bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
An improved enrichment method for weak discontinuities for thermal problems
Authors: Marti Julio , Ortega Ernesto , Idelsohn Sergio 
Published: July 2017

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a new elemental enrichment technique to improve the accuracy of the simulations of thermal problems containing weak discontinuities.

Design/methodology/approach
The enrichment is introduced in the elements cut by the materials interface by means of adding additional shape functions. The weak form of the problem is obtained using Galerkin approach and subsequently integrating the diffusion term by parts. To enforce the continuity of the fluxes in the “cut” elements, a contour integral must be added. These contour integrals named here the “inter-elemental heat fluxes” are usually neglected in the existing enrichment approaches. The proposed approach takes these fluxes into account.

Findings
It has been shown that the inter-elemental heat fluxes cannot be generally neglected and must be included. The corresponding method can be easily implemented in any existing finite element method (FEM) code, as the new degrees of freedom corresponding to the enrichment are local to the elements. This allows for their static condensation, thus not affecting the size and structure of the global system of governing equations. The resulting elements have exactly the same number of unknowns as the non-enriched finite element (FE).

Originality/value
It is the first work where the necessity of including inter-elemental heat fluxes has been demonstrated. Moreover, numerical tests solved have proven the importance of these findings. It has been shown that the proposed enrichment leads to an improved accuracy in comparison with the former approaches where inter-elemental heat fluxes were neglected.
Teacher-related factors in assimilation of technological change in schools
Authors: Arar Khalid , Abramovitz Ruth 
Published: July 2017

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore teachers’ attitudes toward the implementation of new computer technology to improve teaching and learning products at a private Arab school in Israel. Specifically, the aim was to individuate teachers’ factors associated with higher productivity of this technological change.

Design/methodology/approach
The research used the mixed-methods approach to enrich the data derived from a case study. It employed a questionnaire of 81 items administered among 55 teachers and in-depth interviews with both teachers and senior management team members at one private Arab school in Israel.

Findings
Results show some features that characterize the teachers who rated the productivity of this new management change highly. Those teachers tend to have high expectations of the change and to view the change implementation process favorably. Teachers with such characteristics tend to be female teachers. The influence of teachers’ education was latent. Their teaching experience influenced only their expectations and views of the process, but not their perceptions of the change products.

Research limitations/implications
The paper focused only on one private school known for its excellence and teaching staff, and thus may not apply to the entire Arab education system in Israel. Nevertheless, the findings indicate how to increase teaching productivity when planning the management of technological change for increased teaching benefits in schools with similar characteristics.

Originality/value
This paper explored a case in which technological change was implemented through a careful process of management planning, in order to facilitate the construction of a model of indicators to facilitate change.
Building a sustainable higher education sector in the UAE
Authors: Jose Saju , Chacko Jacob 
Published: July 2017

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relevant economic aspects that could affect the sustainability of the HE sector in the UAE.

Design/methodology/approach
Data are collected mainly through secondary sources and based on the relevant information. Two constructs, namely, market factors and educational governance are identified from the literature. An empirical model depicting the different factors that contribute to these two variables is outlined.

Findings
Educational governance and market factors are identified as the key pillars which contribute to the economic efficiency in the HE sector in the UAE. These constructs are affected by relevant factors. Some of the issues relating to educational governance could be controlled. Though factors contributing to market conditions could be deemed uncontrollable, HE institutions could come up with better strategies to deal with those issues.

Research limitations/implications
The UAE HE sector could be a major contributor to the economy in the future, it is important to identify the main constructs and the associated forces which could impact the economic efficiency of the HE sector. The model proposed could be empirically tested in future studies.

Originality/value
This study is a novel attempt to examine sustainability in the HE sector in terms of economic efficiency, while previous studies have focused on the social and environmental aspect of the sustainability in the HE sector. Thus this study tries to address this lacuna in this domain by focusing on the economic efficiency aspect which is an important contributor to the sustainable development. The results may provide valuable insights for universities and regulators in developing appropriate strategies to improve the HE sector.
Revenue management for Canadian professional sports organizations
Authors: Willie Paul A. 
Published: July 2017

Purpose
This paper aims to recommend opportunities for professional sport leagues in the USA and Canada to apply the art and science of revenue management in order to minimize potential losses and maximize profits.

Design/methodology/approach
The evolution of current key revenue management concepts is presented from their initial stages to their current level of implementation. In addition, the literature regarding the strongest business models is reviewed and examined in the context of current successes and challenges across the major sport leagues in North America.

Findings
Five revenue streams in sports organizations are identified and analysed. Five key elements for revenues are highlighted as strategic tools used to maximize effectiveness in achieving revenue management goals. A series of recommendations is made to best use revenue management including careful negotiation of television contracts, the use of dynamic pricing models, maximization of partnerships and sponsorships, acceptance of new approaches to food and beverage and accessibility of sport merchandise to customers.

Practical implications
At the regional, national and international levels, sports organizations should review their current business practices to identify areas to improve their revenue management in light of the recommendations in this paper.

Originality/value
Although the use of the concept of revenue management in sectors of tourism has evolved since early 1970s, its application in professional sports is relatively new. Therefore, this paper provides value to professional sports organizations to optimize their profitability.
Human resource challenges in Canada’s hospitality and tourism industry
Authors: Murray William C. , Elliot Statia , Simmonds Keith , Madeley Donnalea , Taller Martin 
Published: July 2017

Purpose
This paper aims to explore the challenges encountered by the hospitality and tourism industry in managing the labour challenges it faces presently and will face in the coming years. Although there are several issues at play, there are actions that industry members can take both internally and by advocating externally for change.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws on insights from three industry members and two academics to explore key areas in which action can be taken to address labour demand challenges in the hospitality and tourism workforce. The identified action items combine these various types of expertise to provide a holistic frame of action.

Findings
The Canadian hospitality and tourism industry is facing an ever-increasing labour demand shortage. Industry members can confront this on multiple fronts, from front-line employee satisfaction to more regional and national advocacy efforts. A combination of activities is recommended.

Practical implications
Hospitality and tourism industry members can take numerous actions from this analysis, including developing stronger organization cultures that align with employee needs, exerting effort in balancing wage gap issues and maintaining pressure on government partners to provide support for establishing hospitality and tourism, so that it is viewed as a valuable career path.

Originality/value
This paper increases knowledge in the hospitality and tourism field by combining the current human resource management theory with observations from industry experts on the needs that exist now and are predicted in the coming years.
Amenamevir, a novel helicase–primase inhibitor, for treatment of herpes zoster: A randomized, double‐blind, valaciclovir‐controlled phase 3 study
Authors: Kawashima Makoto , Nemoto Osamu , Honda Mariko , Watanabe Daisuke , Nakayama Juichiro , Imafuku Shinichi , Kato Toshiyuki , Katsuramaki Tsuneo ,   the study investigators
Published: July 2017

AbstractAmenamevir is a potent helicase–primase inhibitor and a novel class of antiviral agent other than nucleoside compounds, such as aciclovir, valaciclovir and famciclovir. This study is the first randomized, double‐blind, valaciclovir‐controlled phase 3 study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of amenamevir in Japanese patients with herpes zoster when treated within 72 h after onset of rash. A total of 751 patients were randomly assigned to receive either amenamevir 400 mg or 200 mg p.o. once daily or valaciclovir 1000 mg three times daily (daily dose, 3000 mg) for 7 days. The primary efficacy end‐point was the proportion of cessation of new lesion formation by day 4 (“day 4 cessation proportion”). The day 4 cessation proportions for amenamevir 400 and 200 mg and valaciclovir were 81.1% (197/243), 69.6% (172/247) and 75.1% (184/245), respectively. Non‐inferiority of amenamevir 400 mg to valaciclovir was confirmed by a closed testing procedure. Days to cessation of new lesion formation, complete crusting, healing, pain resolution and virus disappearance were evaluated as secondary end‐points. No significant differences were observed in any of the treatment groups. Amenamevir 400 and 200 mg were well tolerated as well as valaciclovir. The proportions of patients who experienced drug‐related adverse events were 10.0% (25/249), 10.7% (27/252) and 12.0% (30/249) with amenamevir 400 and 200 mg and valaciclovir, respectively. In conclusion, amenamevir 400 mg appears to be effective and well tolerated for treatment of herpes zoster in immunocompetent Japanese patients.
Strategies for managing rival bacterial communities: Lessons from burying beetles
Authors: Duarte Ana , Welch Martin , Swannack Chris , Wagner Josef , Kilner Rebecca M. 
Published: July 2017

Abstract

The role of bacteria in animal development, ecology and evolution is increasingly well understood, yet little is known of how animal behaviour affects bacterial communities. Animals that benefit from defending a key resource from microbial competitors are likely to evolve behaviours to control or manipulate the animal's associated external microbiota.

We describe four possible mechanisms by which animals could gain a competitive edge by disrupting a rival bacterial community: “weeding,” “seeding,” “replanting” and “preserving.” By combining detailed behavioural observations with molecular and bioinformatic analyses, we then test which of these mechanisms best explains how burying beetles, Nicrophorus vespilloides, manipulate the bacterial communities on their carcass breeding resource.

Burying beetles are a suitable species to study how animals manage external microbiota because reproduction revolves around a small vertebrate carcass. Parents shave a carcass and apply antimicrobial exudates on its surface, shaping it into an edible nest for their offspring. We compared bacterial communities in mice carcasses that were either fresh, prepared by beetles or unprepared but buried underground for the same length of time. We also analysed bacterial communities in the burying beetle's gut, during and after breeding, to understand whether beetles could be “seeding” the carcass with particular microbes.

We show that burying beetles do not “preserve” the carcass by reducing bacterial load, as is commonly supposed. Instead, our results suggest they “seed” the carcass with bacterial groups which are part of the Nicrophorus core microbiome. They may also “replant” other bacteria from the carcass gut onto the surface of their carrion nest. Both these processes may lead to the observed increase in bacterial load on the carcass surface in the presence of beetles. Beetles may also “weed” the bacterial community by eliminating some groups of bacteria on the carcass, perhaps through the production of antimicrobials themselves.

Whether these alterations to the bacterial community are adaptive from the beetle's perspective, or are simply a by‐product of the way in which the beetles prepare the carcass for reproduction, remains to be determined in future work. In general, our work suggests that animals might use more sophisticated techniques for attacking and disrupting rival microbial communities than is currently appreciated.
Effects of host species and environment on the skin microbiome of Plethodontid salamanders
Authors: Muletz Wolz Carly R. , Yarwood Stephanie A. , Campbell Grant Evan H. , Fleischer Robert C. , Lips Karen R. 
Published: July 2017

Abstract

The amphibian skin microbiome is recognized for its role in defence against pathogens, including the deadly fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Yet, we have little understanding of evolutionary and ecological processes that structure these communities, especially for salamanders and closely related species. We investigated patterns in the distribution of bacterial communities on Plethodon salamander skin across host species and environments.

Quantifying salamander skin microbiome structure contributes to our understanding of how host‐associated bacteria are distributed across the landscape, among host species, and their putative relationship with disease.

We characterized skin microbiome structure (alpha‐diversity, beta‐diversity and bacterial operational taxonomic unit [OTU] abundances) using 16S rRNA gene sequencing for co‐occurring Plethodon salamander species (35 Plethodon cinereus, 17 Plethodon glutinosus, 10 Plethodon cylindraceus) at three localities to differentiate the effects of host species from environmental factors on the microbiome. We sampled the microbiome of P. cinereus along an elevational gradient (n = 50, 700–1,000 m a.s.l.) at one locality to determine whether elevation predicts microbiome structure. Finally, we quantified prevalence and abundance of putatively anti‐Bd bacteria to determine if Bd‐inhibitory bacteria are dominant microbiome members.

Co‐occurring salamanders had similar microbiome structure, but among sites salamanders had dissimilar microbiome structure for beta‐diversity and abundance of 28 bacterial OTUs. We found that alpha‐diversity increased with elevation, beta‐diversity and the abundance of 17 bacterial OTUs changed with elevation (16 OTUs decreasing, 1 OTU increasing). We detected 11 putatively anti‐Bd bacterial OTUs that were present on 90% of salamanders and made up an average relative abundance of 83% (SD ± 8.5) per salamander. All salamanders tested negative for Bd.

We conclude that environment is more influential in shaping skin microbiome structure than host differences in these congeneric species, and suggest that environmental characteristics that covary with elevation influence microbiome structure. High prevalence and abundance of anti‐Bd bacteria may contribute to low Bd levels in these populations of Plethodon salamanders.
Validity of the Assistance to Participate Scale with Parents of typically developing Australian children aged three to eight years
Authors: Joyce Kahli , Bourke‐Taylor Helen , Wilkes‐Gillan Sarah 
Published: July 2017

Background/aimThe Assistance to Participate Scale (APS) measures the assistance parents provide to children with disability to participate in play and leisure. The primary aim of this study was to extend the psychometric development of theAPSthrough application to a typically developing sample.MethodsParents (N = 125) of typically developing Australian children aged three to eight years completed an online questionnaire comprising theAPS, Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI), Pediatric Quality of Life Scale (PedsQL) (caregiver scales) and demographic questions. Guided by theCOnsensus‐based Standards for the selection of health MeasurementINstruments (COSMIN), structural validity of theAPSwas investigated using principal components analysis; internal consistency reliability through calculation of Cronbach's α; construct validity through convergence with previously validated measures of paediatric occupational performance and quality of life (PEDI, PedsQL) and investigation of five research hypotheses developed a priori.ResultsStructural validity of theAPSwas confirmed. Internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.76) was good for this unidimensional scale. Construct validity was substantiated by moderate correlations with thePEDIand PedsQL(physical), and data that supported all research hypotheses. Statistically significant differences were found inAPSscores based on sex (P = 0.018), age (P < 0.001), school attendance (P < 0.001) and elder sibling (P = 0.006).ConclusionsResults of this study indicate theAPSis a valid and reliable measure of the parental role in a typically developing child's play. Validation upon a typically developing sample offers preliminary guidelines regarding the normative pattern of assistance provided to children during play. Further research in line with theCOSMINis required.
Role of peripheral vascular resistance as an indicator of cardiovascular abnormalities in patients with Parkinson's disease
Authors: Zawadka‐Kunikowska Monika , Słomko Joanna , Tafil‐Klawe Małgorzata , Klawe Jacek J , Cudnoch‐Jędrzejewska Agnieszka , Newton Julia L , Zalewski Paweł 
Published: July 2017

SummaryThe aim of this study was to evaluate cardiovascular autonomic modulation in response to an orthostatic stress in healthy subjects and Parkinson's disease (PD). The study included 47 controls and 56 PD patients divided into groups (vasoconstrictor PD, vasodilator PD, control) according to vasodilation/vasoconstriction response during 70° head up tilt test. Using impedance cardiography (ICG) and electrocardiography (ECG) we measured stroke volume, cardiac output, left ventricular work index, left ventricular ejection time, acceleration index, index of contractility, Heather index, thoracic fluid content, total peripheral resistance, total arterial compliance. We also analyzed heart rate variability (HRV), using spectral analysis and continuous blood pressure (contBP). At rest, the vasodilator PD group showed significantly higher values of total peripheral resistance and lower values of stroke volume and cardiac output, compared to the vasoconstrictor PD and the control groups. A post‐tilt drop in ∆ (change rest – tilt) systolic blood pressure, ∆mean blood pressure, ∆total peripheral resistance and ∆Heather index, and a significantly lower increase in ∆diastolic blood pressure was observed in subjects from the vasodilator PD group compared to the vasoconstrictor PD and the control groups. No statistically significant differences were observed for HRV parameters between the vasoconstrictor and vasodilator PD groups, P > .05. Longer duration and higher disease stage of PD correlated with a reduction in post‐tilt systolic blood pressure changes in vasodilator group. Positive inotropy of the cardiac muscle represents a significant factor preventing orthostatic hypotension in PD subjects with a concurrent drop in peripheral vascular resistance during orthostatic stress.
Consumers’ Preferences for Bread: Transgenic, Cisgenic, Organic or Pesticide‐free?
Authors: Edenbrandt Anna K. , Gamborg Christian , Thorsen Bo J. 
Published: July 2017

AbstractConsumers are apprehensive about transgenic technologies, so cisgenics, which limit gene transfers to sexually compatible organisms, have been suggested to address consumer concerns. We study consumer preferences for rye bread alternatives based on transgenic or cisgenic rye, grown conventionally or without the use of pesticides, relative to traditionally bred rye, grown with conventional or organic farming methods. Stated preference (SP) data from a choice experiment are combined with revealed preference (RP) data from market purchases from the same respondents. Results show that respondents prefer pesticide‐free production methods, and that while cisgenics is preferred over transgenics, the majority of respondents favour traditional breeding methods. The distribution in preferences suggests that some respondents prefer bread from cisgenic crops produced without pesticides over traditional crops produced using pesticides. Preferences for organic bread are stronger than for pesticide‐free products. From a policy perspective results suggest that excluding cisgenics from mandatory labeling in the EU, or including it in the voluntary non‐GM labelling in the US, would cause welfare losses for consumers.
Labor Unions and Income Smoothing
Authors: Hamm Sophia J. W. , Jung Boochun , Lee Woo‐Jong 
Published: July 2017

AbstractWe study labor unions, an important stakeholder group that has not been a focus of the earnings smoothing literature. We posit that managers strike a balance between sheltering resources from employees’ profit sharing demands and catering to employees’ aversion to downside risk by smoothing earnings. We then hypothesize that a strong labor union would intensify managerial incentives to smooth earnings. Consistent with our hypothesis, we find that union strength is positively associated with earnings smoothing activities through management of both accruals and R&D expenditures.
Parents’ Use of Subsidiaries to “Push Down” Earnings Management: Evidence from Italy
Authors: Bonacchi Massimiliano , Cipollini Fabrizio , Zarowin Paul 
Published: July 2017

AbstractWe find evidence consistent with Italian nonlisted subsidiaries engaging in accrual and real earnings management, so that their listed parents can meet or beat benchmarks. Thus, the parent firm drives the earnings management of the subsidiaries. We identify parents that are more likely to have managed earnings as the ones that avoid a small loss or meet or beat analyst forecast by a few cents. Cross‐sectional analysis reveals that Big 4 auditors mitigate accrual earnings management at the subsidiary level and that family‐owned firms use earnings management through nonlisted subsidiaries mainly to avoid reporting losses. Finally, we find that parent firms communicate earnings management strategies to their subsidiaries using board proximity. Our evidence shows that business groups manage earnings differently from single firms, pushing earnings management down to subsidiaries. It also supports the monitoring role of Big 4 auditors in a business group setting and contributes to understanding financial reporting decisions in family‐owned firms.