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It requires a significant amount of time, money and effort to visit institutions containing different collections in different parts of the world, for many reasons such as transportation, visa and research permit. This study aims to develop a virtual herbarium with both mobile and browser support, which will enable access to the panoramic view of the herbarium and the visual and botanical characteristics of the herb samples in the herbarium.

Karadeniz Technical University Faculty of Forestry (KATO) Herbarium, established in 1973 and registered in the International Herbarium Index, was chosen as the study area. The virtual herbarium (VR) KATO application was carried out in three stages: production of panorama images of the herbarium, creation-connection of the database and programming of the application. Within the scope of the study, a database containing the botanical features and herb sample images in the herbarium was also created using the MongoDB Atlas connection, and a dynamically-updatable herb library was presented to the online visitors. For a test development, 20 of 23,240 of the herb species were included in the database and will be extended to include all species. A user experience survey has also been conducted to analyze accessibility and usability of the VR herbarium.

According to the user experience survey, participants from various professions such as students, teachers, academics and forest engineers mostly found the application easily accessible, simple, understandable and efficient. As a future plan, the application will be improved based on user feedback. This study is a pioneer with the concept of virtual reality and a distinctive example of mixed reality technologies’ usage in the forestry discipline. Besides that, the study is a unique example for different fields related to forestry, which contains different libraries such as flora, fauna, endemic species and national parks, and for other sectors.

This study contributes to the digital access capabilities in academic libraries or physical stores.

This paper aims to explain the occurrence of sustainable entrepreneurship in the underresearched sub-Saharan Africa context and to improve the understanding of how effectuation manifests in this context.

This study uses a qualitative research approach based on multiple case studies. Responses were sourced from owners, employees, suppliers, the community and customers of sustainable entrepreneurial firms. Data collection methods included in-depth interviews, document reviews and observations. The Gioia analytical approach was used.

Overall, the authors find the concept of effectuation to be well-suited to capturing the processes through which individuals with limited means seek to engage in sustainable entrepreneurship. The authors also identify three pervasive practices that are key to understanding effectuation in the developing country context: complementation of indigenous knowledge with modern science, compassion and pluriactivity.

This study underscores the importance of co-creation, diversification of revenue sources and the role of emotional awareness and interpersonal skills in entrepreneurial endeavors.

This study, therefore, contributes new knowledge about the mechanisms through which entrepreneurs faced with resource constraints use control as opposed to prediction strategies to exploit sustainable entrepreneurship opportunities. In so doing, this study contributes to entrepreneurship theory by proposing the integration of cognitive and affective dimensions in realizing sustainable entrepreneurship goals.

Toyota had mature lean capabilities when developing its supplier network. This paper aims to explore how companies can develop a Toyota-style supplier network (TSN) while their lean capabilities are still evolving.

Theoretically, this paper relies on the literature on lean maturity levels and lean supplier network development. Empirically, the paper portrays a Toyota-style initiative, detailing the buyer’s efforts to develop internal lean capabilities concurrently with developing lean in its supplier network. It compares the Network for supplier innovation (NSI) initiative with TSN development regarding activities, organizations and knowledge-sharing routines.

Unlike the sequential development in the case of Toyota, NSI improved performance and capabilities in the buyer’s supplier network by implementing lean in the firm and its supplier network concurrently. Third-party involvement was the key to the initiative’s success.

The findings are based on an in-depth single-case study which allows theoretical generalization but not statistical generalization. Furthermore, the case study concerns an initiative with Norwegian firms during a financial recession. Future studies should consider these limitations on how firms with evolving lean capabilities can develop a TSN-style supplier network and the importance of involving third parties operating in the role of lean master.

This study suggests what buying firms should consider when designing a TSN initiative, enrolling suppliers and engaging third parties that can take on the role of lean master.

Previous research has focused on how mature lean firms develop lean suppliers and networks. This paper extends this to firms whose lean capabilities are still evolving.

This study investigates whether logistics and supply chain resilience strategies (SCREST) can help mitigate the negative impacts of disruptions on firm performance and logistics and supply chain (SC) activities of companies, using the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study.

The authors collected primary data on the implementation of different types of SCRESTs and measured the impact of COVID-19 in terms of firm performance and logistics and SC metrics through a survey of Japanese manufacturing companies in four sectors. The authors used these data to illustrate whether the companies benefitted from SCRESTs in mitigating the negative impacts of COVID-19. A questionnaire comprising structured and open-ended questions was sent to 8,000 companies all over Japan that met the selection criteria, using a combination of mail and web-based media. The respondents were logistics and SC professionals. A combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis was performed for data analysis and interpretation.

Research conducted within the case of the Japanese context revealed that findings varied depending on the methodology applied. The use of a direct analysis approach and qualitative analysis suggested that the implementation of SCRESTs is beneficial in addressing the negative impacts of COVID-19 on firm performance and logistics and SC activities, whereas the application of indirect analysis approach yielded mixed results. The analysis also indicated a shift in the preferred SCRESTs during COVID-19.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the benefits of implementing SCRESTs using primary data from the manufacturing sector of Japan. Furthermore, empirical research on this topic is generally lacking.

The purpose of this article is to provide information about interactions between pink-pigmented facultative methylotroph (PPFM) organisms and plants, their molecular mechanisms of methylotrophic metabolism, application of PPFMs in agriculture, biotechnology and bioremediation and also to explore lacuna in PPFMs research and direction for future research.

Research findings on PPFM organisms as potent plant growth promoting organisms are discussed in the light of reports published by various workers. Unexplored field of PPFM research are detected and their application as a new group of biofertilizer that also help host plants to overcome draught stress in poorly irrigated crop field is suggested.

PPFMs are used as plant growth promoters for improved crop yield, seed germination capacity, resistance against pathogens and tolerance against drought stress. Anti-oxidant and UV resistant properties of PPFM pigments protect the host plants from strong sunshine. PPFMs have excellent draught ameliorating capacity.

To meet the ever increasing world population, more and more barren, less irrigated land has to be utilized for agriculture and horticulture purpose and use of PPFM group of organisms due to their draught ameliorating properties in addition to their plant growth promoting characters will be extremely useful. PPFMs are also promising candidates for the production of various industrially and medicinally important enzymes and other value-added products. Wider application of this ecofriendly group of bacteria will reduce crop production cost thus improving economy of the farmers and will be a greener alternative of hazardous chemical fertilizers and fungicides.

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This paper aims to conduct a detailed analysis of the industrial practices currently being used in the geothermal energy industry and to determine whether they are contributing to any limitations. A HAZOP-based upgradation model for improvement in existing industrial practices is proposed to ensure the removal of inefficient conventional practices. The HAZOP-based upgradation model examines the setbacks, identifies its causes and consequences and suggests improvement methods comprising of modern-day technology.

This paper proposed a HAZOP-based upgradation model for improvement in existing industrial practices. The proposed HAZOP model identifies the drawbacks brought on by conventional practices and suggests improvements.

The study reviewed the challenges geothermal power plants currently face due to conventional practices and suggested a total of 22 upgradation recommendations. From those, a total of 11 upgradation modules comprising modern digital technology and Industry 4.0 elements were proposed to improve the existing practices in the geothermal energy industry. Autonomous robots, augmented reality, machine learning and Internet of Things were identified as useful methods for the upgradation of the existing geothermal energy system.

If proposed recommendations are incorporated, the efficiency of geothermal energy generation will increase as cumulating setbacks will no longer degrade the work output.

The proposed recommendation by the study will make way for Industry 4.0 integration with the geothermal energy sector.

The paper uses a proposed HAZOP-based upgradation model to review issues in existing industrial practices of the geothermal energy sector and recommends solutions to overcome operability issues using Industry 4.0 technologies.

Postulating that individuals exposed to the threat of contagious diseases respond oversensitively toward other people, the current research aims to investigate its impact on consumers’ preferences for human images—human presence—in product packaging.

Five independent online and offline experiments were conducted. Studies 1, 2a, and 2b employed a three-group (threat: contagious vs. control vs. noncontagious) between-subjects design to investigate the main effect and its underlying mechanism. To further examine the moderation effects, Study 3 used a 2 (threat: contagious vs. control) × 2 (product feature: basic vs. antibacterial) between-subjects design, and Study 4 employed a 2 (threat: contagious vs. control) × 3 (human type: non–human vs. human–adult vs. human–baby) between-subjects design.

Studies 1, 2a, and 2b demonstrate that consumers facing the threat of contagious diseases tend to avoid social interaction, leading to a lower preference for products featuring human presence (vs. non-human presence). Studies 3 and 4 contribute to our hypothesized process by providing boundary conditions. Specifically, when the product incorporates an antibacterial function (Study 3) and the packaging depicts a baby (Study 4), the existing effect can be attenuated.

Despite the prevalence of experiencing epidemics and pandemics, little work has examined how threatened consumers respond to product packaging. The present research addresses this gap by exploring consumers' preferences for products featuring human presence on their packaging. Furthermore, this research contributes to the practical understanding of consumer choices by identifying product features and human types as moderating factors.

This study assesses the current landscape of business continuity management (BCM) research while exploring research trends, structures and delineating potential future directions.

A comprehensive bibliometric analysis was conducted on 360 articles from the Scopus and Web of Science databases using Biblioshiny software. A meta-synthesis was employed to aggregate and synthesize findings from the bibliometric results.

The results demonstrate a notable increase in publication numbers since the onset of the pandemic, reaching a peak in 2022 with a total of 342 articles. A collaborative bond among scholars transcends geographical boundaries and national affiliations. The analytical results propose avenues for future research, addressing crucial areas such as the integration of business continuity management systems (BCMS), the development of BCM frameworks and a comparative analysis of business impact analysis (BIA) frameworks through pertinent theories.

The study contributes theoretical and practical implications, serving as a valuable resource for academics and practitioners seeking to deepen their understanding of BCM’s role in business recovery and preserving organizational continuity in the face of disruptions.

This study pioneers a comprehensive approach by integrating bibliometric analysis and qualitative meta-synthesis, providing a consolidated overview of BCM research. Additionally, it presents future research proposals in this area.

The abnormality of the month-of-the-year and Ramadan effects has extensively existed in the stock and other markets. The commercial strategy pattern and the computation of such predictable patterns in the market allow investors to make money. By using anomalies such as the month-of-the-year and the Ramadan effects on earnings management (EM), it is possible to achieve such a goal. This study aims to investigate the month-of-the-year effect and the Ramadan effect on the relationship between accrual earnings management and real earnings management (AEM and REM, respectively) and liquidity in the Iranian capital market.

This empirical analysis comprises a panel data set of 80 listed firms (400 observations) on the Tehran Stock Exchange from 2016 to 2020.

The findings exhibit that when AEM and REM increase, information asymmetry also increases. The simultaneous increase of these variables leads to a decrease in stock liquidity. Furthermore, the results indicate that the month-of-the-year and Ramadan effects intensify the negative relationship between AEM and REM with stock liquidity. Therefore, EM is affected by the investor’s behavior in specific months.

Anomalies caused by the Ramadan effect and the month-of-the-year effect on reducing liquidity in the Iranian stock market were confirmed. Investors can use these anomalies to identify predictable patterns, exchange securities according to those patterns and earn abnormal returns.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that empirically examined the simultaneous effect of Gregorian and Islamic calendar anomalies on the relationship between EM and liquidity, and while helping managers and other readers, it can be the basis for future research.