bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Poor decision-makers: motivation, working memory performance, and repartition across two inbred strains of rats
Authors: Fitoussi Aurelie Y. 
Published: June 2022

SummaryA minority of healthy individuals (poor decision-makers, PD) exhibit a combination of behavioral traits reminiscent, at least in part, of addiction and predicting poor decision-making (DM), namely motor impulsivity, inflexibility, risk-taking, and higher motivation in Wistar Han rats. Two behavioral features, motivation and working memory (WM), play a role in DM capacities although the precise relationship is not entirely known. Additionally, we previously reported that neurotransmitters e.g., dopamine - modulation was tightly linked to the PD phenotype. The goal of the study was to investigate the detailed motivational functions in PD individuals including saccharin intake, reward-seeking or incentive behaviors under different internal states i.e., food-deprived orad libitum. Maze-based spatial WM was also evaluated. Moreover, two inbred strains of rats, Lewis and Fisher 344 (F344) rats, known for modeling vulnerability to drug addiction and affected by substantial variations in the mesolimbic dopaminergic pathway, were run in the DM task (Rat Gambling Task, RGT). PD Wistar Han rats displayed higher saccharin intake levels and a drastic increased reward-seeking behavior on a fixed schedule. PD were more sensitive to the internal state in responding to saccharin delivery in fixed but not in progressive schedules. A few relationships were found within motivational functions, and with DM, that is a positive correlation between saccharin intake and reward-seeking behavior, and a negative correlation between saccharin intake and DM. PD were significantly not impaired in WM. Lewis and F344 rats displayed improved performance early in the task (exploration) and a higher proportion of PD was observed in Lewis as compared to F344 rats. Altogether, these findings complete the preclinical panel of behavioral functions that relate to poor DM and extend a presumed role of dopamine in such processes.
A cellular assay for spike/ACE2 fusion: quantification of fusion-inhibitory antibodies after COVID-19 and vaccination
Authors: Abdul Fabien , Ribaux Pascale , Caillon Aurélie , Malézieux-Picard Astrid , Prendki Virginie , Zhukovsky Nikolay , Delhaes Flavien , Krause Karl-Heinz , Preynat-Seauve Olivier 
Published: June 2022

ABSTRACTNot all antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 inhibit viral entry and hence infection. Neutralizing antibodies are more likely to reflect real immunity, however certain of these tests investigate protein/protein interaction rather than the fusion event. Viral and pseudoviral entry assays detect functionally active antibodies, however they are cumbersome and burdened by biosafety and standardization issues. We have developed a Spike/ACE2-dependant cell-to-cell fusion assay, based on a split luciferase. Hela cells stably transduced with Spike and a large fragment of luciferase were co-cultured with Hela cells transduced with ACE2 and the complementary small fragment of luciferase. Within 24h, cell fusion occured allowing the measurement of luminescence. Light emission was abolished in the absence of Spike and reduced in the presence of an inhibitor of Spike-processing proteases. Serum samples from COVID-19-negative, non-vaccinated individuals, or sera from patients at the moment of first symptoms did not lead to a significant reduction of fusion. In contrast, sera from COVID-19-positive patients as well as sera from vaccinated individuals reduced the fusion. In conclusion, we report a new method measuring fusion-inhibitory antibodies in serum, combining the advantage of a functional full Spike/ACE2 interaction with a high degree of standardization, easily allowing automation in a standard bio-safety environment.
Determinants of mobile apps adoption by retail investors for online trading in emerging financial markets
Authors: Nair Parvathy S. , Shiva Atul , Yadav Nikhil , Tandon Priyanka 
Published: June 2022

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of mobile applications on investment decisions by retail investors in stocks and mutual funds. This study focuses on how mobile technologies are applied on mobile apps by retail investors for e-trading in emerging financial markets.Design/methodology/approachThe study explored predictive relevance for the adoption behavior of retail investors under the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) framework. Further, goal contagion theory was applied to investigate the adoption behavior of investors towards e-trading. An adapted questionnaire was used to collect the date from April to June 2021 and data analysis was performed on 507 usable responses. The methodology adopted in this study is variance based partial least square structural equational modelling (PLS-SEM). Additionally, the study explains important and performing constructs based on the response of retail investors towards mobile app usage for investment decisions.FindingsThe study shows that effort expectancy, performance expectancy followed by perceived return were the primary determinants of behavioral intentions to use mobile applications by retail investors for e-trading. Further, habit of investors determined the adoption behavior of investors towards mobile apps. Additionally, the study revealed that perceived risk is not an important aspect for retail investors in comparison to perceived return.Research limitations/implicationsThe study in future can address to the aspect of personality traits of retail investors for technology adoption for investment decisions. Further investigation is required on addressing unobserved heterogeneity of retail investors towards technology adoption process in emerging financial markets.Practical implicationsThe study provides theoretical and practical implications for retail investors, financial advisors and technology companies to understand the behavioral pattern and mobile apps adoption behavior of retail investors in emerging financial market. The findings in the study will help broking firms to sensitize their clients for effective use of their respective mobile apps for e-trading purposes. The study will strengthen the knowledge of financial advisors to understand investment behavior of retail investors in emerging financial markets.Originality/valueThis study unfolds a novel framework of research to understand the technology adoption pattern of retail investors for e-trading by mobile applications in emerging financial markets. The present study provides significant understanding in the domain of technology adoption by retail investors under behavioral finance environment.
Understanding Chinese automobile firms: past, present and path to be world class
Authors: Li Zheng , Liu Tao , Dai Shuanping 
Published: June 2022

PurposeThis paper aims to quest the strategies and paths of Chinese automobile firms for being world class. It analyzes their strengths and potentials in comparison with the development experience of the global examples and provides policy recommendations for cultivating world-class automobile firms.Design/methodology/approachThe authors apply the analytic hierarchy process method to evaluate the competitiveness of automobile firms with multiple indicators.FindingsThe evaluation results suggest that Chinese automobile firms still lagged behind their world-class peers. Especially, Chinese domestic firms developed unevenly so that they could not make progress in the core parametric dimensions. Nevertheless, Chinese firms could achieve world class, at least in some niche segments, supported by its accumulated technological capacity and tremendous market size.Originality/valueThis research is the first scholarly work to evaluate the competitiveness of Chinese automobile firms and provides insightful comments on its industrial policies in the automobile industry. This may be valuable for policymaking in the automobile sector of China and other developing economies.
Marketing strategy decision making in new product development: direct effects and moderation by market information time sensitivity and analyzability
Authors: Durmusoglu Serdar S. , Atuahene-Gima Kwaku , Calantone Roger J. 
Published: June 2022

PurposeResearch on market information use in product innovation suggests that firms utilize two key strategic decision-making processes: incremental and comprehensive. Drawing from organizational information processing theory, literature implies that these processes operate differently. However, this assumption remains untested. Moreover, the degree to which a comprehensive process affects the innovation strategy outcomes depends on market information time sensitivity (MITS) and analyzability. To-date, no study has tested these assertions, either. Finally, it is suggested that meaningful market strategy is a key driver of new product success and it is important to understand how decision-making processes influence it under differing time sensitivity and analyzability.Design/methodology/approachBased on survey data from 250 Chinese firms, authors use structural equation modeling to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results generally support authors’ contentions. More specifically, marketing strategy outcomes are influenced by marketing strategy incrementality (MSI) and marketing strategy comprehensiveness (MSC) differently. Further, time sensitivity moderates the effect of both MSI and MSC on outcomes, except for the effect of MSI on decision quality. Finally, analyzability moderates the relationships between decision making processes and certain strategy outcomes such as between MSI and meaningfulness.Originality/valueDrawing from information processing theory, authors argue that incremental and comprehensive marketing strategy decision making for new product operate differentially under the same conditions. Further, the effects of these decision processes on outcomes depend on time sensitivity and analyzability of market information. Finally, auhtors argue that meaningful market strategy is a driver of success. The authors find support for most of our hypotheses and provide directions for future research.
The moderating effect of financial stability on the CSR and bank performance
Authors: Saadaoui Amir , Ben Salah Olfa 
Published: June 2022

PurposeFor the dimensions of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) score, only environmental practices have shown a significant negative link with banking performance. However, the social and government dimensions did not have a significant effect on this variable. The authors also find that the financial performance of banks depends primarily on the financial stability of the bank, in particular, on capital adequacy and on the management of liquidity risk.Design/methodology/approachThe recurrence of banking and financial crises has revealed the complexity and vulnerability of the financial and banking system. In this article, the authors empirically study the impact of CSR on the financial performance of banks as well as the individual effect of each dimension of CSR (social, governance and environmental) with particular attention to the moderating role of financial stability. Based on a sample of 23 French banks over the period from 2010 to 2018, the results indicate a negative and significant effect of CSR measured by the overall CSR score on the performance of banks.FindingsThis study provides insight into the essential role of financial stability in moderating the benefits of CSR disclosure while virtually no previous study examines this effect.Originality/valueThis article offers several contributions to the literature. First, this study builds on previous research by providing a more comprehensive view and evidence on the relationship between CSR and bank performance. The authors affirm and show that the financial stability of the bank moderates the effect of CSR on the performance of banks. The link between social responsibility and performance demonstrated in this study is more complicated than the direct–direct relationship as widely assumed in the previous literature.
Explaining differences in entrepreneurial activity between immigrants and natives: moderating roles of economic, sociocultural and institutional factors
Authors: Morales Carlos , Brieger Steven A. , De Clercq Dirk , Martin Felicia Josephine 
Published: June 2022

PurposeThis study investigates the differential likelihood of being an entrepreneur among immigrants to and natives of a country. Using a mixed embeddedness perspective, the authors outline how economic, sociocultural, and institutional embeddedness influence the likelihood of entrepreneurial activity exhibited by immigrant and native residents.Design/methodology/approachThe tests of the hypotheses rely on a multilevel cross-country research design that uses secondary data from different sources.FindingsCompared with their native counterparts, immigrants are more likely to start and run their own businesses, and an array of environmental factors influences this likelihood. The level of economic development and equality laws increase it; the abundance of market opportunities in an economy, entrepreneurship culture and cultural collectivism diminish it.Practical implicationsThe findings provide policy makers and stakeholders with valuable insights into pertinent environmental factors that determine the differential propensities of immigrant and native residents to become entrepreneurs.Originality/valueThis study provides an expanded understanding of the connection between being an immigrant and entrepreneurial activity, by explicating the influences of country-level conditions.
Nexus among board characteristics, earnings management and dividend payout: evidence from an emerging market
Authors: Abu Afifa Malik , Saleh Isam , Al-shoura Aseel , Vo Van Hien 
Published: June 2022

PurposeThe direct nexus between board characteristics, earnings management (EM) practices and dividend payout is examined in this study, followed by an examination of the indirect mediation impact of EM practices in the nexus between board characteristics and dividend payout. It aims to provide new empirical evidence from the Jordanian market, which is an emerging market.Design/methodology/approachThe study population consists of all service firms that were listed on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) between 2012 and 2019. Due to the lack of availability of their complete data during the period, four service firms were omitted from the population; hence, a sample of 43 service firms was acquired over the time frame (2012–2019), yielding a total of 344 firm-year observations. Moreover, panel data analysis was employed in this study, and data for the study were acquired from yearly reports as well as the ASE's database.FindingsBased on the GMM estimator findings, board size and independence have a negative and significant influence on the EM, but CEO/chairman duality has a positive and significant impact. Simultaneously, the impacts of female representation on the board of directors and the number of board meetings were both positive but insignificant. The findings also found that four board characteristics, including board size, female representation on the board of directors, CEO/chairman duality and the number of board meetings, had a significant negative or positive effect on dividend payout, while board independence did not. Additional findings show that EM practices have a direct negative insignificant effect on dividend payout, whereas EM practices partially mediate the relationship between board characteristics and dividend payout.Research limitations/implicationsThe current study's limitation is that it only searched in Jordanian service firms listed on ASE from 2012 to 2019 to fulfill the study's objectives; thus, we urge that future work explores the study models for other sectors, whether in Jordan or other growing markets such as the Middle East and North Africa.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study may be utilized by analysts, investors and other strategic decision-makers to enhance Jordan's financial market's efficiency and efficacy. These findings will improve policymakers' willingness to impose appropriate constraints, perhaps boosting Jordan's financial market performance and efficacy. These findings may also help investors make more enlightened judgments by utilizing board characteristics and EM factors that predict firm dividend policy.Originality/valueContradictions in the results of earlier investigations inspired the current study, with the findings filling a gap in the existing literature. This study differs from previous studies by constructing a novel research model and analyzing the mediating influence of EM in the nexus between board characteristics and dividend payout.
Factors affecting farmers' intention to use ECEs in Covid-19 pandemic: combining the technology acceptance model (TAM) and barrier factors
Authors: Van Vu Hong , Quynh Nguyen Ngoc , Doanh Nguyen Khanh 
Published: June 2022

PurposeThis study aims to analyze the factors affecting tea-producing farmers' intention to use e-commerce exchanges (ECEs) to sell their products, combining the technology acceptance model (TAM) theory and barrier factors.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use the generalized structural equation modeling (GSEM) to analyze the intermediate model that is built on TAM.FindingsResearch results show that perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEU) significantly influence farmers' intention to use ECEs to sell their products. However, knowledge and information barriers hinder farmers' intention to use such ECEs.Research limitations/implicationsEncouraging farmers to use ECEs is the most helpful solution for agricultural economic development in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.Originality/valueFrom an academic perspective, this is the first study that combines the TAM theory of Davis (1989) and barrier factors to analyze farmers' intention to use ECEs. The findings are valuable references for policymakers to propose strategies for agricultural economic development during the current pandemic. At the same time, the empirical results obtained from this study provide good orientations for agricultural economic development 4.0 in the future.
Gold, crude oil, bitcoin and Indian stock market: recent confirmation from nonlinear ARDL analysis
Authors: Kumar Suresh , Kumar Ankit , Singh Gurcharan 
Published: June 2022

PurposeThis paper investigates the causality among gold prices, crude oil prices, bitcoin and stock prices by using daily data from January 2014 to December 2021. The study also examines the data during the COVID-19 outbreak from January 2020 to December 2021.Design/methodology/approachTo estimate the long- and short-run causality, this study considers the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) cointegration test.FindingsThe analysis found the existence of an asymmetric long-run cointegration among selected assets. Findings indicate that positive changes in bitcoin do not affect stock market in the long term. Changes in crude oil prices have a significant impact on stock prices. Moreover, it is observed that variations in the stock prices trigger a negative impact on gold prices. During the COVID-19 period, the study notices the presence of an asymmetric long-term cointegration between selected assets except bitcoin. Besides, findings revealed that negative price adjustments in gold lead to significant positive shocks in stock market.Originality/valueThese results provide critical information for policy performers and researchers to develop new strategies. Policy regulators can also consider the potential effects of the COVID-19 outbreak while developing strategies for investment decisions.
Making sense of a mess: “doing” resilience in the vortex of a crisis
Authors: Aitken-Fox Eileen , Coffey Jane , Dayaram Kantha , Fitzgerald Scott , McKenna Stephen , Tian Amy Wei 
Published: June 2022

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to investigate how human resource professionals (HRPs), in a variety of organizations, responded to the crisis brought about by the event of COVID-19. In particular, it aims to show how organizations, across all sectors, in Western Australia responded with urgency and flexibility to the crisis and showed “resilience in practice”.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on 136 questionnaire responses, 32 interviews and 25 managerial narratives. The mixed qualitative methodology was designed to enable an investigation of the impact of COVID-19 and the response of HRPs.FindingsHRPs have responded with agility and flexibility to the impact of COVID-19. They have done so through extensive trial and error, sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing. They have not simply activated a preconceived continuity plan.Research limitations/implicationsThe research indicates that resilience is an ongoing accomplishment of organizations and the people in them. The objective was description rather than prescription, and the research does not offer solutions to future pandemic-like situations.Practical implicationsThe research suggests that, given the impact of COVID-19 on organizations, HR practices, processes and policies will need to be thoroughly reconsidered for relevance in the post-COVID world. Possible future directions are highlighted.Originality/valueThe research considers the actions of HRPs as they responded to a global crisis as the crisis unfolded.
The learning from action (LfA) programme: reflections on how it has evolved
Authors: Boldetti Giada , Mingarelli Luca 
Published: June 2022

PurposeThe learning from action (LfA) workshop was born more than 20 years ago and held in various places in Italy. This study aims to provide a learning experience for therapeutic communities (TCs) workers. During these years, the LfA work has developed by creating a dialogue between the experiential conferences and the group relations conferences (GRC) run by the Tavistock Institute. In this paper, the author explores the dialogue between (the leadership-oriented) GRC and (democratic) TC culture.Design/methodology/approachThe authors intend to show how this dialogue has developed in LfA, describing tasks, purposes and critical aspects of LfA specific events: decision-making plenary, decision-making, TCs, action, dialog between cultures, GRC, learning methodology, decision-making group, activity group, morning and evening community meetings.FindingsThe authors confirmed the idea that acting and working together is a way of learning and communicating with each other. The role activities and works the authors do together to provide for the community in LfA have a more authentic quality of life than the purely verbal reflective work of a GRC.Originality/valueThe paper describes how LfA has developed and consolidated over the years, constituting an original learning model inspired by the typical activities of the culture of democratic TCs and the learning methodology of GRCs.