bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
W-doping induced antiferroelectric to ferroelectric phase transition in PbZrO3 thin films prepared by chemical solution deposition
Authors: Sa Tongliang , Qin Ni , Yang Guowei , Bao Dinghua
Published: May 2013

We reported on W-doping induced antiferroelectric to ferroelectric phase transition in PbZrO3 (PZO) thin films prepared on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates by a chemical solution deposition method. The phase transition has been studied through polarization-electric field hysteresis loop, capacitance-voltage characteristic, and Raman scattering measurements. Suitable amount W-doping increased the saturated polarization of antiferroelectric W-doped PZO thin films, whereas the ferroelectric W-doped PZO thin films exhibited higher dielectric constant with a high dielectric-bias voltage tunability of about 70%. With increasing W-doping content, the orientation of the thin films changed from preferred (111)Cubic to complete (100)Cubic, due to W-doping-induced lattice distortion, meanwhile the Curie temperature dropped, and dielectric maximum broadened. Our study demonstrates that W-doping is an effective way to tailor the electrical properties of PZO thin films through the induced antiferroelectric-ferroelectric phase transition.
Demonstration of a nearly ideal wavelength-selective optical mirror using a metamaterial-enabled dielectric coating
Authors: Yun S. , Namin F. , Werner D. H. , Mayer T. S. , Bungay C. , Rivero-Baleine C. , Zhang L.
Published: May 2013

We report a thin nanostructured dielectric optical coating with a nearly ideal polarization insensitive reflectance at a wavelength of 3.46 μm. A genetic algorithm was used to optimize the doubly periodic amorphous silicon subwavelength nanostructure to satisfy a metamaterial-enabled reflecting condition at this resonance wavelength. Optical measurements of the nanofabricated dielectric coating had a peak reflectance of 99.76% at 3.46 μm, showing strong agreement with simulation. The average reflectance measured at nine positions on a 2.54 cm × 2.54 cm coating demonstrated a high optical uniformity of 99.5% ± 0.1% across the large-area component. These results outline a route to design and manufacture low-loss metamaterial-enabled dielectric optical coatings.
Improved contact resistivity and intra-die variation in organic thin film transistors
Authors: Pankalla S. , Spiehl D. , Sauer H. M. , Dörsam E. , Glesner M.
Published: May 2013

We studied the processing-related influence on contact resistivity of organic thin-film transistors in top gate architecture which are placed and oriented differently over flexible substrates. Appropriate plasma treatment reduces degradation of the source and drain contacts, increases effective contact surface for self-assembled monolayer treatment, and thus better injection. Increasing the semiconductor film thickness reduces the contact resistivity until a certain critical thickness. By these means, the contact resistivity has been reduced by two orders of magnitude. We did a mass characterisation of 366 solution-processed transistors on six samples that lead to a modified transfer line method in which we permutated the transistors to extract the contact resistivities. Thus, the intra-die dependency of the contact resistivity on the distance from the centre of the sample, the orientation of the transistor, its width, the pre-processing of the samples and on the semiconductor layer thickness has been analysed. These results serve as an evaluation of appropriate processes for printed organic transistors.
Men who have sex with men, infectious syphilis and HIV coinfection in inner Sydney: results of enhanced surveillance
Authors: Botham Susan J. , Ressler Kelly-Anne , Maywood Patrick , Hope Kirsty G. , Bourne Chris P. , Conaty Stephen J. , Ferson Mark J. , Mayne Darren J.
Published: May 2013

Background
The resurgence of infectious syphilis in men who have sex with men (MSM) has been documented worldwide; however, HIV coinfection and syphilis reinfections in MSM in inner Sydney have not been published. Methods: For all laboratory syphilis notifications assessed as a newly notified case or reinfection, a questionnaire was sent to the requesting physician seeking demographic data and disease classification. Sex of partner and HIV status were collected for all infectious syphilis notifications in men received from 1 April 2006 to March 2011. Results: From April 2001 to March 2011, 3664 new notifications were received, 2278 (62%) were classified as infectious syphilis. Infectious syphilis notifications increased 12-fold from 25 to 303 in the first and last year respectively, and almost all notifications were in men (2220, 97.5%). During April 2006 to March 2011, 1562 infectious syphilis notifications in males were received and 765 (49%) of these men were HIV-positive and 1351 (86%) reported a male sex partner. Reinfections increased over time from 17 (9%) to 56 (19%) in the last year of the study and were significantly more likely to be in HIV-positive individuals (χ2 = 140.92, degrees of freedom= 1, P = <0.001). Conclusion: Inner Sydney is experiencing an epidemic of infectious syphilis in MSM and about half of these cases are in HIV-positive patients. Reinfections are increasing and occur predominantly in HIV-positive men. Accurate surveillance information is needed to inform effective prevention programs, and community and clinician education needs to continue until a sustained reduction is achieved.
miMsg: a target enrichment algorithm for predicted miR–mRNA interactions based on relative ranking of matched expression data
Authors: Rijlaarsdam Martin A. , Rijlaarsdam David J. , Gillis Ad J. M. , Dorssers Lambert C. J. , Looijenga Leendert H. J.
Published: May 2013

Motivation: Algorithms predicting microRNA (miR)–mRNA interactions generate high numbers of possible interactions, many of which might be non-existent or irrelevant in a certain biological context. It is desirable to develop a transparent, user-friendly, unbiased tool to enrich miR–mRNA predictions.

Results: The miMsg algorithm uses matched miR/mRNA expression data to enrich miR–mRNA predictions. It grades interactions by the number, magnitude and significance of misplacements in the combined ranking profiles of miR/mRNA expression assessed over multiple biological samples. miMsg requires minimal user input and makes no statistical assumptions. It identified 921 out of 56 262 interactions as top scoring and significant in an actual germ cell cancer dataset. Twenty-eight miR–mRNA pairs were deemed of highest interest based on ranking by miMsg and supported by current knowledge about validated interactions and biological function. To conclude, miMsg is an effective algorithm to reduce a high number of predicted interactions to a small set of high confidence interactions for further study.

Availability and Implementation: Matlab source code and datasets available at www.martinrijlaarsdam.nl/mimsg

Contact:  l.looijenga@erasmusmc.nl (homepage)

Supplementary information:  Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Identification of Actinomyces meyeri actinomycosis in middle ear and mastoid by 16S rRNA analysis
Authors: Kakuta Risako , Hidaka Hiroshi , Yano Hisakazu , Miyazaki Hiromitsu , Suzaki Hiroshi , Nakamura Yasuhiro , Kanamori Hajime , Endo Shiro , Hirakata Yoichi , Kaku Mitsuo , Kobayashi Toshimitsu
Published: May 2013

Actinomycosis of the middle ear and mastoid is extremely rare. Here, we report a unique case of actinomycosis of the middle ear and mastoid caused by Actinomyces meyeri diagnosed by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis.
An efficient nanolitre-volume multi-channel device for highly viscous materials used in membrane protein crystallization
Authors: Luo Jinghui , Zwier Raphaël , Abrahams Jan Pieter
Published: May 2013

The crystal structures of various important membrane proteins could not have been solved without lipidic cubic phase (LCP) crystallization, and yet, compared to traditionalin surfocrystallization, LCP crystallization is not widely used because its extreme viscosity makes the cubic phase difficult to handle. Robots that can dispense LCPs are very specialized and therefore very expensive. Here, an accurate multi-channel device is described. It dispenses LCPs onto glass plates down to volumes of 20 nl accuracy and has an accuracy of 10% when dispensing 200 nl – the lower bound of LCP volumes dispensed for crystallization trials. Because of its multi-channel tips, operation speed goes up by a factor of four compared to simpler devices. It can be operated by hand, but its design also allows it to be built into a basic dispensing robot. Thus, the device lowers the threshold for LCP crystallization of membrane proteins/peptides.
Sin2ψ-based residual stress gradient analysis by energy-dispersive synchrotron diffraction constrained by small gauge volumes. II. Experimental implementation
Authors: Meixner M. , Klaus M. , Genzel Ch.
Published: May 2013

On the basis of the theoretical concept for the use of small gauge volumes to study near-surface residual stress fields with high spatial resolution [Meixner, Klaus & Genzel (2013).J. Appl. Cryst.46, 610–618], the experimental implementation of the approach is demonstrated. It is shown that specifically designed slit systems are required to avoid effects such as diffuse scattering at the slit blades and total external reflection, both giving rise to a reduced resolution. Starting from the characterization of the small gauge volume, practical guidance on how to control the alignment of the sample relative to the gauge volume for different geometrical conditions of energy-dispersive diffraction is given. The narrow-slit configuration as well as the formalism for data evaluation introduced in the first part of this series is applied to the analysis of a very steep in-plane residual stress gradient in a shot-peened Al2O3ceramic sample. The results are compared with those obtained by means of a conventional wide-slit setup using the classical universal plot method for residual stress analysis on the one hand, and with the simulations performed in the first part on the other hand.
The generalized invariom database (GID)
Authors: Dittrich B. , Hübschle C. B. , Pröpper K. , Dietrich F. , Stolper T. , Holstein J. J.
Published: May 2013

Invarioms are aspherical atomic scattering factors that enable structure refinement of more accurate and more precise geometries than refinements with the conventional independent atom model (IAM). The use of single-crystal X-ray diffraction data of a resolution better than sin θ/λ = 0.6 Å−1(ord= 0.83 Å) is recommended. The invariom scattering-factor database contains transferable pseudoatom parameters of the Hansen–Coppens multipole model and associated local atomic coordinate systems. Parameters were derived from geometry optimizations of suitable model compounds, whose IUPAC names are also contained in the database. Correct scattering-factor assignment and orientation reproduces molecular electron density to a good approximation. Molecular properties can hence be derived directly from the electron-density model. Coverage of chemical environments in the invariom database has been extended from the original amino acids, proteins and nucleic acid structures to many other environments encountered in organic chemistry. With over 2750 entries it now covers a wide sample of general organic chemistry involving the elements H, C, N and O, and to a lesser extent F, Si, S, P and Cl. With respect to the earlier version of the database, the main modification concerns scattering-factor notation. Modifications improve ease of use and success rates of automatic geometry-based scattering-factor assignment, especially in condensed hetero-aromatic ring systems, making the approach well suited to replace the IAM for structures of organic molecules.
Structure determination of the crystalline phase ofn-butanol by powder X-ray diffraction and study of intermolecular associations by Raman spectroscopy
Authors: Derollez Patrick , Hédoux Alain , Guinet Yannick , Danède Florence , Paccou Laurent
Published: May 2013

X-ray powder diffraction patterns ofn-butanol at 110 K and the isothermal transformation above the glass transition temperature of the supercooled liquid into the glacial state were recorded with a laboratory diffractometer. The starting structural model of the crystalline stable phase was found by a Monte-Carlo simulated annealing method. The final structure was obtained through Rietveld refinements with soft restraints on the interatomic bond lengths and angles. The cell is triclinic with space groupP1 and contains two molecules. The width of the Bragg peaks is interpreted by a phenomenological microstructural approach in terms of anisotropic strain effects. The study of the hydrogen bonds by Raman spectroscopy shows the existence of two main kinds of hydrogen bonds in the crystal, in agreement with the structure obtained by diffraction. The glacial state resulting from an abortive crystallization is composed of microcrystallites of the stable phase coexisting with non-transformed supercooled liquid. Crystalline features of the glacial state were determined as closely connected to the microstructural description of the crystal, leading to information about the origin of the glacial state.
Consequences of empowerment among restaurant servers
Authors: Kim BeomCheol (Peter) , Losekoot Erwin , Milne Simon
Published: May 2013

Purpose

This study seeks to investigate the impact of empowerment on both organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and average check size per customer for individual restaurant servers in the United States.

Design/methodology/approach

This empirical study was designed by using three different sources of information: employees' self‐reports, supervisor‐ratings and system‐generated productivity indexes. The study obtained a final sample of 108 servers who are in charge of table services such as order‐taking and delivering food with a point of sales (POS) system.

Findings

The results demonstrate that influence, a dimension of empowerment, has a positive effect on supervisor‐rated OCB whereas attitude, the other dimension of empowerment, has a positive impact on average check size per customer. In addition, OCB appears to be negatively related to average check size per customer.

Practical implications

The findings are important given that few studies have examined the impact of empowerment on organizationally meaningful outcomes since past empowerment studies predominantly related empowerment to attitudinal and/or behavioral outcomes measured by self‐reports. The relationship between two consequences of empowerment raises a managerial issue. Given that OCB has a negative relationship with an individual's average check size, it would be problematic to reward servers individually solely based on objective indicators of performance.

Originality/value

This study presents empirical evidence that empowered employees are more likely to demonstrate helping behaviors and generate larger check sizes.
Brand counter‐extensions for fight‐back and appeal strategies
Authors: Chang Kuei‐Feng , Yang Hao‐Wei
Published: May 2013

Purpose

Faced with the aggressive and invasive behavior of a competitor, it is necessary for a firm to adopt strategies to protect its market share. This study aims to examine brand counter‐extension strategy as a means of fighting back against strong competitors.

Design/methodology/approach

The study applies a measure of conditions among competitors, namely market position and extension outcome, as well a firm's own technological capability, in order to develop the fight‐back strategy of brand counter‐extensions.

Findings

The results verify that utilizing a competitor's market position does not help in the firm's brand counter‐extension, although the outcome of the competitor's previous successful extension could facilitate it.

Practical implications

Two practical implications could be addressed to enable firms to utilize their competitors' conditions: first, to utilize the competitor's market position to enter a new market at the introduction stage of a product's life cycle; second, to utilize the outcome of a competitor's brand extension to build support for a new product at the growth stage of its life cycle; a two‐step appeal strategy with the aim of learning the degree of support and purchase intention of consumers.

Originality/value

This study proposes that the strength of the firm's technological capability is critical for a successful counter‐extension. Moreover, the combination of successful experience and technological capability could enhance a customer's intention to purchase.
Impact of service quality dimensions on the formation of customer value in B to B services
Authors: Munnukka Juha , Järvi Pentti , Outi Uusitalo
Published: May 2013

Purpose

Customer and value‐oriented business strategies are increasingly important in the context of business to business services. However, little is known about the construction of customer value of B to B services. Also the influences of specific dimensions of service quality on customer value are open to debate. This study aims to explore the construction of customer value of B to B services, and to examine how specific dimensions of service quality contribute to customer value.

Design/methodology/approach

The research data consists of 90 questionnaires which were collected through the structured interview method among Finnish business organizations. Hypothesis testing was conducted through linear multiple‐regression analysis.

Findings

The results suggest that customer value of B to B services is composed of attribute and consequence level elements. Reliability, responsiveness, and assurance were found as the key contributors of consequence level customer value. Attribute level customer value is affected by empathy, responsiveness and assurance dimensions of service quality. Thus, by focusing on right dimensions of service quality organizations are most effectively able to cultivate customer value.

Originality/value

The study identifies the dimensional structure of customer value and suggests a detailed method to investigate the relationship between service quality and customer value.
Organizational policy as a moderator between online social networking and job performance
Authors: Wickramasinghe Vathsala , Nisaf M.S.M.
Published: May 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the moderating effect of organizational policy on the relationship between online social networking (OSN) and job performance of IT professionals engaged full‐time in offshore outsourced IT firms in Sri Lanka.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey methodology was used and a random sample of 215 respondents who fulfilled the selection criteria set for the study, responded. To examine the hypothesized relationships, factor analysis and multiple regression were used.

Findings

It was found that individuals engaged in online social networking while at work enjoy several benefits such as solving work‐related problems collaboratively. However, individuals also suffer from several drawbacks, which could be mainly categorized into two in terms of interference to job tasks and interference to workplace. Further, it was found that online social networking has significant effects on individual job performance; organizational policy moderates the relationship between online social networking and job performance.

Originality/value

Although online social networking has attracted a substantial amount of media attention over the last few years empirical research attempts have not taken off worldwide. Therefore, the influence of online social networking on employee job performance would be of interest to academics and practitioners worldwide. It is expected that the findings of this study will provide insight into benefits, challenges and issues associated with OSN to allow individuals, organizational leaders, and IT decision‐makers to better understand and utilize online social structures for success. Further, it is expected that the findings of this study will be a source of general guidance in stimulating future research in this area.
The Latin American path towards digitization
Authors: Katz Raul L. , Koutroumpis Pantelis , Callorda Fernando
Published: May 2013

Purpose

Digitization is defined as the social transformation triggered by the massive adoption of digital technologies to generate, process, share and transact information. This paper seeks to present a methodology followed to calculate the Digitization Index, a concept originally developed by Booz & Company, the global management consulting firm, with the support of the authors.

Design/methodology/approach

This index consists of six elements capturing Ubiquity, Affordability, Reliability, Speed, Usability and Skill and 24 sub‐indicators measuring tangible parameters of perceived digitization metrics.

Findings

The index indicates that countries are clustered as Digitally Constrained, Emerging, Transitional or Advanced, with varying degrees of contribution of digitization to economic growth. The Index is used to assess the situation of Latin American countries in terms of their progression to digitally advanced societies. In this context, the areas to focus on in the formulation of Latin America digital agenda are outlined.

Originality/value

Until now, most indices that measure progress towards this new era have focused primarily on metrics such as wireless telephony penetration, access to the internet and broadband adoption. The paper argues that these indices, even those that are more comprehensive in scope (Network Readiness Index by the World Economic Forum, or the Digital Opportunity Index by the International Telecommunication Union) capture only a portion of the ongoing transformations.
Excess volatility and closed‐end fund discounts
Authors: Bleaney Michael , Todd Smith R.
Published: May 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the conditions under which discount risk leads to closed‐end funds trading at a discount.

Design/methodology/approach

A model of investor portfolio choice is developed in which investors face proportional fees for holding managed funds but fixed transaction fees for purchasing other risky assets. The conditions under which investors will hold shares in closed‐end funds are derived.

Findings

It is shown that, with fixed transaction costs in the market for risky assets, investors with wealth below a certain threshold will hold pooled index funds that charge a proportional fee, rather than the market portfolio chosen by wealthier investors. If a portfolio of closed‐end index funds yields greater volatility of returns to investors than open‐end index funds (i.e. displays “excess volatility”), and charges the same fees, the closed‐end funds need to trade at a discount in equilibrium to attract buyers. The same applies to actively managed funds if higher fees fully reflect extra expected returns from the managers' skill.

Practical implications

A primary determinant of closed‐end fund discounts is discount volatility and co‐movement across funds.

Originality/value

Until now it has been argued that discount risk needs to be systematic (correlated with market returns) to be priced. The evidence that discount risk is systematic is weak. There is strong empirical evidence of excess volatility and co‐movement of discounts across closed‐end funds, which in our model are a sufficient condition for funds to trade at a discount, under plausible assumptions. This model thus provides a stronger argument that discount risk explains why discounts exist.
Computational investigation of shock‐mitigation efficacy of polyurea when used in a combat helmet
Authors: Grujicic M. , Arakere A. , Pandurangan B. , Grujicic A. , Littlestone A. , Barsoum R.
Published: May 2013

Purpose

Polyurea falls into a category of elastomeric co‐polymers in which, due to the presence of strong hydrogen bonding, the microstructure is of a heterogeneous nature and consists of a compliant/soft matrix and stiff/hard nanometer size hard domains. Recent investigations have shown that the use of polyurea as an external or internal coating/lining had substantially improved ballistic‐penetration resistance of metallic structures. The present work aims to use computational methods and tools in order to assess the shock‐mitigation ability of polyurea when used in the construction of different components (suspension‐pads, internal lining and external coating) of a combat helmet.

Design/methodology/approach

Shock‐mitigation capability of combat helmets has become an important functional requirement as shock‐ingress into the intra‐cranial cavity is known to be one of the main causes of traumatic brain injury (TBI). To assess the shock mitigation capability of polyurea, a combined Eulerian/Lagrangian fluid/solid transient non‐linear dynamics computational analysis of an air/helmet/head core sample is carried out and the temporal evolution of the axial stress and particle velocities (for different polyurea augmented helmet designs) are monitored.

Findings

The results obtained show that improvements in the shock‐mitigation performance of the helmet are obtained only in the case when polyurea is used as a helmet internal lining and that these improvements are relatively small. In addition, polyurea is found to slightly outperform conventional helmet foam, but only under relatively strong (greater than five atm) blastwave peak overpressures.

Originality/value

The present approach studies the effect of internal linings and external coatings on combat helmet blast mitigation performance.
Optimizing fusion zone grain size and hardness of pulsed current micro plasma arc welded Inconel625 sheets using Hooke and Jeeves Algorithm
Authors: Siva Prasad Kondapalli , Srinivasa Rao Chalamalasetti , Nageswara Rao Damera
Published: May 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to optimize the fusion zone grain size and hardness using Hooke and Jeeves Algorithm.

Design/methodology/approach

Experiments are conducted as per four factors, five levels response surface method based central composite design matrix. Empirical relations for predicting grain size and harness are developed. The effect of welding variables on grain size and hardness are studies. Grain size and hardness are optimised using Hooke and Jeeves Algorithm.

Findings

The developed empirical relations can be effectively used to predict grain size and hardness values of micro plasma arc welded Inconel 625 sheets. The values of grain size and hardness obtained by Hooke and Jeeves Algorithm matches with experimental values with great accuracy.

Research limitations/implications

The developed mathematical models are valid for 0.25 mm thick Inconel 625 sheets only.

Practical implications

In the present paper only four important factors namely peak current, back current, pulse rate and pulse width are considered, however one may consider other parameters like plasma gas flow rate, shielding gas flow rate, etc.

Originality/value

The present work is very much useful to sheet metal industries manufacturing metal bellows, diaphragms, etc.
Stories from the lived and living fieldwork process
Authors: Cole Courtney E.
Published: May 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a more expansive recounting of the process of fieldwork, taking place over a number of years in diverse locations, in order to show how research design develops through the process of field research, as well as to highlight the complexity of fieldwork, especially issues of access, identity, and power.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on the author's fieldwork experiences in Sierra Leone, working from and expanding upon fieldnotes from time in the field. Reflexive, autoethnographic personal narratives of fieldwork experiences are juxtaposed with theoretical writing about ethnographic observation and qualitative research.

Findings

The expansive discussion of the process of fieldwork and the development of the research project through time demonstrates and explicates the complexity and temporal dimensions of qualitative field research. Issues of access, identities, and power/privilege are also crucial aspects of the fieldwork process.

Research limitations/implications

This paper shows the importance of acknowledging and articulating the development of fieldwork and research design over time and in different places. It also discusses the complexity of fieldwork due to issues of access, identity, and power. Its claims are limited by its focus on one case, the author's fieldwork.

Social implications

This piece will help members of society better understand the process of qualitative fieldwork. Given its format and writing style, this piece can be easily read and understood by interested members of the public.

Originality/value

This paper provides narratives and commentary that provide a more complete picture of the practice of field research and the development of research design over the course of time and in diverse locations. This will be valuable to researchers, especially those preparing for field experiences for the first time or for their first time in a particular field, as well as students interested in learning about qualitative fieldwork practices.
Agricultural trade and farm employment in China during 1994‐2009
Authors: Zhu Jing , Zhang Shu , Yu Wusheng
Published: May 2013

Purpose

This paper therefore aims at systematically estimating the agricultural trade induced farm employment effects in China.

Design/methodology/approach

Using detailed agricultural trade and production data during 1994‐2009, the authors estimate the “labor contents” of agricultural trade flows and use these estimates to compute the farm employment effects.

Findings

The authors find that China's agricultural trade has indeed generally developed along its widely believed comparative advantages and disadvantages; however, the farm employment “creation” effect due to labor‐intensive exports has actually been dominated by the employment “substitution” effect due to increased land‐intensive imports, thereby mostly resulting in negative net farm employment in the post‐WTO accession era.

Originality/value

Findings from this first systematic attempt to estimate the trade‐induced farm employment effects do not lend support to the popular notion that increased agricultural trade would help increase farm employment and have important implications for evaluating current and future trade policy in China and elsewhere.
Project design, village governance and infrastructure quality in rural China
Authors: Liu Chengfang , Zhang Linxiu , Huang Jikun , Luo Renfu , Yi Hongmei , Shi Yaojiang , Rozelle Scott
Published: May 2013

Purpose

This paper aims to explain why the quality of infrastructure projects in rural China differs from village to village and how project quality is correlated with project design attributes and governance factors.

Design/methodology/approach

Using primary data collected by the authors on three types of infrastructure projects in villages across China, they created measures of project quality for each village. They then used both descriptive and multivariate approaches to examine how quality varies from village to village and factors correlated with quality.

Findings

Between‐project within‐village quality differences are small and project design has little explanatory power. Between‐village variations are large. There are strong correlations between the ways villages govern themselves and project quality. The authors conclude that it is difficult to make good projects work in communities that lack good governance.

Originality/value

Disaggregated data on the quality of infrastructure (and its determinants) were collected by the authors to allow for variation in the type of infrastructure projects (roads, irrigation, and drinking water) and variation in village governance, making it possible to identify and contrast the effects of project design and village governance factors on project quality. As its chief contribution, this work identifies potential ways to improve the quality of infrastructure projects in rural development.
Optimal investing stopping in stochastic environment
Authors: Xu Shuang , Zhang Ran
Published: May 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how to determine optimal investing stopping time in a stochastic environment, such as with stochastic returns, stochastic interest rate and stochastic expected growth rate.

Design/methodology/approach

Transformation method was used for solving optimal stopping problem by providing a way to transform path‐dependent problem into a path‐independent one. Based on option pricing theory, optimal investing stopping time was thought of as an optimal executed timing problem of American‐style option.

Findings

First, the authors transform a path‐dependent stop timing problem to a path‐independent one with transformation under very general conditions, to directly use the existing conclusion of optimal stopping time literature. Second, when dynamics of capital growth is homogeneous, the authors changed the two dimensional optimal stop timing problem into a single dimension problem based on the assumption of zero exercise costs. Third, the authors investigated the comparative dynamics about asset selling boundary on asset value, state variable and return predictability. With constant discount rate and growth rate, the optimal selling timing depends on the simple comparison between capital cost and growth rate.

Originality/value

The paper's contributions to analysis method may be as follows. The authors demonstrate how to transform a path‐dependent stopping problem into a path‐independent one under general conditions. The transform method in this article can be applied to other path‐dependent optimal stopping problems. In particular, a Riccati ordinary differential equation for the transformation is set up. In most examples commonly met in finance, the equation can be solved explicitly.
An empirical study of the pricing of reverse floating interest rate‐linked products
Authors: Tian Yi‐xiang , Yang Qiu‐ping , Yuan Jing‐tao
Published: May 2013

Purpose

Reverse floating interest rate‐linked structured products are important innovative products for investors to achieve a relatively high yield at low interest rates, and the reasonable pricing of such products is an important factor to influence investors' needs and issuers' profits. The purpose of this paper is to empirically analyze the rationality of the pricing of reverse floating interest rate‐linked products.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper combines the Itô's Lemma and introduces the Black‐Derman‐Toy (BDT) model into the time‐varying volatility to build a binary tree interest rates BDT model under the time‐varying volatility, and to establish the pricing model of reverse floating interest rate‐linked products. Dozens of product data of ABN AMRO Bank and other world‐renowned banks or financial institutions are empirically analyzed.

Findings

The results show that the average pricing of these products is high, and the expected rate of return of the product is lower than the same period of the Five‐year US Treasury Bill rate.

Originality/value

This paper has combined the theory and practice together. The research method described in this paper is of significance to the pricing of interest rate‐linked structured products, and the pricing method of binary tree BDT model to solve the term structure of interest rates and estimation problem of volatility term structure of interest rates.
The impact of adolescent stuttering and other speech problems on psychological well‐being in adulthood: evidence from a birth cohort study
Authors: McAllister Jan , Collier Jacqueline , Shepstone Lee
Published: May 2013

Background

Developmental stuttering is associated with increased risk of psychological distress and mental health difficulties. Less is known about the impact of other developmental speech problems on psychological outcomes, or the impact of stuttering and speech problems once other predictors have been adjusted for.

Aims

To determine the impact of parent‐reported adolescent stuttering and other speech difficulties on psychological distress and associated symptoms as measured by the Rutter Malaise Inventory.

Method & Procedures

A British birth cohort dataset provided information about 217 cohort members who stuttered and 301 cohort members who had other kinds of speech problem at age 16 according to parental report, and 15,694 cohort members who had experienced neither stuttering nor other speech difficulties. The main analyses concerned associations between adolescent stuttering or speech difficulty and score on the Rutter Malaise Inventory at age 42. Other factors that had previously been shown to be associated with score on the Malaise Inventory were also included in the analyses.

Outcomes & Results

In the adjusted analyses that controlled for other predictors, cohort members who were reported to stutter had higher malaise scores than controls overall, indicating a higher level of psychological distress, but they were not at significantly more likely to have malaise scores in the range indicating a risk of serious mental health difficulties. Cohort members who were reported to have other speech difficulties during adolescence had malaise scores that overall did not differ significantly from those of controls in the adjusted analyses, but they were at significantly greater risk of serious mental health difficulties.

Conclusions & Implications

These findings support those of other studies that indicate an association between stuttering and psychological distress. This study is the first to have shown that adolescents who experience speech difficulties other than stuttering are more likely than controls to be at risk of poorer mental health in adulthood. The results suggest a need for therapeutic provision to address psychosocial issues for both stuttering and other developmental speech disorders in adulthood, as well as further research into the consequences in adulthood of stuttering and other developmental speech disorders.
De novo hepatitis B virus infection from anti‐HBc‐positive donors in pediatric living donor liver transplantation
Authors: Xi Zhi Feng , Xia Qiang , Zhang Jian Jun , Chen Xiao Song , Han Long Zhi , Zhu Jian Jun , Wang Si Yue , Qiu De Kai
Published: May 2013

Objective

The aim of this study was to analyze the incidence and risk factors of de novo hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection from hepatitis B core antibody (anti‐HBc)‐positive donors in pediatric living donor liver transplantation (LDLT).

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed 46 recipients without pre‐liver transplantation (LT) HBV infection evidence who underwent LDLT from October 2006 to May 2011 in our center. HBV markers, including hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and antibody (anti‐HBs), anti‐HBc, hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) and antibody (anti‐HBe) were determined in both donors and recipients before LT and in recipients after LT. HBV DNA titer was measured if the recipients were strongly suspected of de novo HBV infection.

Results

Without prophylaxis, de novo HBV infection occurred in 11 of 46 recipients (23.9%) 6–36 months after LT. All 11 patients received grafts from anti‐HBc‐positive donors. The donors' baseline status and the characteristics of recipients at the time of transplantation were not associated with the acquisition of de novo hepatitis B infection. The overall 2‐year survival rate of patients from anti‐HBc‐positive donors was 84.2%. Two de novo HBV‐infected patients who had YMDD mutation were given adefovir combined with lamivudine, and their liver function gradually improved during the follow‐up period.

Conclusions

Anti‐HBc‐positive donors can significantly increase the incidence of de novo HBV infection in HBsAg‐negative recipients. Administration with adefovir in patients who are resistant to lamivudine seems to be an effective and safe way for de novo HBV infection.
Negotiating Particularity in Neoliberalism Studies: Tracing Development Strategies Across Neoliberal Urban Governance Projects
Authors: Lauermann John , Davidson Mark
Published: May 2013

A reading of critical perspectives on neoliberalism would suggest that it is dead but dominant, a revanchist zombie that appears paradoxically ubiquitous despite its inherent idiosyncrasy. We argue that neoliberalism's paradoxical death, dominance, and retrenchment can be interpreted by analyzing the dialectic of universalizing processes and particular forms within capitalism. Neoliberal projects draw political import from systemic, universalizing tendencies in capitalism, particularly those ideological processes by which contradictions and crises come to be discursively, institutionally, and politically conceptualized within the same paradigm from which they emerged. Building on well developed research frameworks in neoliberalism studies, we propose a set of analytical tools to interpret links between particular projects and homogenizing practices. We illustrate this with a case study of urban “megaevents” (eg Olympic Games or football World Cup), demonstrating how ideological commitments to event‐based development strategies allow both the homogenizing imposition of entrepreneurial urban policy, and localized innovations in urban governance.
A Likelihood‐Based Analysis for Relaxing the Exclusion Restriction in Randomized Experiments with Noncompliance
Authors: Mercatanti Andrea
Published: May 2013

The exclusion restriction is usually assumed for identifying causal effects in true or only natural randomized experiments with noncompliance. It requires that the assignment to treatment does not have a direct causal effect on the outcome. Despite its importance, the restriction can often be unrealistic, especially in situations of natural experiments. It is shown that, without the exclusion restriction, the parametric model is identified if the outcome distributions of various compliance statuses are in the same parametric class and that class is a linearly independent set over the field of real numbers. However, the relaxation of the exclusion restriction yields a parametric model that is characterized by the presence of mixtures of distributions. This scenario complicates the likelihood‐based estimation procedures because it implies more than one maximum likelihood point. A two‐step estimation procedure based on detecting the root that is closest to the method of moments estimate of the parameter vector is then proposed and analyzed in detail, under normally distributed outcomes. An economic example with real data concerning returns to schooling concludes the paper.
Effects of photoperiod on secretory patterns of growth hormone in adult male goats
Authors: Jin Jin , Sawai Ken , Hashizume Tsutomu
Published: May 2013

The aim of the present study was to clarify the effect of photoperiod on secretory patterns of growth hormone (GH) in male goats. Adult male goats were kept at 20°C with an 8‐h or 16‐h light photoperiod, and secretory patterns of GH secretion were compared. In addition, plasma profiles of prolactin (PRL), insulin‐like growth factor‐I (IGF‐I) and testosterone (T) were also examined to characterize GH secretion. GH was secreted in a pulsatile manner. There was no significant difference in pulse frequency between the 8‐h and 16‐h photoperiods. However, GH pulse amplitude tended to be greater in the group with the 16‐h photoperiod (P = 0.1), and mean GH concentrations were significantly greater in the 16‐h photoperiod (P < 0.05). The GH‐releasing response to GH releasing hormone was greater in the 16‐h than 8‐h photoperiod (P < 0.05). Plasma PRL and IGF‐I levels were higher in the 16‐h than 8‐h photoperiod (P < 0.05). In contrast, plasma T levels were lower in the 16‐h photoperiod (P < 0.05). These results show that a long light photoperiod enhances the secretion of GH as well as PRL and IGF‐I, but reduces plasma T concentrations in male goats.
Discovery of GW870086: a potent anti‐inflammatory steroid with a unique pharmacological profile
Authors: Uings I J , Needham D , Matthews J , Haase M , Austin R , Angell D , Leavens K , Holt J , Biggadike K , Farrow S N
Published: May 2013

Background and Purpose

Glucocorticoids are highly effective therapies for a range of inflammatory diseases. Advances in the understanding of the diverse molecular mechanisms underpinning glucocorticoid action suggest that anti‐inflammatory molecules with reduced side effect liabilities can be discovered. Here we set out to explore whether modification of the 17α position of the steroid nucleus could generate molecules with a unique pharmacological profile and to determine whether such molecules would retain anti‐inflammatory activity.

Experimental Approach

The pharmacological properties of GW870086 were compared with fluticasone propionate (FP) using a range of cellular and in vivo model systems, including extensive gene expression profiling.

Key Results

GW870086 repressed inflammatory cytokine release from lung epithelial cells in a similar manner to FP but antagonized the effect of dexamethasone on MMTV‐driven reporter gene transactivation. GW870086 had a strong effect on the expression of some glucocorticoid‐regulated genes (such as PTGS2), while having minimal impact on the expression of other known target genes (such as SGK). GW870086 retained the ability to strengthen tight junctions in epithelial cell culture but, unlike FP, was unable to protect the culture from elastase‐mediated damage. In murine models of irritant‐induced contact dermatitis and ovalbumin‐induced allergic inflammation, GW870086 showed comparable anti‐inflammatory efficacy to FP.

Conclusion and Implications

GW870086 is a potent anti‐inflammatory compound with a unique ability to regulate only a subset of those genes that are normally affected by classical glucocorticoids. It has the potential to become a new topical steroid with a different safety profile to existing therapies.
The Legacy of Early Insecurity Histories in Shaping Adolescent Adaptation to Interparental Conflict
Authors: Davies Patrick T. , Sturge‐Apple Melissa L. , Bascoe Sonnette M. , Cummings E. Mark
Published: May 2013

This study tested whether the mediational pathway involving interparental conflict, adolescent emotional insecurity, and their psychological problems was altered by their earlier childhood histories of insecurity. Participants included 230 families, with the first of the five measurement occasions occurring when children were in first grade (Mage = 7 years). Results indicated that interparental conflict was associated with increases in adolescent emotional insecurity that, in turn, predicted subsequent increases in their psychological problems. Childhood insecurity predicted adolescent maladjustment 5 years later even after considering contemporaneous family experiences. Moderator findings revealed that adolescents with relatively higher levels of insecurity in childhood evidenced disproportionately greater and reduced levels of insecurity in the context of high and low levels of interparental conflict, respectively.