bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Chinese Service Multinationals: The Degree of Internationalization and Performance
Authors: Wei Ziyi , Nguyen Quyen T. K. 
Published: January 2021

AbstractWe investigate the degree of internationalization of Chinese service multinational enterprises (MNEs) and their performance relative to global peers operating in the same industries, using the benchmarking method with the industry financial data. Our theoretical development is based upon Verbeke and Forootan (2012)’s framework, grounded in “new” internalization theory, arguing that an MNE’s financial performance is fundamentally determined by its firm-specific advantages (FSAs). Here FSAs include not only conventional strengths in R&D and brand names, but also the recombination capabilities, which is a higher-order FSA. We theorize that Chinese service MNEs develop FSAs, which are built upon home country-specific advantages (CSAs) and thus their FSAs are home country-bound in nature. They have not yet been able to develop advanced management capabilities through recombination with host CSAs. We empirically examine the largest 500 Chinese service firms. We find that only 23 Chinese service firms are true MNEs, whereas the majority of them are purely domestic firms. The financial performance of Chinese service MNEs is poor relative to global peers. They internationalize mainly through acquisitions of foreign firms, which help them increase their foreign sales, but they are not able to achieve superior performance in overseas operations. We discuss the strategic implications of our findings for managers, public policy makers, and academic research.
Evaluation des Risikoorientierten Sanktionenvollzugs – Konstruktion einer Veränderungsmessung
Authors: Treuthardt Daniel , Kröger Melanie 
Published: January 2021

ZusammenfassungDer Risikoorientierte Sanktionenvollzug (ROS) hat zum Ziel, Rückfälle größtmöglich zu reduzieren und Ressourcen zu stärken. In verschiedenen Evaluationen wurde ROS untersucht und weiterentwickelt. Nun soll eine Veränderungsmessung konzipiert werden, die ROS erweitert und die Abbildung von Veränderungen transparenter und nachvollziehbarer machen soll. Hierzu werden sowohl personen- als auch umweltbezogene Gesichtspunkte herangezogen. Folgende 3 personenbezogenen Aspekte werden unterschieden: Veränderungspotenzial (welches sich aus Veränderungsfähigkeit und Veränderungsmotivation zusammensetzt), delinquenzbezogene Prozessvariablen und Stufen der Verhaltensänderung. Sowohl das Veränderungspotenzial als auch die delinquenzbezogenen Prozessvariablen erfassen die Bereiche Wollen, Wissen und Können. Die Stufen der Verhaltensänderung umfassen die Ebenen Absichtslosigkeit, Absichtsbildung, Handlung und Aufrechterhaltung. Die umweltbezogenen Aspekte umfassen zentrale Lebensbereiche wie Arbeit, Wohnen, soziales Umfeld etc. und werden anhand einer umweltbezogenen Veränderungsmessung bewertet, die ebenfalls die Bereiche Wollen, Wissen und Können umfasst. Umwelt- und personenbezogene Aspekte werden übergeordnet in der Ausprägung des Problemprofils betrachtet. Die Ausprägung des Problemprofils betrachtet, anders als die 3 personenbezogenen Aspekte, nicht nur konkrete deliktpräventive Aspekte, sondern auch die Auswirkung des Problemprofils in nichtdeliktrelevanten Situationen und Lebensbereichen. Abschließend werden Limitationen diskutiert sowie ein Ausblick auf eine zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt folgende Evaluation gegeben.
Directly Reprogrammed Neurons Express MAPT and APP Splice Variants Pertinent to Ageing and Neurodegeneration
Authors: Habekost Mette , Qvist Per , Denham Mark , Holm Ida E. , Jørgensen Arne Lund 
Published: January 2021

AbstractNeurons produced by reprogramming of other cell types are used to study cellular mechanisms of age-related neurodegenerative diseases. To model Alzheimer’s disease and other tauopathies, it is essential that alternative splicing of the MAPT transcript in these neurons produces the relevant tau isoforms. Human neurons derived from induced pluripotent stem cells, however, express tau isoform compositions characteristic of foetal neurons rather than of adult neurons unless cultured in vitro for extended time periods. In this study, we characterised the dynamics of the MAPT and APP alternative splicing during a developmental time-course of porcine and murine cerebral cortices. We found age-dependent and species-specific isoform composition of MAPT, including 3R and 4R isoforms in the porcine adult brain similar to that of the adult human brain. We converted adult and embryonic fibroblasts directly into induced neurons and found similar developmental patterns of isoform composition, notably, the 3R and 4R isoforms relevant to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease. Also, we observed cell-type-specific isoform expression of APP transcripts during the conversion. The approach was further used to generate induced neurons from transgenic pigs carrying Alzheimer’s disease-causing mutations. We show that such neurons authentically model the first crucial steps in AD pathogenesis.
Alpha-Synuclein Antibody Characterization: Why Semantics Matters
Authors: Outeiro Tiago Fleming 
Published: January 2021

AbstractIn protein aggregation disorders, we assume that, during the process of protein aggregation, different types of aggregated species (oligomers, protofibrils, fibrils, etc.) are formed, some of which can be toxic to cells/tissues/organs. Recent evidence from numerous studies in cell and animal models of disease suggest that oligomeric species of different proteins might be more toxic that the larger, fibrillar forms. However, we still lack definitive data on the nature of the toxic species, mostly due to our inability to detect and define the various protein species that form as protein aggregate. The terms used are often broad and do not capture inter-laboratory variation in protocols and methods used for the characterization of aggregates. Even antibody-based methods can be ambiguous, as antibodies are delicate tools. Therefore, systematic and interdisciplinary studies are essential in order to guide future developments in the field.
A Comparative Analysis of Outcomes of Conventional Cold Dissection Versus Laser Tonsillectomy in Pediatric Cases in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Haryana
Authors: Kumar Amit , Kumar Surender , Krishnan Anand , Verma Manish , Garg Uma , Sharma Naveen 
Published: January 2021

AbstractTonsillectomy is one of the commonest ENT procedures done in paediatric population, the technique of which has evolved over years to decrease the morbidity associated with the surgery. This prospective randomized comparative study is done to evaluate the efficacy of two different techniques of this surgery, conventional cold dissection and laser tonsillectomy based on operative time, blood loss, post-operative pain and occurrence of secondary complications. The study was done in 68 patients of paediatric age group, 34 in each group underwent cold dissection and laser tonsillectomy. Operative time and bleeding were significantly low for laser group. Pain score was comparable in early post-operatives days, but was high towards the end of first week. Our study reported only one incidence of complication in the form of a secondary bleeding.
The Relation Between Residential Self-Selection and Urban Mobility in Middle Eastern Cities: the Case of Alexandria, Egypt
Authors: Masoumi Houshmand , Ibrahim Mohamed R. , Aslam Atif Bilal 
Published: January 2021

AbstractThe present paper attempts to fill a part of the gap in the studies on residential location choices and their relations to urban mobility, socio-economics, and the built environment by presenting the results of a study on Alexandria, Egypt, by analysing the results of a survey in eight neighbourhoods undertaken in 2015. Four questions were answered in this study: (i) “How are the main drivers behind residential location choices in Alexandria connected to various socio-demographic groups or people with different availability to urban and built environments?”, (ii) “How are the main residential self-selections in Alexandria associated with one another and which are the most important?”, (iii) “How are the housing location-related decisions of Egyptians similar to or different from international decisions?”, and (iv) “How can planners and decision-makers use the knowledge produced by this study for urban planning and housing in Egypt?”. Library work and the results of a Χ2 test of independence show that availability of transportation modes, nice neighbourhoods, and affordability are the strongest motives behind decisions. However, socio-economic factors are generally stronger than urban mobility and spatial issues. These findings are partly different from those of high-income countries.
Combining Environmental Area Frame Surveys of a Finite Population
Authors: Prentius Wilmer , Zhao Xin , Grafström Anton 
Published: January 2021

AbstractNew ways to combine data from multiple environmental area frame surveys of a finite population are being introduced. Environmental surveys often sample finite populations through area frames. However, to combine multiple surveys without risking bias, design components (inclusion probabilities, etc.) are needed at unit level of the finite population. We show how to derive the design components and exemplify this for three commonly used area frame sampling designs. We show how to produce an unbiased estimator using data from multiple surveys, and how to reduce the risk of introducing significant bias in linear combinations of estimators from multiple surveys. If separate estimators and variance estimators are used in linear combinations, there’s a risk of introducing negative bias. By using pooled variance estimators, the bias of a linear combination estimator can be reduced. National environmental surveys often provide good estimators at national level, while being too sparse to provide sufficiently good estimators for some domains. With the proposed methods, one can plan extra sampling efforts for such domains, without discarding readily available information from the aggregate/national survey. Through simulation, we show that the proposed methods are either unbiased, or yield low variance with small bias, compared to traditionally used methods.
A non-destructive resonant acoustic testing and defect classification of additively manufactured lattice structures
Authors: Obaton A.-F. , Wang Y. , Butsch B. , Huang Q. 
Published: January 2021

AbstractAdditive manufacturing enables the fabrication of lattice structures which are of particular interest to fabricate medical implants and lightweight aerospace parts. Product integrity is critical in these applications. This requests very challenging quality control for such complex geometries, particularly on detecting internal defects. It is important not only to detect whether there are missing struts for a product with a large size of lattices, but also to identify the number of missing struts for safety-critical applications. Resonant ultrasound spectroscopy is a promising method for fast and cost-effective non-destructive testing of complex geometries but data analytics methods are needed to systematically analyze resonant ultrasound signals for defect identification and classification. This study utilizes resonant acoustic method to obtain resonant frequency spectrum of test lattice structures. In addition, regularized linear discriminant analysis, combined with adaptive sampling and normalization, is developed to classify the number of missing struts. The result shows 80.95% testing accuracy on validation study, which suggests that the resonant acoustic method combined with machine learning is a powerful tool to inspect lattices.
A microfluidic bleeding model to investigate the effects of blood flow shear on microvascular hemostasis
Authors: Hu Xiangyu , Chen Haosheng , Li Jiang , Meng Kuilin , Wang Yuming , Li Yongjian 
Published: January 2021

AbstractHemorrhage is the phenomenon of blood loss caused by vascular trauma or other pathological reasons, which is life-threatening in severe cases. Because microhemorrhage is difficult to visually monitor and pre-treat in vivo, it is necessary to establish in vitro prediction methods to study the hemostasis mechanism in different physiological environments. In this study, a microfluidic bleeding model was developed to investigate the effect of blood flow shear on microvascular hemostasis. The results indicated that the regulation of blood shear rate on platelet aggregation affected the growth and morphology of hemostatic thrombus, and finally regulated the process of hemostasis. This in vitro model is significant to studies on hemostatic mechanisms, a reliable prediction of microhemorrhages, and an adjustment of the treatment scheme.
Determination of optimal blowing-to-suction flow ratio in mechanized excavation face with wall-mounted swirling ventilation using numerical simulations
Authors: Gao Runze , Wang Pengfei , Li Yongjun , Liu Ronghua 
Published: January 2021

AbstractWall-mounted swirling ventilation is a new type of system in mechanized excavation faces with a dust suppression performance that is closely related to the blowing-to-suction flow ratio. Physical and simulation models were developed according to the No. C103 mechanized excavation face in the Nahe Coal Mine of the Baise Mining Bureau, Guangxi Province to optimize the blowing-to-suction flow ratio for wall-mounted swirling ventilation. Both the k-ε turbulence model and the discrete phase model were utilized to simulate airflow field structures and dust concentration distribution patterns at various blowing-to-suction flow ratios. The results suggest that higher blowing-to-suction flow ratios increase the airflow field disturbance around the working face and weaken the intensity of the axial air curtain. On the other hand, both the intensity of the radial air curtain and the dust suppression effect are enhanced. At a blowing-to-suction flow ratio of 0.8, the wall-mounted swirling ventilation system achieved the most favorable dust suppression performance. Both the total dust and respirable dust had their lowest concentrations with maximum efficiencies of reducing both types at 90.33% and 87.16%, respectively.
Determination of Long-Term Creep Properties for 316H Steel Using Short-Term Tests on Pre-strained Material
Authors: Zhou H. , Mehmanparast A. , Nikbin K. 
Published: January 2021

AbstractDetermination of long-term creep rupture properties for 316H steel is both costly and time-consuming and given the level of scatter in the data would need substantial number of tests to be performed. The primary objective of this study is to estimate the long-term creep properties of cross-weld (XW) and as-received (AR) 316H stainless steel by performing accelerated tests on pre-compressed (PC) material. In this work, uniaxial creep rupture tests have been performed on XW specimens and the results have been used to establish a correlation with accelerated test results on the PC material. Moreover, tensile tests have been performed on XW specimens at room temperature and 550 °C to examine the pre-conditioning effects on the mechanical response of the material. Similar power-law creep properties have been found for the creep strain rate and rupture time behaviour of the XW and PC specimens. It also has been found that the creep ductility data points obtained from XW and PC specimens fall upon the estimated trend for the AR material at 550 °C when the data are correlated with the applied stress normalised by 0.2% proof stress. The results show that the long-term creep properties of the XW and AR material can be estimated in much shorter time scales simply by performing tests on the PC material state.
Underpinning the entrepreneurship educator’s toolkit: conceptualising the influence of educational philosophies and theory
Authors: Bell Robin 
Published: January 2021

AbstractEntrepreneurship educators can maximise the effectiveness of their delivery by having a firm grasp of the different educational philosophies and theories that underpin entrepreneurship education pedagogy and practice. A particular educational philosophical orientation underlies, directs, and drives educator practices and should align with what the teaching seeks to impart and achieve, and the roles the learners and educator play in the learning process. Whilst educators might not always be explicitly aware of their philosophical orientation, it will direct and drive their pedagogic practice and have implications for what they deliver, and how they deliver it. The benefits of bringing together different learning theories, philosophies, and approaches for entrepreneurship education has previously been posited in the literature. However, it has been highlighted that connections between educational theory and practice are limited, and that the field of entrepreneurship education could be advanced through providing links between education literature, theory, and learning. This paper advances the literature by linking educational philosophy and theory to entrepreneurship education and pedagogy in higher education. It discusses and highlights how behaviourism, cognitivism, constructivism, and humanism can be used to underpin and support learning in entrepreneurship education. This meets calls for the conceptualisation of how educational philosophies and theories can be integrated into entrepreneurship education to support learners.
A time-variant fault detection software reliability model
Authors: Raghuvanshi Kamlesh Kumar , Agarwal Arun , Jain Khushboo , Singh V. B. 
Published: January 2021

AbstractIn this work, we propose a time-variant software reliability model (SRM)which considers the fault detection and the highest number of faults in software. The time-variant genetic algorithm process is implemented for the assessment of the SRM parameters. The proposed model works upon a non-homogeneous Poisson process (NHPP) and incorporates fault dependent detection and software failure intensity and the un-removed error in the software. We had considered programmers proficiency, software complexity, organization hierarchy, and perfect debugging as the determining factors for SRM. The dataset collected from 74 software projects was experimented with to establish and validate the proposed software reliability model's better fit. Data is collected over a period, which is initiated with the start of the project and is continuously monitored until its completion. Several parameters are analyzed, and a collection of 115 attributes are given with 11 different time frames in terms of product and process characteristics. A total of 383 persons were involved in software design, where the issue count total is 255. The proposed time-variant fault detection SRM is implemented in Jira and is also compared with the existing reliability model presented in the literature. It is observed that the proposed fault detection SRM works better in terms of different parameters like mean square error (MSE), root mean square error (RMSE), and r-squared (R2).

The work is carried out, ensuring time-varying fault detection, which is measured by considering response count, coding and non-coding deliverables, and the number of bugs in the software.

We considered the programmer's proficiency, software complexity, organization hierarchy, and perfect debugging as the determining factors for presenting the software reliability model.

The proposed Software reliability model shows improvement over existing algorithms as the residual errors are reduced, and prediction accuracy is high in terms of cumulative fault detection.
Kinetics of Postpartum Mesenteric Artery Structure and Function Relative to Pregnancy and Lactation in Mice
Authors: Gokina Natalia I. , Fairchild Rebecca I. , Bishop Nicole M. , Dawson Taylor E. , Prakash Kirtika , Bonney Elizabeth A. 
Published: January 2021

AbstractEpidemiological evidence suggests that normal pregnancy in women is associated with decreased cardiovascular risk in later life. Clinical studies have provided evidence that alterations in vascular function and structure are detectable long after delivery. To understand these findings, we examined mesenteric artery reactivity at both early (3 days and 2–4 weeks) and late (12 weeks) postpartum (PP) time points in relation to late pregnancy (LP) and lactation. Vessels from virgin controls, LP, PP, and nursing and non-nursing mothers were tested for responses to phenylephrine (PE), high potassium solutions (high K+), and acetylcholine (ACh). Passive arterial distensibility, vessel dimensions, and collagen and elastin content were evaluated for the studied groups. We observed that (1) there was a significant inhibition of vascular reactivity to PE in LP, 3 days and 2 weeks PP vessels that returned to pre-pregnancy levels at 4 and 12 weeks PP; (2) inhibition of NO production in PP vessels restored PE-induced constriction to pre-pregnancy levels; (3) vasodilator responses to ACh were similar at all PP periods; (4) LP and early PP was associated with a persistent increase in arterial distensibility that correlates with a PP-induced reduction in wall collagen, and regressed to pre-conception levels at 12 weeks PP; (5) vessels from non-nursing PP mice demonstrated an increased PE reactivity, diminished responses to ACh, and reduced distensibility compared to breastfeeding mice. These studies provide a timeframe for mesenteric artery adaptations that occur during pregnancy and extend to the PP period, but which may be modified by PP events.
Die dunkle Seite der Macht
Authors: Huber Stefan , Tanner Mathias , Scheiblich Herbert 
Published: January 2021

ZusammenfassungDer Begriff Spiritualität ist in gesellschaftlichen und wissenschaftlichen Diskursen fast ausschließlich positiv konnotiert und wird primär mit Themen wie Gesundheit, Wohlbefinden, Lebenszufriedenheit oder Intelligenz in Verbindung gebracht. Im Kontrast dazu werden im vorliegenden Beitrag vier Fallbeispiele diskutiert, in denen Erzählungen zu negativen Erfahrungen oder Einstellungen zu Spirituellem erzählt werden. Die Erzählungen stammen aus Leitfadeninterviews, die im Rahmen einer repräsentativ angelegten „mixed methods“ Studie zu Säkularen und Säkularität in der Schweiz durchgeführt wurden. Rund vier Jahre nach den Erstinterviews konnten mit drei der Befragten Zweitinterviews durchgeführt werden. In beiden Interviews wurden die Auskunftspersonen unter anderem gefragt, ob es in ihrem Leben etwas Spirituelles gebe. Darauf erzählten sie von Schicksalsmächten, „Geistern“, „schwarzer Magie“ oder „schlechter Energie“, die bei ihnen und nahestehenden Personen Wünsche erfüllt (was später negativ bewertet wurde), negative Gefühle wie Angst, Kälte oder Leere ausgelöst oder dann auch Krankheiten, Streit, schlimme Vorfälle oder unerklärliche Unfälle verursacht hätten. In der Diskussion werden mögliche Konsequenzen dieser Befunde für die Spiritualitätsforschung und den Begriff der Spiritualität reflektiert. Dabei werden Verbindungen zu Forschungen über außergewöhnliche Erfahrungen – die weit verbreitet sind – hergestellt und Anregungen für weitere Forschungen gegeben. In Bezug auf die Begriffsdiskussion plädiert der Beitrag dafür, Spiritualität konsequent auf Erfahrungen „großer Transzendenzen“ im Sinne Luckmanns zu beziehen. Dadurch wird der Begriff für negative spirituelle Erfahrungen geöffnet. Daneben ergeben sich dadurch neue Impulse für die Bestimmung des Verhältnisses von Spiritualität und Religion.