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The main objective of the present research is to investigate the benefits of using geogrid reinforcement in minimizing the rate of deterioration of ballasted rail track geometry resting on soft clay and to explore the effect of load amplitude, load frequency, presence of geogrid layer in ballast layer and ballast layer thickness on the behavior of track system. These variables are studied both experimentally and numerically. This paper examines the effect of geogrid reinforced ballast laying on a layer of clayey soil as a subgrade layer, where a half full scale railway tests are conducted as well as a theoretical analysis is performed.

The experimental tests work consists of laboratory model tests to investigate the reduction in the compressibility and stress distribution induced in soft clay under a ballast railway reinforced by geogrid reinforcement subjected to dynamic load. Experimental model based on an approximate half scale for general rail track engineering practice is adopted in this study which is used in Iraqi railways. The investigated parameters are load amplitude, load frequency and presence of geogrid reinforcement layer. A half full-scale railway was constructed for carrying out the tests, which consists of two rails 800 mm in length with three wooden sleepers (900 mm × 90 mm × 90 mm). The ballast was overlying 500 mm thick clay layer. The tests were carried out with and without geogrid reinforcement, the tests were carried out in a well tied steel box of 1.5 m length × 1 m width × 1 m height. A series of laboratory tests were conducted to investigate the response of the ballast and the clay layers where the ballast was reinforced by a geogrid. Settlement in ballast and clay, was measured in reinforced and unreinforced ballast cases. In addition to the laboratory tests, the application of numerical analysis was made by using the finite element program PLAXIS 3D 2013.

It was concluded that the settlement increased with increasing the simulated train load amplitude, there is a sharp increase in settlement up to the cycle 500 and after that, there is a gradual increase to level out between, 2,500 and 4,500 cycles depending on the load frequency. There is a little increase in the induced settlement when the load amplitude increased from 0.5 to 1 ton, but it is higher when the load amplitude increased to 2 ton, the increase in settlement depends on the geogrid existence and the other studied parameters. Both experimental and numerical results showed the same behavior. The effect of load frequency on the settlement ratio is almost constant after 500 cycles. In general, for reinforced cases, the effect of load frequency on the settlement ratio is very small ranging between 0.5 and 2% compared with the unreinforced case.

Increasing the ballast layer thickness from 20 cm to 30 cm leads to decrease the settlement by about 50%. This ascertains the efficiency of ballast in spreading the waves induced by the track.

Drawing on an intersectional perspective on racial, migrant and entrepreneurial identities, this paper investigates the identity work of racial minority entrepreneurs with native-born and migrant backgrounds, confronted to experiences of othering in a White entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The study takes a qualitative-interpretivist approach and builds on six cases of racial minority entrepreneurs in nascent stages of venture development within the Dutch technology sector. The dataset comprises 24 in-depth interviews conducted over the course of one and a half year, extensive case descriptions and online sources. The data is thematically and inductively analysed.

Despite strongly self-identifying as entrepreneurs, the research participants feel marginalised and excluded from the entrepreneurial ecosystem, which results in ongoing threats to their existential authenticity as they build a legitimate entrepreneurial identity. Minority entrepreneurs navigate these threats by either downplaying or embracing their marginalised racial and/or migrant identities.

The study contributes to the literature on the identity work of minority entrepreneurs. The paper reveals that, rather than “strategising away” the discrimination and exclusion resulting from othering, racial minority entrepreneurs seek to preserve their sense of existential authenticity and self-worth, irrespective of entrepreneurial outcomes. In so doing, the study challenges the dominant perspective of entrepreneurial identity work among minority entrepreneurs as overly instrumental and market-driven. Moreover, the study also contributes to the literature on authenticity in entrepreneurship by highlighting how racial minority entrepreneurs navigate authenticity threats while building legitimacy in a White ecosystem.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the ‘real’ world and substantially impacted the virtual world and thus the Internet ecosystem. It has caused a significant exogenous shock that offers a wealth of natural experiments and produced new data about broadband, clouds, and the Internet in times of crisis. In this chapter, we characterise and evaluate the evolving impact of the global COVID-19 crisis on traffic patterns and loads and the impact of those on Internet performance from multiple perspectives. While we place a particular focus on deriving insights into how we can better respond to crises and better plan for the post-COVID-19 ‘new normal’, we analyse the impact on and the responses by different actors of the Internet ecosystem across different jurisdictions. With a focus on the USA and Europe, we examine the responses of both public and private actors, with the latter including content and cloud providers, content delivery networks, and Internet service providers (ISPs). This chapter makes two contributions: first, we derive lessons learned for a future post-COVID-19 world to inform non-networking spheres and policy-making; second, the insights gained assist the networking community in better planning for the future.

Cryptomarkets have expanded rapidly since the launch of Silk Road in 2011, offering a significant new mode for the sale and distribution of illicit drugs. One of the key questions accompanying the proliferation of cryptomarkets and online drug distribution concerns how these unique online fora alter relationships between drug suppliers and their customers. Existing research points to an increase in perceptions of safety and respect among people who use cryptomarkets to purchase drugs relative to other ‘offline’ modes of drug acquisition. There is a growing body of evidence that suggests that drug suppliers are also attracted to cryptomarkets by perceptions of increased safety, as well as by market norms and institutional processes that are characterised by respect and courteous engagement. These issues fall broadly under what has been termed market ‘gentrification’ – that is, the substitution of offline drug market norms, which are sometimes characterised by violence, intimidation, suspicion, and exploitation, with relative feelings of safety, respect, and courtesy. This chapter explores the ‘gentrification hypothesis’ and examines how the unique structural characteristics of cryptomarkets, which include user feedback and ratings, dispute resolution systems, and administrator and community ‘policing’ of cryptomarkets, as well as online discussion forums, assist in fostering the development of pro-social norms that appear to be prevalent on cryptomarkets.

In the purview of stress–turnover relationship, the present study aims to explore the endogenous and exogenous aspects of stress and employees' turnover intentions. Further, it also intends to evaluate the mediating role of perceived employee's exploitation between stressors and employee turnover intentions. For that matter, antecedents of stressors were identified and classified into endogenous and exogenous stressors: endogenous stressors relate to the employees' negative psychological contact within an organization and exogenous stressors are various macro-economic factors which have a considerable influence on employees' workplace behavior.

For the purpose of this study, this study choses private school teachers as respondents working in the economically depressed state of India. Thus, data for the present study has been collected from 628 private school teachers of J&K (India) which were randomly selected. In order to ensure valid and reliable statistical inferences from the study, data collected has been validated using confirmatory factor analysis and hypothesis testing has been carried out through structural equation modeling.

It was found that both types of stressors were contributing negatively toward employee's psychological state resulting in undesirable employee organizational relationships manifested as turnover intentions among employees. Moreover, perceived employee's exploitation was found to intensify the relationship of employee turnover as a dependent variable regressed on endogenous, exogenous and occupational stress by fully mediating the stress–turnover intricacies.

The implications of the study include the identification of employees' stressor needs in order to gauge the understanding of the mechanism by which employees react to their environment and develop attitudes toward their jobs. The present study includes a small sample size obtained from private educational institutions only. Therefore, there is a need to take a geographically diverse sample that is inevitable for universal inferences and validity.

Very little research has been conducted to explore endogenous, exogenous and unique stressors such as economic stress and perceived external opportunities which constitute the overall stress. Moreover, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study which tests the model empirically that examines the effect of stress–turnover relationship through perceived employee's exploitation in the teaching and educational sector.

The purpose of this study is to examine the various factors that influence the productivity (PR) of employees who worked remotely in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study adopts a quantitative approach to analyze data collected online from 110 respondents using the snowball sampling technique during the pandemic. The analysis of the data is conducted using the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique of Smart PLS (Partial least squares) to evaluate the direct and moderating variables.

The results indicate that direct variables such as workload, job satisfaction, work–life balance and social support have a significant positive impact on employee PR in the UAE. However, the analysis of the moderating variable indicates that job level is not a significant moderator of the above relationships. The findings, generally, provide support for social exchange theory.

The findings of this study will help businesses of various domains in a variety of industries in understanding the core factors that should be considered to enhance the overall PR of their employees while working from home. Businesses can achieve their organizational goals by ensuring steady growth even during uncertain times.

This paper answers the question of whether remote working affects employee PR during the pandemic in an emerging market, namely the UAE. The current study contributes to the existing literature by combining the variables investigated in previous studies into a single study and by considering job level as a moderator variable.

In 2023, the New England Journal of Entrepreneurship (NEJE) reached its 25th anniversary. To commemorate this major milestone as well as entrepreneurship’s growth as an academic field, the study employs bibliometric methods to provide key trends and research suggestions for entrepreneurship scholars using all original research published in the journal.

The authors perform two predominant bibliometric techniques, performance analysis and science mapping, using all 251 articles published by NEJE from 1998 to 2022.

The authors find that the impact of entrepreneurship research published at NEJE is growing consistently and that the challenge of the future will be to maintain this growth in tandem with greater publication productivity. The authors also find that although most contributions come from authors affiliated with institutions in the USA, there is a global representation from authors who have published in NEJE. Further, the authors found that the major entrepreneurship research themes of articles published in NEJE revolve around general entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial behavior, gender, technology, entrepreneurship education, innovation and value creation and sustainability.

The analysis is restricted to articles published in NEJE and therefore may not be representative of the entrepreneurship field. However, it can serve as a useful resource, particularly for prospective NEJE authors, to gain empirical insights about entrepreneurship research trends and rising topics of interest.

The authors’ work represents the first effort to synthesize research published in NEJE through bibliometric techniques and offers insights about important trends and themes in this rising outlet of the entrepreneurship field.