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POWER is an ontology of political processes and entities. It is designed for tracking politicians, political organizations and elections, both in mainstream and social media. The aim of this paper is to propose a data model to describe political agents and their relations over time.

The authors propose a data model to describe political agents (politicans, political instutions and political associations) and their relations over time. The model is formalized as an ontology using the RDF format and the population is performed in two steps. First, a bootstrap process loads data collected from authoritative sources. Then, the ontology is enriched with alternative media names extracted from the web.

The ontology is published as a public resource following the guidelines of linked data and semantic web standards can be accessed via SPARQL endpoint.

The authors have developed an ontology for the political domain tailored to aid in the tasks of named entity recognition and resolution. It represents the complexity and dynamic nature of relations between political agents (politicians, political associations and political institutions) over time.

Higher education institutions, particularly in the case of public universities, face the challenge of creating more value in an environment of increasing requirements and limitations. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relation of internal marketing (IM) with employees’ attitudinal outcomes, which aim to stimulate and retain motivated and customer-conscious contact employees.

Survey data of 94 customer-contact employees in a public higher education institution were analysed using partial least squares path modelling to explore and predict key target constructs.

The results demonstrate the relationship between customer-contact employees’ service empathy (SE), institutional IM initiatives and employees’ attitudinal outcomes in the public sector, specifically higher education institutions.

The current study relies on self-reported data and a small sample of customer-contact employees working only on enrolment-related areas. Further studies should be designed for theory confirmation and generalizability of the results.

Top managers in public higher education institutions must encourage organizational identification through IM initiatives, such as well-established internal communication procedures. Academic management should continuously train and retain customer-contact employees that have developed SE and a sense of belonging to the organization. SE must be incorporated in the job descriptions and training of customer-contact employees.

The study contributes to the limited literature on the use of IM and SE in the public sector, specifically higher education institutions.

Las instituciones de educación superior, en particular en el caso de las universidades públicas, se enfrentan al reto de crear más valor en un entorno de necesidades y limitaciones en aumento. El propósito de este estudio es explorar la relación entre el marketing interno y las resultantes actitudes laborales de los empleados. El objetivo del marketing interno es estimular y retener empleados de contacto que estén motivados y sean conscientes de la importancia de los clientes.

Se analizaron datos de 94 empleados de contacto de una institución pública de educación superior utilizando modelos de regresión de cuadrados mínimos parciales para explorar y predecir constructos claves.

Los resultados demuestran la relación entre los siguientes constructos: niveles de empatía de los empleados de contacto, iniciativas institucionales de marketing interno, y las resultantes actitudes de los empleados del sector público, en particular organizaciones en el sector de la educación superior.

El presente estudio se basa en los datos auto informados de una pequeña muestra de empleados de contacto que trabajan sólo en áreas relacionadas con matrícula. Nuevos estudios deberían ser diseñados para la confirmación de la teoría y la generalización de los resultados.

Los altos directivos de las instituciones públicas de educación superior deben fomentar la identificación con la organización a través de iniciativas de marketing interno, tales como procedimientos establecidos de comunicación interna. Los directivos académicos deben continuamente adiestrar y retener a los empleados de contacto que han desarrollado la capacidad de proveer servicios de manera empática y que tienen sentido de pertenencia a la organización. Proveer servicio de manera empática debe ser incorporado en las descripciones de empleo y formación de los empleados de contacto.

El estudio contribuye a la literatura limitada sobre el uso de marketing interno y empatía en los servicios en el sector público, específicamente en las instituciones de educación superior.

The effects of ownership concentration on firm performance usually considers two conflicting perspectives: monitoring and expropriation hypotheses. Past studies have produced mix findings. This study aims to shed light on this relationship by focusing on a specific measure of firm performance, firm growth. The moderating effect of industry growth in the aforementioned relationship is also considered, which advances knowledge on the role of moderators.

This study resorts to data from a sample of 21,476 Portuguese firms, which is examined using hierarchical linear modelling. This approach is adequate because the data has a hierarchical structure: the firms are nested within industries.

The results show that equity ownership concentration has a positive effect on firms’ growth and that industry growth amplifies this relationship. Ownership concentration can spur effective monitoring, thereby alleviating principal–agent conflicts of interest and speeding up decision-making, enabling timely competitive actions that promote growth.

The research conceives ownership structure in two groups. However, equity ownership concentration often acquires more complex shapes. In addition, the data used is from a single country.

The results show that firms pursuing growing strategies and operating in growing industries benefit from equity concentration.

Different from past studies, this study focuses on firm growth performance and considers the moderating effect of industry growth.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of Hibiscus sabdariffa ethanolic extract (HsE) on protein levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6, adiponectin and leptin in adipose tissue, as well as on the lipid and glycemic profiles of high-fat/sugar diet-induced obese (DIO) rats.

Obesity was induced in male Wistar rats through a high-fat/sugar diet provided for eight weeks. Control rats received a standard diet. The high-fat/sugar DIO animals were subsequently randomized into DIO (n = 8) and DIO treated with HsE (DIO + HsE, n = 8, 150 mg/kg/day) by gavage, for additional eight weeks. Oral glucose tolerance test was performed, and blood samples and epididymal adipose tissue were collected for biochemical analysis and adipokine protein level evaluation, respectively.

Compared to the DIO rats, HsE treatment decreased weight gain (50.6%) and mesenteric fat (42%), indicated as diminished visceral fat (22.5%). HsE did not affect the lipid profile and TNF-α levels in adipose tissue; however, it effectively prevented a 13% increase in fasting glucose levels and improved glucose tolerance. Compared with the C group, HsE normalized the adiponectin levels and leptin/adiponectin ratio and decreased the IL-6 (55%) and leptin (18.6%) levels in adipose tissue of obese rats.

HsE improves adipokine protein levels in high-fat/sugar DIO rats, demonstrating the clinical efficacy of HsE in the treatment of obesity and obesity-related diseases.

The purpose of the article is to analyze the chain of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) and its waste (WEEE), within the product chain of Recicladora Urbana (Reurbi), and its interaction with the circular economy.

Exploratory research with a qualitative approach, based on the study case method, was conducted. The following stages were carried out: definition of the study object; bibliographic survey; documentary survey; technical visit to Reurbi; contacts with experts; creation of research instruments and research execution.

The main recipients of remanufactured EEE are third sector organizations that run social programs and schools with few financial resources. Recycling firms receive parts and components from the WEEE handled by Reurbi.

The authors only addressed the WEEE reverse remanufacturing chain of Reurbi; therefore, the authors cannot extend the results to an industrial sector.

One practical contribution is disclosing the remanufacturing processes of EEE and the recycling processes of its waste, fostered by the National Solid Waste Policy (PNRS), under a circular economy policy.

There is a large market potential for reverse logistics of WEEE and end-of-life EEE as a source of raw material, which is yet to be explored in Brazil, for creating new jobs and revenue.

The publication of articles with the main reflections from the results can provide new discussions and provide opportunities for new studies regarding the Brazilian Solid Waste Policy.

This study aims to analyse the influence of the pillars (hard and soft skills) of digital academic entrepreneurship on students' entrepreneurial intention.

This was done by adopting a quantitative methodology involving empirical research with a sample of 761 university students from two countries and adopting structural equation analysis to validate the theoretical model proposed.

The results indicate a direct influence between hard and soft skills and entrepreneurial intention, and a positive, indirect influence between these and entrepreneurial intention mediated by the dimensions of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) – entrepreneurial attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control. Therefore, the pillars of digital academic entrepreneurship have a direct and indirect influence on university students' entrepreneurial intention.

This study also contributes to better operationalization of entrepreneurial education in university environments, since the development of hard and soft skills can be planned better based on the model proposed here. Considering the relations between the dimensions of hard and soft skills and those of TPB, this study shows there can be an influence on students' entrepreneurial intention.

In this study, a new and innovative construct is inserted in the model of entrepreneurial intention: “structural pillars of digital academic entrepreneurship” through structural equation modelling, to determine the degree of influence of these pillars (hard and soft skills) constructs on HEI students' entrepreneurial intention.

Discusses the 6th ITCRR, its breadth of textile and clothing research activity, plus the encouragement given to workers in this field and its related areas. States that, within the newer research areas under the microscope of the community involved, technical textiles focuses on new, ‘smart’ garments and the initiatives in this field in both the UK and the international community at large. Covers this subject at length.

Looks at the eighth published year of the ITCRR and the research, from far and near, involved in this. Muses on the fact that, though all the usual processes are to the fore, the downside part of the industry is garment making which is the least developed side. Posits that the manufacture of clothing needs to become more technologically advanced as does retailing. Closes by emphasising support for the community in all its efforts.

Road freight transportation companies need to take advantage of information and communication technologies to develop capabilities. This study proposes a framework to guide road freight transportation companies to achieve data visibility in their operations by developing such capabilities. By proposing this framework, this research contributes to literature and practice, highlighting the capabilities and the respective supporting technologies for improved data visibility in road freight transportation.

A mixed-method approach is used to develop the framework, considering three methodological steps. In phase 1, the capabilities are identified in the literature and validated by experts. In phase 2, an empirical assessment of cause–effect relationships between capabilities is performed using a multiple case study and DEMATEL. Lastly, in phase 3, an analysis of the cause model and significant associations is conducted to enable the development of the framework. In addition, the proposed framework was validated by the experts interviewed.

The results provide a framework that explains the link between the technology-enabled data visibility capabilities in road freight transportation operations. In addition, a pathway was established that road freight transportation companies could follow to achieve data visibility in their operations by developing such capabilities.

This work develops the first framework that provides a path for data visibility in road freight transportation operations from adopting certain technologies. The insights are compelling for researchers and practitioners to optimize the decision-making process for adopting technologies and developing capabilities related to data visibility.

This study explores the perception of employees in textile industry firms in Northern Portugal regarding the influence of leadership and reward systems (RS) on their motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic) and job satisfaction (JS).

A questionnaire was addressed to the employees of 12 firms, obtaining a sample of 256 valid responses, for which a structural equation model was estimated.

The results showed that leadership and RS influence JS only through the mediating effects of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

This study makes empirical and theoretical contributions, testing the relationship between leadership and employees' JS and how this relationship can be mediated by RS, and motivation – both intrinsic and extrinsic. Moreover, this study was conducted in Portugal, country where these issues have not been researched jointly before.