bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Benchmarking the efficiency model for working capital management: data envelopment analysis approach
Authors: Seth Himanshu , Chadha Saurabh , Sharma Satyendra 
Published: August 2020

PurposeThis paper evaluates the working capital management (WCM) efficiency of the Indian manufacturing industries through data envelopment analysis (DEA) and empirically investigates the influence of several exogenous variables on the WCM efficiency.Design/methodology/approachWCM efficiency was calculated using BCC input-oriented DEA model. Further, the panel data fixed effect model was used on a sample of 1391 Indian manufacturing firms spread across nine industries, covering the period from 2008 to 2019.FindingsFirstly, the WCM efficiency of Indian manufacturing industries has been stable over the analysis period. Secondly, the capacity to generate internal resources, size, age, productivity, gross domestic product and interest rate significantly influence WCM efficiency.Research limitations/implicationsFirst, the selected study period has observed various economic uncertainties including demonetization and recession, so the scenario might differ in normal conditions or country-wise. Second, the findings might not be generalizable to the developed economies, since the current study sample belongs to a developing economy, which further provides scope for comparative study.Practical implicationsAn efficient model for managing the working capital comprising most vital determinants could enhance the firms' valuation and goodwill. Also, this study would be helpful for financial executives, manufacturers, policymakers, investors, researchers and other stakeholders.Originality/valueThis study estimates the industry-wise WCM efficiency of the Indian manufacturing sector and suggests measures to the concerned parties on areas to focus on and provide evidence on the estimated relationships of firm-level and macroeconomic determinants with WCM efficiency.
Improving research labs’ performance through project management guidelines: a case study analysis
Authors: Pacheco Junior Marco Antonio , Anholon Rosley , Rampasso Izabela Simon , Leal Filho Walter 
Published: August 2020

PurposeThe article aims to critically analyze the project management developed by research laboratories of a Brazilian university in order to enhance their performance. For this, a critical analysis was performed to identify existing opportunities about the management of schedules and resources. Additionally, a software was developed to enable performance improvement.Design/methodology/approachThe methodological procedures used were literature review, for a theoretical foundation, and case study conducted with semi-structured interviews, documentary research and on-site visits. Through a detailed critical analysis of the laboratories' management, it was possible to understand the activities developed and map the main difficulties observed.FindingsA total of five plausible points of improvement were identified, namely reduced teams and accumulation of activities; team seasonality; centralized management; deviations from projects and schedule control. Based on the theoretical foundation, it has been proposed adjustments to minimize the mentioned difficulties that can greatly contribute for better management efficiency of multiple research projects. In addition, a software was structured based on the proposed improvements. The laboratories' performance was monitored for a month and significant improvements were observed.Practical implicationsThe information presented here may be of great value to other researchers interested in enhancing research laboratory performance.Originality/valueThe academic literature presents several examples of project management guidelines application in different organizations; however, there are few studies about the application of them in research laboratories and how to improve their performance.
Development of a multi-criteria decision-making model for comparing the performance of Turkish commercial banks
Authors: Ic Yusuf Tansel , Celik Beril , Kavak Sevcan , Baki Busra 
Published: August 2020

PurposeIn this study, financial performance evaluation model is developed for banks aims to measure and compare the performances of banks based on their financial ratios.Design/methodology/approachRegression-AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process)-VIKOR (Vise Kriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje) integrated methodology is used. First, a literature review is done to find various bank performance measurement models with their financial metrics being compared. Then, pair-wise comparison matrices are used to find the relative weights of criteria (financial ratios) and finally VIKOR method is used to rank the banks.FindingsIt is believed that an AHP-based VIKOR framework helps to take up the explicit account of multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) methodologies in decision making and for selecting the best bank in the Turkish economy.Research limitations/implicationsIn this paper, only selected financial ratios are used and analyzed for the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method.Originality/valueThe systematic solution procedure of performance evaluating the banks helps the decision-makers to carry out performance evaluation studies for improving economic and managerial performance. This comparative study and analysis of bank performance using the regression-AHP-VIKOR combined model is presented for the first time. The authors have not become aware of any such studies in their literature review. This paper is an original framework of the application of the regression-AHP-VIKOR on the various financial performance metrics.
This time was different: the budgetary responses to the pandemic-induced crisis in Estonia
Authors: Raudla Ringa , Douglas James W. 
Published: August 2020

PurposeSince regaining its independence, the Estonian government has followed policies of fiscal consolidation when responding to economic crises. Its response to the COVID-19-crisis has been quite different – it has authorized additional expenditures, cut taxes and incurred considerable debt. This paper gives an overview of the budgetary measures adopted and explores the question: why was it different this time?Design/methodology/approachThe authors draw upon policy documents to zoom in on the main political, institutional and economic factors that help to explain Estonia's departure from extreme fiscal conservatism in the midst of the global pandemic.FindingsThe authors found the key political factors to be the party composition of the government, policy diffusion and policy learning. Key economic factors included Estonia's very low level of debt prior to the crisis and credit market advantages gained from Eurozone membership.Originality/valueEstonia presents an interesting case because in all previous crises it responded with fiscal consolidation, whereas it is now responding with extensive fiscal stimulus.
Three‐dimensional electrical structure of the northwestern margin of the Karamay region, China, revealed by magnetotelluric data
Authors: Ye Yixin , Gong Shengping , Yu Hui , Feng Zhibing , Liu Wenyu 
Published: August 2020

ABSTRACTIn order to investigate the three‐dimensional structures of intrusive granite and the deep structure of the Darbut fault in the northwestern margin of the Karamay region, western Junggar Basin, China, new magnetotelluric data were collected along six profiles across the Darbut fault. The magnetotelluric data were processed using a robust estimation technique to obtain the magnetotelluric impedance. Then the off‐diagonal components of the impedance tensor were inverted using a three‐dimensional nonlinear conjugate gradient inversion technique, which was performed using open‐source three‐dimensional electromagnetic inversion software. The final three‐dimensional model includes two major low‐resistivity anomalies and two major high‐resistivity anomalies. The first low‐resistivity anomaly corresponds to the location of the Darbut fault, which indicates that metallic elements are abnormally enriched there. The second one is located beneath the Darbut fault, and it is most likely a magma channel in the middle crust. The two major high‐resistivity anomalies are distributed on either side of the Darbut fault. We interpret them as Karamay rocks and Akebasitao rocks and suggest that they were formed in an extensional setting. The cross sections of three‐dimensional magnetotelluric inversion result reveal that the Darbut fault has been reformed by the later magmatism, leading to the variation of its downward extent along its strike. Moreover, our inversion result also indicates that a magma channel exists in the middle crust of the region.
Seismic signal enhancement based on the low‐rank methods
Authors: Bai Min , Huang Guangtan , Wang Hang , Chen Yangkang 
Published: August 2020

ABSTRACTBased on the fact that the Hankel matrix constructed by noise‐free seismic data is low‐rank, low‐rank approximation (or rank‐reduction) methods have been widely used for removing noise from seismic data. Due to the linear‐event assumption of the traditional low‐rank approximation method, it is difficult to define a rank that optimally separates the data subspace into signal and noise subspaces. For preserving the most useful signal energy, a relatively large rank threshold is often chosen, which inevitably leaves residual noise. To reduce the energy of residual noise, we propose an optimally damped rank‐reduction method. The optimal damping is applied via two steps. In the first step, a set of optimal damping weights is derived. In the second step, we derive an optimal singular value damping operator. We review several traditional low‐rank methods and compare their performance with the new one. We also compare these low‐rank methods with two sparsity‐promoting transform methods. Examples demonstrate that the proposed optimally damped rank‐reduction method could get significantly cleaner denoised images compared with the state‐of‐the‐art methods.
Survivorship after flowering and flowering synchronicity of three cultivated Strobilanthes flexicaulis individuals from Iriomote Island, Japan
Authors: Furumoto Ryo 
Published: August 2020

AbstractStrobilanthes flexicaulis in Iriomote Island, Japan, is a monocarpic perennial plant, which is thought to be an intermediate evolutionary state from a polycarpic perennial plant to a periodical mass‐flowering plant. It remains unclear whether the intermediate reproductive traits are altered by cutting propagation or disbudding treatment (flower bud removal). To evaluate whether these traits are affected by such treatments, three individuals of S. flexicaulis from Iriomote Island were cultivated, and their flowering patterns and survivorship were observed. The monocarpic trait seemed to have been altered into a polycarpic trait by cultivation. The disbudding treatment was not related to the survivorship. The initiation of flowering was synchronized, but the termination of the second flowering period was variable among the three individuals and between the treatments. S. flexicaulis on Iriomote Island seemed to have individual variation in reproductive traits. This variation may result in their intermediate evolutionary state.
Using Fact Checking to Improve Information Systems in Argentina
Authors: Riera Ariel , Zommer Laura 
Published: August 2020

AbstractChequeado is an NGO that was the first fact‐checking initiative in Latin America. It began its work in 2010 and aims to improve the quality of public discourse and to raise the cost of lying and spreading misinformation, with a main focus on Argentina. It also leads the Latam Chequea network in the region. The organisation produces regular fact checking articles and explainers, partners with key actors to stop the spread of misinformation on social media, develops state of the art applications and software, and teaches media literacy and data journalism, among other activities. This article outlines anecdotal evidence for the impact of this work, which it is seeking to build on with more research to measure its impact and understand how fact checking can be more effective.
Situating the Continuum of Overdose Risk in the Social Determinants of Health: A New Conceptual Framework
Authors: PARK JU NYEONG , ROUHANI SABA , BELETSKY LEO , VINCENT LOUISE , SALONER BRENDAN , SHERMAN SUSAN G. 
Published: August 2020

Policy Points
This article reconceptualizes our understanding of the opioid epidemic and proposes six strategies that address the epidemic's social roots.
In order to successfully reduce drug‐related mortality over the long term, policymakers and public health leaders should develop partnerships with people who use drugs, incorporate harm reduction interventions, and reverse decades of drug criminalization policies.
ContextDrug overdose is the leading cause of injury‐related death in the United States. Synthetic opioids, predominantly illicit fentanyl and its analogs, surpassed prescription opioids and heroin in associated mortality rates in 2016. Unfortunately, interventions fail to fully address the current wave of the opioid epidemic and often omit the voices of people with lived experiences regarding drug use. Every overdose death is a culmination of a long series of policy failures and lost opportunities for harm reduction.MethodsIn this article, we conducted a scoping review of the opioid literature to propose a novel framework designed to foreground social determinants more directly into our understanding of this national emergency. The “continuum of overdose risk” framework is our synthesis of the global evidence base and is grounded in contemporary theories, models, and policies that have been successfully applied both domestically and internationally.FindingsDe‐escalating overdose risk in the long term will require scaling up innovative and comprehensive solutions that have been designed through partnerships with people who use drugs and are rooted in harm reduction.ConclusionsWithout recognizing the full drug‐use continuum and the role of social determinants, the current responses to drug overdose will continue to aggravate the problem they are trying to solve.
Continuity of care and health care cost among community‐dwelling older adult veterans living with dementia
Authors: Lei Lianlian , Intrator Orna , Conwell Yeates , Fortinsky Richard H. , Cai Shubing 
Published: August 2020

AbstractObjectivesTo estimate the causal impact of continuity of care (COC) on total, institutional, and noninstitutional cost among community‐dwelling older veterans with dementia.Data SourcesCombined Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and Medicare data in Fiscal Years (FYs) 2014‐2015.Study DesignFY 2014 COC was measured by the Bice‐Boxerman Continuity of Care (BBC) index on a 0‐1 scale. FY 2015 total combined VHA and Medicare cost, institutional cost of acute inpatient, emergency department [ED], long‐/short‐stay nursing home, and noninstitutional long‐term care (LTC) cost for medical (like skilled‐) and social (like unskilled‐) services were assessed controlling for covariates. An instrumental variable for COC (change of residence by more than 10 miles) was used to account for unobserved health confounders.Data CollectionCommunity‐dwelling veterans with dementia aged 66 and older, enrolled in Traditional Medicare (N = 102 073).Principal FindingsMean BBC in FY 2014 was 0.32; mean total cost in FY 2015 was $35 425. A 0.1 higher BBC resulted in (a) $4045 lower total cost; (b) $1597 lower acute inpatient cost, $119 lower ED cost, $4368 lower long‐stay nursing home cost; (c) $402 higher noninstitutional medical LTC and $764 higher noninstitutional social LTC cost. BBC had no impact on short‐stay nursing home cost.ConclusionsCOC is an effective approach to reducing total health care cost by supporting noninstitutional care and reducing institutional care.
The role of parents on the home ownership experience of their children: Evidence from the health and retirement study
Authors: Bond Shaun A. , Eriksen Michael D. 
Published: August 2020

AbstractWe construct matched panel data sets of adult children with their parents to study the role of lagged parental attributes on subsequent home ownership decisions between 2000 and 2012. Earlier research has demonstrated intergenerational wealth transfers from parents to children are an important source of upfront equity used to purchase a first home, although parental attributes are often omitted as determinants of tenure due to data limitations. A significant role is found for lagged parental wealth on the ability of adult children to become and remain home owners over this period. Endowed differences in parental wealth are estimated to account for the largest explainable share of the white/non‐white gap in becoming a homeowner, and maintaining home ownership once attained.
Sulfites in meat: Occurrence, activity, toxicity, regulation, and detection. A comprehensive review
Authors: D'Amore Teresa , Di Taranto Aurelia , Berardi Giovanna , Vita Valeria , Marchesani Giuliana , Chiaravalle Antonio Eugenio , Iammarino Marco 
Published: August 2020

AbstractSulfites are a class of chemical compounds, SO2 releasers, widely used as additives in food industry, due to their antimicrobial, color stabilizing, antibrowning, and antioxidant properties. As the results of these pleiotropic functions they can be added to a broad range of products including dried fruits and vegetables, seafood, juices, alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverage, and in few meat products. Sulfites ingestion has been correlated with several adverse and toxic reactions, such as hypersensitivity, allergic diseases, vitamin deficiency, and may lead to dysbiotic events of gut and oral microbiota. In many countries, these additives are closely regulated and in meat products the legislation restricts their usage. Several studies have been conducted to investigate the sulfites contents in meat and meat products, and many of them have revealed that some meat preparations represent one of the main sources of SO2 exposure, especially in adults and young people. This review discusses properties, technological functions, regulation, and health implications of sulfites in meat‐based foods, and lays a special emphasis on the chemical mechanisms involved in their interactions with organic and inorganic meat components.
The Use of Liquid Latex to Recover Latent Fingerprints that are Covered in Debris from Exterior Glass Surfaces of Vehicles
Authors: Kapsa Cassandra , Ho Michael , Libby Meadow 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThe purpose of this research is to determine if latent fingerprints deposited on the exterior glass surfaces of vehicles, then covered in debris, can be recovered. Past research used liquid latex to lift soot to recover trace evidence. Recently, liquid latex has been used to recover latent fingerprints along the bottom of vehicles. In this study, a total of 216 latent fingerprints were deposited on the exterior windows of three vehicles. Three control and three experimental latent fingerprints were placed on each side window. The vehicles collected debris for either 2, 3, or 4 weeks. After debris collection, liquid latex was applied to the experimental sections. The underlying fingerprints were developed with white granular powder. Control fingerprints were developed directly with white granular powder. A chi‐square test revealed a significant difference in fingerprint recovery between the control and liquid latex method (X2 = 9.026, d.f. = 1, p = 0.003). An odds ratio determined that the control method increases the probability of latent fingerprint recovery by 2.68. Fisher's exact test indicated that there is no statistically significant difference between the detail of the recovered control and experimental fingerprints (p = 0.065). This study demonstrates that recovery of fingerprints is possible using the liquid latex method; however, the control method recovers more fingerprints on the glass exterior of vehicles. If latent fingerprints are thought to be present on the exterior glass surfaces of vehicles, the control method should be used to improve vehicle processing by investigators.
Identifying Counterfeit Cigarettes Using Environmental Pollen Analysis: An Improved Procedure*
Authors: Chan Tiffany , Robinson Guy , Liu Jonathan , Kurti Marin , He Yi , von Lampe Klaus 
Published: August 2020

AbstractTraditional pollen preparation techniques provide clear residues for pollen identification; however, such methods are time‐consuming, requiring repeated centrifugation, heating, and digestion with high‐concentration hazardous chemicals. Tobacco leaves can effectively trap environmental pollen due to hairy surface and terpene‐rich exudates. A new tobacco sample processing method was developed by using different extraction chemistry with surfactant. Marlboro Gold cigarettes were employed as model samples for method development. Parameters critical for pollen extraction, which include number of cigarette sticks used, extraction solution, and extraction temperature, were optimized. By using 1% dishwashing detergent to treat three cigarettes at room temperature, the improved method was able to recover sufficient pollen for microscopic analysis in three repeated centrifuge‐washing steps and omit hazardous chemicals involved in traditional methods. We focused on the pollen of common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia), a plant native to North America, as an indicator to differentiate genuine and counterfeit U.S. brand cigarettes. Results from analyzing randomly purchased genuine (authenticated by forensic examination) and known counterfeit Marlboro Gold provided by law enforcement revealed that a significant amount (39%) of Ambrosia were consistently present in all genuine samples, while counterfeit contained none or only trace count. Similar results were found in other counterfeit U.S. brand cigarettes (all seized in the U.S.) involved in this study as well. Lack of Ambrosia in cigarette strongly indicates the product was not originated in the United States.
Lunacy in a tertiary emergency department: A 3‐year cohort study of the association between moon cycles and occupational violence and aggression
Authors: Yeung Timothy , O'Reilly Gerard , Mitra Biswadev , Olaussen Alexander 
Published: August 2020

AbstractObjectiveOccupational violence and aggression (OVA) in the ED is an issue of global concern and increasing incidence. The empirical evidence for the relationship between the lunar cycle and ‘lunatics’ remains equivocal. The present study aims to examine the association between OVA in ED and the full moon (FM).MethodsData on all presentations were extracted from The Alfred Hospital ED records for consecutive patients over a 3‐year period (January 2013–December 2015). The primary outcome of the present study is OVA among patients in the ED. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression were used to determine the association between aspects of the lunar cycle and OVA.ResultsThere were 184 059 ED presentations during the 3 years, 6234 (3.4%) of which occurred on a FM. There were 1853 episodes of OVA, 57 (3.1%) of which occurred on a FM. OVA among patients presenting to ED was not associated with the FM (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0.92 [95% confidence interval 0.70–1.20]; P = 0.53). However, the first quarter (FQ) (adjusted OR 1.38 [1.11–1.72]; P < 0.01) and third quarter (TQ) (adjusted OR 1.29 [95% confidence interval 1.03–1.62]; P = 0.03) moons of the lunar cycle were independently associated with OVA.ConclusionsContrary to traditional beliefs, the FQ and TQ of the lunar cycle but not the FM were associated with OVA. This highlights a relatively unexplored relationship that has previously been overshadowed by the FM in the literature. Prediction models of violence in the ED could consider incorporating the FQ and TQ of the lunar cycle in their models.