Dominance of leading business schools in top journals: Insights for increasing institutional representation

The competitive push for business schools to publish in prestigious journals has resulted in a disproportionate number of papers in prestigious Management and Operations Research/Management Science (OR/MS) journals coming from a select group of institutions. Our analysis shows the Matthew effect of prestigious journals favors established schools with 51.2 % of papers in 18 Management ABS 4* journals and 61.3 % of papers in 3 OR/MS ABS 4* journals involving authors from the 100 top business schools identified by the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD). Citation patterns are similarly concentrated among papers authored by scholars from UTD-listed business schools, with nearly 80 % of citations from 4* Management journals directed to equally rated 4* Management journals (67.8 % for 4* OR/MS journals). An initial regression analysis suggested a positive correlation between the percentage of papers in a journal attributed to authors affiliated with those leading business schools and journal citation performance. However, further examination using multi-level regression adjusted for journal prestige, using the ABS and FT50 lists, showed a negative interaction effect on citation rates for papers from these schools in prestigious OR/MS journals. This insightful finding was confirmed by a post-hoc comparison revealing no significant citation advantage in prestigious journals for papers from leading business schools over those from a broader range of institutions. Thus, while leading business schools benefit from disproportionate space in prestigious journals, this does not translate to a citation advantage for the journals themselves, indicating no Matthew effect at the journal level driven by these schools. We argue that our findings show a unique opportunity for prestigious journals and business schools to expand collaborations with institutions in geographies historically underrepresented without a significant impact on the citation performance of those journals. This inclusion would only benefit research excellence, as our results demonstrate convergence in citation rates, citation patterns on external research areas, and topics across both subsets of papers—from leading institutions and those from a broader institutional spectrum—published in prestigious journals, indicating that diversifying contributions does not compromise the performance of these journals

Exploring the behavioral indicators of resilience in professional academy youth soccer

The capacity to demonstrate resilience is important for performance and development outcomes in youth soccer. A key feature of resilience is the demonstration of positive behavioral responses to pressures or setbacks, yet little research exists on the specific behaviors that characterize resilience in the youth soccer literature. This study aimed to explore the behavioral indicators of resilience through focus groups and interviews with 60 participants from six professional soccer academies and one National Soccer Governing Body. The data was collected in two phases, the first involved a discussion of the observable behaviors associated with resilience in youth soccer. In the second phase, participants reflected on examples of resilience behaviors alongside video clips. These acted as a stimulus to contextualize the behaviors arising from the first phase. Content analysis was used to analyze the data and 36 behaviors were identified across six themes: (a) teammate support-focused (e.g., verbal support following mistakes), (b) emotion-focused (e.g., displaying emotional regulation), (c) effort-focused (e.g., physical efforts to overcome challenge), (d) rebound (e.g., positive reactions to a mistake), (e) robust (e.g., showing composure when under pressure), and (f) learning-focused (e.g., willingness to accept feedback). The results offer an insight into a multifaceted range of resilience behaviors in the context of youth soccer. With this knowledge, practitioners can make informed decisions around player development by assessing specific behavioral metrics related to resilience, players can engage in structured self-reflection practices pertaining to resilience development, and researchers can work toward the development of validated observational tools for resilience assessment

Time to graduate level employment for new graduates in the United Kingdom

This paper estimates the time to graduate employment of new graduates from universities in the UK. Using data from the UK Graduate Outcomes Survey, survival functions are estimated to identify differences in time to graduate employment among different groups of graduates, stratified by institution. Differences in survival functions are confirmed across the different categories of university in the UK, with Russell Group universities holding a greater probability of employment at each time interval. A Cox Proportional Hazard model is estimated to identify the determinants of the differences in the time to graduate employment, with constant effects associated with secondary school performance, parental degree status, private school status and ethnicity. The remaining effects were shown to be time varying, including institution, degree classification and degree subject, with Russell Group graduates, graduates with high degree classifications and graduates of STEM displaying a persistent advantage in the early career labour market

Barriers to teaching and research provision in the UK Higher Education sector during the Covid-19 pandemic

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic necessitated a rapid transition to remote teaching in Higher Education (HE) institutions worldwide. While there is existing research on the advantages and disadvantages of online teaching from transactional and adult learning theory perspectives, there is a lack of investigation into the specific challenges faced by academics in the UK HE sector concerning their teaching and research during the pandemic. This paper aims to fill this research gap by examining the experiences of nearly 300 academics in the UK HE sector through a qualitative online questionnaire. The findings of this study reveal several challenges associated with the sudden shift to online teaching. These challenges include time constraints, a lack of digital skills, technology issues, and an increased teaching workload. Academics also encountered difficulties engaging and connecting with students, as remote teaching created a sense of detachment between them. This finding aligns with the theoretical propositions of the self-determination theory, particularly regarding the sense of relatedness. Remote teaching presented obstacles in gauging students' reactions and understanding, as it lacked interactivity, personalisation, and the ability to keep students motivated and engaged. Additionally, academics faced issues assessing online assignments and monitoring students' progress and development. The isolation from remote work further contributed to a lack of concentration in teaching and research. The study also highlights the significant increase in teaching loads experienced by academics, as they had to adapt their teaching materials to suit the new mode of delivery. Academic research was impeded by limited access to labs, equipment, research time, and support due to the demands of teaching. Field-based research was put on hold, and many academics found collaborating with colleagues without physical proximity challenging. Considering these challenges, the study proposes ideas for overcoming barriers in future crisis events. The findings have implications for research and policy, further discussed in the paper

Organisational career growth and work engagement: a moderated mediated model

Purpose – Drawing from the Conservation of Resources Theory and Organisational Justice Theory, this study examined the direct and indirect (via career resilience) effects of organisational career growth on work engagement. We further examined the boundary condition of procedure justice in the relationship between organisational career growth, career resilience, and work engagement. Design/methodology/approach – We employed time-lagged data collected in three waves from 431 employees working in the public health sector. Hierarchical regression analysis and Hayes Process Macro were used to test the study hypotheses. Findings – The findings revealed that organisational career growth has a significant positive direct and indirect influence on work engagement in the presence of career resilience. Also, the boundary condition of procedural justice was significant for employees who perceived procedural justice to be high as opposed to low. Practical implications – Organisational career growth has a positive influence on employee work engagement. Therefore, public health organisations need to prioritise employee career growth by creating an enabling environment that will help employees' career prospects and mitigate employees’ perception of low procedural justice. Originality/value – The originality of this study is in empirically establishing career resilience as an underlying mechanism in the relationship between organisational career growth and work engagement while considering the interactive effect of procedural justice. Additionally, the originality of this paper is demonstrated by empirically establishing that a perceived high level of procedural justice helps healthcare employees improve their work engagement, thus deepening our understanding of work engagement amongst health professionals

Problematic Internet use among adults: a longitudinal European study

There are few cross-cultural studies utilizing longitudinal analysis to explore problematic internet use (PIU), and almost none among adults. The present follow-up study compared three waves across 12-month period every six months and observed the natural course and trajectory of PIU in a European multi-country sample of adults from 11 countries (Finland, Belgium). A total of 139 participants (45.5% females) provided data across all three waves with an average age of 26.14 years (SD = 5.92). There were longitudinal effects in PIU, with statistical differences between at-risk users compared to healthy users in Waves 1 and 2, and Waves 1 and 3. The analyses of variance showed a longitudinal effect of waves on the PIU symptoms. PIU was significantly affected by time and type of user, with those classed as at-risk having higher scores than healthy users, although PIU decreased over time. In addition, the type of PIU detected in adults contained mild addictive symptoms. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that PIU was generally low among European adult population and tended to decrease over the one-year period, what contrasts with adolescent population findings

Epoxy composites reinforced by alkaline–acid treated yucca fibers

This study investigates the impact of chemical treatments on the physico–chemo–mechanical properties of mechanically extracted yucca fibers and the mechanical performance of epoxy-based bio-composites. Initially, yucca fibers are treated with sulfuric acid (H2SO4 at 1% and 4%, during 30 min) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH at 3% and 8%, during 120 min), aiming to enhance their properties. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis reveals improved surface quality of fibers and reduced diameters, while fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirms their functional groups. Yucca-treated fibers exhibit significant tensile strength improvements, with increases of 101.22% (518 MPa) for fibers treated with 3% NaOH and 93.33% (497 MPa) for those treated with 1% sulfuric acid, compared to untreated fibers (257 MPa). Subsequently, bio-composites elaborated via mold casting technique and using these treated fibers demonstrate enhanced mechanical performance. Tensile strength increases by 25% (29.6 MPa) and 45% (34.4 MPa) for composites reinforced with fibers treated with 3% NaOH and 1% sulfuric acid, respectively, compared to untreated fiber composites (23.6 MPa). Similarly, compressive strength improves by 23.35% (79.5 MPa) and 9.85% (89.3 MPa), while bending strength reaches 41.03 MPa (4.3%) and 45.27 MPa (15.1%) for composites reinforced with fibers treated at 3% NaOH and 1% sulfuric acid, respectively

Sex differences in gross motor competence in Italian children aged 3–11 years: a large-scale cross-sectional study

Background/Objectives: In recent years, there has been a significant increase in studies examining motor learning during preschool age and the early years of primary school. This study aimed to investigate sex differences in gross motor competence among Italian children aged 3–11 years. Methods: A convenience sample of 8500 children (mean age = 8.37 years, SD = 1.98; 50% female) was included in this cross-sectional study. Gross motor skills were assessed using the Italian version of the Test of Gross Motor Development–3, which evaluates locomotion and ball control skills. A Linear Mixed Model was applied to examine the interaction between sex and age, with school included as a random intercept and BMI as a covariate. Results: The results revealed a consistent trend of boys achieving significantly higher total scores for global motor competence (p < 0.001) across all age groups, except at age 11. Boys also demonstrated superior performance in ball control skills (p < 0.005) at all ages. In contrast, no significant differences were observed for locomotion skills overall. However, girls outperform boys in locomotor skills at ages 6, 7, and 8 (p < 0.001), with this trend disappearing by age 9. # Conclusions: These findings highlight important sex-related differences in gross motor development during childhood, influenced by both biological and environmental factors. The results underscore the need for targeted interventions in educational settings to provide equitable opportunities for motor skill development, particularly for girls. Enhancing the quality of physical education and addressing gender disparities can support the acquisition of essential motor skills and promote lifelong physical activity

Carnosinase inhibition enhances reactive species scavenging in high fat diet

Aims: Life expectancy is typically reduced by 2-4 years in people with a body mass index (BMI) of 30-35 kg/m2 and by 8-10 years in people with a BMI of 40-50 kg/m2. Obesity is also associated with onset, or exacerbation of, multiple chronic diseases. Mechanistically, this, in part, involves formation of advanced glycation and lipidation end-products that directly bond with proteins, lipids, or DNA, thereby perturbing typical cellular function. Here we seek to prevent these damaging adduction events through inhibition of carnosinase enzymes that rapidly degrade the physiological reactive species scavenger, carnosine, in the body. Main methods: Herein we performed in silico computational modelling of a compound library of ~53,000 molecules to identify carnosine-like molecules with intrinsic resistance to carnosinase turnover. Key findings: We show that leading candidate molecules reduced reactive species in C2C12 myotubes, and that mice fed N-methyl-[6-(2-furyl)pyrid-3-yl]methylamine alongside a high fat diet had significantly decreased amounts of damaging plasma 4-hydroxynonenal and 3-nitrotyrosine reactive species. Oral administration of N-methyl-[6-(2-furyl)pyrid-3-yl]methylamine to high fat-fed mice also resulted in a modest ~10 % reduction in weight gain when compared to mice fed only high fat diet. Significance: Our findings suggest that inhibition of carnosinase enzymes can increase the life-span, and thereby enhance the efficacy, of endogenous carnosine in vivo, thereby offering potential therapeutic benefits against obesity and other cardiometabolic diseases characterised by metabolic stress