Top Line Research Articles

Abstract IA14: Decision analysis for colorectal cancer screening recommendations

Abstract IA14: Decision analysis for colorectal cancer screening recommendations

Sustainability of Apparel Supply Chain in South Africa

The researchers documented the sustainability characteristics of a cotton apparel supply chain in South Africa. In-depth interviews were conducted across the entire supply chain from cotton farmers to a retailer. McDonough and Braungart’s triple top line model was applied for identifying the three pillars of sustainability, that is, economy, equity, and ecology, and how these pillars influenced and impacted each other. Across the supply chain economic factors were the drivers for adoption of sustainable practices, and the ecology dimension was the weakest pillar. This suggested leveraging economic support within the supply chain would ultimately influence the sustainability of the supply chain as a whole. To develop a sustainable apparel supply chain in South Africa, it is recommended the economic challenges be identified and addressed to free up savings that can be invested in sustainable practices and to improve collaboration across the supply chain to add value to sustainable practices.

Vineyard Vines and the Brotherhood of the Traveling Pants

This case, “vineyard vines and The Brotherhood of the Traveling Pants,” introduces students to a unique partnership in the social media advertising world. Preppy clothing powerhouse vineyard vines had a history of interacting with its customers by featuring user-generated content in its catalogs and on its website and decided to continue this tradition on social media by partnering with a group of fans called The Brotherhood of the Traveling Pants. This successful and authentic social media marketing campaign resulted in increased sales for vineyard vines and influencer status for the members of The Brotherhood. At the end of the campaign, the vineyard vines marketing team is left debating how to grow its social media presence through partnerships. The case has been used as part of a social media marketing course and would be effective in any undergraduate- or graduate-level marketing course. Excerpt UVA-M-0909 Rev. Dec. 15, 2016 vineyard vines and The Brotherhood of the Traveling Pants Shep & Ian Murray, brothers, cofounders, and CEOs of the growing lifestyle apparel company, vineyard vines, stepped out of their office and paced the dock overlooking the Long Island Sound in Stamford, Connecticut. vineyard vines had focused on marketing user-generated content since its inception in 1998 to show the authenticity of both the brand and the people who wore it. Shep & Ian featured their valued customers in seasonal catalogs and on the company's website, displaying the “Every day should feel this good” lifestyle the brand promoted. The rise of social media had brought more opportunities for vineyard vines customers and fans to submit content, and the Murray brothers wanted to make sure they leveraged this user-generated content in a meaningful way. Shep & Ian knew their customer base had room for further growth if vineyard vines could continue to expand its effective social media marketing strategy. vineyard vines had a strong online presence already, but given its younger customers and strong brand identity, vineyard vines needed to be on the cutting edge in the social media sphere. Over the past two decades, vineyard vines had taken the “preppy” East Coast clothing market by storm, making it difficult for traditional brands such as L.L.Bean to remain relevant. With the new wave of social media platforms, Shep & Ian knew vineyard vines would need to get creative to continue its success. If done correctly, a social media marketing strategy could catapult vineyard vines' brand and top line much further than ever before. The question was, how? vineyard vines debated whether to rely on traditional internal marketing content, turn to loyal followers for user-generated marketing material as they had done in the past with catalogs, or partner with popular social media influencers. They wondered whether partnerships with social media influencers would help vineyard vines grow or if they would propel newer, smaller, and nimbler brands born out of social media to compete for vineyard vines' top spot in the preppy clothing market. When vineyard vines received an unopened e-mail from The Brotherhood of the Traveling Pants Shep & Ian wondered…was this spam? . . .

Moving from Customer Service to Customer Delight: An Ethnographic Study of the Relationship Managers in Banking Sector

As the banks in India strive to cope with ever tightening grip of top line and bottom line, the task of acquiring new customers and retaining the existing ones assumes an unparalleled significance especially in the light of competition of peer banks and other financial institutions. At this juncture most of the banks have recognized ‘Relationship Manager ’(RM) as a separate role, deployed the right manpower to take up that role and also went ahead with specialized training inputs to them toward capacity building and empowerment. On this backdrop, a differentiating factor that would give any bank an edge over others is the customer-centric culture.

平顶线结构光的中心检测算法及光刀平面标定

平顶线结构光的中心检测算法及光刀平面标定

Extreme statistics of non-intersecting Brownian paths

We consider finite collections of $N$ non-intersecting Brownian paths on the line and on the half-line with both absorbing and reflecting boundary conditions (corresponding to Brownian excursions and reflected Brownian motions) and compute in each case the joint distribution of the maximal height of the top path and the location at which this maximum is attained. The resulting formulas are analogous to the ones obtained in [MFQR13] for the joint distribution of $\mathcal{M}={\rm max}_{x\in\mathbb{R}}\{\mathcal{A}_2(x)-x^2\}$ and $\mathcal{T}={\rm argmax}_{x\in\mathbb{R}}\{\mathcal{A}_2(x)-x^2\}$, where $\mathcal{A}_2$ is the Airy$_2$ process, and we use them to show that in the three cases the joint distribution converges, as $N\to\infty$, to the joint distribution of $\mathcal{M}$ and $\mathcal{T}$. In the case of non-intersecting Brownian bridges on the line, we also establish small deviation inequalities for the argmax which match the tail behavior of $\mathcal{T}$. Our proofs are based on the method introduced in [CQR13,BCR15] for obtaining formulas for the probability that the top line of these line ensembles stays below a given curve, which are given in terms of the Fredholm determinant of certain "path-integral" kernels.

From bench to bedside: mGluR2 positive allosteric modulators as medications to treat substance use disorders.

This paper provides an overview of the role of type 2 metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR2) in addiction and behaviors reflecting addictive processes. AZD8529, an mGluR2 positive allosteric modulator (PAM), failed to separate from placebo in a phase II schizophrenia trial. The demonstration by Athina Markou's laboratory that AZD8529 attenuated both nicotine self-administration and cue-induced reinstatement was a key factor in the decision to move this compound into a smoking cessation study. Here, we highlight Markou laboratory's contribution to this project, as well as several innovative features of the phase II clinical trial that has already completed enrollment with top line results expected in early 2017.

Six Thinking Hats Approach to HR Analytics

Historically, the human resources (HR) function and functionaries have struggled to establish their credibility and value in the eyes of key stakeholders, including the top management and line managers. Arguably, one of the reasons for this struggle for acceptance is their inability to present data-driven, business-oriented proposals, requiring urgent attention to elevate the analytical capability of the HR function. This paper focuses on the role and significance of HR analytics to organizations through a Six Thinking Hats approach. It presents a holistic understanding of HR analytics encompassing the concept, benefits, limitations, and likely solutions.

Does Establishing Sociopolitical Legitimacy Overcome Liabilities of Newness? A Longitudinal Analysis of Top Performers

This work builds upon an existing stream of research that seeks to empirically elucidate the role of legitimacy in helping entrepreneurs overcome liabilities of newness. More specifically, we examine the relationship between legitimating activities and performance in new ventures. We add to the empirical literature on the legitimacy/performance relation by focusing on top performing firms (on multiple performance measures) during the initial phase of the organizational life cycle. Moreover, we submit that our longitudinal sample, which includes data from nearly 5,000 new ventures, offers an important opportunity to enhance the external validity of this base of literature. Interestingly, we find that the value of engaging in legitimating activities depends upon the outcome measure. With regard to top line performance, and in accordance with theory and extant literature, we find that companies engaging in more legitimating activities at start-up are more likely to be top performers as they move beyond the “birth” phase. However, with regard to profitability, engaging in these activities may actually be detrimental.

Revisiting A Surprising Demonstration of Total Internal Reflection

Melton demonstrated a surprising disappearance using total internal reflection. When he put a Florence flask filled with marbles into a water tank and looked straight down from directly above the flask, he was only able to see marbles above a certain water level. When he added more water into the tank above the top line of the marbles, all of the marbles disappeared. He explained this phenomenon as due to a combination of both refraction and total internal reflection. Here, we wanted to develop this surprising idea to create more surprises. However, in our case, we only took the refraction effect from Melton’s idea to demonstrate our magic. This idea is supported by various perspectives. For instance, Viss and Sikkema demonstrated the critical angle without using total internal reflection, and James showed the novel optical properties of a submerged light bulb.

Goodwill: The Illusion of Value?

This paper examines the illusion of value generated by the booking of accounting goodwill and its impact as a driver of top line and bottom line growth in an otherwise satiated market.“Packaging is everything” is the popular phrase. “It holds truth regarding the illusion of value.” (The Illusion of Value, January 12, 2015)

Offering the Model of Structural Equations for the Parameters of Leadership Thinking, Communication and Meritocracy in Training of the Organizational Leaders of Oil Company

<p>Organizations can be regarded as one of the main social foundations in the present age and management can be one of the most important factors of life, growth, and flourishing of the organizations. The issue of training of leaders has complicated and mixed dimensions and identity, therefore there is not a deep understanding of the concept among most of the administrators and also in the research – scientific centers level. This paper aims to offer a model of the structural equations of the consisting variables of the core concept (leadership thinking, communication, and meritocracy). In this research, the analytical – descriptive method was used to offer the model of structural equations for the parameters of leadership thinking, communication, and meritocracy in the training of the organizational leaders of Oil Company. The statistical population includes top, middle and first line managers of Oil Company and the questionnaires were prepared randomly by sampling and according to the Morgan table for 384 subjects. Quantitative analyze of data were performed by SPSS software version 19, and the structural equations were analyzed by the 8/7 LISREL software. Finally, the effect of each of the variables of leadership thinking, communication, and meritocracy on the main variable of core concept was determined by the offered structural model. The model reliability was confirmed by the goodness of fit indices.<span style="font-size: 10px;"> </span></p>

Limitation of Infarct Size and the Open Artery Hypothesis: A Conversation With Eugene Braunwald, MD.

Eugene Braunwald received an MD from the New York University School of Medicine. He completed an internal medicine residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital and cardiology fellowships at Mount Sinai Hospital, Columbia University, and the National Heart Institute. He served as chief of cardiology and subsequently clinical director of the institute. From 1968 to 1972, he was the founding chair of medicine at the University of California, San Diego. From 1972 to 1996, he served as chair of medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In 1975, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. He is now the Distinguished Hersey Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a senior investigator of the TIMI Study Group, which he founded in 1984. Dr Braunwald replies: I became aware of the importance of AMI in 1951 during an elective in cardiology during my senior year at the New York University School of Medicine. At the time, AMI was by far the most common cause of death in adults in the United States. Of the patients who survived to be admitted to hospitals (no one knew how many AMI patients failed to reach hospital emergency departments), about one third died before discharge, either suddenly, presumably from an arrhythmia, or secondary to pump failure. Of the patients who were discharged alive, about one quarter died within a year, most frequently as a consequence of heart failure or recurrent MI. Pathologists had taught that AMI was usually associated with coronary thrombosis. Indeed, during my cardiology elective, Herrick’s classic article describing AMI was required reading. Its title, “Clinical Features of Sudden Obstruction of the Coronary Arteries,” showed how these 2 conditions (coronary occlusion and AMI) were intertwined.1 My direct involvement in the care of several patients who did not survive the acute event left …

Characterization of Gangatiri cattle breed inGangatic plains of Eastern Uttar Pradesh

The present research work for characterization of Gangatiri cattle was conducted on a herd maintained at Mirzapur district of Uttar Pardesh. This dual-purpose indigenous cattle breed is found mainly in Varanasi, Chandauli, Ghazipur and Ballia distric of eastern Utter Pradesh and adjacent areas of Bihar state of India., Medium sized dewlap, small brisket, sharp and smooth shoulder with medium legs was present in most of the animals. Medium sized bowl shaped udder with cylindrical shaped medium sized teats and prominent, crooked and branched milk veins were the other characteristic features of the herd. The overall least squares’ means for Ischium width of Rump (ISWR), Top line (TPL), Udder length (UL), Udder diameter (UD), Teat length (TtL), Udder circumference (UC), Distance between fore to fore (DFF) and rear to rear teats (DRR) were 20.79±0.57, 144.64±1.67, 26.17±1.21, 11.03±1.40, 5.33±0.31, 68.84±3.89, 6.03±0.50 and 4.93±0.21 cm, respectively.

Wideband bandstop filter using hybrid microstrip/CPW‐DGS with via‐hole connection

A novel wideband bandstop filter (BSF) with a minimum attenuation better than 28.5 dB and three transmission zeros within the stopband is proposed. The designed filter is composed of a top microstrip transmission line and a bottom coplanar waveguide open-circuited resonator loaded by a periodical L-shaped defected ground structure resonant unit cell. The top and bottom dual-metal-plane conductors are connected by the periodically metallic via-hole within the designed substrate. With the appropriate height of substrate and separation between the adjacent metallic via-holes, an excellent parallel-plate-metal synthesised transmission line with an improved coupling between the top and bottom resonators can be achieved by this via-hole-loaded technology. Finally, a microstrip BSF centred at 5.44 GHz with a measured 20 dB rejection bandwidth of more than 35.5% are designed, fabricated, and measured for this topology of validation.

Tunable microwave bandpass filter integrated power divider based on the high anisotropy electro-optic nematic liquid crystal.

A novel, compact microwave tunable bandpass filter integrated power divider, based on the high anisotropy electro-optic nematic liquid crystal, is proposed in this letter. Liquid crystal, as the electro-optic material, is placed between top inverted microstrip line and the metal plate. The proposed structure can realize continuous tunable bandpass response and miniaturization. The proposed design concept is validated by the good performance of simulation results and experimental results. The electro-optic material has shown great potential for microwave application.

A simulation-based analysis of the effect of a reflecting surface on aeroacoustic time-reversal source characterization and comparison with beamforming

This paper presents a simulation-based analysis of the effect of a reflecting surface on aeroacoustic Time-Reversal (TR) source localization/characterization and compares the results of TR with those obtained using cross-spectral Conventional Beamforming (CB). The TR technique is shown to require the use of at least two line arrays of microphones to accurately characterize the nature of aeroacoustic sources. This work, however, shows that in the presence of a rigid surface, only one line array of microphones is sufficient to accurately localize and characterize idealized aeroacoustic sources. Forward simulations were carried out using the 2-D Linearized Euler Equations on a rectangular domain with a rigid bottom boundary (modeling a 2-D semi-infinite space) for the test-cases of stationary idealized tonal aeroacoustic (monopole, dipole and lateral quadrupole) sources located in a fully-developed mean shear flow field wherein the acoustic pressure time–history was stored at the computational boundaries. A set of TR simulations are implemented that show for each test-case that only the top line array is required to accurately characterize the idealized aeroacoustic sources in the presence of a reflecting bottom boundary, thereby suggesting the redundancy of acoustic pressure measurement at the rigid surface. The test-case of convecting (moving) idealized aeroacoustic source was also considered and the TR simulation using only the top line array in the presence of reflecting bottom boundary was able to accurately retrieve the source trajectory and simultaneously characterize its nature. This numerical experiment demonstrates in principle that when a rigid surface is mounted on the floor of an Anechoic Wind Tunnel, the use of only one (top) line array of microphones should be sufficient to characterize the nature and location of experimental flow-induced noise source. Acoustic source maps were also obtained using the CB method based on the Method of Images (to model the reflecting surface) and incorporation of the Ray-Tracing algorithm necessary to account for the effect of mean flow. The CB results were found to be highly comparable to those obtained using TR for the test-cases of non-convecting sources; thereby demonstrating the conceptual equivalence of the Method of Images and directly implementing the rigid-wall condition during TR for source localization/characterization.

Improving Spa Services to a Better Customers' Attraction (A Case Study on Red Sea Resorts)

Purpose– In today's highly competitive hospitality environment, an inviting spa can create a truly memorable guest experience. “Spa” is an acronym for salus per aqua, or health through water. More than any other hotel service or amenities, Spas provide the personal, intimate and comforting experience sought by today’s consumers and helping resorts and hotels need to stay competitive. Spas that deliver on the guest experience and exceed clients’ expectations take into account not only what their clients are looking for, but what they may not have considered, as well. Design/methodology/approach–Using a deductive approach, case study data was collected from five hotels, located at the Red Sea, via semi structured questionnaire to top line management and SPA managers. Research Results and Recommendations – The research focused on a sample of the Five Star chain hotel's in Red Sea in Egypt that running SPA club.

A comparison between farmers’ and breeders’ Varietal Selection for Cowpea (<em>Vigna unguiculata</em> (L). Walp) Improvement

Farmer participatory selection of varieties in crop improvement is considered as an accelerating process in identifying adaptable varieties for farmer grown conditions. To compare the effectiveness of farmer participation in varietal selection with respect to selection at breeding stations, lines derived from two cowpea crosses CP 19 x Waruni and CP 20 x CP 22 at the Grain Legumes and Oil Crops Research and Development Center, Angunakolapellessa, using three breeding methods (pedigree, modified bulk and single seed descent) were evaluated in two Randomized Complete Block Designs during Yala 2013 and Maha 2013/14. Each trial included 30 lines which represented 10 best lines per breeding method and the parents of the cross. Same varietal composition was tested in three selected farmer fields with respect to each cross in RCBD with two replicates. At the maturity stage, evaluating of varieties of both trials of the research station was carried out by farmers and the breeders in two seasons. Farmer field trials were also evaluated following the same procedure by inviting the nearby cowpea cultivating farmers for each trial. Yields were also recorded in each farmer trial. Lines/method was found to be significant for all the characteristics studied at the research station trial for the cross CP 19 x Waruni while pod length, hundred seed weight and yield were significant for the lines in CP 20x CP 22 cross for both seasons. Mean sum of squares of seed per pod in both crosses were significantly different among three breeding methods but for other characteristics, methods were not significantly different. There was a significant difference among tested lines for farmer scores and breeder scores on the basis of Friedman test for each trial in both seasons at the research station. Except Sewanagala trial of CP19 x Waruni cross and Mahawewa trial of CP 20 x CP22 cross, lines tested in other trials at farmer fields were significantly different for farmer scores. According to adaptability testing there was a significant positive correlation with farmer ranks at farmer field level with ranking method and variance component method ranks. The correlation of breeders’ ranks at the research station level with the adaptability ranks were comparatively lower than the farmer ranks at farmer field level. With respect to the four adaptability rankings, CP19 x Waruni cross has ranked five lines, S1-53, S1-35, B1-74, B1-64 and B1 - 39while CP 20 x CP22 cross ranked three lines B2-15, S2-64 and Waruni as the best. Since the top ranking lines mostly belonged to SSD and modified bulk breeding methods the two methods can be effectively used for the cowpea improvement. Further farmer participation in variety selection at their own field conditions will be much effective in testing of adaptabilities along with the proper analysis methods.

Association of conformation and riding ability in Icelandic horses

The official breeding goal for the Icelandic horse promotes five-gaited horses with a functional and aesthetic conformation. The objectives of the present study were to assess the phenotypic and genetic relationship between standard conformational measurements and scores for riding ability. Further, to investigate if more detailed (3-D) morphometric measurements could discriminate between high-class and low-class horses based on scores for each gait. The data comprised records from standard conformational measurements and scores for the different gaits and the total score for riding ability of all assessed breeding horses in Iceland in 2000–2013 (10,091 horses). Further, records from a subpopulation of 98 haphazardly selected breeding horses that were subject to detailed quantification of the conformation in 3-D and genotyped with respect to DMRT3 genotype, were included in the study. Most of the standard measurements had a significant and curvilinear relationship with the studied riding ability traits. They had generally high estimated heritability but weak or moderate genetic correlation with the total score of riding ability. Proportions in the top line of the horse describing the height of the horse at front compared to hind were found to be most important for the riding ability, revealing the advantage of an uphill conformation. Their estimated heritability and genetic correlation with total score for riding ability designate them as important indicators for performance. Certain lengths, proportions and angles between bones in the fore- and hind limbs also had a significant effect on scores for some gaits. These results can improve the assessment of the conformation and consequently the riding ability of the Icelandic horse.