Kimia Abedi, Hamid Keshvari and Mehran Solati-Hashjin
This study aims to develop a simplified bioink preparation method that can be applied to most hydrogel bioinks used in extrusion-based techniques.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to develop a simplified bioink preparation method that can be applied to most hydrogel bioinks used in extrusion-based techniques.
Design/methodology/approach
The parameters of the bioprinting process significantly affect the printability of the bioink and the viability of cells. In turn, the bioink formulation and its physicochemical properties may influence the appropriate range of printing parameters. In extrusion-based bioprinting, the rheology of the bioink affects the printing pressure, cell survival and structural integrity. Three concentrations of alginate-gelatin hydrogel were prepared and printed at three different flow rates and nozzle gauges to investigate the print parameters. Other characterizations were performed to evaluate the hydrogel structure, printability, gelation time, swelling and degradation rates of the bioink and cell viability. An experimental design was used to determine optimal parameters. The analyses included live/dead assays, rheological measurements, swelling and degradation.
Findings
The experimental design results showed that the hydrogel flow rate substantially influenced printing accuracy and pressure. The best hydrogel flow rate in this study was 10 ml/h with a nozzle gauge of 18% and 4% alginate. Three different concentrations of alginate-gelatin hydrogels were found to exhibit shear-thinning behavior during printing. After seven days, 46% of the structure in the 4% alginate-5% gelatin sample remained intact. After printing, the viability of skin fibroblast cells for the optimized sample was 91%.
Originality/value
This methodology offers a straightforward bioink preparation method applicable to the majority of hydrogels used in extrusion-based procedures. This can also be considered a prerequisite for cell printing.
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Mohammadkarim Bahadori, Ehsan Teymourzadeh, Hamidreza Tajik, Ramin Ravangard, Mehdi Raadabadi and Seyed Mojtaba Hosseini
Strategic planning is the best tool for managers seeking an informed presence and participation in the market without surrendering to changes. Strategic planning enables managers…
Abstract
Purpose
Strategic planning is the best tool for managers seeking an informed presence and participation in the market without surrendering to changes. Strategic planning enables managers to achieve their organizational goals and objectives. Hospital goals, such as improving service quality and increasing patient satisfaction cannot be achieved if agreed strategies are not implemented. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors affecting strategic plan implementation in one teaching hospital using interpretive structural modeling (ISM).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used a descriptive study involving experts and senior managers; 16 were selected as the study sample using a purposive sampling method. Data were collected using a questionnaire designed and prepared based on previous studies. Data were analyzed using ISM.
Findings
Five main factors affected strategic plan implementation. Although all five variables and factors are top level, “senior manager awareness and participation in the strategic planning process” and “creating and maintaining team participation in the strategic planning process” had maximum drive power. “Organizational structure effects on the strategic planning process” and “Organizational culture effects on the strategic planning process” had maximum dependence power.
Practical implications
Identifying factors affecting strategic plan implementation is a basis for healthcare quality improvement by analyzing the relationship among factors and overcoming the barriers.
Originality/value
The authors used ISM to analyze the relationship between factors affecting strategic plan implementation.
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Siti Hasnah Hassan, Noor Mohamed Mohamed Haniba and Noor Hazlina Ahmad
In this twenty-first century, the emergence of social media has been integral in business-related processes, especially in small- and medium-sized…
Abstract
Purpose
In this twenty-first century, the emergence of social media has been integral in business-related processes, especially in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which allows businesses to interact and build a relationship with customers to improve their sustainable service quality. Concisely, this study aims to examine the benefits of social customer relationship management (s-CRM) performance from the perceptive of SMEs owned by Muslims.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey method was used and the data were gathered from 135 SMEs which participated in Halfest (Halal Fiesta Malaysia) trade show in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Findings
Interestingly, the results revealed that the adoption of information and communications technology (ICT) has both direct and indirect impacts on s-CRM performance. On the other hand, the perceived value of s-CRM mediates the relationship between customer information management and performance of s-CRM. In this context, the perceived value was ascertained to be an influential factor for both ICT adoption and customer information management.
Research limitations/implications
With a connection to the results, this study concludes that to enhance business performance to sustain in the marketplace, the establishment of s-CRM is crucial, as it has significant implication in marketing, customer service and sales department of SMEs.
Originality/value
This paper provides new insight into the importance of s-CRM to SMEs to improve interactions with the key stakeholders and convey meaningful insight to instil customer-centric practices.
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Memoona Iqbal and Muhammad Rafiq
Digital Libraries are complex, and this complexity is a motive to study user success on the behalf of appropriate user success models. These models comprise the factors which play…
Abstract
Purpose
Digital Libraries are complex, and this complexity is a motive to study user success on the behalf of appropriate user success models. These models comprise the factors which play a part between people, technology and organizations. The purpose of this study was to specify and examine an integrated digital library user success (IDLUS) model within the context of digital library settings, Higher Education Commission National Digital Library (HEC-NDL) of Pakistan, by adopting and reusing the existing digital library and Web success models.
Design/methodology/approach
Stratified random sampling technique was used to choose the sample from the University of the Punjab, a highly ranked public sector university in Pakistan. Participants were asked to complete an adapted survey questionnaire. A total of 355 completed and usable questionnaires were obtained. Data analyses through confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation modeling produced the results that have supported the proposed IDLUS model. The proposed IDLUS model was tested and supported through model fit statistics in the academic computing environment of the HEC-NDL of Pakistan.
Findings
Findings revealed that relationships between the latent variables hypothesized in the model were confirmed.
Research limitations/implications
The study has both theoretical and practical ramifications for academicians and information system designers and developers.
Originality/value
The IDLUS model is recommended first time in the history of librarianship in Pakistan as an overall user success model in the digital library information system computing environment. That made numerous recommendations for future research in the field of information management, particularly for digital library development at national and international levels.
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N. Sreelekha and Surendra Kumar Sia
The present study aims to investigate the relationship between loneliness and psychological well-being and examine whether death anxiety mediates the association between…
Abstract
Purpose
The present study aims to investigate the relationship between loneliness and psychological well-being and examine whether death anxiety mediates the association between loneliness and psychological well-being among community-dwelling elderly people in the Kerala state of India.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 209 participants (125 males and 84 females) were selected for this study through the convenience sampling method. SPSS (version 22) was used to estimate descriptive and correlational indices. Mediation analysis was conducted using Hayes Process macro-Version 3.5 and 5,000 bootstrapped sample-based analysis.
Findings
Results indicate the significant indirect effect of loneliness on psychological well-being through the influence of death anxiety. It was thus concluded that lonely feelings among elderly people lower psychological well-being and death anxiety partially mediates the relationship of loneliness and psychological well-being.
Research limitations/implications
The cross-sectional study with the use of questionnaires might not be adequate to establish causal links. All the participants were from community-dwelling. So it reduces the possibility of generalizing the findings to institutional settings. The study recommends the need and importance of mental health support for elderly people through community intervention programs to reduce their feeling of loneliness.
Originality/value
The present study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by substantiating the mediating role of death anxiety in the relationship between loneliness and the psychological well-being of elderly people staying at home.