bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Organizational justice: A cross-national comparative study of ghanaian industrial workers and their finnish counterparts
Authors: Haybatollahi Mohammad , Gyekye Seth Ayim
Published: December 2017

The increased globalization in organizations has created the challenge to investigate and understand the organizational behaviours of employees from different cultural backgrounds. The current study investigated organizational justice from a cross-national perspective. Participants were Ghanaian (N = 320) and Finnish (N = 520) industrial workers. Data was collected with Blader and Tyler's (2003) scale. The Ghanaian participants responded to the English version, and the Finnish participants, a Finnish version. The analyses investigated differences on the three justice components (distributive, procedural and interactional). Further analyses examined which of the three best predicts job satisfaction, the relationships between demographic variables and justice perceptions. T-test, correlations, and regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses. Contrary to our expectations, Ghanaian respondents evaluated higher distributive and procedural justice. As predicted, they indicated more sensitivity to interactional justice than their Finnish counterparts. Significant links between all three justice components and job satisfaction were recorded in both samples. Interactional justice indicated the strongest influence. Demographic variables showed more impact on justice perceptions among Ghanaian workers than their Finnish counterparts. The study's theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Learning to live with public expenditure: politics and budgeting in britain since 1976
Authors: McLaughlin Andrew M. , Richardson Jeremy. J.
Published: December 2017

Budgetary reform in the UK since the International Monetary Fund (IMF) intervention under a Labour government in 1976 has been prompted by a new conventional wisdom that public expenditure was too high, and consequently, "crowded out" private sector investment. Although this belief became widespread in western democracies, in Britain it developed relatively early and was closely linked to the wider debate about Britain's relative economic decline. The first section of this article reviews the main reforms of the budgetary process which these concerns prompted.

In the second section we note that, despite the political concern with reducing public expenditure in the 1980s, success has been limited and priority is now the improvement of the underlying control and evaluation mechanisms in government spending. In practice, the main policy activity of the Thatcher administrations was on gaining "value for money" from existing expenditure. These developments are discussed and the likelihood of success considered. The nature of the present annual budgetary cycle is described as are the most recent developments designed to finally gain some form of effective expenditure control.
Public sector research in accounting: a review and synthesis
Authors: Kurtenbach James M. , Roberts Robin W.
Published: December 2017

Accounting researchers have performed many studies related to public sector budgeting and financial management. Public sector accounting research seeks to explain the role of accounting and auditing in the public sector. For example, researchers examine issues such as (1) the use of accounting information by elected officials, (2) the demand for auditing, and (3) the determination of bond ratings. This review of the public sector accounting literature describes some of the theoretical foundations utilized in public sector accounting research and reviews a sample of selected empirical studies.
Judgmental vs. time series vs. deterministic models in local revenue forecasting: a florida case study
Authors: Frank Howard A. , Wang XiaoHu
Published: December 2017

This article presents a study of revenue forecasting in a Florida municipal government. Seven techniques, including the budget officers' judgmental approach, time series models, a deterministic model, and an optimized model, are employed with franchise and utility receipts in the Town of Davie. The authors found that simple time series models outperformed deterministic models and the judgmentally derived forecasts of local officials. Consistent with prior research, findings here suggest that the time series models are not only accurate, but also easy to implement and readily comprehensible by local officials.
Local government revenue forecasting: using regression and econometric revenue forecasting in a medium-sized city
Authors: Wong John D.
Published: December 2017

Fiscal stress has forced local governments to pay increasing attention to revenue trends and has increased the importance of financial forecasting in local government. After reviewing the role of revenue forecasting in financial planning and discussing the use of regression and econometric analysis in revenue forecasting, this article applies this technique to forecast several key revenue components in a medium-sized city. Three general conclusions may be drawn: (1) systematic revenue forecasting and long-range planning are necessities, not luxuries, (2) risk aversion to "technical" revenue forecasting can be overcome, and (3) the implementation of a systematic revenue forecasting system does not require a battery of "rocket scientists." As municipal revenue bases come to rely less on relatively stable property taxes and more on less stable sources such as sales taxes, fees, and charges, the use of a regression and econometric based model should prove increasingly fruitful.
The evolution and success of budgeting systems at institutions of higher education
Authors: Borgia Carl R. , Coyner Randolph S.
Published: December 2017

A survey of the chief academic officers at comprehensive colleges and universities in the United States reveals a move toward more rational budgeting systems in higher education over the last 20 years. Systems with a traditional approach to budgeting are still one of the major systems, but they no longer dominate. Three other major systems found in higher education are rational systems: planning, programming, and budgeting systems (PPBS); combination PPBS and zero-base systems; and combination PPBS, zero-base, and performance systems. These three systems are more prevalent, appropriate and satisfactory than traditional systems.
Budget deficits in china: calculations, causes, and impacts
Authors: Luo Huaping , Golembiewski Robert T.
Published: December 2017

Since China began its market-oriented economic reform in 1979, government budget deficits have been a fact of life. On one hand, the share of resources owned or controlled by the government must be shrunk in order to create a favorable environment for the development of the market economy. On the other hand, the government still performs many responsibilities required by the traditional planed economy. After calculating government budget deficits and analyzing their causes, the article assesses the impacts of government budget deficits and predicts the future of deficits in China.
Community composition and the provision of local public goods: the case of occupancy status
Authors: Worthington Andrew C.
Published: December 2017

A public finance framework is used to examine the relationship between community composition, namely occupancy status, and the provision of governmental services. A comprehensive literature survey suggests that a systematic relationship exists between the fraction of renters in a given jurisdiction and the level of fiscal expenditures. More particularly, it would appear that renters ceteris paribus are willing to support a higher level of publicly provided goods than homeowners. The competing hypotheses of renter illusion and renter rationality are discussed, as are the differing implications for public policy. Suggestions are also made on how future research on this important topic might proceed.
You get what you pay for: agency resources and local economic development policies
Authors: Reese Laura A. , Ohren Joseph F.
Published: December 2017

This paper examines the relationship between and the effects of resource allocation and levels of professionalism on local economic development policies and strategies. In short, it asks a basic question; do cities get what they pay for in terms of economic development? A value judgment is, of course, inherent in this question; "what you pay for" serves as a euphemism for "good" economic development programs and policies. That is, if a local government devotes more budget and staff resources toward economic development, is the city more likely to implement effective economic development policies? Thus, this research examines the relationship between the resources and the professionalism of the local economic development agency, and the corresponding economic development goals and techniques employed in those communities.
Centralized vs. decentralized purchasing: current trends in governmental procurement practices
Authors: McCue Clifford P. , Pitzer Jack T.
Published: December 2017

Today most public sector purchasing processes are in transition. In the face of growing uneasiness by elected officials, service delivery managers, and citizens about rule-driven processes, inefficient systems, and poor management of resources, purchasing professionals are being challenged to develop new dynamic, adaptable structures. In this article, the current state of decentralization is examined and the roles of purchasing professionals in the purchasing process are presented. Specifically, this research attempts to answer the following questions: What changes have governments implemented in policy making, organization structure, personnel recruitment and training, expenditure authorization levels, review and oversight as they decentralize purchasing authority? And, what are the projected trends that will impact the success or failure of the decentralization issues over the next decade?
Vibration sensor for the health monitoring of the large rotating machinery: review and outlook
Authors: Xu Shaoyi , Xing Fangfang , Wang Ruilin , Li Wei , Wang Yuqiao , Wang Xianghui
Published: December 2017

Purpose

At present, one of the key equipment in pillar industries is a large rotating machinery. Conducting regular health monitoring is important for ensuring safe operation of the large rotating machinery. Because vibrations sensors play an important role in the workings of the rotating machinery, measuring its vibration signal is an important task in health monitoring. This paper aims to present these.

Design/methodology/approach

In this work, the contact vibration sensor and the non-contact vibration sensor have been discussed. These sensors consist of two types: the electric vibration sensor and the optical fiber vibration sensor. Their applications in the large rotating machinery for the purpose of health monitoring are summarized, and their advantages and disadvantages are also presented.

Findings

Compared with the electric vibration sensor, the optical fiber vibration sensor of large rotating machinery has unique advantages in health monitoring, such as provision of immunity against electromagnetic interference, requirement of less insulation and provision of long-distance signal transmission.

Originality/value

Both contact vibration sensor and non-contact vibration sensor have been discussed. Among them, the electric vibration sensor and the optical fiber vibration sensor are compared. Future research direction of the vibration sensors is presented.
Development of microsatellite markers for the endangered semi‐shrubChimaphila umbellata(Ericaceae)
Authors: Kikuchi Ai , Miyazaki Taisuke , Maki Masayuki
Published: December 2017

Based on the DNA sequencing reads obtained using 454 pyrosequencing, primers amplifying 16 microsatellite loci were developed for the endangered semi‐shrubChimaphila umbellata, which occurs sporadically in the Japanese Archipelago. These 16 loci were polymorphic in the populations sampled from the Hokkaido and Tohoku Districts; the mean number of alleles was 3.31 and 3.44, and the mean expected heterozygosity was 0.42 and 0.44, respectively. These loci were not linked to each other and contained no null alleles. Amplification using these primers was also tested in the congeneric speciesC. japonica, but only three of them successfully amplified DNA of the species. These markers will be used to examine genetic diversity and genetic differentiation in populations ofC. umbellata.
A novel Chromatiales bacterium is a potential sulfide oxidizer in multiple orders of marine sponges
Authors: Lavy Adi , Keren Ray , Yu Ke , Thomas Brian C. , Alvarez‐Cohen Lisa , Banfield Jillian F. , Ilan Micha
Published: December 2017

Sponges are benthic filter feeders that play pivotal roles in coupling benthic‐pelagic processes in the oceans that involve transformation of dissolved and particulate organic carbon and nitrogen into biomass. While the contribution of sponge holobionts to the nitrogen cycle has been recognized in past years, their importance in the sulfur cycle, both oceanic and physiological, has only recently gained attention. Sponges in general, and Theonella swinhoei in particular, harbour a multitude of associated microorganisms that could affect sulfur cycling within the holobiont. We reconstructed the genome of a Chromatiales (class Gammaproteobacteria) bacterium from a metagenomic sequence dataset of a T. swinhoei‐associated microbial community. This relatively abundant bacterium has the metabolic capability to oxidize sulfide yet displays reduced metabolic potential suggestive of its lifestyle as an obligatory symbiont. This bacterium was detected in multiple sponge orders, according to similarities in key genes such as 16S rRNA and polyketide synthase genes. Due to its sulfide oxidation metabolism and occurrence in many members of the Porifera phylum, we suggest naming the newly described taxon Candidatus Porisulfidus.
The DataLab of the Australian Bureau of Statistics
Authors: Parker Talei
Published: December 2017

Over and above the current multitude of licensed micro‐level datasets that the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) provides for research purposes, the ABS has expanded its support to include the new DataLab protected research environment to allow unparalleled access to Australia's valuable micro‐level research datasets. The environment is highly protected by multiple layers of data security but allows access to unprecedented levels of data detail in real‐time to datasets such as the 2006–2011 linked census (ACLD), the ABS firm survey and tax panel (BLADE) and linked census and administrative data (MADIP).
Technological Progress in Developing Renewable Energies
Authors: Jiang Kejun
Published: December 2017

China's old model of growth was heavily energy intensive, with energy overwhelmingly reliant on coal. This imposed immense pressures on the global and domestic environment. Since 2012, there has been decisive change in the trajectory of coal use and emissions. Renewable energy has been encouraged by a wide range of policies. Increased scale and innovation have radically reduced renewables costs and China has become the main generator of renewable energy and source of wind turbines and solar panels for the world. The whole of the increase in China's electricity since 2012 is from low emissions sources, making attainment of global climate goals possible.
RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, RACIAL SOCIALIZATION, AND CRIME OVER TIME: A SOCIAL SCHEMATIC THEORY MODEL
Authors: BURT CALLIE H. , LEI MAN KIT , SIMONS RONALD L.
Published: December 2017

Recent studies evince that interpersonal racial discrimination (IRD) increases the risk of crime among African Americans and familial racial socialization fosters resilience to discrimination's criminogenic effects. Yet, studies have focused on the short‐term effects of IRD and racial socialization largely among adolescents. In this study, we seek to advance knowledge by elucidating how racialized experiences—in interactions and socialization—influence crime for African Americans over time. Elaborating Simons and Burt's (2011) social schematic theory, we trace the effects of childhood IRD and familial racial socialization on adult offending through cognitive and social pathways and their interplay. We test this life‐course SST model using data from the FACHS, a multisite study of Black youth and their families from ages 10 to 25. Consistent with the model, analyses reveal that the criminogenic consequences of childhood IRD are mediated cognitively by a criminogenic knowledge structure and socially through the nature of social relationships in concert with ongoing offending and discrimination experiences. Specifically, by increasing criminogenic cognitive schemas, IRD decreases embeddedness in supportive romantic, educational, and employment relations, which influence social schemas and later crime. Consonant with expectations, the findings also indicate that racial socialization provides enduring resilience by both compensating for and buffering discrimination's criminogenic effects.
Human Rights Risks in Global Supply Chains: Applying the UK Modern Slavery Act to the Public Sector
Authors: Martin‐Ortega Olga
Published: December 2017

Global supply chains (GSCs) are organised through complex networks which leave workers vulnerable to exploitation and unprotected against abusive labour practices including modern slavery. In the past decade's, attention has focused on business responsibilities for the impact of commercial activities on human rights with little focus on the role of states as economic actors and their duties regarding their own supply chain, including through public procurement. This article analyses the application of the Transparency in Supply Chains provision (TiSCs) of the UK Modern Slavery Act (2015) to the public sector. Since 2016 commercial organisations are obliged to report on efforts to identify, prevent, and mitigate modern slavery in their supply chain. This includes over one hundred higher education institutions (HEIs). This article finds that while most reporting in the first year fall short of what is expected of institutions according to Government guidance the exercise of reporting has initiated an important process of awareness. HEIs face a steep learning curve to develop effective human rights due diligence in their supply chain however, the TiSCs obligation has proved a catalyst for a wider process of understanding human rights risks and responsibilities of the public sector, and more specifically HEIs.
Tell Abraq during the second and first millennia BC: site layout, spatial organisation, and economy
Authors: Magee Peter , Händel Marc , Karacic Steven , Uerpmann Margarethe , Uerpmann Hans‐Peter
Published: December 2017

Research recommenced at Tell Abraq in 2007, carried out by Bryn Mawr College with an international team in co‐operation with the Sharjah Archaeology Authority. Between 2007 and 2010 fieldwork was limited to documenting sections of the previous excavations and one small sounding while our attention focused mainly on the nearby shell‐midden site of Hamriya and the fortified Iron Age settlement site of Muweilah. Since 2010, large‐scale excavations have been conducted which have fundamentally altered our understanding of the layout of the settlement and its economic relations during the second and first millennia BC. In this report, we detail the results of this work and present preliminary interpretations.
A higher level of ketonaemia does not predict oral rehydration failure in vomiting paediatric patients and routine measurement is unnecessary
Authors: Torres Lucía , Sánchez Marina , Cid Blanca , Vicente Eva , Velasco Roberto
Published: December 2017

Aim

This study determined if blood levels of beta‐hydroxybutyrate were associated with the rate of failure in oral rehydration in paediatric patients with vomiting.

Methods

This was a prospective observational study that was carried out from December 1, 2015 to November 30, 2016 in the Rio Hortega University Hospital, Valladolid, Spain. The study cohort were patients up to 14 years old who attended the emergency department with three or more vomiting episodes in the last four hours and glycaemia higher than 45 mg/dL. Blood was measured for beta‐hydroxybutyrate levels prior to the administration of oral rehydration solution for 90 minutes. Two or more vomiting episodes during this period were considered failed oral rehydration.

Results

We analysed 248 patients, with a median age of four years and 7.5 months and 233 (94%) of the parents took part. The median number of vomiting episodes in the previous four hours was five and oral rehydration was successful in 183 (78.5%) patients. The multivariate analysis showed that the initial beta‐hydroxybutyrate blood level was not associated with the failure of oral rehydration.

Conclusion

Blood levels of beta‐hydroxybutyrate had no predictive value for oral rehydration failure in young patients with vomiting and this routine measurement is unnecessary.
Digital era policy advising: Clouding ministerial perspectives?
Authors: Marando Dylan , Craft Jonathan
Published: December 2017

The growing body of literature on digital governance, and policy advisory systems, often neglects the perspective of elected decision makers. What types of policy advice do ministers need in the digital governance era? Is digitization of government and policymaking reshaping supply and demand dynamics, the content of policy advice, or how advice is used within the policy process? This article borrows existing theoretical frames on digital governance to examine these and other questions from the perspective of ministers. The digital governance era will undoubtedly introduce novel disruptions and dilemmas, but it will also intensify longstanding tensions inherent in advisory work linked to questions of influence, capacity, and how well advisory systems adapt to serve ministers. We use information processing dynamics, policy entrepreneurship, and control and coordination to ground analysis of ministers’ advisory demand in the digital governance era. We highlight unique considerations that apply to ministers as well as reflection on their place within the broader context of advisory work. We employ vignettes from the perspective of ministers throughout the article as a useful way to personalize the digital era disruptions and dilemmas particular to ministers.
Haemorrhage following transoral robotic surgery
Authors: Hay A. , Migliacci J. , Karassawa Zanoni D. , Boyle J.O. , Singh B. , Wong R.J. , Patel S.G. , Ganly I.
Published: December 2017

Background

To report our experience of postoperative haemorrhage in patients following transoral robotic surgery (TORS).

Methods

Data were collected on patients having TORS. Postoperative haemorrhage within 30 days was graded using the Mayo Clinic grading system.

Results

Transoral robotic surgery operations were performed on 122 patients. There were 23 bleeding events classified as minor to severe following 19 operations (16%). Haemorrhage requiring a return to the operating room occurred after 7 operations (6%). The odds of an emergent haemorrhage were 5.19 times greater in patients who had a staged neck dissection after TORS (P = .05). The odds of a postoperative bleeding event were 2.6 times greater in patients receiving a larger resection (P = .107). There were no haemorrhage events in the 36 patients who received a synchronous neck dissection with transcervical ligation of the external carotid artery.

Conclusions

Surgical intervention for TORS haemorrhage occurred in 6% patients. No haemorrhage occurred in patients who had ligation of the external carotid artery.
INTRODUCTION TO THE SYMPOSIUM ON INEQUALITY, UNCERTAINTY, AND MACRO‐FINANCIAL DYNAMICS
Authors: Jawadi Fredj , McGough Bruce
Published: December 2017

The importance of understanding the relationship between macroeconomics and finance was brought into sharp relief by the recent financial crisis and ensuing recession. The papers collected in this Symposium and discussed in this Introduction attempt to shed light on this relationship. (JEL C14, C20, E30, G10)
Dominant forest tree mycorrhizal type mediates understory plant invasions
Authors: Jo Insu , Potter Kevin M. , Domke Grant M. , Fei Songlin
Published: December 2017

Forest mycorrhizal type mediates nutrient dynamics, which in turn can influence forest community structure and processes. Using forest inventory data, we explored how dominant forest tree mycorrhizal type affects understory plant invasions with consideration of forest structure and soil properties. We found that arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) dominant forests, which are characterised by thin forest floors and low soil C : N ratio, were invaded to a greater extent by non‐native invasive species than ectomycorrhizal (ECM) dominant forests. Understory native species cover and richness had no strong associations withAMtree dominance. We also found no difference in the mycorrhizal type composition of understory invaders betweenAMandECMdominant forests. Our results indicate that dominant forest tree mycorrhizal type is closely linked with understory invasions. The increased invader abundance inAMdominant forests can further facilitate nutrient cycling, leading to the alteration of ecosystem structure and functions.
European crises of legally‐constituted public power: From the ‘law of corporatism’ to the ‘law of governance’
Authors: Kjaer Poul F.
Published: December 2017

The ‘turn to corporatism’ in the interwar period implied an erosion of the fragile institutionalisation of legally‐constituted public power due to its suspension of the legal infrastructure of society and the concomitant breakdown of the distinction between the public and private realms of society. The dual (trans‐)national re‐constitution of Western Europe in the years immediately after the Second World War, which the European integration process was an integrated part of, successfully remedied this development. However, over the last decades, Europe has experienced a ‘turn to governance’, which also implies an erosion of the distinction between the public and private realms, and increasingly challenges the normative integrity and functional capacity of law. This development has been further reinforced by the new post‐crisis legal and institutional architecture of the EU as it implies the emergence of a ‘dual Union’ partly based upon formality and partly upon informality and an increased suspension of open‐ended democratic decision‐making.
Beyond the crisis: The societal effects of the European transformation
Authors: Eigmüller Monika
Published: December 2017

The European Union has been in crisis mode for a decade now. Both the global economic and financial crisis of 2009 and, more recently, the so‐called “refugee crisis” have clearly revealed the serious institutional misalignments of the EU, its absence of intergovernmental solidarity, and the fragility of a European construction that has achieved little more than the creation of a common market. The EU's failure to successfully meet these challenges has led to a serious crisis of confidence, triggering widespread popular distrust of the EU and its institutions and suspiciousness towards politics and political decisions in general. At the same time, and somewhat paradoxically, Europeans still express support for the EU; furthermore, there are tangible shows of solidarity between European citizens. Thus, contrary to the common assumption, the lack of social integration matters considerably less than institutional misalignment and a failing process of system integration in accounting for the EU's current crises and challenges. Thus it seems important to look more closely at the type of social integration involved, given the uncertain institutional supports. The question facing Europe today is what kind of trust and affective European attitude and sense of belonging that will sustain over time.
From transconstitutionalism to transdemocracy
Authors: Neves Marcelo
Published: December 2017

This article relates to the author's project “transdemocracy”. It starts with a discussion of “transconstitutionalism” and its limits. Transconstitutionalism concerns the fact that multiple legal orders of the same or different kind are simultaneously involved with the same constitutional issue or case, i.e. issue or case concerning basic rights or legal limitation and control of political power. Constitutional problems, thus go beyond the state and entangle several legal orders, although no new constitution arises in this context. The article points out the limits of transconstitutionalism in an asymmetric world society so as to seek new alternatives beyond it. Two alternatives are considered: post‐constitutionalism, which demands transcendence of today's world society and thus negate constitutionalism in general, and transdemocracy, which is rather immanent to our social formation and claims to be complementary to transconstitutionalism. Because the author prefers the second alternative, the article begins to outline an approach to transdemocracy that goes across state boundaries and beyond “We the People”, that is popular sovereignty, in order to emphasize the sustainable responsiveness for other peoples in the same world society. It is a question of sustainability of democracy. In this context, the author intends to develop an ecological approach to democracy with the background of Niklas Luhmann's systems theory, but from a heterodox, critical perspective.
Family and Consumer Sciences Graduate Research Productivity in 2016
Authors: Wilmarth Melissa J.
Published: December 2017

Between May and June 2017, requests to collect the titles and authors of theses and dissertations were sent to representatives in family and consumer sciences programs at 168 universities and colleges in the United States. A total of 259 theses and 194 dissertations were reported from 35 universities and colleges. The largest numbers of thesis titles were in Nutrition and Dietetics while the largest numbers of titles for dissertations were in Institution, Hotel, and Restaurant Management. Consistent with the body of knowledge in family and consumer sciences, the following topics were key themes in the titles: wellness, sustainability, technology, global perspectives, and community engagement. In addition, 24 universities and colleges reported granting 655 master's degrees to students with nonthesis options. This review continues to be a resource for researchers, practitioners, and students of family and consumer sciences programs as it highlights potential research opportunities for graduate students and early career researchers.
Graptolites: fossil and living
Authors: Maletz Jörg
Published: December 2017

Every student of palaeontology will stumble upon the term ‘graptolite’ at some point and will wonder what these strange little fossils mean. Thought to be long extinct, the few living graptolites and their extinct relatives have been united quite recently by palaeontologists through cladistic analysis. Not that the extant graptolites were overlooked, but the connection has never been made between the fossil graptolites and their modern descendants. We now have a much better scientific basis for our interpretation and understanding of these fossils and graptolites are recognized as part of a living clade of small and inconspicuous marine organisms, the Pterobranchia. They have been around since the Cambrian Period (c. 520–510 Ma) and, thus, they may represent one of the longest‐existing groups of organisms. Not that they should be termed ‘living fossils’, but their perseverance is remarkable in its own way and may lead to the question as to how they were able to achieve this success and survive for all these eons. May they be able to show us a key to survival in the future?
Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension in Children and Adolescents: An Update
Authors: Cleves‐Bayon Catalina
Published: December 2017

Premise

Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH), previously known as pseudotumor cerebri syndrome (PTC) is a serious neurological disorder that can lead to irreversible visual loss. Predominantly a disorder affecting women in reproductive years, the pediatric population is not spared.

Problem

In the past few years, the condition has been redefined, due to new accepted values for opening pressure in children and advances in neuroimaging. Emerging techniques in ophthalmology are being increasingly used to monitor disease in these patients. And, although the treatment tools have not changed in several years, important evidence for efficacy for acetazolamide finally came to light in recent years in the Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension Treatment Trial (IIHTT).

Potential Solution

This review article provides an overview on recent advances in diagnosis, evaluation and treatment of IIH.
Do Foreign Investors Promote Stock Price Efficiency in Emerging Markets?
Authors: Vo Xuan Vinh
Published: December 2017

This paper examines the role of foreign investors in promoting stock price efficiency in emerging stock markets relying on the fact that stock prices in these markets are influenced by both local and global factors. We employ a data sample of Vietnamese‐listed firms on the Ho Chi Minh City stock exchange over the period from 2006 to 2015. We utilize the panel data estimation analysis. The results show that foreign investors accelerate the incorporation of available information into local stock prices. The finding reinforces the important role of foreign investors in domestic stock markets of emerging economies.
Improving quality function deployment analysis with the cloud MULTIMOORA method
Authors: Wu Song‐Man , You Xiao‐Yue , Liu Hu‐Chen , Wang Li‐En
Published: December 2017

Quality function deployment (QFD) is a quality guarantee method extensively used in various industries, which can help enterprises shorten the product design period and enhance the manufacturing and managing work. The task of selecting important engineering characteristics (ECs) in QFD is crucial and often involves multiple customer requirements (CRs). In this paper, a modified multi‐objective optimization by ratio analysis plus the full multiplicative form (MULTIMOORA) method based on cloud model theory (called C‐MULTIMOORA) is developed to determine the ranking order of ECs in QFD. First, the linguistic assessments provided by decision makers are transformed into normal clouds and aggregated by the cloud weighted averaging operator. Then, the weights of CRs are determined based on a maximizing deviation method with incomplete weight information. Finally, the importance of ECs is obtained using the C‐MULTIMOORA method. An empirical case conducted in an electric vehicle manufacturing organization is provided together with a comparative analysis to validate the advantages of our proposed QFD model.
Dealing With Item Nonresponse in Large‐Scale Cognitive Assessments: The Impact of Missing Data Methods on Estimated Explanatory Relationships
Authors: Köhler Carmen , Pohl Steffi , Carstensen Claus H.
Published: December 2017

Competence data from low‐stakes educational large‐scale assessment studies allow for evaluating relationships between competencies and other variables. The impact of item‐level nonresponse has not been investigated with regard to statistics that determine the size of these relationships (e.g., correlations, regression coefficients). Classical approaches such as ignoring missing values or treating them as incorrect are currently applied in many large‐scale studies, while recent model‐based approaches that can account for nonignorable nonresponse have been developed. Estimates of item and person parameters have been demonstrated to be biased for classical approaches when missing data are missing not at random (MNAR). In our study, we focus on parameter estimates of the structural model (i.e., the true regression coefficient when regressing competence on an explanatory variable), simulating data according to various missing data mechanisms. We found that model‐based approaches and ignoring missing values performed well in retrieving regression coefficients even when we induced missing data that were MNAR. Treating missing values as incorrect responses can lead to substantial bias. We demonstrate the validity of our approach empirically and discuss the relevance of our results.
Overseeing Criminal Justice: The Supervisory Role of the Public Prosecution Service in China
Authors: Mou Yu
Published: December 2017

The Chinese public prosecution service, the procuracy, is modelled on the Soviet Union system and has been accorded the controversial function of supervising other legal institutions in the criminal justice system. Drawing upon my own empirical data on the prosecution of crime in China, this article critically examines the way the power of supervision operates from an internal perspective. It argues that the power of supervision has been used as an institutional asset to secure the interests of the procuracy by analysing its oversight of police investigations and court decisions, the way prosecutors perceive themselves, and the efficacy of the supervision in a comparative context. The current status of the procuracy dictates that it is unable to undertake the role of supervision to safeguard the criminal process.
Navigating Ambivalence: Perceived Organizational Prestige–Support Discrepancy and Its Relation to Employee Cynicism and Silence
Authors: Mignonac Karim , Herrbach Olivier , Serrano Archimi Carolina , Manville Caroline
Published: December 2017

Drawing on the social identity literature, this study offers theoretical arguments and empirical evidence to understand reactions to divergent perceptions of organizational external prestige (PEP) and organizational support (POS) – two crucial bases of employees’ social worth. Across three studies, using both experimental and field data, we find that PEP‐POS discrepancy contributes to employees’ perceptions of organizational cynicism and silence behaviour, especially when PEP is high and POS is low (rather than the reverse). Consistent with our social identity perspective, we find that ambivalent identification, that is, the simultaneous identification and disidentification of an individual with an organization, is a key mediating mechanism that transfers the interactive relationship of PEP and POS to cynicism and silence. These findings contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of individuals’ social worth at work.
The Story Engine: offering an online platform for making ‘unofficial’ creative writing work
Authors: Connolly Steve , Burn Andrew
Published: December 2017

This article describes the outcomes of a research project conducted at the Ministry of Stories (a London‐based writing centre) which sought to develop an online, mentor‐assisted, writing platform. Across a 3‐month period, at four different sites across the UK, more than a hundred Year 7 pupils took part in the project, using the platform to write stories and get feedback from mentors who came from a variety of backgrounds. For reasons of space, pupil/mentor interactions are not discussed extensively in the article; however, these stories were collected and analysed alongside a range of other survey and interview data to establish how creative writing might be developed through online mentoring, the use of an online interface and the intersection of both these tools. The article seeks to answer some questions raised by the data collected in the project, and in turn, uses both the questions and the data to interrogate some of the discourses which surround the teaching of creative writing both in and outside the classroom, and in particular the tensions that occur between the teaching of writing skills, ‘official versions’ of writing in the classroom and children's use of their own cultural resources in creative writing.
The impact of obesity in cirrhotic patients with septic shock: A retrospective cohort study
Authors: Kok Beverley , Karvellas Constantine J. , Abraldes Juan G. , Jalan Rajiv , Sundaram Vinay , Gurka David , Keenan Sean , Kumar Aseem , Martinka Greg , Bookatz Brian , Wood Gordon , Kumar Anand ,   The Cooperative Antimicrobial Therapy of Septic Shock (CATSS) Research Group
Published: December 2017

Background & Aims

The prevalence of obesity in cirrhosis is rising. The impact of obesity in critically ill cirrhotic patients with sepsis/septic shock has not been evaluated. This study aimed to examine the relationship between obesity and mortality in cirrhotic patients admitted to the intensive care unit with septic shock.

Methods

A retrospective cohort study of all cirrhotic patients with septic shock (n = 362) and a recorded body mass index (BMI) from an international, multicentre (CATSS) database (1996‐2015) was performed. Patients were classified by BMI as per WHO categories. Primary outcome was in‐hospital mortality. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were carried out to determine independent associations with outcome.

Results

In this analysis, mean age was 56.4 years, and 62% were male. Median BMI was 26.3%, and 57.7% were overweight/obese. In‐hospital mortality was 71%. Obese patients were more likely to have comorbidities of cardiac disease, lung disease and diabetes. Compared to survivors (n = 105), non‐survivors (n = 257) had significantly higher MELD and APACHEII scores and higher requirements for renal replacement therapy and mechanical ventilation (P < .03 for all). Using multivariable logistic regression, increase in BMI (OR 1.07, P = .034), time delay to appropriate antimicrobials (OR 1.16 per hour, P = .003), APACHEII (OR 1.12 per unit, P = .008) and peak lactate (OR 1.15, P = .028) were independently associated with in‐hospital mortality.

Conclusions

Septic shock in cirrhosis carries a high mortality. Increased BMI is common in critically ill cirrhotic patients and independently associated with increased in‐hospital mortality.
Case of elderly‐onset multiple acyl‐CoA dehydrogenase deficiency with a novel ETFDH mutation shows progressive muscle weakness and rhabdomyolysis
Authors: Seino Yusuke , Nakamura Takumi , Kawarabayashi Takeshi , Wakasaya Yasuhito , Hayashi Yukiko K. , Okubo Mariko , Nishino Ichizo , Shoji Mikio
Published: December 2017

A 59‐year‐old female, who had developed muscle stiffness and progressive muscle weakness 11 months earlier, was admitted to our hospital with acute rhabdomyolysis and muscle weakness of the neck and extremities. Markedly elevated levels of muscle enzymes, including creatine kinase, and severe metabolic acidosis were observed. A muscle biopsy revealed lipid storage myopathy. Genetic analysis detected a novel mutation in the electron‐transferring flavoprotein dehydrogenase (ETFDH) gene (c.547A > T (p.M183L)). The administration of high‐dose (120 mg/day) riboflavin rapidly improved the patient's symptoms and laboratory data, and she did not exhibit any symptoms at the 4‐year follow‐up. In this case of elderly‐onset multiple acyl‐CoA dehydrogenation deficiency, high‐dose riboflavin treatment produced a marked improvement in the patient's condition.
Ethics of care and co‐worker relationships in UK banks
Authors: Laaser Knut , Bolton Sharon
Published: December 2017

Utilising an analytical framework based on an ethics of care approach, this article examines the changing nature of co‐worker relationships in UK banks under the rise of performance management practices. It illustrates that with the implementation of performance management practices in general, and electronic performance management monitoring in bank branches in particular, co‐worker relationships have become increasingly objectified, resulting in disconnected and conflict‐ridden forms of engagement. The analysis reveals the multi‐layered and necessarily complex nature of co‐worker relationships in a changing technologically driven work environment and highlights the possibilities for people to defend the capacity to care for others from the erosive tendencies of individualised processes.
Association of Insulin‐like Growth Factor‐1, Bone Mass and Inflammation to Low‐energy Distal Radius Fractures and Fracture Healing in Elderly Women Attending Emergency Care
Authors: Chisalita Simona I , Chong Lee Ti , Wajda Maciej , Adolfsson Lars , Woisetschläger Mischa , Spångeus Anna
Published: December 2017

Objective

Elderly patients suffer fractures through low‐energy mechanisms. The distal radius is the most frequent fracture localization. Insulin‐like growth factor‐1 (IGF1) plays an important role in the maintenance of bone mass and its levels decline with advancing age and in states of malnutrition. Our aim was to investigate the association ofIGF1 levels, bone mass, nutritional status, and inflammation to low‐energy distal radius fractures and also study if fracture healing is influenced byIGF1, nutritional status, and inflammation.

Methods

Postmenopausal women, 55 years or older, with low‐energy distal radius fractures occurring due to falling on slippery ground, indoors or outdoors, were recruited in the emergency department (ED) and followed 1 and 5 weeks after the initial trauma with biomarkers for nutritional status and inflammation. Fractures were diagnosed according to standard procedure by physical examination and X‐ray. All patients were conservatively treated with plaster casts in theED. Patients who needed interventions were excluded from our study. Fracture healing was evaluated from radiographs. Fracture healing assessment was made with a five‐point scale where the radiological assessment included callus formation, fracture line, and stage of union. Blood samples were taken within 24 h after fracture and analyzed in the routine laboratory. Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured by dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA).

Results

Thirty‐eight Caucasian women, aged 70.5 ± 8.9 years (mean ±SD) old, were recruited. Nutritional status, as evaluated by albumin (40.3 ± 3.1 g/L),IGF1 (125.3 ± 39.9 μg/L), body mass index (26.9 ± 3.6 kg/m2), arm diameter (28.9 ± 8.9 cm), and arm skinfold (2.5 ± 0.7 cm), was normal. A positive correlation was found betweenIGF1 at visit 1 and the lowestBMDfor hip, spine, or radius (r= 0.39,P= 0.04). High sensitive C‐reactive protein (hsCRP) and leukocytes were higher at the fracture event compared to 5 weeks later (P= 0.07 andP< 0.001, respectively). Fracture healing parameters (i.e. callus formation, fracture line, and stage of union) were positively correlated with the initial leukocyte count and to difference in thrombocyte count between visit 1 and 3.

Conclusions

In elderly women with low‐energy distal radius fractures, an association betweenIGF1 and lowest measures ofBMDwas found, indicating that lowIGF1 could be an indirect risk factor for fractures. Fracture healing was associated with initial leukocytosis and a lower thrombocyte count, suggesting that inflammation and thrombocytes are important components in fracture healing.
The unintended consequences of EU law and policy on air pollution
Authors: Čavoški Aleksandra
Published: December 2017

Air pollution still represents a major environmental hazard in urban areas in the European Union (EU). This article argues that the EU's regulatory framework in this policy area for the past decade contributed to a series of unintended consequences. The increasing influence of climate change objectives on the air pollution agenda led to a shift in the regulatory approach to emissions from vehicles by focusing solely on the overriding interest of reducing carbon dioxide emissions and developing individual policies to that effect. This resulted in a disconnect between regulatory approaches to urban air quality and vehicle emissions standards with the effect of producing unintended consequences of unlawful levels of air pollution, in particular nitrogen oxides and particulate matter emissions as well as unintended consequences for the car industry and consumers. The article applies Merton's framework of unintended consequences, which provides a useful explanatory model of the EU's multi‐level governance process in the complex area of environmental law.