bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Climatic effects on turnover of lowland forest bird communities across a precipitation gradient
Authors: Gomez Juan Pablo , Ponciano José Miguel , Robinson Scott K. 
Published: January 2018

AbstractOne of the main goals of community ecology is to understand the influence of the abiotic environment on the abundance and distribution of species. It has been hypothesized that dry forests are harsher environments than wet forests, which leads to the prediction that environmental filtering should be a more important determinant of patterns of species abundance and composition than in wet forest, where biotic interactions or random assembly should be more important. We attempt to understand the influence of rainfall on the abundance and distribution of bird species along a steep precipitation gradient in an inter-Andean valley in Colombia. We gathered data on species distributions, abundance, morphological traits and phylogenetic relationships to determine the influence of rainfall on the taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic turnover of species along the Magdalena Valley. We demonstrate that there is a strong turnover of community composition at the limit of the dry forest. The taxonomic turnover is steeper than the phylogenetic turnover, suggesting that replacement of closely related species accounts for a disproportionate number of changes along the gradient. We found evidence for environmental filtering in dry forest as species tend to be more tolerant of higher temperature ranges, stronger rainfall seasonality and lower minimum rainfall. On the other hand, wet forest species tend to compete actively for nest space but not for the resources associated with the axes we measured. Our results suggest that rainfall is a strong determinant of community composition when comparing localities above and below the 2400 mm rainfall isocline.
Parameter estimation of UAV from flight data using neural network
Authors: R. Dhayalan , Saderla Subrahmanyam , Ghosh Ajoy Kanti 
Published: January 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present the application of the neural-based estimation method, Neural-Gauss-Newton (NGN), using the real flight data of a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

Design/methodology/approach
The UAVs in general are lighter in weight and their flight is usually influenced by the atmospheric winds because of their relatively lower cruise speeds. During the presence of the atmospheric winds, the aerodynamic forces and moments get modified significantly and the accurate mathematical modelling of the same is highly challenging. This modelling inaccuracy during parameter estimation is routinely treated as the process noise. Furthermore, because of the limited dimensions of the small UAVs, the measurements are usually influenced by the disturbances caused by other subsystems. To handle these measurement and process noises, the estimation methods based on neural networks have been found reliable in the manned aircrafts.

Findings
Six sets of compatible longitudinal flight data of the designed UAV have been chosen to estimate the parameters using the NGN method. The consistency in the estimates is verified from the obtained mean and the standard deviation and the same has been validated by the proof-of-match exercise. It is evident from the results that the NGN method was able to perform on a par with the conventional maximum likelihood method.

Originality/value
This is a partial outcome of the research carried out in estimating parameters from the UAVs.
Stability analysis of aircraft’s sudden damage process with ROA overlapping
Authors: Chen Jie , Ma Cunbao , Song Dong 
Published: January 2018

Purpose
The paper aims to propose a stability analysis method based on region-of-attraction (ROA) overlapping to evaluate the flight stability of the possible sudden damage process and guarantee flight safety in extreme cases.

Design/methodology/approach
First, according to the two flight conditions before and after damage which the aircraft may encounter, flight dynamical models are built and fitted by polynomial equation for subsequent ROA analysis. And then, the ROA overlapping estimation method based on V-s iteration is presented to complete the stability analysis of such airplane sudden damage process.

Findings
Finally, in the presence of control surface damage, case aircraft flight stability is analyzed and simulated to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Practical implications
The proposed method can be used for stability check during the aircraft control law design, or for further completing the design of the emergency stable controller design.

Originality/value
Compared with previous studies on sudden damage process of aircraft, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the pioneer studies in which the ROA and ROA overlapping concept has been introduced. This study on stability analysis of aircraft sudden damage process could further develop the theory of emergency stable control.
Application of reverse processing in SINS initial alignment and SINS/GPS integrated navigation
Authors: Liu Haiying , Jiang Xin , Yue Yazhou , Gao Guangen 
Published: January 2018

Purpose
The study aims to propose reverse processing solution to improve the performance of strapdown inertial navigation system (SINS) initial alignment and SINS-/global positioning system- (GPS) integrated navigation. The proposed scheme can be well applied in the fields of aircraft and aerospace navigation.

Design/methodology/approach
For the SINS alignment phase, a fast initial alignment scheme is proposed: the initial value of reverse filter is determined by the final result of forward filter, and then, the reverse filter is carried out using the stored data. Multiple iterations are performed until the accuracy is satisfied. For the SINS-/GPS-integrated phase, a forward–reverse navigation algorithm is proposed: first, the standard forward filter is used, and then, the reverse filter is carried out using the initial value determined by the forward filter, and the final fusion results are achieved by the weighted smoothing of the forward and reverse filtering results.

Findings
The simulation and the actual test results show that in the initial alignment stage, the proposed reverse processing method can obviously shorten the SINS alignment time and improve the alignment accuracy. In the SINS-/GPS-integrated navigation data fusion stage, the proposed forward–reverse data fusion processing can, obviously, improve the performance of the navigation solution.

Practical implications
The proposed reverse processing technology has an important application in improving the accuracy of navigation and evaluating the performance of real-time navigation. The proposed scheme can be not only used for SINS-/GPS-integrated system but also applied to other integrated systems for general aviation aircraft.

Originality/value
Compared with the common forward filtering algorithm, the proposed reverse scheme can not only shorten alignment time and improve alignment accuracy but also improve the performance of the integrated navigation.
Effect of momentum flux distribution on multiple round jets
Authors: B.T. Kannan , N.R. Panchapakesan 
Published: January 2018

Purpose
This study aims to investigate the effects of nozzle momentum flux distribution on the flow field characteristics.

Design/methodology/approach
The nozzle configuration consists of a central nozzle surrounded by four nozzles. All nozzles have the same diameter and constant separation between nozzles. OpenFOAM® is used for simulating the jet flow. Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations are solved iteratively with a first-order closure for turbulence. Pitot-static tube with differential pressure transducer is used for mean velocity measurements. The comparison of computed results with experimental data shows similar trend and acceptable validation.

Findings
According to the results, the momentum flux distribution significantly alters the near field of multiple turbulent round jets. Highly non-linear decay region in the near field is found for the cases having higher momentum in the outer jets. As a result of merging, increased positive pressure is found in the mixing region. Higher secondary flows and wider mixing region are reported as a result of momentum transfer from axial to lateral directions by Reynolds stresses.

Research limitations/implications
The present study is limited to isothermal flow of air jet in air medium.

Social implications
Optimum momentum flux distribution in multijet injector of a combustor can reap better mixing leading to better efficiency and lesser environmental pollution.

Originality/value
As summary, the contributions of this paper in the field of turbulent jets are following: simulations for various momentum distribution cases have been performed. In all the cases, the flow at the nozzle exit is subsonic along with constant velocity profile. To simulate proper flow field, a large cylinder-type domain with structured grid is used with refinements toward the nozzle exit and jet axis. The results show that the non-linearity increases with increase in momentum of outer jets. Longer merging zones are reported for cases with higher momentum in outer nozzles using area-averaged turbulent kinetic energy. Similarly, wider mixing regions are reported using secondary flow parameter and visualizations.
Evaluating financial stress and performance of beginning farmers during the agricultural downturn
Authors: Katchova Ani L. , Dinterman Robert 
Published: January 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the financial performance and stress of beginning farmers in the USA with emphasis on the agricultural downturn experienced since 2013.

Design/methodology/approach
Using the US Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) data, probit models are estimated to study the personal and farm characteristics that affect whether or not the financial ratios fall into critical zones as defined by the Farm Financial Standards Council. The financial ratios involve liquidity, solvency, profitability, efficiency, and repayment capacity.

Findings
Beginning farmers are at a greater risk of financial stress on average, with higher likelihood of financial stress in liquidity and efficiency. Further, the recent agricultural downturn has negatively affected liquidity, solvency, and profitability for farmers while repayment capacity does not appear to be affected. During the downturn, beginning farmers are better positioned than the general farming population with respect to liquidity and repayment capacity.

Originality/value
This paper applies current lending practices to a nationally representative sample of farms over a time of changing economic conditions for the agricultural sector.
Comparing life cycle cost and environmental impact optimizations of a low voltage dry type distribution transformer
Authors: Delinchant Benoit , Mandil Guillaume , Wurtz Frédéric 
Published: January 2018

PurposeLife cycle analysis (LCA) is more and more used in the context of electromagnetic product design. But it is often used to check a design solution regarding environmental impacts after technical and economical choices. This paper aims to investigate life cycle impact optimization (LCIO) and compare it with the classical life cycle cost optimization (LCCO).

Design/methodology/approachFirst, a model of a dry-type transformer using different materials for windings and the magnetic core is presented. LCCO, which is a mixed continuous-discrete, multi-objective technico-economic optimization, is done using both deterministic and genetic algorithms. LCCO results and optimization performances are analyzed, and an LCA is presented for a set of optimal solutions. The final part is dedicated to LCIO, where the paper shows that these optimal solutions are close to those obtained with LCCO.

FindingsThis paper investigated LCIO using an environmental impacts model that has been introduced in the optimization framework Component Architecture for the Design of Engineering Systems. The paper shows how a mixed continuous-discrete, multi-objective technico-economic optimization can be done using an efficient deterministic optimization algorithm such as Sequential Quadratic Programming. Thanks to the technico-economic-environmental model and the efficient optimization algorithm, both LCCO and LCIO were performed separately and together. It has been shown that optimal solutions are similar, leading to the conclusion that only one modeling is required (economic or environmental) but on the life cycle.

Originality/valueThe classical sequential methodology of design is improved here by the use of a model of calculation of the environmental impacts allowing the optimization. This original optimization allowed the authors to show that an analysis of the life cycle from an economic point of view or from an environmental point of view led to quasi-equivalent technical solutions. The key is to take into account the life cycle of the product.
Green product deletion decisions
Authors: Bai Chunguang , Shah Purvi , Zhu Qingyun , Sarkis Joseph 
Published: January 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify how organizations can evaluate the green product deletion decision within an environmentally sustainable consumption and production environment through a hybrid multistage multiple criteria evaluation approach.Design/methodology/approachThis paper proposes a decision-making model by integrating “soft computation” using neighborhood rough set theory, fuzzy cluster means, and cumulative prospect theory. Literature is used to identify various factors for the decision environment. An illustrative problem provides insights into the methodology and application.FindingsThe results indicate that green products can be evaluated from both their relative environmental burdens and benefits. Sustainable consumption and production factors that play a role in this multifactor decision are identified. The results show that a comprehensive evaluation can capture an effective overall picture on which green product(s) to delete.Research limitations/implicationsThe opaqueness of the proposed methodology may cause less acceptance by management. The methodology made a number of assumptions related to the data. An actual application of the tool rather than just an illustrative example is needed.Originality/valueThe main contribution of this study is the novel integration of supply chain perspectives, both upstream (supply and production) and downstream (demand/usage), with green product deletion decision making. The hybrid multistage technique has advantages of being able to incorporate many factors that have a variety of quantitative and qualitative characteristics to help managers address green product deletion issues as well as its impact on greening of supply chains and organizational environmental sustainability. This paper adds value to product deletion, supply chain management, and sustainable production and consumption literatures.
Physicians’ accounts of frontline tensions when implementing pilot projects to improve primary care
Authors: Mansfield Elizabeth , Bhattacharyya Onil , Christian Jennifer , Naglie Gary , Steriopoulos Vicky , Webster Fiona 
Published: January 2018

PurposeCanada’s primary care system has been described as “a culture of pilot projects” with little evidence of converting successful initiatives into funded, permanent programs or sharing project outcomes and insights across jurisdictions. Health services pilot projects are advocated as an effective strategy for identifying promising models of care and building integrated care partnerships in local settings. In the qualitative study reported here, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the strengths and challenges of this approach.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured interviews were conducted with 34 primary care physicians who discussed their experiences as pilot project leads. Following thematic analysis methods, broad system issues were captured as well as individual project information.FindingsWhile participants often portrayed themselves as advocates for vulnerable patients, mobilizing healthcare organizations and providers to support new models of care was discussed as challenging. Competition between local healthcare providers and initiatives could impact pilot project success. Participants also reported tensions between their clinical, project management and research roles with additional time demands and skill requirements interfering with the work of implementing and evaluating service innovations.Originality/valueStudy findings highlight the complexity of pilot project implementation, which encompasses physician commitment to addressing care for vulnerable populations through to the need for additional skill set requirements and the impact of local project environments. The current pilot project approach could be strengthened by including more multidisciplinary collaboration and providing infrastructure supports to enhance the design, implementation and evaluation of health services improvement initiatives.
Do board characteristics affect bank performance? Evidence from the Bahrain Islamic banks
Authors: Hakimi Abdelaziz , Rachdi Houssem , Ben Selma Mokni Rim , Hssini Houda 
Published: January 2018

PurposeAlthough most previous studies interested in Islamic banks have focused on quantitative aspects such as performance, risk and stability, this paper aims to deal with the institutional dimension and focus precisely on the link between board characteristics and bank performance.Design/methodology/approachBased on a data related to 13 banks in Bahrain observed over the period of 2005-2011, this study investigates the impact of board directors on the level of performance. To this end, the authors have used two empirical approaches. The first one is the panel data analysis with regard to random effect (RE) regression. The second one is the generalized method of moments (GMM) in system, which checked the soundness of the first result.FindingsThe result of RE regression indicates that the board duality is positively and significantly correlated with the bank performance for both ROA (return on assets) and ROE (return on equity). However, the board size exerts a positive and significant impact only when profitability is measured by ROE. The authors find that regression with GMM in system confirms the RE result exclusively for ROE. Findings also indicate that a financial crisis exerts a negative but not significant effect on bank performance.Practical implicationsThese findings are relevant to both policymakers and regulators. Islamic banks in Bahrain should grant more importance to the structure and the quality of the board to improve their performance.Originality/valueThis study aims to extend the existing literature by focusing about the role of theShariahboard in bank performance.
Behavioral mediators of financial decision making – a state-of-art literature review
Authors: Nigam Rupali Misra , Srivastava Sumita , Banwet Devinder Kumar 
Published: January 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the insights provided by behavioral finance studies conducted in the last decade (2006-2015) examining behavioral variables in financial decision making.

Design/methodology/approach
The literature review assesses 623 qualitative and quantitative studies published in various international refereed journals and identifies possible scope of future work.

Findings
The paper identifies stock market anomalies which contradict rational agents of modern portfolio theory at an aggregate level and behavioral mediators, influencing the financial decision making at an investor level. The paper also attempts to classify different dimensions of risk as professed by the investor.

Originality/value
The authors synthesize the contribution made by behavioral finance studies in extending the knowledge of financial market and investor behavior.
Effects of Storage Conditions on Consumer and Chemical Assessments of Raw ‘Nonpareil’ Almonds Over a Two‐Year Period
Authors: Pleasance Emily A. , Kerr William L. , Pegg Ronald B. , Swanson Ruthann B. , Cheely Anna N. , Huang Guangwei , Parrish Daniel R. , Kerrihard Adrian L. 
Published: January 2018

AbstractRaw almonds are a major commodity, yet much is unknown about how storage conditions determine their shelf life. The storage stability, as measured by consumer assessments and chemical measures, of raw almonds was determined for samples stored in cardboard boxes and polypropylene packaging for 2 years at 4, 15, 25, and 35 °C, and at 50% and 65% relative humidity (RH). Samples stored in unlined cartons always failed (>25% rejection) before their counterparts stored in polypropylene bags under identical environmental conditions. Models determined that polypropylene packaging (as opposed to unlined cardboard cartons) extended the time until sample rejection by more than 7 months. Temperature and RH were both negatively associated with storage time until failure. Flavor was a greater contributor to consumer acceptability than texture or odor, while peroxide values and free fatty acids were of greater importance in predicting raw almond consumer quality than measures of conjugated dienes or 2‐thiobarbituric acid‐reactive substances.Practical ApplicationThe results of this study will allow almond producers to determine packaging types and environmental storage conditions that provide shelf life of a specified time.
Cryptic Emotions and the Emergence of a Metatheory of Mind in Popular Filmmaking
Authors: Cutting James E. , Armstrong Kacie L. 
Published: January 2018

AbstractHollywood movies can be deeply engaging and easy to understand. To succeed in this manner, feature‐length movies employ many editing techniques with strong psychological underpinnings. We explore the origins and development of one of these, the reaction shot. This shot typically shows a single, unspeaking character with modest facial expression in response to an event or to the behavior or speech of another character. In a sample of movies from 1940 to 2010, we show that the prevalence of one type of these shots—which we call the cryptic reaction shot—has grown dramatically. These shots are designed to enhance viewers’ emotional involvement with characters. They depict a facial gesture that reflects a slightly negative and slightly aroused emotional state. Their use at the end of conversations, and typically at the end of scenes, helps to leave viewers in a state of speculation about what the character is thinking and what her thoughts may mean for the ongoing narrative.