Limited-Service/Economy Lodging Sector Faces Challenges Ahead

Changing cost structures and discounting by more upscale hotels are creating the need for new competitive methods in order to attract and retain guests. One author contends that only those chains that can quickly embrace change and find innovative ways for providing more with less are likely to survive

Protecting Menard’s Quixote: A Return to the Strict Originality Standard in Copyright Law

Copyright protection extends to “original” works. The adjective “original” here means a work that originated with its purported author, and is not meant to impute any novelty requirement to copyright law. However, case law and literature offer up several odd examples where two individuals have independently created identical works of art. The theory underlying copyright law requires that, because each work originated independently from separate authors, each work be independently copyrightable. Applying this strict, objective standard of originality to the transformative arts, we begin to see new possibilities for grounding copyrights in parodies and satires. Under current law, parodies escape infringement of their target works through the “fair use” exception to copyright law, while satires frequently do not. However, this essay argues that, under a strict interpretation of the originality standard, parodies and satires alike can be considered independently created works of art that are not derivative of (and hence not infringing) their target works. This essay suggests the application of a new standard of ascertainably different meanings when determining whether one work infringes upon a similar work

Bowled out for a duck before picking up a bat: identifying women’s perceived barriers and lived experiences of cricket within the City of Lincoln

Gender inequality in sport has received significant attention from sports development initiatives and sociologists of sport. Gender inequality describes the structuring of aspects of society that favours one gender over another. Feminist academic literature is heavily focused around how the inequality is perpetuated in society (Hargreaves, J. (2000) Heroines of Sport: ‘The politics of difference and identity’. London: Routledge.). The prevalence of gender inequality is reflected in women’s participation levels in typically masculine sports such as cricket. Approximately 0.08% of the female population take part in cricket in the UK, which suggests there are inherent barriers to women’s participation (Sport England, 2011, Active People Survey 2011). This problem is something that has been highlighted as a substantial aim that the legacy of the 2012 London Olympics can help overcome (London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympics games Ltd (2008) Diversity and Inclusion strategy). The present study builds on previous work to increase opportunities for women to participate in cricket (Hibberd et al 2011; ‘Not Just a Boys Game’: Programme evaluation of a multi-agency cricket intervention designed to reduce gender inequity in a city in the East of England.’Paper presented at the student BASES 2011 conference). The principal aim of this study is to investigate the perceived barriers that active women feel prevent or inhibit their participation in cricket. A case study approach will be adopted, focusing on six women’s community and University sports clubs in Lincoln, in conjunction with Lincolnshire Cricket board (LCB). Women will be recruited from an array of social backgrounds, with different abilities, ages and experiences of sport. A mixed method approach utilising both questionnaires and semi-structured group interviews will be employed (Bryman, A. (1988) Quantity and Quality in Social Research. London: Routledge). A theory driven approach to understanding women’s perceived barriers to participation in cricket will be adopted. The project will enable researchers to gain a better understanding of the reasons why women find access to certain sports easier than others. This information will allow researchers to make recommendations for widening participation in women’s cricket, with a view to increasing the viability of women’s participation in cricket locally

Developing a New Generation of Alpha Project Managers

Alpha project managers lead more successful projects, because they plan and communicate more. How can we train more project managers to be like them? This paper describes a study to measure students’ emotional intelligence in an undergraduate course in IT project management. The course incorporated active learning exercises in interpersonal communication and emotional intelligence. This study is the second in an emerging and multi-stage research effort that started with new curriculum development at one university last year. In this study, we deployed the curriculum intervention in a second university and with a second group of students at the first university. Additionally, a formal measure of soft skills was adopted from the literature for validation in this context before we launch a broader study. This study is intended to provide empirical and theoretical evidence to support pedagogical interventions to help train the next generation of emotionally intelligent alpha project managers

Hospitality IT: What Does the Future Hold?

The impact of information technology (IT) is far-reaching and driving dramatic shifts in business paradigms. Trends suggest greater adoption of IT will continue and develop at accelerating rates. Hence, hotel operators and executives must learn how to embrace IT and capitalize on the many capabilities it has to offer while minimizing the threats. The authors attempt to provide a sense of focus and a roadmap to help hoteliers understand the issues, see the future, and find an appropriate on ramp to the information superhighway

An Agile Framework for Teaching with Scrum in the IT Project Management Classroom

This paper presents a framework for teaching a complete, semester-long IT project management course with traditional PMI-based content (sans software development) while featuring Scrum as the organizing logic for accomplishing coursework. This framework adapts widely-used Scrum practices from industry for use in the classroom, including how to organize student teams, homework, and activities. Organizing an existing course with Scrum is intended to maximize student learning of traditional project management content, as well as the difficult-to-teach, socially-complex, “soft” skills that lead to Scrum team success. This deep integration of Scrum into a traditional, predictive IT project management course goes well beyond single activities or units without crowding out valuable time and material. A brief overview of the agile philosophy and examples of teaching Scrum in the classroom situate this work in the teaching and learning literature. Classroom-tested Scrum rituals and example artifacts are provided to illustrate how to apply the framework. This group-based, iterative, and hands-on approach equips students to better internalize and understand the complex social interactions involved with a self-organizing team, concepts that are difficult to learn without first-hand experience. The proposed framework will help IS educators implement Scrum practices in their own courses, further addressing industry’s increasing demand for IS professionals with Scrum experience

Imaging of hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy in the term neonate

PhD by publication. In 2000 an encephalopathic neonate who had been exposed to an episode (or episodes) of hypoxia/ischaemia (HIE) would probably have been imaged with a cranial ultrasound and may have received an MRI in selected teaching hospitals. MRI would probably not have been used in neonatal units without teaching hospital paediatric MR units. The cranial ultrasound would have allowed assessment for hydrocephalus, germinal matrix and intraventricular haemorrhages, parenchymal cysts, mass lesions and gross congenital brain malformations. MRI for neonates was in its infancy with early case reports and case series of patterns of injury and things to look for on imaging both in HIE and in clinical mimics such as hypoglycaemia. Imaging protocols were starting to be tailored to neonates and new technology and imaging sequences (such as MR spectroscopy and diffusion weighted imaging) were being applied to imaging of the neonatal brain. The clinical impact of HIE on subsequent developmental impairment and the anatomical substrate of cerebral palsy due to HIE was starting to be acknowledged and correlated. Neonatal care of the neonate with HIE was evolving and improving, particularly in terms of ventilation and prevention of hypocarbia due to overventilation. In 2020 any neonate who requires unexpected neonatal care, let alone an encephalopathic neonate, will be investigated with cranial ultrasound and MRI of the head. The cranial ultrasound will often be repeated regularly through the duration of their care on the neonatal unit. The MRI will often be performed at the local hospital and will involve the use of sequences such as DWI, susceptibility weighted imaging, diffusion tensor imaging and MR spectroscopy. The MR scanner may be on or near the neonatal unit and specific incubators may be used to transport the neonate to and from the scanner. MRI after myelination is complete (beyond two years of age) will provide exquisite anatomical information if the child goes on to develop cerebral palsy. The report of the MR scan will often include reference to clinical and radiological mimics of HIE, reference to specific anatomical substrates for subsequent neuro-disability and information regarding prognosis. Some of the information included in the report will reference new knowledge available to the reporting radiologists regarding in utero injury to the fetus. Providing an accurate estimation of the timing of the insult (or insults) is of increasing importance to the reporting radiologist and their hospital and earlier imaging (within the first days of life) with DWI to aid the reporter with the issue of timing and to exclude post-natal causes of brain injury and encephalopathy such as metabolic disorders, infection and/or cardio-respiratory dysfunction is required. It is now known that some pathologies thought only to affect term neonates may affect the preterm brain and also that pathology previously considered to only affect the preterm brain may affect the term neonate. The use of early MRI should now include statements from the radiologist regarding likely prognosis for the term neonate with HIE. There has been a huge expansion in the interventions available to the treating neonatal team and the impact on outcome from interventions such as therapeutic hypothermia has seen a dramatic improvement in neurological outcome for the term infant with HIE. The interventions have also raised doubts about the applicability of previously held dogma regarding the duration and nature of HIE at term. In the near future clearer guidelines should allow the reporting radiologist to better define the nature and timing of the insult causing HIE, to exclude mimics and to provide better prognostic information to the clinical teams, to focus interventions and reduce subsequent neuro-cognitive disability. This commentary will review the literature in brain MR imaging of the term neonate with HIE over the last 20 years with specific reference to my published papers which have contributed to advances in the field and which are included at the end of the thesis. Papers for inclusion in thesis Initial experience of an investigational 3T MR scanner designed for use on neonatal wards Involvement of the anterior lobe of the cerebellar vermis in perinatal profound hypoxia. Anatomic localisation of dyskinesia in children with ‘profound’ perinatal hypoxic-ischemic injury. Isolated superior cerebellar vermis injury: a consequence of hypoxic ischemic injury A review of fetal brain pathology acquired in utero Watershed stroke – an unexpected complication of respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis: a case report Perinatal Arterial Ischemic Stroke in term babies Aetiological investigation in early developmental impairment – are they worth it? .