During the COVID-19 outbreak, educational institutions were closed, and students worldwide were confined to their homes. In an educational environment, students depend on collaborative learning (CL) to improve their learning performance. This study aimed to increase the understanding of social media adoption among students during the COVID-19 pandemic for the purpose of CL. Social media provides a learning platform that enables students to easily communicate with their peers and subject specialists, and is conducive to students' CL. This study addresses the key concept of CL during the COVID-19 pandemic by assessing social media use among students in higher education. The relationship between social media use and students' performance is crucial to understanding the role of social media during a pandemic. This study is based on constructivism theory and the technology acceptance model. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the conceptual model using SmartPLS. The research findings indicate that social media plays an important role during the pandemic because it provides opportunities for students to enhance CL under the aforementioned situations. This study makes noteworthy theoretical and practical contributions.

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Biofilms are complex aggregation of cells that are embedded in EPS matrix. These microcolonies are highly resistant to drugs and are associated with various diseases. Biofilms have greatly affected the food safety by causing severe losses due to food contamination and spoilage. Therefore, novel antibiofilm agents are needed. This study investigates the antibiofilm and protein binding activity of zinc nanoparticles (ZnNPs) synthesized from leaf extract of Ochradenus baccatus. Standard physical techniques, including UVvisible spectroscopy Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy, were used to characterize the synthesized OB-ZnNPs. Synthesized OB-ZnNPs demonstrated significant biofilm inhibition in human and food-borne pathogens (Chromobacterium violaceum, Escherichia coli, P. aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Serratia marcescens, and Listeria monocytogenes) at subinhibitory concentrations. OB-ZnNPs significantly reduced the virulence factors like violacein, prodigiosin, and alginate and impaired swarming migration and EPS production. OB-ZnNPs demonstrated efficient binding with HSA protein and no change in their structure or stability was observed. In addition, in vivo toxicity evaluation confirmed that OBZnNPs possessed no serious toxic effect even at higher doses. Moreover, they were found to have excellent antioxidant properties that can be employed in the fields of food safety and medicine. Hence, it is envisaged that the OB-ZnNPs can be used as potential nanomaterials to combat drug resistant bacterial infections and prevent contamination/spoilage of food.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the important role of intangible resources under resource based view (RBV) such as dominant logic (information filter and learning/routines) and dynamic managerial capabilities (managerial human capital, HC; social capital, SC and managerial cognition, MC) in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) innovation performance in Hefei, Anhui province China.Design/methodology/approachAn empirical study was conducted while distributing 498 questionnaires among different SMEs in Hefei, of which around 429 responses were received. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to test the proposed hypotheses.FindingsThis research study is an endeavor to fill the missing link in the existing literature, and empirical analysis of this research supports all the hypotheses confirming that dominant logic and dynamic managerial capabilities are valuable intangible resources and positively and significantly influence the SMEs innovation performance. Results also indicate that managerial human capital, social capital and managerial cognition (dynamic managerial capabilities) play a significant mediating role between dominant logic and SMEs innovation performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings suggest that those SMEs which are lacking tangible resources should build and nurture their top management capabilities and dominant logic and SMEs effectively utilizing these intangible resources can enhance their innovation performance.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that SMEs lacking tangible resources should build and nurture their top management capabilities and dominant logic and SMEs effectively utilizing these intangible resources can enhance their innovation performance.Originality/valueThis paper argues theoretically (under RBV and dynamic capabilities view-DCV) and demonstrates empirically that in an emerging economy, i.e. China characterized by highly volatile, dynamic and uncertain competitive environments, SMEs lack tangible resources; therefore, intangible resources (e.g. dominant logic-DL and dynamic managerial capabilities-DMC) are vital for SMEs innovation performance and competitive advantage.

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