Maryam Gholami, Amir Hossein Mahvi, Fahimeh Teimouri, Mohammad Hassan Ehrampoush, Abbasali Jafari Nodoushan, Sara Jambarsang and Mohammad Taghi Ghaneian
This paper aims to study the application of high-tolerance and flexible indigenous bacteria and fungi, along with the co-metabolism in recycled paper and cardboard mill (RPCM…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study the application of high-tolerance and flexible indigenous bacteria and fungi, along with the co-metabolism in recycled paper and cardboard mill (RPCM) wastewater treatment (WWT).
Design/methodology/approach
The molecular characterization of isolated indigenous bacteria and fungi was performed by 16S rRNA and 18S rRNA gene sequencing, respectively. Glucose was used as a cometabolic substrate to enhance the bioremediation process.
Findings
The highest removal efficiency was achieved for both chemical oxygen demand (COD) and color [78% COD and 45% color removal by Pseudomonas aeruginosa RW-2 (MZ603673), as well as approximately 70% COD and 48% color removal by Geotrichum candidum RW-4 (ON024394)]. The corresponding percentages were higher in comparison with the efficiency obtained from the oxidation ditch unit in the full-scale RPCM WWT plant.
Originality/value
Indigenous P. aeruginosa RW-2 and G. candidum RW-4 demonstrated effective capability in RPCM WWT despite the highly toxic and low biodegradable nature, especially with the assistance of glucose.
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Maryam Hasanzadeh, Fereshteh Kalantari, Hadi Emamat, Hamid Ghalandari and Hadith Tangestani
Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is the most common nutritional anemia in the world and a pervasive health problem, especially in developing countries. Children under two years of age…
Abstract
Purpose
Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is the most common nutritional anemia in the world and a pervasive health problem, especially in developing countries. Children under two years of age are more prone to be affected by IDA. The best strategy to prevent and treat IDA is to use iron supplements. This study aims to examine the factors associated with noncompliance (such as non-utilization or inconsistent usage) of iron drop supplementation among infants between 6 and 24 months old.
Design/methodology/approach
Online databases (PubMed, Scopus and SID) were searched to retrieve relevant articles published from inception up to July 2023. Among the 2,177 articles detected, after removing duplicate and irrelevant titles, 21 cross-sectional studies that met the authors’ inclusion criteria were included. Screening for articles and data extraction were conducted separately by two researchers.
Findings
The findings suggest that some factors related to mothers, such as education, knowledge, attitude and performance; some factors associated with child such as child’s gastrointestinal and dental complications; taste and smell of iron drops; and birth order and gender are the main determinants of adherence to iron supplementation.
Originality/value
It can be proposed that the most significant factors affecting the feeding of iron drops to children under the age of two include: the level of mother’s awareness, socio-economic status of the household and the occurrence of digestive complications following the supplementation. Given these observations, adopting proper policies toward improving the nutritional awareness of mothers and producing iron supplements with minimal side effects seems crucial.
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Omid Abdolazimi, Mitra Salehi Esfandarani, Maryam Salehi, Davood Shishebori and Majid Shakhsi-Niaei
This study evaluated the influence of the coronavirus pandemic on the healthcare and non-cold pharmaceutical care distribution supply chain.
Abstract
Purpose
This study evaluated the influence of the coronavirus pandemic on the healthcare and non-cold pharmaceutical care distribution supply chain.
Design/methodology/approach
The model involves four objective functions to minimize the total costs, environmental impacts, lead time and the probability of a healthcare provider being infected by a sick person was developed. An improved version of the augmented e-constraint method was applied to solve the proposed model for a case study of a distribution company to show the effectiveness of the proposed model. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to identify the sensitive parameters. Finally, two robust models were developed to overcome the innate uncertainty of sensitive parameters.
Findings
The result demonstrated a significant reduction in total costs, environmental impacts, lead time and probability of a healthcare worker being infected from a sick person by 40%, 30%, 75% and 54%, respectively, under the coronavirus pandemic compared to the normal condition. It should be noted that decreasing lead time and disease infection rate could reduce mortality and promote the model's effectiveness.
Practical implications
Implementing this model could assist the healthcare and pharmaceutical distributors to make more informed decisions to minimize the cost, lead time, environmental impacts and enhance their supply chain resiliency.
Originality/value
This study introduced an objective function to consider the coronavirus infection rates among the healthcare workers impacted by the pharmaceutical/healthcare products supply chain. This study considered both economic and environmental consequences caused by the coronavirus pandemic condition, which occurred on a significantly larger scale than past pandemic and epidemic crises.
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Honglin Dong, Viktorija Asmolovaite, Nareen Marseal and Maryam Mearbon
Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent worldwide. This paper aims to investigate the vitamin D status and dietary intake in young university students.
Abstract
Purpose
Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent worldwide. This paper aims to investigate the vitamin D status and dietary intake in young university students.
Design/methodology/approach
Forty-one healthy students aged 18–29 years from Coventry University UK were recruited during January-February 2019, including white Caucasians (n = 18), African-Caribbeans (n = 14) and Asians (n = 9). Plasma 25(OH)D concentrations were measured and dietary vitamin D intake was determined. Chi-square and simple linear regression were used to analyse the data.
Findings
The plasma 25(OH)D concentrations were (36.0 ± 22.2) nmol/L in all subjects, (46.5 ± 25.3) nmol/L in white Caucasians, (22.6 ± 7.4) nmol/L in African-Caribbeans and (37.4 ± 21.7 nmol/L) in Asians. The majority (85.7%) of African-Caribbeans were vitamin D deficient compared with 22.2% of white Caucasians and 33.3% of Asians (p = 0.001). Overweight/obese subjects showed a significant higher proportion of vitamin D deficiency (65%) than normal weight subjects (28.6%) (p = 0.04). The average dietary vitamin D intake in all subjects was (4.6 ± 3.9) µg/day. Only 12.1% of the subjects met the recommended dietary vitamin D intake of 10 µg/day. Dietary vitamin D intake (p = 0.04) and ethnicity (p = 0.01) were significant predictors of 25(OH)D levels and accounted for 13% and 18.5% of 25(OH)D variance, respectively.
Research limitations/implications
This small-scale study showed an alarmingly high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among subjects from African-Caribbean origin during wintertime. Education programs and campaigns are urgently needed to fight the vitamin D deficiency in this population.
Originality/value
The targeted population were in a critical period of transition from adolescence toward adulthood involving in changes in behaviours and nutrition.
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Zohreh Doborjeh, Nigel Hemmington, Maryam Doborjeh and Nikola Kasabov
Several review articles have been published within the Artificial Intelligence (AI) literature that have explored a range of applications within the tourism and hospitality…
Abstract
Purpose
Several review articles have been published within the Artificial Intelligence (AI) literature that have explored a range of applications within the tourism and hospitality sectors. However, how efficiently the applied AI methods and algorithms have performed with respect to the type of applications and the multimodal sets of data domains have not yet been reviewed. Therefore, this paper aims to review and analyse the established AI methods in hospitality/tourism, ranging from data modelling for demand forecasting, tourism destination and behaviour pattern to enhanced customer service and experience.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach was to systematically review the relationship between AI methods and hospitality/tourism through a comprehensive literature review of papers published between 2010 and 2021. In total, 146 articles were identified and then critically analysed through content analysis into themes, including “AI methods” and “AI applications”.
Findings
The review discovered new knowledge in identifying AI methods concerning the settings and available multimodal data sets in hospitality and tourism. Moreover, AI applications fostering the tourism/hospitality industries were identified. It also proposes novel personalised AI modelling development for smart tourism platforms to precisely predict tourism choice behaviour patterns.
Practical implications
This review paper offers researchers and practitioners a broad understanding of the proper selection of AI methods that can potentially improve decision-making and decision-support in the tourism/hospitality industries.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the tourism/hospitality literature with an interdisciplinary approach that reflects on theoretical/practical developments for data collection, data analysis and data modelling using AI-driven technology.
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Faisal Mahmood, Abdul Zahid Khan and Rahat Hussain Bokhari
Despite more than two decades of experience regarding the adoption and implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in organizations, ERPs success is questionable…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite more than two decades of experience regarding the adoption and implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in organizations, ERPs success is questionable. Though ERPs success stories are published in past research studies, the failure rate of ERP systems is relatively high. The purpose of this study was to find issues and challenges and assess the degree of criticality of these issues/challenges faced by organizations during ERP implementation.
Design/methodology/approach
For doing systematic review/research synthesis systematic literature review (SLR) was carried out considering research studies published within the time period, i.e. 1999-2018. Three major steps such as planning, conducting and reporting were followed to proceed further in this study. This study attempted to accomplish a critical review of 53 studies out of 103 studies identified, which were published in reputable journals to synthesize the existing literature in the ERP domain. The studies selected have almost addressed different challenges/issues faced by small and large organizations during ERP implementation.
Findings
Research synthesis/SLR led to the identification of 31 issues/challenges, which may be termed as most critical based on their occurrence/frequency in past studies included. The topmost ten issues/challenges amongst 31 identified include top management approach, change management, training and development, effective communication, system integration, business process reengineering, consultants/vendors selection, project management, project team formation, team empowerment/skilled people and data conversing/migration. However, other issues/challenges identified such as security risks/data security, cloud awareness, functionality limitations, service level agreements and subscription expenses are more related to cloud ERPs.
Originality/value
The current study is unique in its kind, focusing on the issues and challenges faced by organization during implementing ERP projects. Moreover, this study contributes to understanding and further analyzing management capabilities for developing remedial measures while planning the implementation of an enterprise system in their organizations prior to the occurrence of different issues and challenges ahead. The study also led to understanding and explaining socio-technical issues and their severity.