Auckland University of Technology

About: Auckland University of Technology is a education organization based out in Auckland, New Zealand. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 4116 authors who have published 13461 publications receiving 353076 citations. The organization is also known as: AUT & AUT University.

Working Conditions in Hospitality: Employees' Views of the Dissatisfactory Hygiene Factors

Abstract: This study explores the nature of hospitality workplaces by presenting comments from employees about unfair, unethical, and illegal practices in their workplaces. A qualitative methodology is used to capture and present a range of problems, rather than the frequency with which each occurs, and the focus is primarily on the difficult nature of hospitality work. The conclusions are largely informed by Herzberg's (1959) two‐factor theory, which states that unless an employee's ‘hygiene’ factors are satisfied, motivating factors such as opportunities for advancement will have no effect, leaving the employee unmotivated and dissatisfied. DiPietro and Condly (2007) found a significant link between poorly motivated employees and their desire to quit their employment, providing an important but logical connection between Herzberg's hygiene factors and staff turnover. Working conditions experienced by participants in this study indicate that their motivation would have been severely impeded because of dissatisfact...

Standing on textured surfaces: effects on standing balance in healthy older adults

Abstract: Background: Standing on textured surfaces or wearing textured shoe insoles can alter balance performance. This evidence, although inconclusive, offers a potential intervention for improving balance in older adults. This study explored the effect of standing on textured surfaces on double-limb balance in older adults and changes in muscle activity as a possible mechanism of effect. Methods: 50 healthy older adults (29 female, age mean [1SD] 75.1 [5.0]) stood quietly in six conditions-eyes open and closed on two different textured surfaces and a smooth surface control. Mediolateral sway, anterior-posterior sway and centre of pressure velocity were extracted from a force platform and lower limb muscle activity collected using surface electromyography (EMG) over 30 s. Results: For mediolateral range with eyes closed, there was a statistically significant effect of texture (F [2,47] = 3.840, P = 0.033). This was attributed to a 9.2% decrease with Texture 1 compared with Control. No such effects were seen in any other balance variable or lower limb EMG activity for either visual condition. Conclusion: The results suggest an effect of standing on textured surfaces on mediolateral sway in older adults, supporting further work to develop the therapeutic benefits of textured surfaces as an intervention to improve balance.

Influence of Resistance Training Frequency on Muscular Adaptations in Well-Trained Men

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of training muscle groups 1 day per week using a split-body routine (SPLIT) vs. 3 days per week using a total-body routine (TOTAL) on muscular adaptations in well-trained men. Subjects were 20 male volunteers (height = 1.76 ± 0.05 m; body mass = 78.0 ± 10.7 kg; age = 23.5 ± 2.9 years) recruited from a university population. Participants were pair matched according to baseline strength and then randomly assigned to 1 of the 2 experimental groups: a SPLIT, where multiple exercises were performed for a specific muscle group in a session with 2-3 muscle groups trained per session (n = 10) or a TOTAL, where 1 exercise was performed per muscle group in a session with all muscle groups trained in each session (n = 10). Subjects were tested pre- and poststudy for 1 repetition maximum strength in the bench press and squat, and muscle thickness (MT) of forearm flexors, forearm extensors, and vastus lateralis. Results showed significantly greater increases in forearm flexor MT for TOTAL compared with SPLIT. No significant differences were noted in maximal strength measures. The findings suggest a potentially superior hypertrophic benefit to higher weekly resistance training frequencies.

Detecting concept change in dynamic data streams

Abstract: In this research we present a novel approach to the concept change detection problem. Change detection is a fundamental issue with data stream mining as classification models generated need to be updated when significant changes in the underlying data distribution occur. A number of change detection approaches have been proposed but they all suffer from limitations with respect to one or more key performance factors such as high computational complexity, poor sensitivity to gradual change, or the opposite problem of high false positive rate. Our approach uses reservoir sampling to build a sequential change detection model that offers statistically sound guarantees on false positive and false negative rates but has much smaller computational complexity than the ADWIN concept drift detector. Extensive experimentation on a wide variety of datasets reveals that the scheme also has a smaller false detection rate while maintaining a competitive true detection rate to ADWIN.