Examining the Role of Business Intelligence and Analytics in Hospitality Revenue Management

Most hospitality revenue management forecasting systems were built prior to the business intelligence and analytics movement. Only recently these systems have been enhanced to offer contemporary business intelligence and analytics functionalities. In addition, revenue management professionals are receiving support from standalone, supplementary business intelligence and analytics platforms. The purpose of this dissertation was to produce a holistic review of and establish the role of business intelligence and analytics within hospitality revenue management. Data was collected from twenty-three interviews; all participants were employed by hospitality organizations in revenue management specific positions. Grounded theory methodology was utilized. The results show that nearly all of revenue management tasks are supported by business intelligence and analytics functionalities, irrespective of where the functionalities are housed, in revenue management systems or in business intelligence and analytics tools. Also, opportunities to integrate more advanced functionalities into revenue management systems, including those relating to interfaces, were identified. As part of this inquiry, revenue managers’ beliefs and perceptions - including relative advantage, job-fit, and trust - were examined to determine which have influence on the usage of business intelligence and analytics within revenue management systems and as standalone tools. Overall, twenty-two categories/themes were formulated across four research questions. This dissertation contributes to the examination of the role of business intelligence and analytics in hospitality revenue management, but there is still much more to investigate, particularly as compatibility of hospitality systems and data management are improved

Genetic diversity of Escherichia coli in gut microbiota of patients with Crohn’s disease discovered using metagenomic and genomic analyses

Abstract Background Crohn’s disease is associated with gut dysbiosis. Independent studies have shown an increase in the abundance of certain bacterial species, particularly Escherichia coli with the adherent-invasive pathotype, in the gut. The role of these species in this disease needs to be elucidated. Methods We performed a metagenomic study investigating the gut microbiota of patients with Crohn’s disease. A metagenomic reconstruction of the consensus genome content of the species was used to assess the genetic variability. Results The abnormal shifts in the microbial community structures in Crohn’s disease were heterogeneous among the patients. The metagenomic data suggested the existence of multiple E. coli strains within individual patients. We discovered that the genetic diversity of the species was high and that only a few samples manifested similarity to the adherent-invasive varieties. The other species demonstrated genetic diversity comparable to that observed in the healthy subjects. Our results were supported by a comparison of the sequenced genomes of isolates from the same microbiota samples and a meta-analysis of published gut metagenomes. Conclusions The genomic diversity of Crohn’s disease-associated E. coli within and among the patients paves the way towards an understanding of the microbial mechanisms underlying the onset and progression of the Crohn’s disease and the development of new strategies for the prevention and treatment of this disease