Research Pick: Pregnant pause for thought - "Pregnant women’s perception towards the prescription given by the doctors"

Pregnancy by all accounts can be an uncomfortable business with its ups and downs and periodic problems. Indian researchers list morning sickness, backache, bladder and bowel problems, changes in skin and hair, cramps, swelling, the emergence of varicose veins, fatigues, headache, and indigestion as some of the issues.

To that list, you could perhaps add haemorrhoids, high blood pressure, and various other conditions that might arise temporarily or persist post-partum. They point out that many women will seek advice from a qualified medical professional and a conventional prescription while others may turn away from evidence-based medicine and seek alternative therapies.

There is, however, they point out a whole raft of concerns with seeking non-prescription therapies, side effects, not least, but also the risk of harm to the unborn baby or even miscarriage. Their study shows a correlation between age and number of dependents and a woman’s attitude to prescription medicines or otherwise. The team suggests that the government has a role to play in educating women about diet and medicines during pregnancy.

Vasumathi, A. (2018) ‘Pregnant women’s perception towards the prescription given by the doctors’, Int. J. Services and Operations Management, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp.371–382.

Research Pick: Silver nanoparticles by design - "Biological fabrication of silver nanomaterials and their applications in pharmaceutical fields"

A team in India has tested the antibacterial activity of silver nanoparticles generated in the presence of the common microbes Streptomyces species. They used ultraviolet spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction to assess the structures of the AgNPs. Electron microscopy revealed the particles to be spherical and 30 nanometres in diameter. The particles were active against Escherichia coli and other microbial pathogens. However, parallel tests against a laboratory breast cancer cell line showed them to be even more toxic against such cells and to open up the possibility of using such biological AgNPs in a new type of anticancer therapy.

Baskaran, B., Muthukumarasamy, A. and Maruthai, J. (2018) ‘Biological fabrication of silver nanomaterials and their applications in pharmaceutical fields’, Int. J. Computational Materials Science and Surface Engineering, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp.79–88.

New Editor for International Journal of Transitions and Innovation Systems

Prof. Luca Gnan from the University of Tor Vergata in Italy has been appointed to take over editorship of the International Journal of Transitions and Innovation Systems.

Research Pick: Shadow puppetry - "Quantitative analysis of the puppet shapes in Ngayogyakarta Wayang Kulit"

Ngayogyakarta Wayang Kulit is an ancient performance art form. Intricately carved leather puppets are commonly used to project a shadow on to an illuminated screen as a story or fable is relayed to the audience. The art form may encompass traditional, spiritual, or other types of story.

Such cultural importance is this art form from Indonesia that Wayang Kulit is UNESCO-listed. Researchers have now used various techniques to analyze the shapes of the shadow puppets and the characters that they represent with a view to facilitating conservation of the art form.

“We found that various pairs of physical variables can be used to analyze the puppet shapes: the puppet level of details, the puppet surface area, the puppet perimeter length and the puppet height. Our results demonstrate that we can classify the different types of puppet characters using the puppet shapes,” the team concludes.

Parikesit, G.O.F. (2017) ‘Quantitative analysis of the puppet shapes in Ngayogyakarta Wayang Kulit’, Int. J. Arts and Technology, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp.241–255.

Free sample articles newly available from Journal for Global Business Advancement

The following sample articles from the Journal for Global Business Advancement are now available here for free:

• Joint ventures in the real estate sector: the critical factors to consider for success
• The effects of HRM practices on organisational performance in Lebanese banks
• Four decades of academic research on product diversification-performance relationship: analysis and foresight
• Measuring brand equity of foreign fashion apparels in the Indian market
• Examining the relationships between service quality, perceived value, customer satisfaction and purchase intentions: a marketing study of Bangkok's metropolitan rapid transit system, Thailand

Special issue published: "Selected Issues in Business Research Across Emerging Countries"

Journal for Global Business Advancement 11(1) 2018

• Cultural value differences among ethnic groups in Indonesia: Are Hofstede's Indonesian findings still relevant?
• Intention towards halal logistics: a case study of Indonesian consumers
• Antecedents and consequences of customer loyalty in Qatar
• Tourism analytics: social media analytics framework for promoting Asian tourist destinations using big data approach
• How do public hospitals respond to environmental change? Evidence from Thailand
• Investigating the efficacy of techniques affecting information exchange in virtual teams

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Sustainable Strategic Management

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Sustainable Strategic Management are now available here for free:

• The concept of business model: evidence on non-aeronautical activities from the Italian airport industry
• Leadership in Mexico: cultural factors affecting organisational leadership
• Factors influencing business intelligence system use in decision making and organisational performance
• Russian institutional development: challenges to inbound investments and implications for government policymakers

Research Pick: Metro accessible - "A simple method to assess walkability around metro stations"

The success of any metropolitan transport service, the metro, relies on accessibility for the commuters and others who use it. If they can access it on foot or on non-powered wheeled transport, such as a bicycle, then it should be a success because it will allow people to get to and from their destination without the added pressure of vehicular congestion at either end of their metro journey. Researchers in Qatar have looked at the “walkability” of proposed metro stations in Doha. Their method of analysis is facile but provides important clues as to how planners might improve a metro system and make it even more accessible, usable, and useful.

Shaaban, K., Siam, A., Badran, A. and Shamiyah, M. (2018) ‘A simple method to assess walkability around metro stations’, Int. J. Sustainable Society, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp.1–19.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation are now available here for free:

• Studying the successful startup of a social enterprise: a case study of Lion's Thread Uganda
• Undoing gender in EU's social innovation policies?
• Social entrepreneurship through digitally networked communities - a case study of Iridium Interactive
• Creating and scaling a social innovation: case study of Support My School
• Evaluation of micro-credit facility for strengthening existing micro-enterprises
• Use of marketing in social enterprises
• Social entrepreneurship: a measurement instrument

Special issue published: "Quantifying Human Factors: Towards Analytical Human-in-the-Loop"

International Journal of Human Factors Modelling and Simulation 6(2/3) 2018

• Relevance of air-traffic controllers' tacit knowledge in enhancing air-traffic control and safety in Ghanaian airspace
• Bayesian network for the prediction of situation awareness errors
• Extracting typical incident patterns from text data
• Quantifying the roles of human error and his/her state-of-health: use of the double-exponential-probability-distribution-function
• Morphological analysis and reliability assessment: systemic-structural activity theory approach
• Human performance modelling for image analyst decision support design
• Towards a framework for reliability and safety analysis of complex space missions
• Quantitative analysis and assessment of intrinsic and extrinsic factors in human-in-the-loop incidents and prevalent early failures

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Information Systems and Change Management

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Information Systems and Change Management are now available here for free:

• Key issues of information systems management in Botswana
• Securing web applications from SQLIA using progressive detector
• Critical success factors for business intelligence system implementation in public sector organisation
• Synergies and conflicts among software quality attributes and bug fixes

Special issue published: "Energy Aspects of Tribology for Sustainable Development"

World Review of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development 14(2/3) 2018

• Enhanced tribological properties of aluminium using laser-assisted tungsten coating
• Tribological and mechanical properties of PM Fe-Cu-Sn alloy containing graphite as a solid lubricant
• Fabrication of a dimple structure using a machining process on a metallic surface
• A brief review on friction reduction via dimple structure for piston engine
• Wear characteristics of recycled carbon fibre-filled polypropylene composites via acidic surface treatment
• Degradation behaviour of treated betelnut fibres reinforced polyester composites for tribological applications
• Investigation of the pressure ratio and efficiency of a turbocharger centrifugal compressor with a vaned diffuser

Additional papers

• Concentration of air pollutants in an urban parking garage in Kuwait
• Green industrial performance: the GIP index

Research Picks: Dam you! - "Uncertainty assessment in the results of inverse problems: applied to damage detection in masonry dams"

Masonry dams are a critical component in civil engineering infrastructure across the world acting as the stalwart of water reservoirs for drinking and hydroelectric power generation. Given this, there is a need to understand the stresses and strains that such dams face especially when structural damage occurs during and after an earth tremor earthquake. Researchers in Germany have devised a method that can reveal localised damage and identify the degree to which a masonry dam has been compromised under a given scenario. Given that lives may depend on the integrity of such a dam, it is critical to understand the changes they may undergo and the means by which they might be repaired.

Nguyen-Tuan, L., Koenke, C., Bettzieche, V. and Lahmer, T. (2018) ‘Uncertainty assessment in the results of inverse problems: applied to damage detection in masonry dams‘, Int. J. Reliability and Safety, Vol. 12, Nos. 1/2, pp.2-23.

Special issue published: "Modelling, Simulation and Computer Software Developments in Petroleum Production and Processing Industries"

International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology 18(3/4) 2018

• Pressure transient behaviours of vertical wells in low permeability reservoirs with threshold pressure gradient
• Effect of different rheological models on prediction of tri-cone bit pressure drop
• Simulation, optimisation and analysis of energy saving in crude oil distillation unit
• An analytical model for dissolution of deposited asphaltene during CO2 injection from the porous media
• Practical shale gas decline analysis in Changning shale gas play - a variable pressure drop study
• Selection of decline curve analysis method using the cumulative production incline rate for transient production data obtained from a multi-stage hydraulic fractured horizontal well in unconventional gas fields
• Investigation on support pattern of a coal mine roadway under dynamic pressure of mining - a case study
• Analytical solution of coal self-heating characteristics incorporating the effect of oxygen concentration
• Control mechanisms and design for a 'coal-backfill-gangue' support system for coal mine gob-side entry retaining
• Gob-side entry retaining formed by roof cutting without roadside support

Additional papers

• The role of geo-energy interests of Russia in secessionist conflicts in Eastern Europe
• Pore characteristics and its significance on shale gas reservoir: a case study of the Longmaxi shale in the Nanchuan region, Chongqing, South China

Research Pick: Open source movement - "Open source innovation: what makes it move?"

Researchers in Brazil are hoping to understand what motivates the so-called open source movement particularly when it comes to open source innovation (OSI). They have carried out field studies of international companies that have adopted the OSI approach.

Their study confirms earlier explanations of the motivations but also adds to our understanding in areas beyond the software industries where open source has been a common ethos for much longer than other industries. Fundamentally, OSI offers businesses a way to break free strategically from the constraints of more conventional approaches to innovation.

The team suggests that the open strategy proposed by the OSI model could empower companies to up their competitive game.

Burtet, C.G., Verschoore, J.R. and Bittencourt, A.C. (2018) ‘Open source innovation: what makes it move?‘, Int. J. Business Innovation and Research, Vol. 16, No. 3, pp.324-341.