bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Cold War and American Religion
Authors: Kirby Dianne
Published: September 2017

American propaganda cast the Cold War as one of history’s great religious wars, between the godless and the God-fearing, between good and evil. It was a simplistic depiction that was supported and promoted in the highest echelons of government and by the leaders of America’s key institutions. During the course of the presidencies of Harry S. Truman and Dwight Eisenhower, U.S.-Soviet rivalry was transformed from a traditional great power struggle into a morality play that drew on firmly entrenched notions rooted in the American past, above all American exceptionalism and its sense of mission. Truman made religion America’s ideological justification for abandoning America’s wartime cooperation with the Soviet Union. Eisenhower used religion to persuade the world that America was a force for good in the international arena. The resulting anti-communist crusade was to have profound consequences for Christian America, contributing to both religious revival and religious repression in the early Cold War period. Over time it caused irrevocable alterations to America’s religious landscape. The anti-communist dynamic unleashed embraced anti-liberalism and was a factor in the rise of the Christian Right and the decline in America’s mainstream churches. In addition, the image of a godless and evil enemy dictated an irreconcilable conflict that precluded the very modes of diplomacy and discourse that might have helped avoid the worst excesses, costs, and consequences of the Cold War.
The Paraguayan War and Brazilian National Identity
Authors: Peres Costa Wilma
Published: September 2017

The effort of searching the effects of the War of the Triple Alliance against Paraguay on the building up of Brazilian national identity challenges the historian with a paradox: why the military victory promotes the fall of the political regime instead of strengthening it. The article tries to deal with some dimensions of this paradox underlining the distinctive characteristics of this war in the ongoing warmongering in the Platine region—the huge numbers of conscripted soldiers (“the Total War”), the hybrid political character of the alliance (Brazilian monarchy and Argentinian Republic), the opposition of most of the conservative classes, and the unveiling of slavery as a strategic weakness for the country—are some of the themes treated in order to explain how the empire lost both the battle of worldwide moral support and the battle of legitimacy inside the country. The massive recruitment coming from all parts of the country could bring the empowerment of ordinary people in the postwar decades, but the monarchical elites took careful steps to ensure that these sectors were quickly demobilized and also not to receive medals and other military honors. The postwar era was one of unfolding of an endemic crisis leading to contest of monarchical institutions. They came from military sectors, but also from regional elites, besides bitter criticism from middle-class intellectuals. Racial arguments filled an outstanding part in this period, leading to the giving prestige of “scientific” racism and the negative diagnosis for the future of a modern nation founded in a racially mixed society.
Technology in 19th-Century Mexico
Authors: Beatty Edward
Published: September 2017

“Technology” is the practical expression of accumulated knowledge and expertise focused on how to mediate and manipulate the world. Scholars and contemporary observers of Mexico have long characterized production methods there as unchanging and lagging well behind the standard in the Atlantic world, but there are few systematic studies of technology in Mexican history, and especially for the critical 19th-century era of early modernization.

Mexico’s first half century of independence (c. 1820–1870) saw relatively little technological change. In spite of a number of sustained efforts to introduce the technologies—such as railroads, steam power, and iron manufacturing—that were transforming economic life and production in Great Britain and the United States, production methods in Mexico remained small scale and artisanal. Textile manufactures were a partial exception, as there were several dozen large-scale factories, powered by water turbines and occasionally by steam, that spun and wove thread. But the substantial obstacles to innovation discouraged or undermined most attempts.

The next forty or so years, however, could not have been more different (c. 1870s–1920). As political stability slowly settled over most of the country, investment in economic activities picked up, slowly at first, then more rapidly into the 1880s and beyond. Initially focused on railroad transport and mining, new investments from both Mexican and foreign entrepreneurs diversified into a wide range of manufacturing enterprises, commercial agriculture, and urban infrastructure and commerce. Tightly linked to the concurrent dramatic expansion of the Atlantic economy—the so-called second industrial revolution—this expansion pushed demand for new technologies of production and swept across the country, transforming production, productivity, and the working and consuming lives of Mexicans at nearly all levels of society. The result was substantial modernization, manifest as economic growth as well as social dislocation.

Individuals and firms proved able to adopt and commercialize a wide range of new production technologies during this period. This success was not matched, however, by substantial local assimilation of new technological knowledge and expertise, that is, by a process of technological learning. Until the 1870s, Mexican engineers, mechanics, and workers had scant opportunities to work with and learn from production technologies appearing in the Atlantic world. When new machines, tools, and processes swept across Mexico thereafter, adopting firms typically hired technical experts and skilled workers from abroad, given the scarcity of expertise at home. This became a self-reinforcing cycle, perpetuating dependence on imported machines and imported know-how well into the 20th century.
La Reina de la Raza: The Making of the India Bonita
Authors: Varner Natasha S.
Published: September 2017

The India Bonita Pageant of 1921 marked a critical moment in Mexico’s revolutionary identity formation. This serialized pageant hosted by the Mexico City newspaper, El Universal, also played a major role in the formulation of indigenous “authenticity,” as defined by race, material culture, gender, and sexuality. The aims of the pageant were at least superficially focused on celebrating indigenous peoples, but it ultimately narrowed popular understandings of what it meant to be indigenous through its focus on select visual markers of indigeneity. It thereby discursively erased portions of the indigenous population that did not conform to these parameters. The pageant also played into broader efforts to solve the so-called Indian Problem by situating ideal indigeneity in the rural past, favoring Aztec heritage over other indigenous identities, and positioning Mestizos as the race of the future. Ultimately, this attempt at indigenous inclusion was part of broader revolutionary identity projects that sought to isolate and erase one problematic part of the population under the guise of celebrating it.
Football and Sports Media in Chile, 1895–1962
Authors: Acuña Pedro
Published: September 2017

Football and media have become associated to such an extent that it would be difficult to discuss the history of sports in Chile without acknowledging its relationship with the media. Since the early 1900s, the media coverage of football—arguably the most significant mass spectacle in Chile—has become a unique place to evoke political sympathy and national pride. Before the gradual introduction of television in the 1960s, print journalism and radio were the technological tools that defined the ways in which Chileans experienced football. As narrative devices, sports media represented football for much larger audiences than those sitting in the stadium. In the 1940s, football chronicles may have been read aloud, and photographs of famous footballers were usually posted in public places for semiliterate workers too poor to buy sports magazines. Similarly, the pitch of a radio announcer’s voice and the quick summations he gave to different plays generated their own visual spectacle and moral evaluations for listeners. Although sports magazines and radio broadcasts were mostly consumed in urban areas, they created new ways of experiencing football that enabled participation from larger parts of the nation.

The importance of these sources lies in their central role of making football a much more understandable sport to mass audiences, many of whom were illiterate. Most importantly, sports media became a public terrain for making claims about Chilean citizenship, including affirmations of appropriate masculinity, racial belonging, and class relations.
homosexuality, female
Authors: Boehringer Sandra
Published: September 2017

Sexual and amorous relationships between females constitute, as a heuristic category, an illuminating field of research for the construction of sexual categories in antiquity, as well as for the prevailing gender system of the time. In Greece and Rome, sexuality did not have the identity function that we attribute to it today: in these societies “before sexuality,” the category of female homosexuality, like those of heterosexuality or homosexuality in general, did not exist per se. Yet we have access to over forty documents (containing both substantial treatments and brief mentions), along with the terms hetairistria and tribas, associated with this semantic field.

In Archaic Greece, the privileged expression of erotic desire between women can be found without ambiguity in the verses of Alcman and Sappho. In this community context, the force of eros is celebrated, and the joys and pains generated by its power are sung without differentiation based on gender categories. In Classical and Hellenistic Greece, the sources become rarer: female homosexuality disappears from our evidence for the possible configurations of eros, with the notable exception of Plato’s account (Symposium, Laws). Throughout the 3rd and 2nd centuries bce, it is in the context of playful and humourous discourses that authors (Amphis, Asclepiades) allude to relationships between women. The tone changes in the Roman world, where three types of discourse develop: that of elegiac poetry (particularly Ovid) which re-employs positive Greek motifs but shows the impossibility of such relationships; that of satire (e.g. Martial, Juvenal), particularly derogatory, where the complex figure of the tribas appears alongside ridiculous and repugnant characters; and, later, that of the classifying discourses of physiognomic or astrological texts. In Greece as in Rome, the rarity of these erotic representations in images and paintings indicates that sex between women barely entered, if at all, into the erotic imaginary of the masculine elite.

In antiquity, there is no perceived equivalence between male homoerotic love and female homoerotic love, just as the image of the tribas is not identical or strictly parallel to the figure of the Greek kinaidos or the Roman mollis. While the latter two may in certain circumstances embody a deviant masculinity that defines, through opposition, the masculine ideal, the tribas does not occupy any similar position in contrast to a figure embodying positive and privileged femininity: in this respect, the ancient gender system is not symmetrical.
Deixis and Pragmatics
Authors: Hanks William F.
Published: September 2017

Deictic expressions, like English ‘this, that, here, and there’ occur in all known human languages. They are typically used to individuate objects in the immediate context in which they are uttered, by pointing at them so as to direct attention to them. The object, or demonstratum is singled out as a focus, and a successful act of deictic reference is one that results in the Speaker (Spr) and Addressee (Adr) attending to the same referential object. Thus,

(1)

A:Oh, there’s
that guy again (pointing)B:Oh yeah, now I see him (fixing gaze on the guy)

(2)

A:I’ll have that one over there (pointing to a dessert on a tray)B:This? (touching pastry with tongs)A:yeah, that looks greatB:Here ya’ go (handing pastry to customer)

In an exchange like (1), A’s utterance spotlights the individual guy, directing B’s attention to him, and B’s response (both verbal and ocular) displays that he has recognized him. In (2) A’s utterance individuates one pastry among several, B’s response makes sure he’s attending to the right one, A reconfirms and B completes by presenting the pastry to him. If we compare the two examples, it is clear that the underscored deictics can pick out or present individuals without describing them. In a similar way, “I, you, he/she, we, now, (back) then,” and their analogues are all used to pick out individuals (persons, objects, or time frames), apparently without describing them. As a corollary of this semantic paucity, individual deictics vary extremely widely in the kinds of object they may properly denote: ‘here’ can denote anything from the tip of your nose to planet Earth, and ‘this’ can denote anything from a pastry to an upcoming day (this Tuesday). Under the same circumstance, ‘this’ and ‘that’ can refer appropriately to the same object, depending upon who is speaking, as in (2). How can forms that are so abstract and variable over contexts be so specific and rigid in a given context? On what parameters do deictics and deictic systems in human languages vary, and how do they relate to grammar and semantics more generally?
Morphosyntax of Himalayan Languages
Authors: van Driem George
Published: September 2017

Several language families and a few language isolates are represented in the Himalayas, the world’s greatest massif, running a length of over 3,600 km. The most well-represented language family in this region happens to be the Trans-Himalayan language family, whose very centre of gravity and phylogenetic diversity is situated within the Eastern Himalaya. This most populous language family on our planet in terms of numbers of speakers used to be known as Tibeto-Burman but, in some circles, the family formerly also went by the names “Indo-Chinese” or “Sino-Tibetan”, the latter two labels actually designating empirically unsupported and now obsolete models of language relationship. The study of Trans-Himalayan historical grammar began with Brian Houghton Hodgson in the 1830s, who during this time served at Kathmandu as the British Resident to the Kingdom of Nepal. Periodically, minor studies devoted attention to several of the more salient morphosyntactic phenomena of Trans-Himalayan historical grammar, but Stuart Wolfenden contributed the first major monograph to the subject in the 1920s. Finally, the historical morphosyntax of the Trans-Himalayan language family came to be the focus of numerous linguistic studies from the 1970s onward, and since that time our understanding of the historical grammar of the language family has changed drastically.

As ever more languages out of the hundreds of previously undocumented Trans-Himalayan tongues came to be described and analysed in great detail, it came to be understood that the flamboyant verbal agreement morphology observed in languages such as the Kiranti languages of eastern Nepal and the rGyalrongic languages of southwestern China were neither grammatically innovative nor represented typological flukes, but instead represented the most grammatically conservative languages within the entire language family. Subsequently, cognate inflectional systems or vestiges of cognate conjugational morphology were discovered in most other branches of the language family as well. The geographical centre, as well as the centre of phylogenetic diversity of the Trans-Himalayan language family, was identified as the highland arc of the Eastern Himalaya. Sinitic languages, although representing by far the most populous single branch of the Trans-Himalayan family, were now understood as constituting just one out of many subgroups, not more divergent from other branches than any one of the four dozen other subgroups making up the language family. The various types of epistemic marking systems observed sporadically throughout the region were shown to be secondary innovations, reflecting a great variety of semantically distinct language-specific grammatical categories. Particularly, languages showing the typology of the Loloish or Sinitic type were shown to be innovative in their grammar, having lost much of the original Trans-Himalayan morphosyntax.
Environmental Geology and Sustainability of Deltas
Authors: Akpokodje Enuvie G.
Published: September 2017

Deltas have played a significant role in the growth of human civilization because of their unique economic and ecological importance. However, deltas are becoming increasingly vulnerable because of the impact of intensive human developmental activities, high population and urban growth, subsidence, climate change, and the associated rise in sea level. The trapping of sediments by dams is another major threat to the long-term stability and sustainability of deltas. The emergence and global acceptance of the concept of sustainable development in the 1980s led to the advent of several multidisciplinary and applied fields of research, including environmental science, environmental geology, and sustainability science. Environmental geology focuses on the application of geologic knowledge and principles to broad-ranging environmental and socioeconomic issues, including the specific problems confronting deltas. The key environmental geologic challenges in deltas (especially urban delta areas) are: increasing exposure and vulnerability to geologic hazards (flooding, cyclones, etc.), rise in sea level, decreasing sediment load supply, contamination of soil and water resources, provision of adequate drinking water, and safe waste disposal. The application of geologic knowledge and principles to these challenges requires consideration of the critical geologic controls, such as the geological history, stratigraphy, depositional environment, and the properties of the alluvial sediments. Until recently, most of the traditional engineered solutions in the management of deltas were designed to keep out water (fighting nature), typically without adequate geological/hydrological input, rather than building with nature. Recent innovative approaches to delta management involve a paradigm shift from the traditional approach to a more integrated, holistic, adaptive, and ecologically based philosophy that incorporates some critical geological and hydrological perspectives, for instance, widening and deepening rivers and flood plains as well as constructing secondary channels (i.e., making more room for water). A key challenge, however, is the establishment of a close and functional communication between environmental geologists and all other stakeholders involved in delta management. In addition, there is growing global consensus regarding the need for international cooperation that cuts across disciplines, sectors, and regions in addressing the challenges facing deltas. Integrating good policy and governance is also essential.
Lightning-fast genome variant detection with GROM
Authors: Smith Sean D , Kawash Joseph K , Grigoriev Andrey
Published: September 2017

Current human whole genome sequencing projects produce massive amounts of data, often creating significant computational challenges. Different approaches have been developed for each type of genome variant and method of its detection, necessitating users to run multiple algorithms to find variants. We present Genome Rearrangement OmniMapper (GROM), a novel comprehensive variant detection algorithm accepting aligned read files as input and finding SNVs, indels, structural variants (SVs), and copy number variants (CNVs). We show that GROM outperforms state-of-the-art methods on 7 validated benchmarks using 2 whole genome sequencing (WGS) data sets. Additionally, GROM boasts lightning-fast run times, analyzing a 50× WGS human data set (NA12878) on commonly available computer hardware in 11 minutes, more than an order of magnitude (up to 72 times) faster than tools detecting a similar range of variants. Addressing the needs of big data analysis, GROM combines in 1 algorithm SNV, indel, SV, and CNV detection, providing superior speed, sensitivity, and precision. GROM is also able to detect CNVs, SNVs, and indels in non-paired-read WGS libraries, as well as SNVs and indels in whole exome or RNA sequencing data sets.
Diagnosis and treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Authors: Vierhile Amy E. , Palumbo Donna , Belden Heidi
Published: September 2017

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurobehavioral disorder characterized by signs and symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that typically begin in childhood. ADHD can persist into adulthood, causing impairments in occupational performance and peer and family relationships. This article reviews the epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment of ADHD.
Pharmacokinetics and safety profile of single-dose administration of an estrogen receptor β-selective phytoestrogenic (phytoSERM) formulation in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women
Authors: Hernandez Gerson , Zhao Liqin , Franke Adrian A. , Chen Yu-Ling , Mack Wendy J. , Brinton Roberta D. , Schneider Lon S.
Published: September 2017

Objective:

Selected estrogen receptor β-selective phytoestrogen (phytoSERM), a preparation of genistein, daidzein, and S-equol, has an 83-fold selective affinity for estrogen receptor (ER) β, and may promote neuronal survival and estrogenic mechanisms in the brain without exerting feminizing activity in the periphery. The aim of this study was to assess the safety, tolerability, and single-dose pharmacokinetics of the phytoSERM formulation in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women.

Methods:

Eighteen women aged 45 to 60 years from a 12-week clinical trial evaluating cognitive performance and vasomotor symptoms were randomly assigned to placebo, 50 mg, or 100 mg phytoSERM treatment groups. Plasma levels of the three parent phytoestrogens and their metabolites were measured before and at 2, 4, 6, 8, and 24 hours after ingestion by isotope dilution high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry.

Results:

Plasma concentrations of genistein, daidzein, and S-equol peaked at 9, 6, and 4 hours, respectively, for the 50-mg dose, and at 6, 6, and 5 hours, respectively, for the 100-mg dose. The maximum concentration (C
max) and area under the curve (AUC) for the three parent compounds were greater in the 100-mg dose group, indicating a dose-dependent change in concentration with the phytoSERM treatment. No adverse events were elicited.

Conclusions:

A single-dose oral administration of the phytoSERM formulation was well-tolerated and did not elicit any adverse events. It was rapidly absorbed, reached high plasma concentrations, and showed a linear dose-concentration response in its pharmacokinetics. These findings are consistent with previously reported parameters for each parent compound (Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01723917).
Sugar in Infants, Children and Adolescents: A Position Paper of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition Committee on Nutrition
Authors: Fidler Mis Nataša , Braegger Christian , Bronsky Jiri , Campoy Cristina , Domellöf Magnus , Embleton Nicholas D. , Hojsak Iva , Hulst Jessie , Indrio Flavia , Lapillonne Alexandre , Mihatsch Walter , Molgaard Christian , Vora Rakesh , Fewtrell Mary
Published: September 2017

The consumption of sugars, particularly sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs; beverages or drinks that contain added caloric sweeteners (ie, sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice concentrates), in European children and adolescents exceeds current recommendations. This is of concern because there is no nutritional requirement for free sugars, and infants have an innate preference for sweet taste, which may be modified and reinforced by pre- and postnatal exposures. Sugar-containing beverages/free sugars increase the risk for overweight/obesity and dental caries, can result in poor nutrient supply and reduced dietary diversity, and may be associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular risk, and other health effects. The term “free sugars,” includes all monosaccharides/disaccharides added to foods/beverages by the manufacturer/cook/consumer, plus sugars naturally present in honey/syrups/unsweetened fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates. Sugar naturally present in intact fruits and lactose in amounts naturally present in human milk or infant formula, cow/goat milk, and unsweetened milk products is not free sugar. Intake of free sugars should be reduced and minimised with a desirable goal of <5% energy intake in children and adolescents aged ≥2 to 18 years. Intake should probably be even lower in infants and toddlers <2 years. Healthy approaches to beverage and dietary consumption should be established in infancy, with the aim of preventing negative health effects in later childhood and adulthood. Sugar should preferably be consumed as part of a main meal and in a natural form as human milk, milk, unsweetened dairy products, and fresh fruits, rather than as SSBs, fruit juices, smoothies, and/or sweetened milk products. Free sugars in liquid form should be replaced by water or unsweetened milk drinks. National Authorities should adopt policies aimed at reducing the intake of free sugars in infants, children and adolescents. This may include education, improved labelling, restriction of advertising, introducing standards for kindergarten and school meals, and fiscal measures, depending on local circumstances.
Coprophagic Asphyxiation in an Intellectually Disabled Woman
Authors: Erickson Stephanie LeeAnne , Gambrell Aaron David , Fulcher James , Ward Michael
Published: September 2017

The ingestion of one's own feces is referred to as coprophagia. In this report, the author discusses a case of coprophagia-associated death in a 36-year-old woman. The woman had a history of intellectual disability, bipolar disorder, and schizoaffective disorder and was living in a group home. At autopsy, examination of the upper airway revealed 4 distinct spherical boli of impacted fecal matter in the oral cavity and pharynx. Death was attributed to asphyxia due to aspiration of stool bolus during an episode of coprophagia. This is now the second reported case of coprophagic-related death, illustrating the need for careful monitoring of eating activities in individuals with mental disorders.
Laryngohyoid Fractures in Fatal Nonhomicidal Falls From a Height
Authors: Eş Hüseyin , Şahin Muhammed Feyzi , Özdemir Erdinç
Published: September 2017

In cases of fall from a height, the presence of laryngohyoid fracture or bleeding at autopsy constitutes a suspicion of strangulation before trauma in these types of cases. This study has aimed to investigate the incidence of laryngohyoid fractures in nonhomicidal fall from height cases, and their relationship with age, sex, height of fall, body mass index, and other injuries.

A total of 170 cases proven to be nonhomicidal falls from height with certain witnesses and evidences in 4683 autopsy cases in 2013 were included in this study.

The mean age of the patients included in the study was 39.96 ± 22.25, and 70.6% of the cases were men. It was found that 118 (69.4%) of the deaths were accidental and 52 (30.6%) were suicidal. Laryngohyoid fracture was determined in 9.4% of the cases. In the multivariate logistic regression analyses, it was found that as the height increased, the incidence of hyoid bone fracture increased, and as the age increased, the incidence of thyroid cartilage fracture increased significantly. Furthermore, in cases with cervical spine fractures, the incidence of hyoid bone fracture, and in cases with clavicle or cervical spine fractures, the incidence of thyroid cartilage fracture were observed to be significantly higher.

When there is a suspicion in falls from height with laryngohyoid fractures, the height of fall, the age of case, and the injury in the adjacent bones contribute to the determination of the cause and manner of death.
Targeting Histone Methylation in Cancer
Authors: McCabe Michael T. , Mohammad Helai P. , Barbash Olena , Kruger Ryan G.
Published: September 2017

Most, if not all, human cancers exhibit altered epigenetic signatures that promote aberrant gene expression that contributes to cellular transformation. Historically, attempts to pharmacologically intervene in this process have focused on DNA methylation and histone acetylation. More recently, genome-wide studies have identified histone and chromatin regulators as one of the most frequently dysregulated functional classes in a wide range of cancer types. These findings have provided numerous potential therapeutic targets including many that affect histone methylation. These include histone lysine methyltransferases such as enhancer of zeste homolog 2 and DOT1L, protein arginine methyltransferases such as protein arginine methyltransferase 5, and histone lysine demethylases such as lysine-specific demethylase 1. This review presents the rationale for targeting histone methylation in oncology and provides an update on a few key targets that are being investigated in the clinic.
Peduncular Hallucinosis and Autonomic Dysfunction in Anti-Aquaporin-4 Antibody Syndrome
Authors: Berry Renee , Panegyres Peter K.
Published: September 2017

Neuromyelitis optica is a rare, severe inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system, previously described as affecting only the optic nerve and spinal cord. Since the discovery of a highly specific autoantibody, anti-aquaporin-4, lesions are now recognized outside these regions. We report a man with severe, debilitating symptoms resulting from a symptomatic lesion within the diencephalon, manifesting with abnormal circadian rhythms, autonomic dysfunction, behavioral disturbance, and complex visual hallucinations. The patient reported seeing nonexistent small people and animals, streaks of color across people’s faces, movement of objects and facial features, water cascading down walls, bright spots, and writing appearing as hieroglyphics. His centrally driven sick sinus syndrome required insertion of a permanent cardiac pacemaker. We have been able to suppress his disease activity with methotrexate for 30 months. We review the literature on patients with positive anti-aquaporin-4 serology and dysregulation of hypothalamic function, to provide evidence that the clinical manifestations can include complex visual phenomena.
False-positive galactomannan assay in broncho-alveolar lavage after enteral nutrition solution inhalation: a case report
Authors: Lheureux Olivier , Montesinos Isabel , Taton Olivier , Antoine Martine , Preiser Jean-Charles , Nortier Joelle , Creteur Jacques , Jacobs Frederique , Grimaldi David
Published: September 2017

Introduction. Diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis is challenging and the gold standard for definite diagnosis remains histopathological tissue examination. However, invasive procedures such as lung biopsy are often not feasible in critically ill patients. The detection of fungal cell wall components like Aspergillus galactomannan in broncho-alveolar lavage remains a key component of the diagnostic procedure. False-positive of the Aspergillus galactomannan assay is not frequent.

Case presentation. We report a case of positive galactomannan in broncho-alveolar lavage fluid after enteral nutrition aspiration without signs of invasive aspergillosis. Galactomannan was positive in the enteral nutrition solution.

Conclusion. Physicians should be aware of this previously unrecognized cause of false-positive galactomannan in broncho-alveolar fluid which can result in unnecessary treatments.
Impact of financial inclusion on technical efficiency of paddy farmers in Bangladesh
Authors: Afrin Sonia , Haider Mohammed Ziaul , Islam Md. Sariful
Published: September 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of financial inclusion on the enhancement of paddy farmers’ technical efficiency (TE). The impact was evaluated rigorously from different dimensions which could be useful in the policy discussion for enhancing efficiency in utilizing productive resources.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional data of randomly selected 120 paddy farmers from Khulna district in the Southwest region of Bangladesh were collected for this study. Initially, a stochastic production frontier approach was used for estimating farmers’ TE. Thereafter, ordinary least squares and quantile regression models were applied for unveiling the existing relationship between TE and various dimensions of financial inclusion after controlling all other socio-economic characteristics.

Findings

The study findings revealed that farmers were around 86 percent technically efficient and amongst them, credit takers were more efficient than non-credit takers. A non-monotonic relationship between TE and amount of credit was observed where TE was maximized at amount around 20,000 Bangladeshi Taka (USD255), a medium credit in terms of its amount. In addition, credit literacy was identified as a significant factor for improving TE. Though difference in the choice of sources for accessing credit had little impact on mean TE, its effect was found significantly higher for low scored technically efficient farmers compared to high scored farmers.

Practical implications

The policy toward widening the coverage of financial inclusion would be more effective than providing larger amount of credit to a limited number of farmers for improving their TE.

Originality/value

Such an in-depth assessment of the impact of financial inclusion on TE is probably the first effort in the Khulna district of Bangladesh.
Factors affecting household decision to allocate credit for livestock production
Authors: Shiferaw Kaleb , Gebremedhin Berhanu , Zewdie Dereje Legesse
Published: September 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that affect farmer’s decision to allocate credit for livestock production. The results are expected to contribute to the understanding of what motivates smallholders to allocate credit to agricultural production in general and livestock production in particular. A better understanding of the farmers’ behavior in allocating credit for livestock would provide useful information for project implementers and financial institutions that work with small-scale livestock producers.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-section data set collected in 2014 from 5,000 households and 497 rural communities in the major highland regions of Ethiopia is examined. The authors developed a conceptual framework for credit allocation decision. Percentiles, means, and standard deviation as well as t, χ2 and Fisher’s exact tests for association and Cramer’s V measure for strength of association have been used to describe the status of farmer’s access to credit and analyze credit utilization, while a three-stage probit model with double sample selection is used to identify factors that affect household’s decision to allocate credit for livestock production.

Findings

After controlling for potential selection biases, sex and literacy status of household head, land size, wealth and access to livestock centered extension service are found to have a statistically significant effect on farmers’ decision to allocate credit to livestock production. The results showed female-headed households, wealthy farmers, farmers with small plot of land and farmers that have access to livestock centered extension services are more likely to allocate the credit for livestock production. The results suggest that policies aimed at improving access to credit together with access to livestock focused extension service are more effective in increasing livestock production.

Research limitations/implications

The study’s findings should be viewed with perspective and caution, as only households with excess demand for credit were the subject of the research.

Originality/value

The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, it is one of a very few empirical studies that try to identify factors that affect households credit allocation to livestock in systematic way that removed confounding effects using three-stage probit models. Given the emphasis on financial constraints in livestock development, new empirical insights on household credit allocation are essential to better inform development interventions. Second, the analysis relies on a comprehensive data set that represents the major agricultural system of the country.
Ownership structure and company performance: a panel study from Poland
Authors: Aluchna Maria , Kaminski Bogumil
Published: September 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the links between company ownership structure and financial performance in the context of the largest Central European stock market. Using the framework of agency theory, the authors address the question of the expropriation effect by dominant owners and the effect of collusion between shareholders of different types on company performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors test hypotheses on the relations between ownership concentration and the involvement of different shareholders (state, CEO, industry and financial investors) vs return on assets (ROA). The authors adopt the panel model controlling for endogeneity and sector of operation and analyze the data from the unique sample of 495 Polish non-financial firms listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in years 2005-2014 with a total of 3,203 observations.

Findings

The authors identify a negative correlation between ownership concentration by the majority shareholder and ROA, which corresponds with the expropriation rationale of blockholders. The authors also observe negative effects due to ownership concentration by the second largest shareholder, supporting the notion of collusion. The results show that ownership by industry investors is associated with a higher ROA. Ownership by the CEO, state and financial investors proves to have no statistically significant effect on performance.

Originality/value

The paper further develops the nature of ownership-performance relations in the specific economic context of a post-transition, emerging European stock market, weak external corporate governance mechanisms, insufficient investor protection and significant concentration of share ownership. The results add to the understanding of monitoring vs expropriation effects by large owners and the collusion between different types of shareholders.
Product market competition, regulatory changes, ownership structure and accounting conservatism
Authors: Majeed Muhammad Ansar , Zhang Xian-zhi , Wang Zhaonan
Published: September 2017

Purpose

This study aims to examine the impact of various dimensions of product market competition on accounting conservatism particularly in the wake of regulatory changes and varying ownership structures in China.

Design/methodology/approach

This study examines impact of product market competition on accounting conservatism by using conservatism measure of Khan and Watts (2009) and measures for important dimensions of competition such as competition intensity, non-price competition and competition from existing rivals and potential entrants.

Findings

The findings suggest that competition intensity and non-price competition result in higher conservatism. This study also advocates that industry leaders exhibit lower conservatism as compared to industry followers. Moreover, the authors document positive association between competition from existing/potential rivals and accounting conservative. These findings reveal that regulatory changes (International Financial Reporting Standards adoption) influence the effect of various dimensions of competition on conservatism. The authors also propose that financial reporting practices of state-owned enterprises are not influenced by competition. However, competition affects financial reporting (conservatism) when institutional or managerial ownership is higher.

Originality/value

The authors document that strategic considerations shape conservative financial reporting decisions of the managers. This study also advocates that when regulatory changes affect the influence of competitive pressure on the conservative reporting decisions of the mangers. Findings also suggest that unlike state ownership, institutional as well as managerial ownership affects the influence of competition on managerial decisions like conservative financial reporting. These results are robust to various alternative measures of conservatism.
Job satisfaction and turnover intention in China
Authors: Huang Shenglan , Chen Zhi , Liu Hefu , Zhou Liying
Published: September 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the moderating effects of job alternatives and policy support on the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire survey was conducted in China. The study sample consisted of employees from organizations of different sizes, ownerships and industry types. Finally, 462 valid questionnaires were obtained.

Findings

Cognitive job satisfaction has a stronger negative effect on turnover than affective job satisfaction, and both effects depend on the factors related to ease of movement. Cognitive job satisfaction is more effective when job alternative is low and policy support is high, whereas affective job satisfaction leads to lesser turnover when job alternative is high and policy support is low.

Research limitations/implications

First, the demography of the respondents may have limited the generalizability of our findings. Second, this study has the limitation common to all cross-sectional studies. Third, this study focuses on turnover intention of employees rather than actual turnover rates. Finally, although the authors have identified specific factors related to ease of movement as the moderators by drawing upon the organizational equilibrium theory and current HRM literature, there may be other moderators that can affect the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover.

Practical implications

HRM managers should apply organizational HRM to the local institutional environment, especially to the human resource policies of local governments, which vary significantly across regions in China.

Social implications

HRM managers should be very cautious to approach career development task in China, especially when they have an attitude of whatever works in mature economies will surely work in organizations in Chinese society.

Originality/value

The findings extend previous career development literature that assumes unconditional effects of job satisfaction on turnover intention. With the objective of exploring the effects of conditional factors, the current study explores the special role of job alternatives and policy support in the job satisfaction – turnover relationship in the context of China. Additionally, the findings provide support for the application of organizational equilibrium theory in the context of China.
FinTech banking industry: a systemic approach
Authors: Wonglimpiyarat Jarunee
Published: September 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to explore FinTech and its dynamic transitions in the banking industry. In particular, the study analyses the systemic innovation nature of FinTech-based innovations. The main contribution of this research study is the development of systemic innovation model which can be used as a dynamic tool to track the progress and pattern of technology development and diffusion. The research also discusses the latest financial innovation of PromptPay FinTech – the e-payment system in Thailand.

Design/methodology/approach

This research uses the case study approach to analyse the systemic innovation characteristics of FinTech-based innovations. This research offers a new systemic innovation model which is developed and can be used as a dynamic tool to track the progress and pattern of technology development and diffusion. The study uses FinTech-based innovations as case study samples to gain a better understanding concerning the systemic characteristics and the pattern of technology diffusion under the analytical framework of systemic innovation model. This research involves qualitative interviews with five major commercial banks in the financial services industry of Thailand.

Findings

The analyses of findings show the systemic characteristics of FinTech-based innovations in the banking industry, both at a global scale and Thailand case. The analyses have shown that systemic characteristics of the innovation process are the outcome of interactions between the complexity of the innovation and the capabilities of innovators in managing the innovation. The insightful implications on the systemic nature of innovation give the trend and direction of FinTech-based innovation development in the banking industry.

Originality/value

The main contribution which shows originality and value of this paper is the development of systemic innovation model. This research study develops a systemic innovation model to analyse the systemic characteristics which can be applied to all innovations in any industry. The model can also help track the progress and pattern of technology development and diffusion. Therefore, the model can be used to project the trend and diffusion of innovation competition in the banking industry.
Higher technical skills
Authors: King Madeleine , Waters Melinda , Widdowson John , Saraswat Arti
Published: September 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of a joint study carried out with groups of colleges in England and technical and further education (TAFE) institutes in Australia. It looks at the factors which promote the delivery of higher technical skills and the infrastructure arrangements that are needed for success. It relates these to the debate concerning the promotion of higher and degree apprenticeships (HAs and DAs) in England.

Design/methodology/approach

The report is derived from a series of interviews with college and TAFE staff. A policy comparison is also included to provide context.

Findings

The outcome of the study suggests that similar factors affect the decision to offer, pursue and contribute to the development of higher technical skills in both countries. HAs and DAs are an English construct and the experience of colleges involved in HAs adds a valuable contribution to discussions surrounding the marketing and delivery of DAs. The Australian decision not to pursue either structure encourages reflection on what it is that governments are trying to achieve and what lessons can be learned from their approach.

Research limitations/implications

The study was carried out within the non-university sector in both countries. Colleges and TAFE institutes are more likely to offer practice-based higher education (HE), have teaching staff with industry backgrounds and have long-established engagement with employers that may be found within universities. The paper was therefore written from a distinctive environment. However, it is likely that the issues identified apply to universities and private providers of HE as much as to colleges and TAFEs.

Practical implications

The findings suggest that developing HAs or DAs should not be seen merely as just another marketing opportunity. The hybrid nature of both structures requires a holistic approach to delivery on the part of institutional leaders that leads to significant overhaul of internal communications networks, quality assurance schemes and staff development.

Originality/value

The paper is one of relatively few published documents which focus on the role of dual sector colleges and TAFE institutes in the delivery of HE and higher technical skills. It offers insight into how government pressure for a particular style of HE, deemed necessary for the national economic interest of both countries, can be made into a reality. By using the expertise that already exists within the college and TAFE sectors and their established links with employers, more effective changes can be made at a faster pace.