the early 1950s into a rigid neoclassical economist, being one of the leaders in promoting New Economic History. The success of the cliometric revolution exposed the frailties of the movement itself, namely, the limitations of neoclassical economic theory to explain economic growth and social change. Incorporating transaction costs, the institutional framework in which property rights and contracts are measured, defined and enforced assumes a prominent role in explaining economic performance.Originality/valueIn the early 1970s, North adopted a naive theory of institutions and property rights still grounded in neoclassical assumptions. Institutional and organizational analysis is modeled as a social maximizing efficient equilibrium outcome. However, the increasing tension between the neoclassical theoretical apparatus and its failure to account for contrasting political and institutional structures, diverging economic paths and social change propelled the modification of its assumptions and progressive conceptual innovation. In the later 1970s and early 1980s, North abandoned the efficiency view and gradually became more critical of the objective rationality postulate. In this intellectual movement, North's avant-garde research program contributed significantly to the creation of New Institutional Economics.
Global perspectives on operational excellence: unveiling critical failure factors and sustainable pathways
Authors: Antony Jiju , Sony Michael , Jayaraman Raja , Swarnakar Vikas , Tortorella Guilherme da Luz , Garza-Reyes Jose Arturo , Rathi Rajeev , Gutierrez Leopoldo , McDermott Olivia , Lameijer Bart Alex 
Published: March 2024

PurposeThe purpose of this global study is to investigate the critical failure factors (CFFs) in the deployment of operational excellence (OPEX) programs as well as the key performance indicators (KPIs) that can be used to measure OPEX failures. The study also empirically analyzes various OPEX methodologies adopted by various organizations at a global level.Design/methodology/approachThis global study utilized an online survey to collect data. The questionnaire was sent to 800 senior managers, resulting in 249 useful responses.FindingsThe study results suggest that Six Sigma is the most widely utilized across the OPEX methodologies, followed by Lean Six Sigma and Lean. Agile manufacturing is the least utilized OPEX methodology. The top four CFFs were poor project selection and prioritization, poor leadership, a lack of proper communication and resistance to change issues.Research limitations/implicationsThis study extends the current body of knowledge on OPEX by first delineating the CFFs for OPEX and identifying the differing effects of these CFFs across various organizational settings. Senior managers and OPEX professionals can use the findings to take remedial actions and improve the sustainability of OPEX initiatives in their respective organizations.Originality/valueThis study uniquely identifies critical factors leading to OPEX initiative failures, providing practical insights for industry professionals and academia and fostering a deeper understanding of potential pitfalls. The research highlights a distinctive focus on social and environmental performance metrics, urging a paradigm shift for sustained OPEX success and differentiating itself in addressing broader sustainability concerns. By recognizing the interconnectedness of 12 CFFs, the study offers a pioneering foundation for future research and the development of a comprehensive management theory on OPEX failures.
Metaverse cannot be an extra marketing immersive tool to increase sales in tourism cities
Authors: Florido-Benítez Lázaro 
Published: March 2024

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the metaverse platform in a social context to better understand the future of this tool in tourism cities and how this can help to improve the well-being of residents in both digital and physical scenarios.

Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the current and probable developments in the metaverse, and its use in tourism cities and companies have been investigated. Moreover, this study develops, collects and examines the main metaverse definitions by expert authors and organizations as a methodology to ensure the transparency and credibility of the metaverse analysis.

Findings
Findings suggest that the fusion of the metaverse and tourism cities must create residents’ services and experiences in the new MetaTourPolis to help interact and connect citizens with the city’s institutions and companies, as well as make tourism cities more attractive, innovative, environmentally friendly and healthier places to live. Metaverse will bring new changes for residents and tourists, in fact, this virtual platform is already changing and improving the residents’ quality of life and people with disabilities in tourism cities. For instance, the metaverse platform has been implemented in Seoul, Santa Monica and Dubai MetaTourPolis to interact with their residents, including people with disabilities, to resolve bureaucratic and administrative problems, avoiding this group and the rest of the residents travelling by bus or car to the city’s institutions. In addition, several metaverse applications based on softbot tutors or metaverse virtual social centres have been developed to improve blind and impaired people, and elderly people’ quality of life, respectively.

Originality/value
A new concept called “MetaTourPolis” has been included to stage the relationship between tourism cities and the metaverse platform, where the fusion of metaverse and the new tourism polis of the 21st century will be at the service of citizens, tourists and companies, to create more sustainable, efficient, quantitative and environmental tourism cities.
Leading with compassion and passion: A case study on servant leadership at the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay
Authors: Brownlee Amy L. , Dixon Deirdre Painter , Garcia Valeria , Harris Amy V. 
Published: March 2024

Research methodology
This case was written using primary data through various channels, including in-depth structured interviews with the CEO and other individuals at the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay (CCTB), as well as exchanging email messages and phone conversations with employees at CCTB. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. In addition, one of the authors took a tour of the main offices of CCTB and took notes on the physical facilities as well as the information provided by the tour guide. Public information from CCTB was used to enhance the information and provide background. All accounts presented in this case are real, and no information was altered or fabricated.

Case overview/synopsis
Clara Reynolds had been CEO of CCTB for over eight years. The agency had almost tripled its budget in the time she had been there. Her leadership style had positively impacted the culture of the organization. Employees valued her open and transparent leadership style. Employees saw her commitment to training employees, creating work–life balance and helping employees be exceptional at their jobs. There was an issue, however, with Transcare, the organization’s ambulatory service. The performance of the business was declining, and Clara wanted to update the board within 60 days at the next quarterly board meeting. She was not sure what she could do to increase engagement with Transcare’s staff, which would show the board that the staff was fully willing to do what was necessary.

Complexity academic level
This case is appropriate for teaching undergraduate or graduate-level courses in leadership, organizational behavior or principles of management. It is designed to be discussed during one class period. It will save time and improve the flow if the students read the case before class and are prepared when they arrive. Any information needed for the case discussion has been presented in the case; no further research by the students is necessary. Students should think about the role of leadership in a nonprofit. They should put themselves in the protagonist’s shoes throughout the reading of the case.
Mother–offspring conflict and body temperature regulation during gestation and lactation in a wild primate
Authors: McFarland Richard , Henzi S. Peter , Fuller Andrea , Hetem Robyn S. , Young Christopher , Barrett Louise 
Published: March 2024

Abstract

The physiological performance of a mother during reproduction represents a trade‐off between continued investment in her current offspring, and the mother's own survival and ability to invest in future offspring. Here, we used core body temperature (Tb) patterns to examine the degree to which maternal body temperatures support the infant during periods of gestation and lactation.

We implanted 30 wild vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) with miniature data loggers to obtain continuous measurements of core Tb during periods of typical (i.e. non‐drought periods) and limited (i.e. drought period) resource availability.

We tracked maternal Tb profiles across the gestation and lactation periods, associated with 23 births, and compared those with Tb profiles of non‐reproductive females. This allowed us to examine the flexibility in maternal body temperatures and test whether limited resource availability shifts priority away from offspring investment and towards self‐maintenance.

Vervet monkeys demonstrated the predicted pattern of gestational hypothermia and improved homeothermy in the gestation period during typical conditions, consistent with the maintenance of a thermal gradient to facilitate heat loss from the foetus. During periods of limited resource availability (i.e. drought), mothers were less homeothermic and more hyperthermic during the gestation period.

Vervet monkeys showed no evidence of lactational hyperthermia during typical conditions. During the drought, lactating mothers demonstrated hyperthermia and increased variability in body temperature, consistent with the increased metabolic demands and water requirements for milk production required to support growing infants.

Although a mother's degree of homeothermy during gestation and lactation was unrelated to her infant's chance of survival to weaning, mothers did show flexibility in the degree to which they prioritized the maintenance of a thermal environment that supports their infant's development. Together, our findings demonstrate that flexibility in a mother's investment in thermoregulation during gestation and lactation may reflect a bet‐hedging trade‐off between self‐maintenance and offspring investment.

Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
The impact of financial development and energy consumption on ecological footprint in economic complexity‐based EKC framework: New evidence from BRICS‐T region
Authors: Fan Lihong , Usman Muhammad , Haseeb Mohammad , Kamal Mustafa 
Published: March 2024

AbstractThis study investigates the impact of financial development, nonrenewable energy, renewable energy, and trade openness on the ecological footprint from 1990 to 2020 under the new hypothetical imitations of the economic complexity‐induced environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) framework in BRICS‐T economies. After verifying the potential cross‐sectional dependency, this study employed second‐generation panel data tests to estimate the consistent, unbiased, and robust results. The key results of this research discover that the influence of economic complexity increases pollution at the initial stage; however, at the second stage such as the square of economic complexity significantly reduces it, which indicates the confirmation of the EKC hypothesis in these economies. Moreover, financial development and nonrenewable energy consumption significantly increase the level of ecological footprint. In contrast, renewable energy consumption curtails the pollution level in all quantiles. The results provide insight for government and policymakers to diminish the ecological footprint in BRICS‐T economies through clean energy technologies and diversification, such as carbon storage and capture.
Emerging challenges and efficacy of polyphenols–proteins interaction in maintaining the meat safety during thermal processing
Authors: Nawaz Asad , Walayat Noman , Khalifa Ibrahim , Harlina Putri Widyanti , Irshad Sana , Qin Zuodong , Luo Xiaofang 
Published: March 2024

AbstractPolyphenols are well documented against the inhibition of foodborne toxicants in meat, such as heterocyclic amines, Maillard's reaction products, and protein oxidation, by means of their radical scavenging ability, metal chelation, antioxidant properties, and ability to form protein–polyphenol complexes (PPCs). However, their thermal stability, low polarity, degree of dispersion and polymerization, reactivity, solubility, gel forming properties, low bioaccessibility index during digestion, and negative impact on sensory properties are all questionable at oil‐in‐water interface. This paper aims to review the possibility and efficacy of polyphenols against the inhibition of mutagenic and carcinogenic oxidative products in thermally processed meat. The major findings revealed that structure of polyphenols, for example, molecular size, no of substituted carbons, hydroxyl groups and their position, sufficient size to occupy reacting sites, and ability to form quinones, are the main technical points that affect their reactivity in order to form PPCs. Following a discussion of the future of polyphenols in meat‐based products, this paper offers intervention strategies, such as the combined use of food additives and hydrocolloids, processing techniques, precursors, and structure‐binding relationships, which can react synergistically with polyphenols to improve their effectiveness during intensive thermal processing. This comprehensive review serves as a valuable source for food scientists, providing insights and recommendations for the appropriate use of polyphenols in meat‐based products.
The effect of government informatization construction on corporate digital technology innovation: New evidence from China
Authors: Feng Yuan , Nie Changfei 
Published: March 2024

AbstractThis study explores the impact of government informatization construction on corporate digital technology innovation. It uses the integration of informatization and industrialization pilot zones in China as a quasi‐natural experiment of government informatization construction, and construct a difference‐in‐differences model. Based on a sample of Chinese A‐share corporations from 2007 to 2021, the empirical findings reveal that government informatization construction significantly promotes corporate digital technology innovation by enhancing corporate attention to digital technologies and reducing transaction costs. Furthermore, the positive impact is more pronounced in the southern regions and regions with stronger intellectual property protection and high‐tech and digital economy industries, as well as mature‐stage corporations and corporations with higher levels of digital technology innovation. These findings provide valuable insights for implementing informatization policies and facilitating corporate digital technology innovation.
Causal effect of parental reading on later development of children: Demonstrating a Bayesian approach
Authors: Shigemasu Kazuo , Kono Masanori , Ikemoto Shun , Akabayashi Hideo 
Published: March 2024

AbstractThis study examined the relationship between early parental treatment, specifically reading to young children and later cognitive development with a Bayesian perspective. Previous research established a positive link between parental reading to infants and their cognitive development, such as receptive vocabulary, reading comprehension and motivation to read. Using data from the Millennium Cohort Study, this study analysed individuals aged 9 months to 14 years to investigate the effects of early reading to young children on nine cognitive variables. Bayesian statistical analysis controlled for pre‐existing differences and covariates to establish a causal association between reading and cognitive development. The results indicated that reading to infants and toddlers positively impacted their cognitive development beyond reading skills. These findings demonstrate the usefulness of the Bayesian approach in determining scientific significance and underscore the importance of early literacy interventions in promoting cognitive development.
The SUB‐urothelial DUrvalumab InjEction‐1 (SUBDUE‐1) trial: first‐in‐human trial in patients with bladder cancer
Authors: Hayne Dickon , Ong Katherine , Swarbrick Nicole , McCombie Steve P. , Moe Andrew , Hawks Cynthia , Viswambaram Pravin , Conduit Ciara , Liow Elizabeth , Spalding Lisa , Lim Jayne , Ferguson Thomas , Meehan Katie , Davis Ian D. , Redfern Andrew D. 
Published: March 2024

ObjectivesTo assess the safety of sub‐urothelial injection of durvalumab and examine the impact on tissue and circulating immune cell populations.Patients and MethodsThe patients were chemotherapy and immunotherapy naïve (bacille Calmette‐Guérin allowed) with non‐metastatic muscle‐invasive bladder cancer or non‐muscle‐invasive bladder cancer planned for radical cystectomy (RC). The study was a Phase Ib 3 + 3 dose‐escalation design with sub‐urothelial injection of durvalumab at three pre‐determined doses (25, 75, 150 mg) diluted in 25 mL normal saline, injected at 25 locations (25 × 1 mL injections), at least 2 weeks before RC.ResultsA total of 11 patients were recruited (10 male, one female). No significant changes were reported on American Urological Association Symptom Score or O’Leary Interstitial Cystitis Scale. In all, 14 adverse events (AEs) were reported (10 Grade 1, three Grade 2, one Grade 3), none considered immune‐related. No Grade 4 or 5 AEs were recorded. All the patients underwent RC. Tissue immune populations changed following durvalumab injection (P = 0.012), with a statistically significant increase in M2‐macrophage (CD163) when comparing the 25–150 mg dose (P = 0.021). Basal/mixed cancers showed a larger CD163 increase than luminal cancers (P = 0.033).ConclusionSub‐urothelial injection of durvalumab is feasible and safe without immune‐related AEs and shows local immunological effects.
Social life results in social stress protection: a novel concept to explain individual life‐history patterns in social insects
Authors: Walton Alexander , Herman Jacob J. , Rueppell Olav 
Published: March 2024

ABSTRACTResistance to and avoidance of stress slow aging and confer increased longevity in numerous organisms. Honey bees and other superorganismal social insects have two main advantages over solitary species to avoid or resist stress: individuals can directly help each other by resource or information transfer, and they can cooperatively control their environment. These benefits have been recognised in the context of pathogen and parasite stress as the concept of social immunity, which has been extensively studied. However, we argue that social immunity is only a special case of a general concept that we define here as social stress protection to include group‐level defences against all biotic and abiotic stressors. We reason that social stress protection may have allowed the evolution of reduced individual‐level defences and individual life‐history optimization, including the exceptional aging plasticity of many social insects. We describe major categories of stress and how a colonial lifestyle may protect social insects, particularly against temporary peaks of extreme stress. We use the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) to illustrate how patterns of life expectancy may be explained by social stress protection and how modern beekeeping practices can disrupt social stress protection. We conclude that the broad concept of social stress protection requires rigorous empirical testing because it may have implications for our general understanding of social evolution and specifically for improving honey bee health.
Investigating the effect of polymerase inhibitors on cellular proliferation: Computational studies, cytotoxicity, CDK1 inhibitory potential, and LC‐MS/MS cancer cell entrapment assays
Authors: Farouk Faten , Ibrahim Ibrahim M. , Sherif Salma , Abdelhamed Heba Gamal , Sharaky Marwa , Al‐Karmalawy Ahmed A. 
Published: March 2024

AbstractDirectly acting antivirals (DAAs) are a breakthrough in the treatment of HCV. There are controversial reports on their tendency to induce hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in HCV patients. Numerous reports have concluded that the HCC is attributed to patient‐related factors while others are inclined to attribute this as a DAA side‐effect. This study aims to investigate the effect of polymerase inhibitor DAAs, especially daclatasivir (DLT) on cellular proliferation as compared to ribavirin (RBV). The interaction of DAAs with variable cell‐cycle proteins was studied in silico. The binding affinities to multiple cellular targets were investigated and the molecular dynamics were assessed. The in vitro effect of the selected candidate DLT on cancer cell proliferation was determined and the CDK1 inhibitory potential in was evaluated. Finally, the cellular entrapment of the selected candidates was assessed by an in‐house developed and validated LC‐MS/MS method. The results indicated that polymerase inhibitor antiviral agents, especially DLT, may exert an anti‐proliferative potential against variable cancer cell lines. The results showed that the effect may be achieved via potential interaction with the multiple cellular targets, including the CDK1, resulting in halting of the cellular proliferation. DLT exhibited a remarkable cell permeability in the liver cancer cell line which permits adequate interaction with the cellular targets. In conclusion, the results reveal that the polymerase inhibitor (DLT) may have an anti‐proliferative potential against liver cancer cells. These results may pose DLT as a therapeutic choice for patients suffering from HCV and are liable to HCC development.