Supplier change, market competition and enterprise innovation

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study enterprise innovation in the perspective of external supplier relationship. On this purpose, this paper examines the impact of supplier change on enterprise innovation with the moderating role of market competition.Design/methodology/approachUsing 2012–2020 empirical data of Chinese listed manufacturing enterprises, this paper investigates the relationship among supplier change, market competition and enterprise innovation through a two-way interaction model.FindingsThe results show that supplier change has a negative impact on enterprise innovation. And market competition intensifies the negative relationship between supplier change and enterprise innovation. Additional analyses indicate that the main effect and the moderating effect are more significant when the enterprise is non-state-owned or has lower ownership concentration.Originality/valueThis paper studies enterprise innovation from the perspective of external stakeholders. It focuses on supplier relationship in a dynamic variation view, instead of the traditional static ones. Moreover, this paper explores the contingency effect of market competition and gives practical implications for managers to adjust innovation strategy flexibly.

A holistic tunnel safety concept for a 20-year-old tunnel upgrade to an ADR "Category A” tunnel

Following the elaboration of a Tunnel Safety Documentation for the T4 tunnel, several deviations from the European and national Standards were identified. Moreover, due the tunnels' special characteristics and its ageing equipment, the rehabilitation plan had not only to upgrade the level of safety to "Category A” as per the ADR agreement, but also to perform heavy maintenance works and provide sustainable solutions for the tunnel operations and the local community. The construction methodology poses significant challenges in the operation and the construction. Therefore, special provisions, technical and operational, were required in order for the transport of heavy and dangerous goods vehicles to be allowed in the tunnel during construction. The Covid pandemic and the geopolitical conditions (Ukraine war), seem to negatively affect the projects' duration and financing. With a budget of more than €20M, it is the first tunnel upgrade project of this magnitude and complexity in Greece, that sets the basis as refence for future tunnel upgrades. © 2023 The Author(s).

Assessing the Spontaneous Spread of Climate-Adapted Woody Plants in an Extensively Maintained Collection Garden

Climate change may strongly modify the habitat conditions for many woody plant species. Some species could disappear from their natural habitats and become endangered, while others could adapt well to the changed environmental conditions and continue to survive successfully or even proliferate more easily. A similar process can occur within the artificial urban environment as the hitherto popularly planted urban trees may suffer from the extremities of the urban climate. However, among the planted taxa, there are species that spread spontaneously and appear as weeds in extensively managed gardens. In our study, we evaluated the native and non-native species involved in spontaneous spreading in the institutional garden of Buda Arboretum (Budapest) during the COVID-19 period in 2020–2021 when entry was prohibited, and maintenance went on in a restricted, minimal level. We investigated the correlation between spontaneously settling and planted individuals, and then performed multivariate analyses for native and non-native spreading plants for spatial and quantitative data. During our studies, we observed the spontaneous spreading of 114 woody species, of which 38 are native and 76 are non-native. Taking the total number of individuals into account, we found that, in addition to the 2653 woody species planted, a further 7087 spontaneously emerged weeds developed, which creates an additional task in the maintenance. © 2023 by the authors.

Stress Factors and the Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review on the Aviation Industry

This study outlines the stress factors and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the stress variables among aviation workers, which includes airline employees, flight crews, pilots, maintenance crews, air traffic controllers, airport or ground workers, engineers, training personnel, and other aviation-related personnel. A review was done on 37 research papers using systematic literature review (SLR) and discovered nine stress factors among aviation workers which are working hours, workloads, internal factors, ergonomic issues, job uncertainty, job demands, organizational issues, team conflict, and the COVID-19 itself. The findings of this study could provide insights to employers in the aviation industry for mitigation actions that could help to successfully reduce and eliminate stress factors in the workplace. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Should health communication regarding covid-19 emphasize self- or other-focused impacts of mitigation behaviors? Insights from two message matching studies

Mask-wearing, social distancing, and vaccination remain effective ways to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Yet, many hesitate to enact some or all these preventive behaviors. We created three persuasive messages-framed to promote benefits to either (1) oneself, (2) close-others, or (3) distant-others-to determine whether the effectiveness of these messages varied based on personality differences (specifically independent/interdependent self-construal and chronic construal level). In two online experiments (N = 862), we measured individual differences and showed participants one of the three messages. Consistent interactions between interdependent self-construal and message conditions showed that those high in interdependent self-construal responded most positively to the self-focused messages promoting mask-wearing, social distancing, and COVID-19 vaccination. Those low in interdependent self-construal responded most negatively to the self-focused messages. Although no interaction effect was observed for independent self-construal, and inconsistent evidence emerged for construal level, other-focused messages performed either better or equally well to the self-focused messages for most participants and may thus be promising for future public health communication efforts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Cash transfer in the Covid-19 pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean

Este artigo apresenta resultados parciais de uma investigação em desenvolvimento por pesquisadores de universidades brasileiras, argentinas e uruguaias. Os programas de transferência de renda são vistos como medidas sociais para mitigar a pobreza, bem como para diminuir o aumento do desemprego, do trabalho informal e do desperdício de renda. A metodologia de pesquisa foram estudos bibliográficos e documentais;dados secundários;acesso a sites e dados da Comissão Econômica para a América Latina e o Caribe. A discussão enfoca concepções, modalidades e o debate sobre Programas Focalizados de Transferência de Renda e Renda Básica Universal como referência para discutir a realidade dos programas de transferência de renda na América Latina e Caribe. Os resultados apontaram para a ampliação dos programas focalizados de transferência de renda;criação de programas emergenciais para atender as consequências econômicas e sociais geradas pela pandemia de Covid-19, mas não foi identificada a implementação da Renda Básica Universal e Incondicional.Alternate :Este artículo presenta resultados parciales de una investigación en desarrollo por investigadores de universidades brasileñas, argentinas y uruguayas. Los programas de transferencias monetarias son vistos como medidas sociales para mitigar la pobreza, así como para disminuir el aumento del desempleo, el trabajo informal y el desperdicio de ingresos. La metodología de investigación fueron estudios bibliográficos y documentales;Datos secundarios;acceso a sitios web y datos de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe. La discusión se centra en las concepciones, modalidades y el debate sobre los Programas de Transferencias Monetarias Focalizadas y la Renta Básica Universal como referencia para discutir la realidad de los programas de transferencias monetarias en América Latina y el Caribe. Los resultados señalaron la ampliación de los programas de transferencias monetarias focalizadas;creación de programas de emergencia para atender las consecuencias económicas y sociales generadas por la pandemia del Covid-19, pero no se identificó la implementación de la Renta Básica Universal e Incondicional.Alternate :This article presents partial results of an investigation under development by researchers at Brazilian, Argentine and Uruguayan Universities. The cash transfer programs are seen as social measures to mitigate poverty, as well as to decrease the rise of unemployment, informal work and waste of income. The research methodology were bibliographic and documental studies;secondary data;access to websites and data from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. The discuss focus on conceptions, modalities and the debate on Focalized Cash Transfer Programs and Universal Basic Income as reference to discuss the reality of cash transfer programs in Latin America and the Caribbean. The outcomes pointed out the enlargement of the focalized cash transfer programs;creation of emergence programs to meet the economic and social consequences generated by the Covid-19 pandemic, but it was not identified the implementation of the Universal and Unconditional Basic Income.

[Factors related to sleep quality in Emergency Medical Technicians and their sleep habits during COVID-19 pandemic.]

OBJECTIVE: Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) show a high prevalence of sleep problems. Adding to these problems, another factor appeared two years ago: the COVID-19 pandemic. The objectives of this study were to describe the sleep quality and habits in a sample of EMTs in Spain during COVID-19 pandemic considering the factors related to them. METHODS: A national cross-sectional study was carried out in Spain between October 2020 and February 2021. EMTs who worked in basic and advanced life support ambulances were invited to participate in an online survey. Several sociodemographic variables were analyzed, as well as sleep quality, stress symptoms, pain, food consumption and physical activity. Logistic regression models were used to examine the associations between these variables and sleep quality. RESULTS: 340 EMTs participated in the study. Of them, 59.4% had poor sleep quality and the habits of 32.2% got worse during the pandemic. The EMTs with a poor sleep quality presented in higher proportion stress symptoms (OR: 4.19;95% CI: 2.16-8.11;p<0.001), pain (OR: 3.19;95% CI: 1.7-6.01;p<0.001) and a weekly consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages greater than two glasses (OR: 3.6;95% CI: 1.86-6.98;p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: EMTs show a high prevalence of poor sleep quality, which got worse during the pandemic. The factors related to them are stress, pain and consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. This study provides important information so that the emergency services can develop health promotion programs focused on these professionals.

Emotion regulation moderates the impact of state anxiety on psychological well-being in turkish population during the covid-19 pandemic

The current study aimed to examine the extent to which the relationship between state anxiety and psychological well-being was moderated by emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) during the COVID-19 outbreak. The data set included 520 participants from Turkish university students (282 females, 238 males) aged 18 to 25 (Mage = 21,04 years, SD = 1,59). The study was conducted utilizing a web-based cross-sectional research design. The self-reported questionnaires were administered to the participants via Google Forms with a socio-demographic information sheet. The snowball sampling strategy was employed. The findings showed significant relationships among state anxiety, emotion regulation strategies, and psychological well-being. More importantly, emotion regulation strategies moderated the relationship between state anxiety and psychological well-being. The negative relationship between state anxiety and psychological well-being appeared to increase if individuals utilized low levels of cognitive reappraisal and high levels of expressive suppression. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Vaccine ethics: An ethical framework for global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines

This paper addresses the just distribution of vaccines against the SARS-CoV- 2 virus and sets forth an ethical framework that prioritises frontline and essential workers, people at high risk of severe disease or death, and people at high risk of infection. Section I makes the case that vaccine distribution should occur at a global level in order to accelerate development and fair, efficient vaccine allocation. Section II puts forth ethical values to guide vaccine distribution including helping people with the greatest need, reducing health disparity, saving the most lives and promoting narrow social utility. It also responds to objections which claim that earlier years have more value than later years. Section III puts forth a practical ethical framework to aid decision-makers and compares it with alternatives. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Legitimacy versus efficiency: implementation of in-person work in Japanese companies during the COVID-19 pandemic

PurposeThis study aims to examine how companies persuaded their employees to be present at offices during the COVID-19 pandemic and how remote and non-remote work practices affected employee performance. Design/methodology/approachFirm strategies are assumed to follow the principles of legitimacy and efficiency. However, these principles are often contradictory and incompatible. This study explored how companies legitimized non-remote work during the pandemic in Japan, and how in-person work practices affected individual employee productivity. The authors conducted a survey in the country, and the collected data was quantitatively analyzed. FindingsOn the basis of our empirical study on institutional work providing rationales for maintaining existing business practices, the authors found that Japanese companies often used institutional logics that included the inevitability of employees' obedience to company policy, the lack of employees' digital resources at home and the necessity of face-to-face customer dealing to legitimize their non-adoption of telework, even amid the emergency. The findings also indicate that the adoption of in-person work was negatively related to individual employee performance. Originality/valueThe current study aims to make a theoretical contribution to the literature on institutional maintenance and institutional work, which, till now, has only focused on institutional change rather than institutional maintenance. Second, few studies have empirically investigated the contradiction between legitimacy and efficiency, although the literature on organizational legitimacy assumes that individuals and organizations are not always rational.

Towards Digital Twin Maintenance Management of Health Facilities in Nigeria: The Need for Maintenance Documentation

The COVID-19 pandemic that recently broke forth revealed the waning state of a considerable number of healthcare facilities, especially in unindustrialized territories. This is of great concern, and it has become pertinent to identify determinants of efficient maintenance management in developing countries. There is an inefficient maintenance management of hospital buildings due to a low level of maintenance documentation, which otherwise would have facilitated the adoption of digital twin (DT) technology. The existing maintenance management frameworks and models have not explored and evaluated maintenance documentation as an all-inclusive construct. Hence, this study was aimed at emphasizing the significance of maintenance documentation for its adoption as one of the main determinants of efficient maintenance management, with a view to attaining the DT maintenance management of hospital buildings in Nigeria. After a theoretical review on existing studies around documentation, the software documentation concept was used to conceptualise this observed gap in maintenance management models for public hospital buildings in developing countries. This critical review, which forms part of an ongoing study, asserts that maintenance documentation is a major construct for efficient maintenance management and a prerequisite for the adoption of DT in the management of healthcare constructed facilities in developing countries.

Maintainers of Stability: The Labor of China's Data-Driven Governance and Dynamic Zero-COVID

This paper examines the social, technological, and emotional labor of maintaining China's data-driven governance broadly, and dynamic zero-COVID management in particular. Drawing on ethnographic research in China, we examine the sociotechnical work of maintenance during the 2022 Shanghai lockdown. This labor included coordinating mass testing, quarantine, and lockdown procedures as well as implementing ad-hoc technological workarounds and managing public sentiments. We demonstrate that, far from being effected from the top down, China's data-driven governance relies on the circumscribed participation of citizens. During Shanghai's lockdown, citizens with relevant expertise helped to maintain technological stability by fixing or programming data systems, but also to ensure the ongoing production of"positive feelings"about social stability through data-driven governance. In so doing, such citizens simultaneously enacted an ambivalent and circumscribed form of agency, and maintained social and by extension political stability. This article sheds light on data-driven governance and political processes of maintenance. © 2023 ACM.

"This can be a powerful tool": Peer sexuality education during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in shifts in college education and subsequently peer sexuality education for college students. We examine one case study of a peer sexuality education group's challenges and benefits of navigating from in-person to online sexuality education work. We include reflexive journal entries from past and current members (n = 5), a survey from past and current members (n = 4), and organizational artifacts. We find challenges from both the peer education work itself and within the organization as well as benefits of accessibility and addressing marginalized topics in online spaces. Our findings suggest that future virtual peer education may require strong infrastructure and virtual education skills. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Features of sanitary and anti-epidemic (preventive) measures among the personnel of camp training events in military educational organizations in the context of the spread of the new COVID-19 coronavirus infection

The experience of medical maintenance for assembly events annually held on the basis of the educational process of the Military Medical Academy named after S.M. Kirov. The main directions of the organization of sanitary and anti-epidemic (preventive) measures among the personnel at each stage of the camp gathering have been determined. It is shown that at the preparatory stage it is advisable to develop additional plans that concretize sanitary and anti-epidemic (preventive) measures for the stages of the camp gathering. At the stage of accepting participants, the main direction is the organization of events that prevent the introduction of infection with the arriving personnel. At the main stage of the camp training, the leading role belongs to disinfection measures. At the stage of departure of participants, the main efforts should be focused on minimizing the potential risk of infection along the route and the introduction of infection into their military units. The features of disinfection are described depending on the type of object being processed. The results of testing a designed device for fixing dispensers with a skin antiseptic on the basis of a unified military stand in a camp gathering are presented. The features of the organization of medical control over the material and household provision of the personnel of the training camp are stated. The basic principles of prophylaxis and anti-epidemic protection during assembly activities in the context of the spread of COVID-19 have been formulated. © 2019 Eco-Vector LLC. All rights reserved.

Israel's national HIE network Ofek: a robust infrastructure for clinical and population health

The national health information exchange (HIE) network in Israel is perhaps the world's best kept HIE secret. Few Israelis even know the network exists, yet this HIE network has broad adoption across Israel's health system, and it has facilitated many landmark studies on HIE in the biomedical literature. This case study highlights the development, implementation, and evolution of Israel's national HIE network. What began as a vision within one health maintenance organization (HMO) about 20 years ago now connects most hospitals in the country as well as many ambulatory care facilities. At its center is a focus on using a de-centralized, federated network to deliver comprehensive, virtual medical records to clinicians on demand within their electronic medical record system for use in supporting patient care. The network evolved to support COVID-19 and other national priorities. Moving forward, the Israeli national HIE network will play a critical role in supporting the nation's digital health strategy, and will focus on advanced functionalities, including common clinical terminologies and advanced analytics. © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comprehensive medication management services provided via telehealth or hybrid models: A scoping review

Comprehensive medication management (CMM) is increasingly provided by health care teams through telehealth or hybrid modalities. The purpose of this scoping literature review was to assess the published literature and examine the economic, clinical, and humanistic outcomes of CMM services provided by pharmacists via telehealth or hybrid modalities. This scoping review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis extension for Scoping Reviews. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies were included if they: reported on economic, clinical, or humanistic outcomes;were conducted via telehealth or hybrid modalities;included a pharmacist on their interprofessional team;and evaluated CMM services. The search was conducted between January 1, 2000, and September 28, 2021. The search strategy was adapted for use in Medline (PubMed);Embase;Cochrane;Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature;PsychINFO;International Pharmaceutical s;Scopus;and grey literature. Four reviewers extracted data using a screening tool developed for this study and reviewed for risk of bias. Authors screened 3500 articles, from which 11 studies met the inclusion criteria (9 observational studies, 2 RCTs). In seven studies, clinical outcomes improved with telehealth CMM interventions compared to either usual care, face-to-face CMM, or educational controls, as shown by the statistically significant changes in chronic disease clinical outcomes. Two studies evaluated and found increased patient and provider satisfaction. One study described a source of revenue for a telehealth CMM service. Overall, study results indicate that telehealth CMM services, in select cases, may be associated with improved clinical outcomes, but the methods of the included studies were not homogenous enough to conclude that telehealth or hybrid modalities were superior to in-person CMM. To understand the full impact on the Quadruple Aim, additional research is needed to investigate the financial outcomes of CMM conducted using telehealth or hybrid technologies.Copyright © 2022 Pharmacotherapy Publications, Inc.

Exploration of symptom clusters during hemodialysis and symptom network analysis of older maintenance hemodialysis patients: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Symptom networks can provide empirical evidence for the development of personalized and precise symptom management strategies. However, few studies have established networks of symptoms experienced by older patients on maintenance hemodialysis. Our goal was to examine the type of symptom clusters of older maintenance hemodialysis patients during dialysis and construct a symptom network to understand the symptom characteristics of this population. METHODS: The modified Dialysis Symptom Index was used for a cross-sectional survey. Network analysis was used to analyze the symptom network and node characteristics, and factor analysis was used to examine symptom clusters. RESULTS: A total of 167 participants were included in this study. The participants included 111 men and 56 women with a mean age of 70.05 ± 7.40. The symptom burdens with the highest scores were dry skin, dry mouth, itching, and trouble staying asleep. Five symptom clusters were obtained from exploratory factor analysis, of which the clusters with the most severe symptom burdens were the gastrointestinal discomfort symptom cluster, sleep disorder symptom cluster, skin discomfort symptom cluster, and mood symptom cluster. Based on centrality markers, it could be seen that feeling nervous and trouble staying asleep had the highest strength, and feeling nervous and feeling irritable had the highest closeness and betweenness. CONCLUSIONS: Hemodialysis patients have a severe symptom burden and multiple symptom clusters. Dry skin, itching, and dry mouth are sentinel symptoms in the network model; feeling nervous and trouble staying asleep are core symptoms of patients; feeling nervous and feeling irritable are bridge symptoms in this symptom network model. Clinical staff can formulate precise and efficient symptom management protocols for patients by using the synergistic effects of symptoms in the symptom clusters based on sentinel symptoms, core symptoms, and bridge symptoms.

To wear or not to wear? The influence of regulatory focus and individual cultural orientation on face mask wearing

During the COVID-19 pandemic, much focus has been placed on the healthcare benefits of wearing face masks, yet some people resist wearing them. Though mask mandates may enhance face mask adoption in the short run, the effectiveness of such mandates, in the long run, remains questionable. Thus, understanding of psychological and sociological mechanisms behind wearing face masks becomes pertinent. This study by examining these underlying mechanisms, tends to answer two research questions: (1) How does regulatory focus impact one's behavior to wear face masks? (2) How does the impact of regulatory focus on this behavior vary under different cultural orientations? Drawing on the theory of regulatory fit, we found that people with a prevention focus will have fewer concerns about wearing face masks than people with a promotion focus. In addition, we also found that prevention-focused people who exhibited a cultural orientation with higher levels of collectivism, masculinity, power distance, and uncertainty avoidance had fewer concerns about face mask wearing perception and were more likely to wear face masks than did promotion-focused people with the same cultural orientation. The implications of these findings on the relevant literature and practice are also discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

An Efficient IoT e-Environment System to Monitor and Control Pollution and Maintain Hygienics in Educational Institutions

The Covid-19 Pandemic (C19P) situation of the entire world now affects all fields in terms of Excellencies and let to suffer drastically from normal functioning. The whole world is now concentrating on the protection from the C19 virus in the form of vaccination (C19V) and social distancing (SD). There is a kind enough need arises to maintain the hygiene environment during and after the post C19P situations, and this IoT e-Environment Pollution Monitoring and Controlling System (IEE-PMCS) with 3 parameters (air, water, sound) resolves and addresses the issues in the hygiene maintenance of various environments as common. In the IEE-PMCS proposed work, the 3 measuring parameters and their real-time and current values are percept with the appropriate sensors of IoT elements, and the data are collected and stored on a cloud and are verified with the predefined threshold values of pollution measures with included tolerance values of permissible values to indicate if there is any cause of the pollution on the real-time perceptions. The verification and decision-making of the system is reliable on the new algorithms proposed in this work. This work is based on system modeling and providing an efficient architecture to the maximum extent of the intended purpose, with a detailed description of the flow of operations and with the algorithmic level. © 2022 IEEE.

Sleep quality among teachers of an educational institution during the COVID-19 health emergency, Peru, 2021.

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic affected the quality of life of the population worldwide. The countries took several protective measures to avoid contagion, including social isolation, teleworking and distance education. As schools closed, teachers took over primarily online teaching. The study main objective was to determine the sleep quality among teachers of a public educational institution in the district of Mancora, Peru, during the COVID-19 pandemic social isolation. Material(s) and Method(s): An observational, cross-sectional and prospective study. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was used to assess 59 preschool, primary and secondary school teachers who taught through distance education from March to December 2021. Result(s): The average age was 44.3 +/- 8.89 years. Women accounted for 64.4 %, specialist teachers-i.e., those who have expertise in a particular field-55.9 %, secondary school teachers 55.9 %, primary school teachers 30.5 % and preschool teachers 13.6 %. The affected sleep quality parameters were the following: 69.5 % had poor sleep quality, 67.8 % inadequate sleep latency, 61 % sleep duration of less than five hours, 27.1 % habitual sleep efficiency of less than 65 % and 49.2 % sleep disturbances. Moreover, 50.8 % reported using a sleeping medication more than once a week and 39 % severe daytime dysfunction. There was an association between sleep quality and the components subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency and daytime dysfunction. Nonetheless, there was no association with sex, educational level and teaching specialty. Conclusion(s): Teachers of an educational institution in Mancora had a high prevalence of poor sleep quality and the most affected components were sleep latency, daytime dysfunction and sleep disturbances.Copyright © La revista. Publicado por la Universidad de San Martin de Porres, Peru.