bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A jump-diffusion real option approach for hotel investment under uncertain lodging demand
Authors: Ma Rufei , Zhai Pengxiang 
Published: December 2016

PurposeOne of the important characteristics of the hotel business is uncertainty of lodging demand, which can jeopardize hotel operation and ultimately even threaten a hotel’s survival during an economic recession. The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach to determine optimal hotel investment issues under uncertain lodging demand.Design/methodology/approachUncertainty of lodging demand is classified into two types: the impact of unexpected economic recession and the temporary imbalance between supply of hotel rooms and lodging demand. A jump-diffusion real option approach is proposed to analyze how these two types affect optimal investment timing and the potential value of new hotel projects. The case of hotel investment in Macao is used to illustrate the jump-diffusion real option approach.FindingsThe results of numerical analysis show that the uncertainty induced by temporary imbalance between supply of hotel rooms and lodging demand increases the threshold of investment and hotel value, while the uncertainty induced by unexpected economic recession has ambiguous effects on the value and optimal investment timing of new hotel projects.Practical implicationsThe jump-diffusion real option approach increases managerial flexibility for managers when making investment decisions on new hotel projects, allowing greater value to be generated than is possible with the conventional discounted cash flow method.Originality/valueThe approach separates the impact of unexpected economic recession on lodging demand from that of “normal” fluctuations in lodging demand, and it considers the impact of both types of uncertainty on hotel investment.
Lean Six Sigma education in manufacturing companies: the case of transitioning markets
Authors: Kavčič Klemen , Gošnik Dušan 
Published: December 2016

Purpose
In the global economy, managers are constantly innovating with their use of available Lean Six Sigma (LSS) tools. Some factors, such as training and the right educational goals, have gained strong global acceptance. The purpose of this paper is to focus on contributions to organizational factors that predict organizations usage of LSS management tools to investigate expectations of project managers prior to LSS education and the extent of fulfilment of those expectations following LSS education in Slovenia, an East European country.

Design/methodology/approach
This research provides an empirical analysis of LSS as a learning structure and the characteristics of LSS project managers, followed by the results of an analysis of LSS usage in manufacturing companies in Slovenia following comparative surveys carried out in 2008 and 2013.

Findings
The top four essential characteristics for LSS organizations in 2013 include: being an innovative LSS project manager; being an effective communicator; having networking ability; and being a positive thinker. Results from 2008 to 2013 have shown differences in the stages of LSS implementation in Slovenia in these years. Differences were also seen in the level of participants’ LSS training in the studies performed.

Originality/value
This paper presents the first ever comparison study regarding the status of LSS education in transition countries, such as in Slovenian manufacturing companies. The study shows the expectations of participants before LSS education and their fulfilment following it. The research is original in many aspects: it includes aspects of external and internal LSS training in companies, it focusses on the manufacturing companies in the transition country of Slovenia and it provides a comparison of results in 2008 and in 2013 and an overview of the progress of LSS education. The paper will be of great value to academics, consultants, researchers, practitioners of LSS, current and future management and owners of companies in Slovenia and other similar East European transition countries. The findings will be useful in business practice for understanding the influences of education and training factors on LSS management tool usage.
Advertising decisions of new and remanufactured products under direct sales model
Authors: Li Wei , Ouyang Mi 
Published: December 2016

Purpose
There are manufacturer, remanufacturer and advertising agency in the study. The first manufacturer is a traditional manufacturer that produces new product, while the second one operates a reverse channel producing remanufactured products from used cores. Both manufacturers bundle their products with advertisement and outsource advertising services to agents. The agents independently determine the advertising levels and take the advertising prices from manufacturers. The purpose of this paper is to study the advertising decisions of new and remanufactured products under direct-sales model.

Design/methodology/approach
In this study, it is assumed that the remanufacturer invests extra effort in facilitating the remanufacturing process. First, the authors establish a noncooperative Stackelberg model, where the manufacturers are the leaders and the agents are the followers. And the authors solve the equilibrium strategies backward in this two-stage model. Second, the authors observe the equilibrium characteristics with respect to the advertising price and level decisions for all members in the supply chain. The third, the authors also investigate the competition between two products and the profits of chain members. Based on the theoretical and numerical analysis, the authors derive economic and managerial insights for chain members.

Findings
The analysis generates the following insights. First, advertising prices and levels decrease with the increase of ultimate cost of advertising and product unit cost. Second, with greater cost-savings, remanufactured products have advantages over new products in advertising price, level and market demand. Third, when advertising elasticity is greater, remanufactured products are superior to new products in demand, advertising price and level, and remanufactured products become more competent than new products. Manufacturers and agents would like to choose the products with high advertising elasticity for remanufacturing or advertising, respectively, to pursue their maximum profits.

Originality/value
The contribution is constructive as no prior research has abstracted advertising service and regarded agents as chain members in a closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) with remanufacturing. Besides, the results also provide guidelines for choosing marketing strategies for advertising price and level decisions under CLSC condition.
Non-linear study of delamination cracks in multilayered beams
Authors: Rizov Victor 
Published: December 2016

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to deal with an analytical investigation of delamination fracture in the mixed-mode bending (MMB) multilayer beam configurations taking into account the material non-linearity.

Design/methodology/approach
The J-integral approach was applied in fracture analysis. The beam layers non-linear mechanical response was described by using a power-law stress-strain relation with four material constants. Analytical solutions of the J-integral were derived by using the technical beam theory. The fracture analysis developed is valid for MMB beams whose layers may have different thicknesses. Also, the values of material constants in the non-linear stress-strain equation may be different for each layer.

Findings
The effect of material constants, crack location and layer thicknesses on the non-linear fracture was evaluated. The analytical solutions obtained are very suitable for parametric studies of non-linear fracture behaviour. The approach developed here can be used for optimization of multilayered beam structures with respect to the delamination fracture performance. The present study can also be useful for the understanding of fracture in multilayered beams exhibiting material non-linearity.

Originality/value
For the first time, an analytical study was performed of the delamination fracture behaviour of the MMB multilayered beam configuration taking into account the material non-linearity.
On optimization of growth from gas phase in a vertical reactor with account native convection to improve properties of films
Authors: Pankratov Evgeny L. , Bulaeva Elena A. 
Published: December 2016

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to: analyze the changing properties of epitaxial layers, manufactured in the considered reactor, with the changing parameters of the growth taking into account native convection; and development of the most common analytical approach to describe the technological process.

Design/methodology/approach
In this paper a vertical reactor for gas phase epitaxy is considered that consists of an external casing, a keeper of substrate with a substrate and a spiral around the casing in area of the growth zone to generate induction heating in order to activate the chemical reactions in the decay of reagents and the growth of the epitaxial layer by using the reagents. The authors introduce an analytical approach to analyze nonlinear mass and heat transport with account variation in space and time parameters.

Findings
The authors find conditions to improve properties of epitaxial layers.

Originality/value
Growth regimes at atmospheric and low pressure have been compared and analyzed for their influence of the native convection on the growth of the epitaxial layers. Accounting for the calculated results, recommendations have been formulated to improve the properties of the epitaxial layers.
An analytical approach for analysis and optimization of formation of field-effect heterotransistors
Authors: Pankratov Evgeny L. , Bulaeva Elena A. 
Published: December 2016

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze and optimize the formation of field-effect heterotransistors using analytical approach. The approach makes it possible to analyze mass and heat transport in a multilayer structure without cross-linking of solutions on interfaces between layers of the multilayer structure. The optimization makes it possible to decrease dimensions of the heterotransistors and to increase speed of transport of charge carriers during functioning of the transistors.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors introduce an analytical approach for analysis of mass and heat transport, which makes it possible to take into account at one time varying in space and time parameters of the transports (diffusion coefficient, heat conduction coefficient, etc.) and nonlinearity of processes. The approach enables analysis of mass and heat transport in a multilayer structure without cross-linking of solutions on interfaces between layers of the multilayer structure and optimises the technological process. The optimization means it is possible to decrease dimensions of field-effect heterotransistors.

Findings
In this paper the authors introduce an approach to manufacture a field-effect heterotransistor with inhomogeneous doping of channel. Some recommendations to optimize technological process to manufacture more compact distribution of concentration of dopant have been formulated.

Originality/value
The results are original and the paper provides an approach to the manufacture of a field-effect heterotransistor.
Do bank lending relationships affect corporate cash policy?
Authors: Hu Huajing , Lian Yili , Su Chih-Huei 
Published: November 2016

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether prior bank lending relationships affect firms’ liquidity management.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors mainly work on evaluating first, whether prior lending relationships affect corporate cash holdings? and second, whether the cash flow sensitivity of cash varies systemically with lending relationships. Three different ways are used to define lending relationships, including the lending relationship dummy, a firm’s maximum relationship intensity in terms of number of deals across all lenders and a firm’s maximum relationship intensity in terms of dollar amounts across all lenders. In addition, the paper applies two-stage least squares (2SLS) to address the concern of endogeneity between firms’ liquidity management and banking relationships.

Findings
The authors find that firms with lending relationships maintain a lower level of cash holdings and save less cash out of cash flow. Furthermore, the effect of lending relationships is more profound for firms with high cash flow. The results suggest that prior lending relations alleviate information asymmetry, lower the cost of capital and therefore affect firms’ propensity to retain cash and maintain a high level of cash holdings.

Research limitations/implications
This paper contributes to both the liquidity management literature and the literature on the value of maintaining lending relationships with banks. Researchers should take into consideration the lending relationships built over the course of the lending when assessing firms’ cash policies.

Social implications
Bank lending relationship mitigates the information asymmetry problem, one type of market friction, and facilitates firms’ future external financing, thereby affecting firms’ cash policies and giving more flexibility in liquidity management. The value of lending relationships distinguishes bank loans from public bonds. Therefore, firms, especially those facing more information asymmetry issue, should take into account the benefits from lending relationships in their future debt financing.

Originality/value
Extant literature examines how firm characteristics affect firms’ cash holdings. This paper introduces a new factor that could explain corporate cash policy.
A day in the life of a Ménière's patient: understanding the lived experiences and mental health impacts of Ménière's disease
Authors: Bell Sarah L. , Tyrrell Jessica , Phoenix Cassandra 
Published: December 2016

AbstractConcepts of social practice are increasingly being used to understand experiences of everyday life, particularly in relation to consumption and healthy lifestyles. This article builds on this in the context of lives disrupted and reshaped by chronic illness. It uses social practice theory to examine the lived experiences of individuals with Ménière's disease; a long‐term progressive vestibular disorder, defined by episodes of severe and debilitating vertigo, aural fullness, tinnitus and sensorineural hearing loss. Drawing on the findings of 20 in‐depth narrative interviews with Ménière's patients, and eight spousal/partner interviews, we explore the impacts of the condition on sensory, temporal, spatial and social dimensions of the body. In doing so, we highlight the intensely embodied sensory and emotional work required to maintain connections between the ‘competences’, ‘materials’ and ‘meanings’ that constitute and sustain the performance of both mundane and meaningful social practices over time. As connections between these elements of social practice are disrupted during more active phases of the condition, affected individuals may be defected from old practices and recruited to new ones, often requiring both time and social support to find meaning or pleasure in these alternative ways of being in the world.
Risk Behaviours and Grazing Land Management: A Framed Field Experiment and Linkages to Range Land Condition
Authors: Gregg Daniel , Rolfe John 
Published: November 2016

AbstractWe use a framed field experiment considering hypothetical stocking rate decisions made by grazing enterprise managers and estimate non‐linear multinomial logit models for a range of nested non‐expected utility and expected utility models. The risk and decision‐bias parameters for five models estimated for individual responses are shown to be significantly related to land condition but in ways which suggest behavioural aspects of decision making are critical in understanding land management and stocking rate decisions. Our results show that individual heterogeneity in decision making amongst farming groups is likely to be a significant source of variation in farming intensity and technology adoption decisions. This heterogeneity does not appear to be a reflection of socio‐demographic characteristics. Furthermore, decision functions appear to be biased toward selection of simpler representative functions (e.g. Expected Utility) for sample averages. This suggests that experimental findings that Expected Utility is representative for actual decisions may be due to sample averaging rather than reflect actual behaviour.
Cardiovascular and Stroke Risk in Japanese Hemodialysis Patients With Atrial Fibrillation
Authors: Hasegawa Jumpei , Bieber Brian , Larkina Maria , Robinson Bruce M. , Wakai Sachiko , Akizawa Tadao , Saito Akira , Fukuhara Shunichi , Akiba Takashi 
Published: November 2016

AbstractAtrial fibrillation is one of the most common arrhythmias in hemodialysis patients. We evaluated its clinical outcomes among hemodialysis patients with atrial fibrillation in Japan. Using data derived from the Japanese Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study, we analyzed backgrounds and outcomes among hemodialysis patients with and without atrial fibrillation in Japan. Among 7002 hemodialysis patients, the prevalence of atrial fibrillation was 5.7% and the incidence was 0.2 per 100 patient‐years. Atrial fibrillation was independently associated with all‐cause mortality (hazard ratio, 1.32; 95% confidence interval, 1.02–1.71) and cardiovascular events (hazard ratio, 1.39; 95% confidence interval, 1.15–1.68), but not with stroke events (hazard ratio, 0.77; 95% confidence interval, 0.55–1.06) after adjustment for other variables. We conclude that patients with atrial fibrillation experienced higher mortality and more cardiovascular events than did patients without atrial fibrillation, although the risk of stroke was lower than expected.
Bixalomer in Hyperphosphatemic Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease Not on Dialysis: Phase 3 Randomized Trial
Authors: Akizawa Tadao , Origasa Hideki , Kameoka Chisato , Tsukada Junko , Kuroishi Kentarou , Yamaguchi Yusuke 
Published: November 2016

AbstractCurrently, calcium‐ or metal‐containing phosphate binders are available to treat hyperphosphatemia in predialysis patients with chronic kidney disease. Bixalomer, a non‐calcium, metal‐free phosphate binder, has not been studied in these patients. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of bixalomer versus placebo for treatment of hyperphosphatemia in Japanese predialysis patients with chronic kidney disease. This multicenter, randomized, double‐blind, phase 3 trial, randomized eligible patients 1:1 to receive bixalomer or placebo for 12 weeks. Bixalomer was started at 1500 mg/day and adjusted up to 7500 mg/day depending on serum phosphorus concentrations. The primary endpoint was change in serum phosphorus concentration from baseline to end of treatment. After a 4‐week pre‐investigational period, 163 patients (bixalomer: N = 81; placebo: N = 82) were randomized. The adjusted mean change (95% confidence interval) from baseline to end of treatment in serum phosphorus was significantly greater with bixalomer (–0.78 [–0.98, –0.57] mg/dL) versus placebo (0.20 [–0.00, 0.41] mg/dL); mean difference: –0.98 (–1.27, –0.69), P < 0.001. At end of treatment, 57.5% of bixalomer‐treated patients achieved target serum phosphorus concentrations, mean serum intact parathyroid hormone and fibroblast growth factor‐23 decreased, and there were no significant changes in corrected serum calcium. The safety and tolerability of bixalomer was similar to placebo. The most common drug‐related adverse events were gastrointestinal (>24% patients per group). There was a significant increase in bicarbonate concentrations with bixalomer versus placebo (P = 0.003). Bixalomer was superior to placebo for hyperphosphatemia in Japanese predialysis patients with chronic kidney disease and may constitute a new treatment option.
Preoperative computed tomography diagnosis of non‐recurrent laryngeal nerve in patients with esophageal carcinoma
Authors: Niu Zhong‐Xi , Zhang Hang , Chen Long‐Qi , Shi Hui , Peng Jun , Su Li‐Wei , Li Wei , Xiao Bo , He Shu , Yue Hong‐Xu 
Published: December 2016

BackgroundThe non‐recurrent laryngeal nerve (NRLN) is a rare but potentially serious anomaly that is commonly associated with the aberrant right subclavian artery (ARSA). It is easy to damage during surgical resection of esophageal cancer, leading to severe complications.MethodsPreoperative enhanced thoracic computed tomography (CT) scans of 2697 patients with esophageal carcinoma treated in our hospital between January 2010 and December 2013 were examined. We classified the positional relationship between the right subclavian artery and the membranous wall of the trachea into two types and used this method to predicate NRLN by identifying ARSA.ResultsTwenty‐six patients (0.96%) were identified with ARSA, all of which were cases of NRLN by CT. NRLN was identified during surgery in the 26 patients, and a normal right recurrent laryngeal nerve was observed in 2671 patients. The ARSA was detected on the dorsal side of the membranous wall of the trachea in all 26 NRLN cases, while it was detected on the ventral side in all 2671 recurrent laryngeal nerve cases.ConclusionEnhanced CT scanning is a reliable method for predicting NRLN by identifying ARSA. Preoperative recognition of this nerve anomaly allows surgeons to avoid damaging the nerve and abnormal vessels during esophagectomy.
The evolving role of large and medium farms on Brazilian agriculture
Authors: Ferreira Filho Joaquim Bento de Souza , Vian Carlos Eduardo de Freitas 
Published: November 2016

AbstractWe use Brazilian agricultural censuses data since 1970 to describe land structure evolution in Brazil, focusing on the most important agricultural commodities and livestock products across regions. The analysis reveals a remarkable stability in the number of farms in the period, as well as in the structure of land distribution across farm sizes, with a persistence of a dual agricultural structure. Land distribution, as measured by the GINI index, has changed very little and is still very high. The number of large farms is increasing significantly in time, while the number of farms with area below 500 ha changed little in the 1970–2006 period. Medium‐sized and large farms, although heavily outweighed in numbers, account for the highest share of annual crop production currently, and their share in crop (annual plus permanent) production value increased between 1980 and 2006, while the same share decreased for smaller farms. We conclude that the observed stability will probably reduce in the future, as economic forces will likely change the balance in favor of an increase in the number of large farms. This is an issue of obvious political importance, especially considering the importance of the smaller farms for employment in agriculture.
Improving the speed of adoption of agricultural technologies and farm performance through farmer groups: evidence from the Great Lakes region of Africa
Authors: Ainembabazi John Herbert , van Asten Piet , Vanlauwe Bernard , Ouma Emily , Blomme Guy , Birachi Eliud Abucheli , Nguezet Paul Martin Dontsop , Mignouna Djana Babatima , Manyong Victor M. 
Published: December 2016

AbstractThe article examines the effect of membership in farmer groups (MFG) on adoption lag of agricultural technologies and farm performance in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. We use duration and stochastic production frontier models on farm household data. We find that the longer the duration of MFG, the shorter the adoption lag and much more so if combined with extension service delivery. Farmer groups function as an important mechanism for improving farm productivity through reduced technical inefficiency in input use. We discuss policy implications under which farmer groups are a useful channel to reduce adoption lag, and the means through which improved farm performance can be achieved.