PurposeThis study aims to offer and validate an integrated marketing capability-product innovations framework. Particularly, it aims to examine the role of adaptive marketing capability in enabling ...market ambidexterity and incremental as well as radical product innovation. Also it intends to investigate the moderating role of transformational leadership between adaptive marketing capability and market ambidexterity.Design/methodology/approachManufacturing firms in Pakistan, an emerging economy, are taken as the context for this study. A designed survey questionnaire is used for data collection. Partial least square technique is employed to empirically validate and test the hypothesized model with a sample of 192 manufacturing firms. Particularly, the two-stage approach in SmartPLS is used to validate measurement models, and structural equation modeling technique is used to test the proposed hypothesis.FindingsThe findings not only confirm that adaptive marketing capability is instrumental to both incremental and radical product innovations but also reveal that adaptive marketing capability serves an important antecedent to market ambidexterity shedding new lights on its mediating role in the relationship of adaptive marketing capability with incremental and radical product innovations. Moreover, the results find that the effectiveness of adaptive marketing capability to support market ambidexterity may involve a possible trade-off between exploitation and exploration when the leaders exhibit a low or high level of transformational leadership behavior.Originality/valueThis study contributes to outside-in strategic perspective and contextual ambidexterity literature by revealing the role of adaptive marketing capability as an important enabler of market ambidexterity which, in turn, allows the firm to simultaneously introduce incremental and radical product innovations. In this way, this study advances the current understanding of the antecedents and consequences of contextual ambidexterity. Also, this study provides insight into the types of capabilities needed for the firm's contextual and employees' behavioral adaptation to simultaneously manage exploitation and exploration within the same business unit which was lacking in the previous literature. Further, this study also offers a novel understanding of the conditional role of transformational leadership between adaptive marketing capability and market ambidexterity.
PurposeBuilding upon the firm market orientation theories, this study aims to examine the individual and synergistic effects of the firm inside-out and outside-in marketing capability on its ...incremental and radical product innovation outcomes.Design/methodology/approachBy collecting cross-sectional data from 203 manufacturing firms in Pakistan, confirmatory factor analysis in AMOS and hierarchical multiple regression analysis in SPSS are performed to validate the study measurement models and test the hypothesized relationships, respectively.FindingsThe findings of this study suggest both inside-out and outside-in marketing capability critical for incremental and radical product innovation. Specifically, inside-out marketing capability is found positively associated with incremental product innovation and non-linearly (inverted U-shaped) associated with radical product innovation. Conversely, outside-in marketing capability is found positively associated with radical product innovation but non-linearly (inverted U-shaped) associated with incremental product innovation. However, the results indorse that developing synergy between the inside-out and outside-in marketing capability positively impacts both incremental and radical product innovation.Originality/valueDrawing from the firm inside-out and outside-in market orientation theories, the study extends the existing research on product innovation outcomes from the marketing capabilities perspective. Previous literature highly recognized the value of the firm market orientation and being market-driven in market-based product innovations. However, there was a lack of understanding of how the firm marketing capabilities facilitate incremental and radical product innovation. This study provides a novel understanding of the firm inside-out and outside-in marketing capability role in inducing incremental and radical product innovation which enrich and extend the current literature on firm capabilities and product innovations from a marketing perspective.
The student’s performance prediction is an important research topic because it can help teachers prevent students from dropping out before final exams and identify students that need additional ...assistance. The objective of this study is to predict the difficulties that students will encounter in a subsequent digital design course session. We analyzed the data logged by a technology-enhanced learning (TEL) system called digital electronics education and design suite (DEEDS) using machine learning algorithms. The machine learning algorithms included an artificial neural networks (ANNs), support vector machines (SVMs), logistic regression, Naïve bayes classifiers and decision trees. The DEEDS system allows students to solve digital design exercises with different levels of difficulty while logging input data. The input variables of the current study were
average time, total number of activities, average idle time, average number of keystrokes
and
total related activity
for each exercise during individual sessions in the digital design course; the output variables were the student(s) grades for each session. We then trained machine learning algorithms on the data from the previous session and tested the algorithms on the data from the upcoming session. We performed k-fold cross-validation and computed the receiver operating characteristic and root mean square error metrics to evaluate the models’ performances. The results show that ANNs and SVMs achieve higher accuracy than do other algorithms. ANNs and SVMs can easily be integrated into the TEL system; thus, we would expect instructors to report improved student’s performance during the subsequent session.
The fast depletion of fossil fuels and the growing awareness of the need for environmental protection have led us to the energy crisis. Positive development has been achieved since the last decade by ...the collective effort of scientists. In this regard, renewable energy sources (RES) are being deployed in the power system to meet the energy demand. The microgrid concept (AC, DC) is introduced, in which distributed energy resources (DERs), the energy storage system (ESS) and loads are interconnected. DC microgrids are appreciated due to their high efficiency and reliability performance. Despite its significant growth, the DC microgrid is still relatively novel in terms of grid architecture and control systems. In this context, an energy management system (EMS) is essential for the optimal use of DERs in secure, reliable, and intelligent ways. Therefore, this paper strives to shed light on DC microgrid architecture, control structure, and EMS. With an extensive literature survey on EMSs’ role, different methods and strategies related to microgrid energy management are covered in this article. More attention is centered on the EMS for DC microgrids in terms of size and cost optimization. A very concise analysis of multiple optimization methods and techniques has been presented exclusively for residential applications.
Food additives are one of the essential components in 3D food printing, which can be used to improve the processability performance of printed foods. In this study, five types of soluble starch‐based ...additives (Soluble starch (Ss), gelatinized soluble starch, gelatinized starch powder, oxidized starch powder (OSp), oxidized starch‐gelatin powder (OS‐Gp)) are added to ground beef in order to enhance its flowability during the extrusion process and improve the quality of 3D printed products. Beef products are made with 1% formulation for each starch‐based additives and are compared with control (no additives) samples. All additives enhance the cooking yield of samples significantly. Among all treatments, diameter reduction is not significant compared to the control except for the addition of gelatinized Ss and OS‐GP. The addition of starch‐based additives results in significant changes in the texture of the samples, with most of the hardness, chewiness, and viscosity decreasing. Treatment of starch‐based additives brings a lighter color to the samples except for the addition of OSp, and all the additives reduce the redness and yellowness value significantly.
Starch‐based materials are used as additives for 3DP of beef, significantly increasing the cooking yield of products, and the sample texture changes greatly after adding additives. The findings presented in this paper provide new insights into the manufacturing of 3D printed meat products.
Date palm ash (DPA) and MgAl-layered double hydroxide (LDH) composites were synthesized by the co-precipitation method and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning ...electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET). The DPA-MgAl-LDH (DPA/MgAl) composites were employed for the removal of methyl orange (MO) and eriochrome black-T (EBT) from aqueous phase. Incorporation of 33.33% (
w
/
w
) DPA into the layers of MgAl increased the surface area from 44.46 to 140.65 m
2
/g, which leads to the improved adsorption performance. The maximum adsorption capacity of DPA/MgAl (1:2) at 298 K was 242.98 and 425.16 (mg/g) for MO and EBT, respectively. The adsorption data of dyes were adequately fitted by a pseudo-second-order and Langmuir isotherm model. The composite showed excellent reusability performance up to three cycles. Addition of DPA into MgAl-LDH resulted in an effective low-cost adsorbent for decontamination of dyes from wastewater.
Graphical abstract
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Effect of mango kernel fat (MKF) on antioxidant characteristics and lipolysis of Gouda cheese was investigated. Milk fat (3.5%) was partially replaced with MKF i.e. 5, 10, 15 and 20% concentrations ...(T
1
, T
2
, T
3
and T
4
). Cheese prepared from 100% milk fat served as control. Cheese samples were ripened for 90 days at 6 ± 1 °C and analysed at 0, 45 and 90 days of ripening. Total phenolic contents of control, T
1
, T
2
, T
3
and T
4
were 14 ± 0.35, 129 ± 0.75, 188 ± 2.52, 267 ± 10.61 and 391 ± 8.46 mg GAE/g. Total flavonoid content of control, T
1
, T
2
, T
3
and T
4
were 0.22 ± 0.03, 1.47 ± 0.09, 3.62 ± 0.15, 5.88 ± 0.35, 8.29 ± 0.63 mg quercetin equivalent/ml. DPPH free radical scavenging activity of control and experimental samples increased throughout the ripening period. DPPH free radicals scavenging activity of 90 days old control, T
1
, T
2
, T
3
and T
4
were 16.38 ± 0.0.26e, 30.47 ± 0.64d, 68.62 ± 0.91c, 73.29 ± 0.85b, 92.61 ± 1.44a %. HPLC characterization revealed the existence of mangiferin, caffeic acid, catechin, quercetin and chlorogenic acid in MKF fortified Gouda cheese. Fortification of MKF increased the concentration of C18:1, C18:2 and C18:3 in cheese. The concentration of C18:1, C18:2 and C18:3 in control were 24.55 ± 0.95, 1.76 ± 0.09 and 0.31 ± 0.02%. While, the concentration of C18:1, C18:2 and C18:3 in T
4
were 30.11 ± 1.34, 2.79 ± 2.79 and 0.92 ± 0.11%. MKF fortified Gouda cheese had better oxidative stability and sensory characteristics. These results evidenced that antioxidant capacity, unsaturated fatty acids and oxidative stability of Gouda cheese can be improved with MKF.
This study intends to investigate public debt sustainability across 29 Sub‐Sahara African (SSA) economies, employing various econometric specifications, for the sampled years 1996–2020. The study ...employs Bohn's (Are stationarity and cointegration restrictions really necessary for the intertemporal budget constraint? Journal of monetary Economics, 54(7), pp.1837–1847.) framework of sustainability as the baseline model to assess public debt sustainability across the sampled Sub‐Sahara African economies. As additional tests of public debt sustainability in order to support the baseline findings, the study also employs panel unit root and timeseries unit tests. The baseline findings from the OLS, panel quantile and instrumental panel quantile regressions show that public debt is sustainable across the panel of SSA economies. The positive and statistically significant response of primary balance under the Bohn's framework of sustainability manifest that the intertemporal budget constraint is not violated in the sampled economies. The consistency in the estimates under the OLS, panel quantile and instrumental panel quantile regressions also show that the estimates are robust throughout the estimation process. Also, utilizing the panel unit root test for public debt sustainability, the findings show that public debt is stationary over the sampled years which implies that intertemporal budget constraint holds and that public debt is sustainable across the sampled SSA economies. However, the timeseries analysis indicate that although majority of the SSA economies have sustainable public debt ratios, four countries namely Uganda, Sudan, Togo and Cote d'Ivoire have unsustainable public debt ratios. The study has important policy implications in terms of prudent public debt management and fiscal management for the sampled SSA economies.
This article investigates the impact of manufacturing technology on the structure, mechanical, and tribological properties of new antifriction composite materials based on R6M5 high-speed tool steel ...grinding waste. The characteristics of the new composite’s structure formation and its impact on properties after use of the established technological modes, including grinding waste regeneration, were illustrated. It was demonstrated that such technology is capable of ensuring microheterogeneous structure. The material’s structure consists of the metal matrix based on R6M5 high-speed tool steel waste and uniformly distributed CaF2 solid lubricant in the steel matrix. As compared to known iron-based composites, this structure promotes a high degree of mechanical and tribological properties. During tribological tests, anti-seize thin films of 15–20 μm are formed on the contacting surfaces. These constantly renewable films contribute to the high antifriction properties of the composite under the studied friction conditions and provide a self-lubricating effect. Such films fully cover both the material’s surface and the counterface. The formation of antifriction films results in the self-lubrication mode. The findings of the study open up the possibility of predicting the friction behavior of a composite at high temperatures by selecting the initial metal grinding waste to ensure the appropriate level of properties. The extensive use of various alloy steel-based industrial grinding waste in the re-production cycle would significantly contribute to resolving the global environmental problem of protecting the environment from pollution.
Many synthetic routes manufacture zirconium nanoparticles in metal oxide, nitride, and other combination forms. Coupled with other variables such as concentration, pH, and form of precursor used, the ...various synthetic methods support synthesizing the zirconium metal oxide nanoparticles with changed features. Various synthetic methods were studied, such as sol-gel, hydrothermal, laser ablation, and precipitation. All have different synthetic routes, different precursors and solvents were sued, and the product was characterized by SEM, TEM, photo luminance spectroscopy, UV-absorption spectroscopy, and powder X-ray diffraction. X-ray diffraction determined the crystal structure by identifying the crystal shape, arrangement of atoms, and spacing between them. SEM and TEM studied the particle size and morphology of nanoparticles. UV-visible absorption spectroscopy and PL spectroscopy were used for the determination of optical properties of nanoparticles. Zirconium oxide nanoparticles have many applications in the medical field. The review study primarily focuses on the efficient combination of zirconium dioxide with other additive materials and functionalization techniques used to improve the material’s properties, assisting the use of the material in hip arthroplasty and bone tissue applications. The development of sophisticated near-infrared (NIR) absorbing small molecules for useful phototheranostic applications was discussed in this paper.