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Building on a TripAdvisor data for five Mediterranean destinations, namely, Greece, Croatia, Italy, France and Spain, this study analyses the constituents of restaurants' online reputation and their interrelation with destination competitiveness, in particular two Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) pillars, namely, Prioritisation of Travel and Tourism and Price Competitiveness.

The analysis has revealed that restaurants' online reputation is positively influenced by two factors, namely, Core elements, i.e. cooking, service and price-quality ratio, and Price. Furthermore, the restaurants' online reputation does not influence destination competitiveness (TTCI) directly, but indirectly throughout its main constituents, i.e. service and price. Price is the only variable with significant influence on overall TTCI. Within the sample of these destinations, Balkan countries, i.e. Greece and Croatia, perform very well in terms of their restaurants' online reputation. On the other hand, considering the overall TTCI rating, their competitive positions are substantially lower than those of Italy, France and Spain.

The study provides new insights into the relationship between gastronomic offer and destination competitiveness, and valuable practical implications for destination and hospitality management. Moreover, this study addresses various gaps in existing research on this topic. Specifically, it validates the reputation elements presented online using TripAdvisor data and analyses the impact of electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM) not only as the outcome variable of other constructs, as is the case in the literature, but also as a central construct of the analysis. In doing so, it extends current research on this topic and fills the gap regarding the inclusion of the supply-side stakeholder perspective, which has long been recognised as necessary in any attempts to measure competitiveness.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce an orthogonal frequency‐division multiplexing (OFDM)‐based 2‐phase physical‐layer feedback space (PFS) for distributed relay selection (RS) in virtual multiple‐input multiple‐output (VMIMO) systems. The proposed method is evaluated with numeric and simulation results.

Unlike minislots used in current MAC layer feedback, the authors introduce physical‐layer feedback space (PFS) which hosts one‐bit for each candidate relay (CR), for instance, a 48‐subcarrier OFDM symbol hosts 48 bits. In the two‐phase feedback procedure, each CR firstly hears the invitation and respond between cluster heads (CH) of upper‐/down‐stream cluster and decides whether to be a qualified relay or not. Then if it is qualified, it randomly selects one subcarrier and sends a pre‐equalized one‐bit feedback. The upper‐stream CH evaluate all feedbacks in PFS, then selects all or a subset of relays with successful feedback and broadcasts its decision to all nodes. Although the number of successful feedbacks (NSF) drops as number of CR increases (NCR), 7∼8 CR can be selected with high probability when NCR is triple that of total subcarriers (48).

In current literature, several traditional MAC layer feedback mechanisms are designed for relay selection in virtual MIMO (VMIMO) system most of which are based upon feedback minislots. For such methods, the number of active nodes should be estimated first and known to all participating nodes to choose optimal feedback possibility to obtain best successful feedback possibility. Furthermore, each minislot should include unique identification of candidate relay thus such methods can NOT be referred as one‐bit feedback. In the new method, though OFDM subcarriers play the same role as minislots, they are exactly one‐bit fashioned and occupies only multiple OFDM symbols which is much shorter than that in current methods.

By using physical‐layer feedback space, exactly only one‐bit is required for each candidate relay to send its feedback, and the overall overhead introduced for all of them is K‐bit provided by the required PFS, which spans only fixed duration of the PFS, which is one or more OFDM symbols. Therefore, the proposed scheme can greatly reduce overhead and feedback delay during relay selection.

Mathematics can be a challenging content area for all students and especially for students with disabilities. Assistive technology can support the access, participation and achievement of students with disabilities in mathematics in general and in inclusive mathematics settings in particular. In this chapter, assistive technology to academic and functional mathematics will be discussed; particularly, manipulatives, calculators and other technology-mediated mathematics interventions (e.g., apps or computer programs) will be highlighted.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and financial distress and the moderating effect of firm characteristics, auditor characteristics and the Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in China.

The research question is empirically examined on the basis of a data set of 1,257 Chinese-listed firms from 2011 to 2021. The dependent variable is financial distress risk, which is measured mainly by Z-score. CSR score is used as a proxy for CSR. Propensity score matching, two-stage least square and generalized method of moments are adopted to mitigate the potential endogeneity issue.

This study reveals that CSR can reduce financial distress. Specifically, results show an inverse relationship between CSR and financial distress, more significantly in non-state-owned enterprises, firms with non-BigN auditor and during Covid-19. The results are consistent and robust to endogeneity tests and sensitivity analyses.

This study enriches the literature on CSR and financial distress, resulting in a more attractive corporate environment, improved financial stability and more crisis-resistant economies in China.

Recently, ISO 9000 and its associated versions are rapidly becoming a “license to compete” worldwide. Its standards are generic in the way that they can be applied to all functions and all industries in various areas of human endeavor. They have been described as the “one size fits all” standards. In developing countries like Pakistan, adoption and implementation of ISO 9000 quality management system is slow due to lack of awareness and initiatives. The present study is an attempt to analyze different practices of ISO 9000, like its status, problems faced (before, during and after implementations), benefits gained, its impact, certification cost, the next step after ISO’s 9000 certification, critical success factors, the role of training, consultancy, top management support, use of ISO 9000 in the international markets, future prospects and in particular, general practices of ISO 9000 in the Sports Industry of Pakistan. In this study, detailed case studies clearly explain the current status and existing practices of ISO 9000 in the sports industry.

This study aims to solve the problem of the existing metal foreign object (MFO) detecting systems, which are not sensitive to the small size MFO in wireless charging region of electric vehicle (EV) because of the extremely complex signal noise in the process of wireless charging of EV.

A method for MFO detection based on the principle that MFOs can cause mistuned resonance of detection coil resonant circuit is proposed. The general scheme of detecting system is proposed. The design method for detection coils which is effective to small MFOs detection in large-area region of wireless charging of EV is presented. The design of time-sharing driving circuit and amplifying circuit of high frequency exciting signal for detection coils is introduced. The design scheme of signal processing circuit (including filter and rectifier) of detection coil terminal voltage is also proposed.

The influence of exciting frequency of detection coils on detecting sensitivity and the anti-noise feature of system are analyzed according to the experiment results.

The experiment of MFO detection indicates that the proposed method can effectively detect the coin-sized small MFO in the process of wireless charging of EV.

Zero-failure reliability testing aims at demonstrating whether the product has achieved the desired reliability target with zero failure and high confidence level at a given time. Incorporating accelerated degradation testing in zero-failure reliability demonstration test (RDT) facilitates early failure in high reliability items developed within short period of time to be able to survive in fiercely competitive market. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The triangular cyclic stress uses one test chamber thus saving experimental cost. The parameters in model are estimated using maximum likelihood methods. The optimum plan consists in finding out optimum number of cycles, optimum specimens, optimum stress change point(s) and optimum stress rates.

The optimum plan consists in finding out optimum number of cycles, optimum specimens, optimum stress change point(s) and optimum stress rates by minimizing asymptotic variance of estimate of quantile of the lifetime distribution at use condition subject to the constraint that total testing or experimental cost does not exceed a pre-specified budget. Confidence intervals of the design parameters have been obtained and sensitivity analysis carried out. The results of sensitivity analysis show that the plan is robust to small deviations from the true values of baseline parameters.

For some highly reliable products, even accelerated life testing yields little failure data of units in a feasible amount of time. In such cases accelerated degradation testing is carried out, wherein the failure termed as soft failure is defined in terms of performance characteristic of the product exceeding its critical (threshold) value.

This study aims to develop a Chinese core self-evaluations scale (CCSES) (Study 1) and examines the relationship between CCSES and self-reported job performance among entrepreneurs in private small and medium enterprises in People's Republic of China (Study 2).

In Study 1, the paper incorporated two indigenous Chinese constructs, team-based self-esteem and personal integrity, into the existing literature of CSE and developed a new CCSES using a sample of 300 Chinese entrepreneurs in Hangzhou, China. In Study 2, the paper validated the CCSES in a separate sample of 306 entrepreneurs and investigated the relationships between CCSES and self-reported job performance.

The paper identified four sub-constructs in the 13-item CCSES: personal self-esteem, team-based self-esteem, personal integrity, and self-competence. Results from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed good psychometric properties and high reliability in Study 1. In Study 2, the paper found a good fit between the measurement model and the data, and a significant relationship between CCSES and the overall measure of job performance and its three components. Males had significantly higher Chinese core self-evaluations (CCSE) scores than females. There were no differences in CCSE scores across age and educational background.

Borrowing the CSE construct in the Western literature, the paper includes two indigenous Chinese constructs, team-based self-esteem and personal integrity, provides a new perspective of the CSE construct for entrepreneurs, and investigates its relationship with job performance in China.