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The purpose of this paper is to analyze how the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) countermeasures will affect the financing of the North American leagues. In particular, we focus on the missed revenue from gate receipts for the Big Four leagues.

The authors forecast the 2020 revenue for each of the four major leagues under two scenarios: (1) expected revenue under the normal conditions of fans in attendance and (2) expected revenues in the absence of fans due to the countermeasures in place. Then, the authors calculate the loss in gate receipts as a difference in the revenue under fans and no-fans scenarios.

Based on the current estimates, the combined financial loss of the clubs from NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL is expected to be above 6.8bn dollars in gate receipts alone.

The findings are useful to the league management to prepare for the suboptimal financial situation.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that explores the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic across the major league sports leagues in North America.

Revenue sharing is ubiquitous among North American professional sports leagues. Under pool revenue sharing, above-average revenue teams of a league effectively transfer revenues to below-average revenue teams. Herein, the authors find and prove that a league will vote into policy a pool revenue sharing arrangement if and only if mean team revenue is greater than presharing median revenue, where this condition is equivalent to the presence of positive nonparametric skewness in a league’s distribution of team revenues. This represents a median voter theorem for league revenue sharing.

The authors consider the case of revenue sharing for the National Football League (NFL), a league that pools and equally shares national revenues among member teams.

The authors find evidence of positive and significant nonparametric skewness in NFL team revenue distributions for the 2004–2016 seasons. This distribution is observed amid annual majority rule votes of League owners in favor of maintaining the incumbent pool revenue sharing model (as opposed to no team revenue sharing). Distribution of revenues – namely the existence of outlying large market NFL teams – appears to consistently explain the historical popularity of NFL revenue sharing.

The median voter theorem uncovered in the case of NFL applies to all professional sports leagues and can be used predictively as well as descriptively.

In this paper, using Monte Carlo simulations (MCSs) under the metropolis algorithm, the authors study the magnetic properties of the yttrium-based Heusler alloys: Y₂CrGa and YFeCrGa. In the first step, the authors elaborate and discuss the ground-state phase diagrams of the more stable configurations. It is worth to note that the full-Heusler alloy Y₂CrGa contains only one magnetic atom (Cr), while the quaternary Heusler alloy YFeCrGa has two magnetic atoms (Cr and Fe). This leads to modeling of the compound Y₂CrGa by a Hamiltonian containing only one magnetic spin moment (S = 2), while the quaternary Heusler alloy YFeCrGa is modeled by a Hamiltonian containing two magnetic spin moments (Q = 5/2 and s = 2). The results of the study reveal that the critical temperature increases when increasing the reduced crystal field for the two studied compounds. To complete this study, the authors elaborated the hysteresis cycles of the two yttrium-based Heusler alloys: Y₂CrGa and YFeCrGa.

In this paper, the authors study the magnetic properties and the critical behavior of the yttrium-based Heusler alloys, Y₂CrGa and YFeCrGa, using MCSs under the metropolis algorithm. In the first step, the authors elaborate and discuss the ground-state phase diagrams of the more stable configurations for the both structures at null temperature (T = 0). On the other hand, for non-null temperature (T ≠ 0), the authors investigate the critical behavior of these two yttrium-based Heusler alloys: Y₂CrGa and YFeCrGa. It is worth to note that the full-Heusler alloy Y₂CrGa contains only one magnetic atom (Cr), while the quaternary Heusler alloy YFeCrGa has two magnetic atoms (Cr and Fe). Hence, the compound Y₂CrGa can be modeled by a Hamiltonian containing only one magnetic spin moment (S = 2), while the quaternary Heusler alloy YFeCrGa is modeled by a Hamiltonian containing two magnetic spin moments (Q = 5/2 and s = 2). Moreover, the results of the study reveal that the critical temperature increases when increasing the reduced crystal field for the two studied compounds. To complete this study, the authors elaborated the hysteresis cycles of the two yttrium-based Heusler alloys: Y₂CrGa and YFeCrGa.

The authors elaborate the ground-state phase diagrams of the more stable configurations. It is worth to note that the full-Heusler alloy Y₂CrGa contains only one magnetic atom (Cr), while the quaternary Heusler alloy YFeCrGa has two magnetic atoms (Cr and Fe). This leads to modeling of the compound Y₂CrGa by a Hamiltonian containing only one magnetic spin moment (S = 2), while the quaternary Heusler alloy YFeCrGa is modeled by a Hamiltonian containing two magnetic spin moments (Q = 5/2 and s = 2). The results of the study reveal that the critical temperature increases when increasing the reduced crystal field for the two studied compounds. To complete this study, the authors elaborated the hysteresis cycles of the two yttrium-based Heusler alloys: Y₂CrGa and YFeCrGa.

The authors elaborate the ground-state phase diagrams of the more stable configurations. It is worth to note that the full-Heusler alloy Y₂CrGa contains only one magnetic atom (Cr), while the quaternary Heusler alloy YFeCrGa has two magnetic atoms (Cr and Fe). This leads to modeling of the compound Y₂CrGa by a Hamiltonian containing only one magnetic spin moment (S = 2), while the quaternary Heusler alloy YFeCrGa is modeled by a Hamiltonian containing two magnetic spin moments (Q = 5/2 and s = 2). The results of the study reveal that the critical temperature increases when increasing the reduced crystal field for the two studied compounds. To complete this study, the authors elaborated the hysteresis cycles of the two yttrium-based Heusler alloys: Y₂CrGa and YFeCrGa.

The authors elaborate the ground-state phase diagrams of the more stable configurations. It is worth to note that the full-Heusler alloy Y₂CrGa contains only one magnetic atom (Cr), while the quaternary Heusler alloy YFeCrGa has two magnetic atoms (Cr and Fe). This leads to modeling of the compound Y₂CrGa by a Hamiltonian containing only one magnetic spin moment (S = 2), while the quaternary Heusler alloy YFeCrGa is modeled by a Hamiltonian containing two magnetic spin moments (Q = 5/2 and s = 2). The results of the study reveal that the critical temperature increases when increasing the reduced crystal field for the two studied compounds. To complete this study, the authors elaborated the hysteresis cycles of the two yttrium-based Heusler alloys: Y₂CrGa and YFeCrGa.

The authors elaborate the ground-state phase diagrams of the more stable configurations. It is worth to note that the full-Heusler alloy Y₂CrGa contains only one magnetic atom (Cr), while the quaternary Heusler alloy YFeCrGa has two magnetic atoms (Cr and Fe). This leads to modeling of the compound Y2CrGa by a Hamiltonian containing only one magnetic spin moment (S = 2), while the quaternary Heusler alloy YFeCrGa is modeled by a Hamiltonian containing two magnetic spin moments (Q = 5/2 and s = 2). The results of the study reveal that the critical temperature increases when increasing the reduced crystal field for the two studied compounds. To complete this study, the authors elaborated the hysteresis cycles of the two yttrium-based Heusler alloys: Y₂CrGa and YFeCrGa.

The authors elaborate the ground-state phase diagrams of the more stable configurations. It is worth to note that the full-Heusler alloy Y₂CrGa contains only one magnetic atom (Cr), while the quaternary Heusler alloy YFeCrGa has two magnetic atoms (Cr and Fe). This leads to modeling of the compound Y₂CrGa by a Hamiltonian containing only one magnetic spin moment (S = 2), while the quaternary Heusler alloy YFeCrGa is modeled by a Hamiltonian containing two magnetic spin moments (Q = 5/2 and s = 2). The results of the study reveal that the critical temperature increases when increasing the reduced crystal field for the two studied compounds. To complete this study, the authors elaborated the hysteresis cycles of the two yttrium-based Heusler alloys: Y₂CrGa and YFeCrGa.

The increase in automobile usage across the world has fortified the opportunities of maintenance service garages. However, there are significant numbers of challenges in front of maintenance service providers at all stages of the business. This paper identifies, analyzes and prioritizes various challenges associated with the establishment and survival of garages specific to Indian context.

In this paper, challenges for automotive service garage are identified through expert opinion, garage survey and literature. A structural hierarchical framework of the identified challenges is established through structural models, including interpretive structural modeling and analytic hierarchy process.

This paper has identified nine challenges, namely proliferation of new models and variants; technological advancements in automobile systems; demand of better service quality; space and ambience requirements; labor requirements; requirement of modern support equipments, tools and spares; safety requirements and prevention of occupational hazards; environmental norms and concerns; proper documentation requirements. The drivers and dependent variables have been identified. A hierarchical framework of challenges has been established.

This paper provides a comprehensive list of challenges and their priority in establishing an automobile maintenance garage business in Indian context. This will help the budding entrepreneurs and existing maintenance organizations to focus on the challenges that necessitate immediate attention and corrective actions.

This paper provides a significant contribution in the literature of garage maintenance services, which is established on the viewpoint of different collaborators associated with this business. This study will be a foundation to investigate further in this domain.

This research is about embedding service-based supply chain management (SCM) concepts in the education sector. Due to Canada's competitive education sector, the authors focus on Canadian universities.

The authors develop a framework for evaluating and forecasting university performance using data envelopment analysis (DEA) and artificial neural networks (ANNs) to assist education policymakers. The application of the proposed framework is illustrated based on information from 16 Canadian universities and by investigating their teaching and research performance.

The major findings are (1) applying the service SCM concept to develop a performance evaluation and prediction framework, (2) demonstrating the application of DEA-ANN for computing and predicting the efficiency of service SCM in Canadian universities, and (3) generating insights to enable universities to improve their research and teaching performances considering critical inputs and outputs.

This paper presents a new framework for universities' performance assessment and performance prediction. DEA and ANN are integrated to aid decision-makers in evaluating the performances of universities.

The findings suggest that higher education policymakers should monitor attrition rates at graduate and undergraduate levels and provide financial support to facilitate research and concentrate on Ph.D. programs. Additionally, the sensitivity analysis indicates that selecting inputs and outputs is critical in determining university rankings.

This research proposes a new integrated DEA and ANN framework to assess and forecast future teaching and research efficiencies applying the service supply chain concept. The findings offer policymakers insights such as paying close attention to the attrition rates of undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In addition, prioritizing internal research support and concentrating on Ph.D. programs is recommended.

By replacing traditional fossil fuels, renewable energy (RE) has the potential to become an outstanding sustainable energy supply. However, owing to technological, economic, social and legal constraints, RE is still in its early stages of development. Hence, this paper aims to analyze the sustainable development hindrances in the RE supply chain (RESC).

Twenty-three hindrances to the sustainable development of the RE industry were investigated in this research, which included a review of the expert opinion and literature. Then, a mutual relationship between the hindrances by integrating interpretive structural modeling and decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory in fuzzy environment was established. Furthermore, using the cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to a classification analysis, these hindrances were grouped.

The findings show that the important hindrances are “lack of standards for the RESC (H19), lack of entrepreneurship support (H21), lack of incentives/subsidies to encourage RE producers to compete (H30) and lack of governmental support for sustainable supply chain solutions (H31).

This research provides unique insights into the area of sustainability in RESC. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to analyze the sustainability hindrances in the RESC.

Although anemia during pregnancy is common in the USA, socio-demographic factors make pregnant women enrolled in Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program more vulnerable than the general population. The purpose of this study was to examine the socio-demographic characteristics, blood hemoglobin concentrations, nutrition knowledge and potential associations among these factors in a sample of pregnant women participating in the WIC program.

A cross-sectional study using survey methodology was conducted. In total, 60 pregnant women who were between 12 and 24 weeks of gestation and were carrying a single fetus were recruited from two WIC clinics. Overall nutrition knowledge was assessed with 42 questions arranged into three subscales. Participants’ scores were transformed into tertiles. WIC program records were used to record blood hemoglobin values. Principal component analysis was used to validate the knowledge subscales. Correlational and multivariate regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship among variables.

Prevalence of anemia among the participants was higher than the national averages. Only 10 per cent of participants scored in the high tertile for nutrition knowledge. Anemia-during-pregnancy knowledge score was positively correlated with blood hemoglobin concentrations (r = 0.23, p < 0.05), and it was also a predictor of blood hemoglobin levels (R2 = 0.364, p = 0.02).

This is the first study to report on the knowledge of anemia, anemia during pregnancy and preventive measures among pregnant women enrolled in the WIC program.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the vulnerability of communities prone to earthquake hazards in Baluchistan at the community and household levels and identify the determinants accounting for the vulnerability of the communities. Baluchistan is vulnerable to potential seismic risk and has recently suffered huge economic and property losses due to the October 2008 earthquake.

The study is based on household surveys, field observations, key informant interviews and focus-group discussions for the assessment of community vulnerability to earthquakes.

The analysis revealed that the community is vulnerable to earthquake hazards both at the community and household levels. The logistic regression model identified three variables, namely, ownership of residential unit, family size and household income, as the most important factors in influencing community vulnerability to earthquake hazards.

The paper may help emergency managers, policymakers and local government authorities to implement building codes, urban planning by-laws and projects and activities to empower communities for disaster preparedness and disaster risk reduction.

The paper concludes that for earthquake safety, building regulations and spatial planning by-laws should be implemented and monitored rigorously. Community preparedness is essential for enhancing people’s awareness against future earthquake hazards in the area.

We make use of the Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) data to extract the total extent of the roads using remote sensing images. VGI data is often provided only as vector data represented by lines and not as full extent. Also, high geolocation accuracy is not guaranteed and it is common to observe misalignment with the target road segments by several pixels on the images. In this work, we use the prior information provided by the VGI and extract the full road extent even if there is significant mis-registration between the VGI and the image. The method consists of image segmentation and traversal of multiple agents along available VGI information. First, we perform image segmentation, and then we traverse through the fragmented road segments using autonomous agents to obtain a complete road map in a semi-automatic way once the seed-points are defined. The road center-line in the VGI guides the process and allows us to discover and extract the full extent of the road network based on the image data. The results demonstrate the validity and good performance of the proposed method for road extraction that reflects the actual road width despite the presence of disturbances such as shadows, cars and trees which shows the efficiency of the fusion of the VGI and satellite images.