bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Integrating fuzzy case-based reasoning and discrete-event simulation to develop a decision support system for part-fixture assignment and fixture flow control
Authors: Kasie Fentahun Moges , Bright Glen 
Published: December 2018

PurposeThis study aims to propose a decision support system (DSS) that performs a decision-based part-fixture assignment and fixture flow control in planned production periods.Design/methodology/approachThe principal approaches were fuzzy case-based reasoning (FCBR) and discrete-event simulation (DES). Besides, the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP), an object-oriented (OO) method and a fuzzy weighted Euclidean distance were used to support the decision-making process.FindingsIt shows that integrating FCBR and DES systems is a promising approach to address part-fixture planning problems. The FCBR subsystem proposed various stable numbers of fixtures as scenarios. The DES model analyzed the future performances of these scenarios and identified the best alternative.Research limitations/implicationsThe DSS was tested in laboratory environments using a numerical analysis; however, it was not validated in industrial situations.Originality/valueThe synergy of integrating FCBR and DES systems was not exploited in the past in part-fixture assignment and fixture flow control problems.
Improving the quality of mobile government services in the Gulf Cooperation Council
Authors: Alsaadi Meiaad Rashid , Ahmad Syed Zamberi , Hussain Matloub 
Published: December 2018

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to provide a concrete, integrated plan to improve the service quality of mobile government (m-government) services from the customer perspective in the Gulf Cooperation Council.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative approach was used to analyze a case study of the UAE Ministry of Interior (MOI) mobile application and a competitor: the MOI application of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Data were collected using a focus group.FindingsResults show that the technical requirement “real time” has the highest priority for deployment and “tangible service” has the lowest priority.Research limitations/implicationsFindings are limited to m-government services. Further studies could explore other government services such as traditional face-to-face services.Practical implicationsResults imply that if government decision-makers or software developers aim to understand customer requirements and improve their mobile services accordingly, the quality-function-deployment (QFD) approach is much more effective than traditional approaches in which decisions regarding services are prioritized based on the decision-makers or software developers’ perspectives.Originality/valueMany previous studies have applied QFD for developing products based on customer needs. This, however, is one of the few studies to successfully apply the QFD matrix to m-government services.
Enhancing customer knowledge: the role of banks in financial well-being
Authors: Losada-Otalora Mauricio , Valencia Garcés Carlos Augusto , Juliao-Rossi Jorge , Donado Pedro Mario , Ramírez F. Efraín 
Published: December 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the role of banks in enhancing consumer knowledge aiming to increasing customer’s financial well-being.Design/methodology/approachThis research applied two quantitative studies with customers of banks in a Latin American country. The literature review and the results of the data analysis founded the development of a model that relates bank information transparency and subjective financial well-being through consumer financial knowledge.FindingsBy being transparent banks may transform the financial well-being of their customers. Particularly, this paper shows that consumer financial knowledge mediates the relationship between bank information transparency and the subjective financial well-being of individuals. However, the mediational effect occurs by subjective but not objective financial knowledge.Research limitations/implicationsThe mediational model of this research does not take in consideration the role that individual factors play in the exposition and processing of the information provided by banks and its final impact on the subjective well-being of individuals. Also, this paper does not explore potential moderators of the theoretical relationships neither include cultural variables in the analysis.Originality/valueFirm transparency has been related to various constructs in the marketing literature; however, its impact on consumer financial well-being is under-researched. This paper shows that companies need to aim to increase the subjective financial knowledge of their customers as a way to improve ultimate well-being of their customers.
Feedbacks link ecosystem ecology and evolution across spatial and temporal scales: Empirical evidence and future directions
Authors: Ware Ian M. , Fitzpatrick Connor R. , Senthilnathan Athmanathan , Bayliss Shannon L. J. , Beals Kendall K. , Mueller Liam O. , Summers Jennifer L. , Wooliver Rachel C. , Van Nuland Michael E. , Kinnison Michael T. , Palkovacs Eric P. , Schweitzer Jennifer A. , Bailey Joseph K. 
Published: December 2018

Abstract

Unifying ecosystem ecology and evolutionary biology promises a more complete understanding of the processes that link different levels of biological organization across space and time. Feedbacks across levels of organization link theory associated with eco‐evolutionary dynamics, niche construction and the geographic mosaic theory of co‐evolution.

We describe a conceptual model, which builds upon previous work that shows how feedback among different levels of biological organization can link ecosystem and evolutionary processes over space and time. We provide empirical examples across terrestrial and aquatic systems that indicate broad generality of the conceptual framework and discuss its macroevolutionary consequences.

Our conceptual model is based on three premises: genetically based species interactions can vary spatially and temporally from positive to neutral (i.e. no net feedback) to negative and drive evolutionary change; this evolutionary change can drive divergence in niche construction and ecosystem function; and lastly, such ecosystem‐level effects can reinforce spatiotemporal variation in evolutionary dynamics. Just as evolution can alter ecosystem function locally and across the landscape differently, variation in ecosystem processes can drive evolution locally and across the landscape differently.

By highlighting our current knowledge of eco‐evolutionary feedbacks in ecosystems, as well as information gaps, we provide a foundation for understanding the interplay between biodiversity and ecosystem function through an eco‐evolutionary lens.

A plain language summary is available for this article.
Phytochemical changes in milkweed induced by elevated CO2 alter wing morphology but not toxin sequestration in monarch butterflies
Authors: Decker Leslie E. , Soule Abrianna J. , de Roode Jacobus C. , Hunter Mark D. 
Published: December 2018

Abstract

Environmental change has the potential to influence trophic interactions by altering the defensive phenotype of prey.

Here, we examine the effects of a pervasive environmental change driver, elevated atmospheric concentrations of CO2 (eCO2), on toxin sequestration and flight morphology of a specialist herbivore.

We fed monarch butterfly larvae, Danaus plexippus, foliage from four milkweed, Asclepias, species of varying chemical defence profiles grown under either ambient or eCO2. We also infected a subset of these herbivores with a protozoan parasite, Ophryocystis elektroscirrha, to understand how infection and environmental change combine to alter herbivore defences. We measured changes in phytochemistry induced by eCO2 and assessed cardenolide, toxic steroid, sequestration and wing morphology of butterflies.

Monarchs compensated for lower plant cardenolide concentrations under eCO2 by increasing cardenolide sequestration rate, maintaining similar cardenolide composition and concentrations in their wings under both CO2 treatments. We suggest that these increases in sequestration rate are a by‐product of compensatory feeding aimed at maintaining a nutritional target in response to declining dietary quality under eCO2.

Monarch wings were more suitable for sustained flight (more elongated) when reared on plants grown under eCO2 or when reared on Asclepias syriaca or Asclepias incarnata rather than on Asclepias curassavica or Asclepias speciosa. Parasite infection engendered wings less suitable for sustained flight (wings became rounder) on three of four milkweed species. Wing loading (associated with powered flight) was higher on A. syriaca than on other milkweeds, whereas wing density was lower on A. curassavica. Monarchs that fed on high cardenolide milkweed developed rounder, thinner wings, which are less efficient at gliding flight.

Ingesting foliage from milkweed high in cardenolides may provide protection from enemies through sequestration yet come at a cost to monarchs manifested as lower quality flight phenotypes: rounder, thinner wings with lower wing loading values.

Small changes in morphology may have important consequences for enemy evasion and migration success in many animals. Energetic costs associated with alterations in defence and morphology may, therefore, have important consequences for trophic interactions in a changing world.

A plain language summary is available for this article.
The UK's Participation in Global Value Chains and Its Implications for Post‐Brexit Trade Policy
Authors: IJtsma Pieter , Levell Peter , Los Bart , Timmer Marcel P. 
Published: December 2018

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to provide quantitative information about the position of the UK in the network of global value chains (GVCs) and to discuss its implications for the UK's post‐Brexit trade policy. We find that the UK has become much less integrated into global production networks than other EU countries over the period 2000–14, and is almost unique among EU countries in that the domestic content of its exports increased over this period. This reflects the relatively high and growing domestic service content in UK exports. As a result of this, reducing the UK's tariffs on imported goods is unlikely to have a large direct effect on the average export competitiveness of UK firms. Potentially more significant for the UK is how future trade barriers with the EU are likely to affect its participation in cross‐country value chains that meet final demand in markets in North America and East Asia. Such indirect exports are not captured in conventional trade statistics and can only be analysed using a GVC approach. Our findings suggest that the UK will benefit only to a limited extent from bilateral trade agreements with countries outside the EU (a ‘Global Britain’ strategy) if it gives up its role in the supply chains that service these countries via the EU hub.
Integrating trauma registry data into real‐time patient care
Authors: O'Reilly Gerard , Fitzgerald Mark 
Published: December 2018

AbstractTrauma and other disease registries have been used to improve patient care and outcomes at the system level. Paradoxically, registries have had little role in informing the care of any individual patient while that care is being determined and delivered. The lack of timeliness of useful data is a major barrier to the value of registries in improving individual patient care real‐time. What do trauma and emergency care providers require from their trauma registries to inform real‐time patient‐tailored improvements in trauma care? Research is urgently needed to improve the usefulness of disease registries, and to develop innovative processes and applications using patient data to inform patient care real‐time, thereby improving patient outcomes.
Self‐Curation, Self‐Editing and Audience Construction by Eighteenth‐Century Scots Vernacular Poets
Authors: Brown Rhona 
Published: December 2018

AbstractThis article analyses paratextual and self‐editing practices in the work of three eighteenth‐century Scots vernacular poets: Allan Ramsay, Robert Fergusson and Robert Burns. Taking the theories of paratext articulated by Gerard Genette and J. Hillis Miller as its starting‐point, the article considers the varying ways in which these three poets fashioned their own literary personae and, simultaneously, their audience, through prefaces, footnotes and glossing practice. It also explores the relationship between the three poets, analysing the ways in which Burns learned from both Ramsay and Fergusson, and how each navigated his place as poet in the literary market‐place.
Understanding American Power: Conceptual Clarity, Strategic Priorities, and the Decline Debate
Authors: Quinn Adam , Kitchen Nicholas 
Published: December 2018

AbstractWhat does it mean for the United States to be powerful? The prospect of a decline in American power, especially relative to a rising China, has attracted considerable scholarly and political attention. Despite a wealth of data, disagreements persist regarding both the likely trajectory of theUS‐China balance and the most effective strategy for preserving America's advantage into the future. This article locates the source of these enduring disputes in fundamental conceptual differences over the meaning of power itself. We map the distinct tracks of argument within the decline debate, showing that competing positions are often rooted in differences of focus rather than disputes over fact. Most fundamental is a divide between analyses dedicated to national capabilities, and others that emphasise mechanisms of relational power. This divide underpins how strategists think about the goal of preserving or extending American power. We therefore construct a typology of competing understandings of what it means for America to be powerful, to show that a strategy suited to bolstering American power according to one definition of that goal may not support, and may even undermine, American power understood in other ways.
Revealing Corporate Financial Misreporting
Authors: Curtis Quinn D. , Donelson Dain C. , Hopkins Justin J. 
Published: December 2018

ABSTRACTThis study examines how frequently firms restate when they materially misstate their financial statements using stock option backdating as the setting. Stock option backdating provides a unique opportunity to study this issue because it is possible to estimate misstatements with publicly available information to a high level of confidence, and the extensive media coverage of backdating notified boards of directors of the significant risk of misstatement. After identifying firms that materially misstated earnings due to stock option backdating with 95 percent (99 percent) probability, we find that only 11.5 percent (16.1 percent) of these firms subsequently restated. Restating firms are larger, have greater board independence, higher litigation risk and ROA, a lower market‐to‐book ratio, less discretionary accruals, and are more likely to have a CFO that was not involved in backdating. Restating firms are also more likely to disclose other adverse news, face securities litigation, and turn over the CFO than firms that appear to materially backdate but do not restate. Since nearly 9 of 10 firms failed to restate, our results give pause to researchers who use restatements as an indicator of misreporting, and to regulators who levy penalties on those who do self‐report.
Genetic variations and population data on five supplementary STR markers in Lebanon
Authors: El Andari Ansar , Mourad Lama , Mansour Issam 
Published: December 2018

AbstractPopulation representative short tandem repeat (STR) allele frequencies are crucial for proper probabilistic interpretation of DNA forensic evidence. STR allele frequencies also provide information about the genetic diversity of a given population. The Lebanese population is characterized by the presence of more than 18 religious communities that have high recorded rates of endogamous and consanguineous marriages, where the choice of marriages is mainly influenced by their respective geographical distributions and religious affiliation. These factors could have led to an increase in complex DNA cases, whereby high numbers of STR markers are needed to help clear the case. Allele frequencies for 23 STR loci in the Lebanese population were recently estimated and published. The present study aims at estimating the STR allele frequencies for five supplementary STRs, namely, the LPL, F13B, FESFPS, F13A01, and Penta C STR markers, which are mainly used to resolve complex kinship investigations. A DNA database representative of the Lebanese population that comprises 505 Lebanese unrelated individuals was used to amplify the five STR systems, using the CS7 kit released by Promega. The allele frequencies for these STR systems were estimated, and a significant departure from the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium was detected after Bonferroni correction for multiple tests at locus LPL, F13A01, and Penta C. The newly added systems appeared to have variation in their discriminative power among Lebanese individuals. Penta C showed the highest power of discrimination, whereas FESFPS showed the lowest power of discrimination. The estimated frequencies and population data could provide local DNA relationship testing laboratories with additional tools that help resolve complex DNA cases.
The Trichoscopy Derived Sinclair Scale: Enhancing visual assessment through quantitative trichoscopy
Authors: Kasprzak Michal , Sicińska Justyna , Sinclair Rodney 
Published: December 2018

AbstractIntroductionThe Sinclair Scale of hair midline density is commonly used in clinical dermatology practice as a tool to evaluate the severity of female pattern hair loss (synonym androgenetic alopecia, AGA) and to monitor patient response to treatment. The Sinclair Scale involves a visual evaluation of central hair parting line width, that is performed quickly and with no optical instrumentation. Another approach used to score severity of hair loss is quantitative trichoscopy. While quantitative trichoscopy is more accurate in terms of reproducibility and objectivity, it is more time‐consuming.Materials and MethodsPatients with different stages of AGA were evaluated using both the Sinclair Scale and quantitative trichoscopy. A correlation analysis was performed between the Sinclair Scale and different parameters derived from statistical analysis of trichoscopy images. A novel parameter, cumulative hair thickness density was introduced.ResultsVery good correlation was observed between Sinclair Scale and the cumulative hair thickness density. The quality of correlation is sufficient to estimate Sinclair Scale from cumulative hair thickness density. A formula to calculate the ‘Trichoscopy Derived Sinclair Scale’ from trichoscopy statistics was derived.DiscussionWe propose the term ‘Trichoscopy Derived Sinclair Scale’ to describe the hair midline density as derived from trichoscopy and to differentiate this assessment of midline hair density from the traditional one based on visual inspection alone.
The multidisciplinary management of placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) within a single tertiary centre: A ten‐year experience
Authors: Yasin Nooraishah , Slade Laura , Atkinson Elinor , Kennedy‐Andrews Sue , Scroggs Steven , Grivell Rosalie 
Published: December 2018

IntroductionPlacenta accreta spectrum (PAS) covers a spectrum of placental adherence abnormalities: placenta accreta, increta and percreta. PAS is associated with significant maternal morbidity and mortality. Studies have shown the importance of multidisciplinary teamwork in the management of PAS.AimThis study was designed to describe the maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality associated with PAS in our centre over a ten‐year period.MethodsA retrospective cohort study was conducted of pregnancies complicated by PAS between February 2006 and January 2016 at Flinders Medical Centre (FMC), South Australia. Electronic and medical records were examined to obtain patient demographics, antenatal and surgical, findings and postnatal outcomes.ResultsThere were 67 PAS cases with an overall incidence of 2.3 per 1000 deliveries. Three cases were excluded due to incomplete information. Of the remaining 64 cases, 56 women were antenatally diagnosed. Sixty cases were confirmed to be invasive at delivery; 28 accreta (superficial) and 32 increta/percreta (deep) cases. The four cases with no invasion at delivery were suspected antenatally to have PAS. The median (Q1, Q3) number of caesarean sections in this cohort was 2 (1, 3). Deep invasion is significantly associated with increased bleeding, intensive care unit admission, surgical complications and an extended postpartum stay.ConclusionThe incidence of PAS at FMC is high as it is the state's tertiary referral centre. While PAS is associated with increased morbidity, thorough perioperative planning by a multidisciplinary team is crucial for excellent patient outcomes.
“Solidarity is our weapon”: Social Mobilisation in Scotland in the Contest of the Post‐Political Condition
Authors: Mocca Elisabetta , Osborne Stephen 
Published: December 2018

AbstractThe consensual climate of the post‐political order has been recently disrupted in Europe. The mass protests staged in different European countries and the resurgences of the extreme parties in response to the multiple European crises witness the “cracks” in consensual politics. While much of the scholarly attention has been drawn onto the socio‐political implications of large‐scale upraises, the contribution of bottom‐up sub‐national groups to the “return of the political” has been under‐researched. Therefore, this article focuses on sub‐national grassroots groups as instances of the “properly political” (Swyngedouw 2009, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 33[3]:601–620). It is contended that these groups, by putting in place acts of solidarity, are “agonistic” political forms, containing in nuce the potential to counteract the post‐political order and to shape a new politics. To interrogate this argument, the article reports the findings of a case study analysis involving four grassroots groups based in Scotland.
Boys and girls differ in symptoms and neurodevelopmental outcome after perinatal metabolic acidosis, a population‐based study
Authors: Hafström Maria , Salvesen Øyvind , Kjellmer Ingemar 
Published: December 2018

AbstractAimTo evaluate sex differences in infants born at term with metabolic acidosis with regard to perinatal health and symptomatology, and developmental outcome.MethodsFrom a population‐based cohort of infants born at term (n = 14 687), 78 were prospectively identified as having metabolic acidosis at birth. Two matched controls per case were selected. Sex differences in perinatal characteristics and in neurodevelopmental outcome at 6.5 years of age were analysed. Subgroup analysis was made based on need of neonatal care and planned follow‐up.ResultsAcidotic boys who appeared healthy, that is with no need of specialised neonatal care respectively only followed at ordinary health care service, have worse perinatal symptoms and less favourable neurodevelopmental outcome compared to girls. The male disadvantage concerning neurodevelopmental outcome was also indicated in children without acidosis. Outcome at 6.5 years was associated with Apgar at 10 minutes (p = 0.03), need of neonatal care (p = 0.04) and sex (p = 0.02) but not acidosis per se (p = 0.54).ConclusionSex affected immediate symptomatology in term acidotic infants and neurodevelopmental outcome at the age of 6.5 years. The findings were seen in those who appeared healthy in the neonatal period. The results suggest that sex should be considered in assessment of acidotic children.