bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Conclusion
Authors: Platte Nathan
Published: November 2017

Understanding the musical collaboration behind Selznick’s films does not require embracing every one of the producer’s decisions—some missed their mark. But Selznick’s productions do invite a re-evaluation of dominant prejudices in film-music discourse regarding, the involvement of a non-musicians in the scoring process, the sharing of compositional duties among multiple personnel, and film music’s relationship to commercial interests. These factors are crucial to understanding music’s function in Selznick’s films and its success within films and beyond. Although Selznick’s emphasis on film music reflected priorities born of prestige filmmaking (and literary adaptations in particular), his musical ideas spread far beyond these categories in the hands of other filmmakers. A concluding section shows that the mosaic-like construction of scores for Selznick presents not a crisis of authorship, but rather an opportunity to assess the dynamic and messy collaborations that produced some of Hollywood’s most memorable scores.
Rights of the Child
Authors: Bajpai Asha
Published: November 2017

The chapter commences with the change in the perspective and approach relating to children from welfare to rights approach. It then deals with the legal definition of child in India under various laws. It gives a brief overview of the present legal framework in India. It states briefly the various policies and plans, and programmes of the Government of India related to children. International law on the rights of the child is enumerated and a summary of the important judgments by Indian courts are also included. The chapter ends with pointing out the role of civil society organizations in dealing with the rights of the child and a mention of challenges ahead.
Right to Protection against Sexual Abuse and Exploitation
Authors: Bajpai Asha
Published: November 2017

Child sexual abuse and exploitation covers the sexual maltreatment of both children and young people. Part A deals with child sexual abuse (CSA) in India, its magnitude, and child sexual abuse in institutions. It deals with the national legal regime relating to CSA including the constitutional provisions, Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO). Law reform relating to some provisions in POCSO, child marriage laws, Right to Education Act and, and child victims and witnesses is recommended. Part B deals with commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking of minor children in the context of organized exploitation for commercial gain. The Indian laws dealing with commercial sexual exploitation and pornography are included. Important judgements and international instruments dealing with child sexual abuse and exploitation and the important role played by NGOs and government in dealing with cases of CSA and exploitation are included.
Varieties of Capitalism and the Next Steps Beyond
Authors: Menz Georg
Published: November 2017

Given the prominence of the varieties of capitalism debate and its imprint from the turn of the twenty-first century onwards, this chapter is dedicated to introducing, reviewing, critiquing, and expanding Peter Hall and David Soskice’s paradigm of ‘Varieties of Capitalism’. We explore the impact the turn towards ‘varieties’ has had, examine how the discussion has reshaped the subfield as a whole, and propose fresh ways pointing forward. Recent strides made suggest taking ideas and discourse more seriously. The cultural turn, however, deserves much more serious consideration than it has received so far. Disassembling the building blocks of the various models and exploring the glue that keeps them attached is another research avenue.
Labour Markets and their Regulation
Authors: Menz Georg
Published: November 2017

This first empirical chapter provides an in-depth analysis of changes to the models of industrial relations in six countries, considering general patterns of change, their sources, and their precise impact. A general trend towards liberalization plays out differently depending on power resources, institutional constellations, and historical trajectory. Societal trends, including increasing female and ethnic minority labour market participation and increases in atypical forms of employment, present challenges for trade unions. Employer associations are losing members, but can wield the powerful threat of outsourcing abroad. Finally a tour d’horizon of education and training systems establishes how they link into the structure of labour markets.
The Political Economy of Debt
Authors: Menz Georg
Published: November 2017

The explosive rise in not just public, but also private debt has recently attracted more scholarly attention. This is a novel development and might expose politico-economic models of governance to instability from an angle previously underappreciated. The liberalization of credit access in the Anglo-American countries, and, somewhat later, beyond those, might be seen as liberating for some, but they also create the potential for entrapment in debt. The term ‘privatized Keynesianism’ has been proposed to suggest a systematic agenda behind the facilitated access to lending. In this chapter, the broader access to investment vehicles is also being scrutinized, although upon closer inspection any claims of mass ownership of shares turn out not to be tenable.
Quantum Theory
Authors: Rau Jochen
Published: November 2017

From the outset statistical mechanics will be framed in the language of quantum theory. The typical macroscopic system is composed of multiple constituents, and hence described in some many-particle Hilbert space. In general, not much is known about such a system, certainly not the precise preparation of all its microscopic details. Thus, its description requires a more general notion of a quantum state, a so-called mixed state. This chapter begins with a brief review of the basic axioms of quantum theory regarding observables, pure states, measurements, and time evolution. Particular attention is paid to the use of projection operators and to the most elementary quantum system, a two-level system. The chapter then motivates the introduction of mixed states and examines in detail their mathematical representation and properties. It also dwells on the description of composite systems, introducing, in particular, the notions of statistical independence and correlations.
The Cold War and European Security, 1950–1960
Authors: Imlay Talbot C.
Published: November 2017

In examining European socialist responses to the issue of post-war European security, this chapter challenges the image of a continent irremediably divided along Cold War lines. Throughout the 1950s European socialists struggled to devise a stable and peaceful security order in a world of nuclear armaments and superpower rivalries. This struggle initially centred on the European Defence Community (EDC). For many socialists, the EDC offered a possible means not only of avoiding an independent German army but also perhaps of overcoming Cold War divisions. Following the EDC’s demise and West Germany’s integration into NATO, European socialists recentred their hopes on ‘disengagement’—the idea of creating a demilitarized and neutralized region in Central and Eastern Europe encompassing countries on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Indeed, during the late 1950s, European socialists emerged as the leading organized advocates of disengagement, working assiduously to keep the project in the public eye.
The Stakes of Decolonization, 1945–1960
Authors: Imlay Talbot C.
Published: November 2017

In examining the efforts of European socialists to forge a common position towards the issue of post-war empires, this chapter highlights some of the political stakes involved in decolonization. As debates between European and Asian socialists suggest, the process of decolonization witnessed a struggle between competing rights: national rights, minority rights, and human (individual) rights. Each set of rights possessed far-reaching political implications, none more so than minority rights, as they were often associated with limits on national sovereignty. These limits could be internal, such as constitutional restraints on the working of majority rule; but they could also take the form of external constraints on sovereignty, including alternatives to the nation state itself. The victory of the nation state, in other words, was inextricably tied to the defeat of minority rights as well as the growing predominance of human rights.
Definitions and Intellectual Property Subject Matter
Authors: Pila Justine
Published: November 2017

This chapter considers the relative absence of scholarly attention to the meaning of the terms used to denote the subject matter that IP rights protect and the nature of those subject matter themselves. It then outlines the aims and methods of the definitional task undertaken in later chapters, and the stages in which that task proceeds. Using the distinction drawn by Richard Robinson, it proposes a nominal word:thing definitional exercise, rather than a word:word exercise, that considers recent use of the terms to be defined by European and UK legal officials. Drawing on the stipulative nature of authoritative legal definition, it also proposes an explicative aspect to the definitional exercise, focused on clarifying legal officials’ understandings of the relevant terms in the light of the relevant legal and policy context. And finally, it summarizes the conclusions reached at each stage of the definitional exercise undertaken in later chapters.
The Invention and Plant Variety
Authors: Pila Justine
Published: November 2017

This chapter seeks to define the terms ‘invention’ and ‘plant variety’ as used by European and UK legal officials particularly. To that end, the nature of the objects identified by the legislature and courts as inventions and plant varieties is considered, as well as the nature of the objects excluded from protection, whether with reference to the requirement for an invention or plant variety or on other statutory grounds. The chapter also considers the law governing patent and plant variety right entitlement, and its implications for legal conceptions of the invention and plant variety. In its conclusion, the legal understandings of inventions and plant varieties are presented as answers to the questions identified in Chapter 3 concerning the categories and essential properties of the subject matter in question, their method of individuation, and the relationship between and method of establishing the existence of each individual subject matter and its tokens.
The Trade Mark, Other Product Designations, and Goodwill
Authors: Pila Justine
Published: November 2017

This chapter considers the meaning of the terms that appropriately denote the subject matter protectable by registered trade mark and allied rights, including the common law action of passing off. Drawing on the earlier analyses of the objects protectable by patent and copyright, it defines the trade mark, designation of origin, and geographical indication in their current European and UK conception as hybrid inventions/works in the form of purpose-limited expressive objects. It also considers the relationship between the different requirements for trade mark and allied rights protection, and related principles of entitlement. In its conclusion, the legal understandings of trade mark and allied rights subject matter are presented as answers to the questions identified in Chapter 3 concerning the categories and essential properties of the subject matter in question, their method of individuation, and the relationship between and method of establishing their and their tokens’ existence.
Reconstructing the Union and Suspending in the Name of Civil Rights
Authors: Tyler Amanda L.
Published: November 2017

As is explored in this chapter, resistance in the South to the post-Civil War Reconstruction Amendments to the U.S. Constitution led the victorious Union general-turned-president Ulysses S. Grant to request a suspension from his Congress in order to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan and combat Klan violence. Studying the Reconstruction period reveals that the understanding of the constitutional privilege and suspension remained consistent with Anglo-American legal tradition. In carrying out the suspension on the ground, military officers employed their expanded powers to engage in preventive detention of Klan members and to advance the new civil rights constitutionalized in the Reconstruction Amendments, while recognizing that with the lapsing of suspension, further detention could only be justified through the criminal process. Throughout, the Reconstruction period underscores the continuing influence of the English Habeas Corpus Act on American constitutional habeas jurisprudence. Notably, however, the Reconstruction period tells a very different narrative about the ends to which the suspension power may be wielded—namely, the advancement of civil rights.
Habeas Corpus Today
Authors: Tyler Amanda L.
Published: November 2017

The experience of World War II and the precedent of the Japanese American internment dramatically altered the political and legal landscape surrounding habeas corpus and suspension. This chapter discusses Congress’s enactment of the Emergency Detention Act of 1950 along with its repeal in 1971. It further explores how in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, questions over the scope of executive authority to detain prisoners in wartime arose anew. Specifically, this chapter explores the Supreme Court’s sanctioning of the concept of the “citizen-enemy combatant” in its 2004 decision in Hamdi v. Rumsfeld and evaluates Hamdi against historical precedents. Finally, the chapter explores how Hamdi established the basis for an expansion of the reach of the Suspension Clause in other respects—specifically, to the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The Age of Self-Esteem
Authors: Miller Peggy J. , Cho Grace E.
Published: November 2017

Chapter 2, “The Age of Self-Esteem,” continues to trace the intellectual history of childrearing and self-esteem, tracking the widespread dissemination of self-esteem that marked the late decades of the twentieth century and ushered in the age of self-esteem. Studies of self-esteem surged during this period, but the burgeoning of interest was not confined to academic psychology. This chapter describes the confluence of scholarly, educational, and social currents that carried self-esteem into the consciousness of ordinary Americans, as well as the dynamic relationship between academic and popular discourses. It also introduces “Centerville,” the small Midwestern city that was the site of the Millennial study. Popular culture images of self-esteem circulated ubiquitously in Centerville, forming an ambient environment of self-esteem; a sampling of these images is reproduced in this chapter.
More Learners, Finite Resources, and the Changing Landscape of Procedural Training at the Bedside
Authors: Gisondi Michael A. , Regan Linda , Branzetti Jeremy , Hopson Laura R.
Published: November 2017

There is growing competition for nonoperative, procedural training in teaching hospitals, due to an increased number of individuals seeking to learn procedures from a finite number of appropriate teaching cases. Procedural training is required by students, postgraduate learners, and practicing providers who must maintain their skills. These learner groups are growing in size as the number of medical schools increases and advance practice providers expand their skills to include complex procedures. These various learner needs occur against a background of advancing therapeutic techniques that improve patient care but also act to reduce the overall numbers of procedures available to learners. This article is a brief review of these and other challenges that are arising for program directors, medical school leaders, and hospital administrators who must act to ensure that all of their providers acquire and maintain competency in a wide array of procedural skills. The authors conclude their review with several recommendations to better address procedural training in this new era of learner competition. These include a call for innovative clinical rotations deliberately designed to improve procedural training, access to training opportunities at new clinical sites acquired in health system expansions, targeted faculty development for those who teach procedures, reporting of competition for bedside procedures by trainees, more frequent review of resident procedure and case logs, and the creation of an institutional oversight committee for procedural training.
Progesterone for Prevention of Preterm Birth
Authors: Gee Rebekah E. , Kuy SreyRam , Karas Laura O.
Published: November 2017

Preterm birth is a problem of major public health significance that continues to plague our country despite the existence of a therapy, 17α-hydroxyprogesterone caproate, with known efficacy in reducing the risk of spontaneous preterm birth among high-risk women. Over the past several years, the Louisiana Department of Health has undertaken a robust, multifaceted initiative to improve access to 17α-hydroxyprogesterone caproate, which resulted in a 3.5-fold increase in the percentage of eligible high-risk pregnant women in the Medicaid program who received the therapy between 2013 and 2016. Yet despite Louisiana's progress, the vast majority of the eligible population still fails to receive 17α-hydroxyprogesterone caproate. In this Current Commentary, we argue that the high price of progesterone since U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval has unnecessarily complicated access, and our nation has potentially suffered nearly 60,000 avoidable premature births as a consequence. We present the history of the orphan drug approval and manufacturer-imposed price increase for injectable progesterone, the interplay between the drug's high price and the persistence of racial and ethnic disparities in preterm birth, which are particularly germane in Louisiana, and Louisiana's broad-reaching efforts to improve progesterone coverage. The story of 17α-hydroxyprogesterone caproate highlights the durable barriers that high prices place in the way of access and helps illuminate the shortcomings and unintended consequences of the Orphan Drug Act. This case, however, is not an outlier; it is the far-too-common product of monopoly pricing in the U.S. pharmaceutical market, inadvertently bolstered by existing law, at the expense of affordability and patient access.
Adding Azithromycin to Cephalosporin for Cesarean Delivery Infection Prophylaxis
Authors: Skeith Ashley E. , Niu Brenda , Valent Amy M. , Tuuli Methodius G. , Caughey Aaron B.
Published: November 2017

OBJECTIVE:

To investigate the cost-effectiveness of adding azithromycin to standard cephalosporin regimens of cesarean delivery prophylaxis by considering the maternal outcomes in the current and potential subsequent pregnancies.

METHODS:

A cost-effectiveness model was created using TreeAge to compare the outcomes of using azithromycin–cephalosporin with cephalosporin alone in a theoretical cohort of 700,000 women, the approximate number of nonelective cesarean deliveries annually in the United States that occur during labor or after membrane rupture. Outcomes examined included endometritis, wound infection, sepsis, venous thromboembolism, and maternal death in the current pregnancy and uterine rupture, cesarean hysterectomy, and maternal death in subsequent pregnancies, including cost and quality-adjusted life-years for both pregnancies. Probabilities, utilities, and costs were derived from the literature, and a cost-effectiveness threshold was set at $100,000 per quality-adjusted life-year. Sensitivity analyses were used to determine the robustness of our results.

RESULTS:

Compared with cephalosporin alone for prophylaxis, our model showed 16,100 fewer cases of endometritis, 17 fewer cases of sepsis, eight fewer cases of venous thromboembolism, and one fewer maternal death with azithromycin–cephalosporin. Additionally, this strategy prevented 36 uterine ruptures and four cesarean hysterectomies in the subsequent pregnancy. Overall, the addition of azithromycin led to both lower costs and higher quality-adjusted life-years when compared with standard cephalosporin prophylaxis. In sensitivity analysis, we found that as long as the cost of azithromycin remained below $930 (baseline cost $27), it was cost-effective.

CONCLUSION:

For women who undergo cesarean delivery in labor or after membrane rupture, compared with cephalosporin alone, the addition of azithromycin to cesarean delivery infection prophylaxis is less costly and leads to better maternal outcomes in the index delivery and subsequent deliveries. These findings support the use of prophylactic azithromycin at the time of cesarean delivery.
Stopping the rise of HIV among adolescents globally
Authors: Rotheram-Borus Mary Jane , Davis Emily , Rezai Roxana
Published: November 2017

Purpose of review

Adolescents, in particular those that are most disenfranchised, are increasingly at risk of acquiring HIV and, when acquiring HIV, have worse outcomes than adults. This article reviews the recent approaches to combination prevention aiming to optimize the HIV prevention and HIV treatment continua.

Recent findings

There are dramatic sociodemographic differences in the HIV epidemics in low and middle-income countries (young women in sub-Saharan Africa) compared with high-income countries (predominantly gay, bisexual, transgendered youth, especially black and Latino youth). Researchers and clinicians are designing developmentally tailored interventions that anticipate youths’ engagement with mobile technologies and build on the common features of evidence-based interventions that predate the use of antiretroviral therapies (ARV) for prevention and treatment.

Evidence-based HIV prevention and treatment programs that are cost-effective need to be broadly diffused globally. Substantial investments must be made in understanding how to implement programs, which have clinically meaningful impact and continuously monitor intervention quality over time.
Two-Stage Prosthetic Breast Reconstruction: A Comparison Between Prepectoral and Partial Subpectoral Techniques
Authors: Nahabedian Maurice Y. , Cocilovo Costanza
Published: November 2017

Background:

Prosthetic breast reconstruction with prepectoral placement may confer clinical advantages compared with subpectoral placement. The purpose of this study was to assess and compare clinical outcomes following 2-stage reconstruction following prepectoral and partial subpectoral placement of tissue expanders and implants.

Methods:

A retrospective review of 39 (prepectoral) and 50 (partial subpectoral) patients was completed. Acellular dermal matrix was used in all patients. Mean age was 50.4 and 49.2 years, respectively. Body mass index (BMI) > 30 was noted in 15.4% of prepectoral and 18% of partial subpectoral patients. Radiation therapy was delivered to 38.5% of prepectoral patients and to 22% of partial subpectoral patients. Mean follow-up was 8.7 and 13 months for the prepectoral cohort and partial subpectoral cohorts.

Results:

The percentage of patients having at least 1 adverse event was 20.5% in the prepectoral and 22% in the partial subpectoral cohorts. The incidence of surgical-site infection and seroma was 8.1% and 4.8%, respectively, for the prepectoral cohort and 4.8% and 2.4%, respectively, for the partial subpectoral cohorts. Device explantation was 6.5% for the prepectoral and 7.2% for the partial subpectoral patients. Explantation did not occur in patients who had radiation or who had a BMI > 30. Four patients (6 breasts—7.2%) required conversion from partial subpectoral to prepectoral because of animation deformity.

Conclusions:

Prepectoral reconstruction is a viable alternative to partial subpectoral reconstruction. Proper patient selection is an important variable. Prepectoral reconstruction can be safely performed in patients with a BMI < 40 and in patients having postmastectomy radiation therapy.
223Ra Therapy in Patients With Advanced Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer With Bone Metastases
Authors: van der Doelen Maarten J. , Kuppen Malou C.P. , Jonker Marianne A. , Mehra Niven , Janssen Marcel J.R. , van Oort Inge M. , Gerritsen Winald R.
Published: November 2017

Purpose

To identify pre-therapeutic variables associated with overall survival (OS) in patients treated with 223Ra.

Methods

Data from 45 CRPC patients treated with 223Ra were retrospectively analyzed. All patients who received at least one 223Ra injection were included in the study. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to estimate hazard ratio’s (HR) and to test for association.

Results

Twenty-one patients (47%) received six 223Ra injections and 24 patients (53%) received one to five 223Ra injections. Median OS since start of 223Ra was 13.0 months (95% confidence interval (CI) 8.2–17.8). Patients who completed 223Ra therapy had a median OS of 19.7 months (95% CI 14.9–24.6), while patients who received one to five 223Ra injections had a median OS of 5.9 months (95% CI 3.8–8.1; P < 0.001).

Univariable analysis showed poor baseline ECOG performance status (PS), baseline opioid use, lowered baseline hemoglobin, and elevated prostate-specific antigen, alkaline phosphatase and lactate dehydrogenase (LD) levels were significantly associated with OS. Multivariable Cox regression analysis demonstrated that poor baseline ECOG PS (HR 10.6) and high LD levels (HR 7.7) were pre-therapeutic variables that predicted poor OS.

Conclusions

In a multivariable Cox regression model, good baseline ECOG PS and low LD levels were significantly associated with longer OS in patients treated with 223Ra. These variables may be used for stratification of CRPC patients for 223Ra therapy. Prospective studies to evaluate these variables are warranted, to develop a nomogram to select patients properly. In this retrospective study, predictors of overall survival in 45 metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer patients treated with 223Ra therapy were evaluated. Baseline ECOG performance status and lactate dehydrogenase levels turned out to be significant in a multivariable prediction model for overall survival.
Managing failure: Sir Peter Brian Medawar's transplantation research
Authors: Park Hyung Wook
Published: November 2017

Sir Peter Medawar experimentally demonstrated immunological tolerance through his tissue transplantation experiment in the early and mid-1950s. He made a central contribution to modern biomedicine by showing that genetically distinct cells introduced into a body during its foetal phase could not only be permanently tolerated but also make the host accept any subsequent skin grafts from the original cell donors. However, this discovery had only a limited clinical applicability. None could practise Medawar's method on human foetuses in preparation for their future need for organ or skin transplantation. I analyse this problem by focusing on his management of ‘failures’ during the tissue transplantation experiments. Through statistical, material, theoretical and rhetorical strategies, he managed unsatisfactory findings of his research, including unexpected skin infection, sudden animal death and irregularities in homograft survival times. I argue that these strategies and their inherent ambiguities constituted the course of Medawar's research, enabling him to delineate the temporal dimensions of tolerance and a clinical relevance, which were mutually contradictory. This paper thus illustrates the multiple roles that failures play in scientific research as well as the conflicting outcomes of investigators' efforts to manage them.
The human CTF4-orthologue AND-1 interacts with DNA polymerase α/primase via its unique C-terminal HMG box
Authors: Kilkenny Mairi L. , Simon Aline C. , Mainwaring Jack , Wirthensohn David , Holzer Sandro , Pellegrini Luca
Published: November 2017

A dynamic multi-protein assembly known as the replisome is responsible for DNA synthesis in eukaryotic cells. In yeast, the hub protein Ctf4 bridges DNA helicase and DNA polymerase and recruits factors with roles in metabolic processes coupled to DNA replication. An important question in DNA replication is the extent to which the molecular architecture of the replisome is conserved between yeast and higher eukaryotes. Here, we describe the biochemical basis for the interaction of the human CTF4-orthologue AND-1 with DNA polymerase α (Pol α)/primase, the replicative polymerase that initiates DNA synthesis. AND-1 has maintained the trimeric structure of yeast Ctf4, driven by its conserved SepB domain. However, the primary interaction of AND-1 with Pol α/primase is mediated by its C-terminal HMG box, unique to mammalian AND-1, which binds the B subunit, at the same site targeted by the SV40 T-antigen for viral replication. In addition, we report a novel DNA-binding activity in AND-1, which might promote the correct positioning of Pol α/primase on the lagging-strand template at the replication fork. Our findings provide a biochemical basis for the specific interaction between two critical components of the human replisome, and indicate that important principles of replisome architecture have changed significantly in evolution.
Research on qualities of spun-silk fabrics by FLCS
Authors: Rongmei Zhou , Xiaoxuan Qin
Published: November 2017

Purpose

As one natural fiber, spun silk is one of the top-grade textile materials and has attracted more and more attentions on textile processing. The purpose of this paper is to introduce one kind of pneumatic compact spinning, four-line compact spinning (FLCS), into the silk spinning, and study and comparatively analyze corresponding yarn and fabric qualities.

Design/methodology/approach

First, two kinds of spun silk and viscose blend yarns, 120 Nm (8.3 tex) and 205 Nm (4.9 tex), were spun on the common ring spinning frame FK501 and spinning frame modified by FLCS, respectively. Then, after the plying and singeing procedures, the ply yarns 120 and 205 Nm/2 were produced. The evenness, breaking strength, and hairiness of the spun bobbin yarns and ply yarns were tested and comparatively analyzed. Then, properties of corresponding woven fabric, including the weight, thickness, permeability, stiffness, softness, smoothness, draping, wrinkle recovery, hand-touching (RHV), were measured and comparatively analyzed.

Findings

For the spun yarns, it is shown that by using the compact spinning method, the comprehensive quality of spun-silk blend bobbin and ply yarns are improved. For the fabrics, it is shown that compared with the fabric made of ring yarn, the weight and thickness of fabric made of compact yarn decreased, and the air permeability of fabric increased, but the difference is tiny. Meanwhile, the stiffness, smoothness of fabric made of compact yarn increased slightly, but the softness decreased slightly, leading to a little worse fabric hand-touching.

Originality/value

In the paper, one kind of pneumatic compact spinning, FLCS, was introduced into the silk spinning, and corresponding yarn and fabric qualities were studied and comparatively analyzed.
Does gender disparity in financial literacy still persist after retirement? Evidence from Ghana
Authors: Adam Anokye M. , Boadu Mavis Opoku , Frimpong Siaw
Published: November 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the gender disparity in financial literacy among retirees in the Cape Coast metropolis in Ghana.

Design/methodology/approach

The finding of this paper is based on 334 respondents (183 males and 151 females) to financial literacy questionnaires covering the respondents’ general knowledge on budgeting, use of automated teller machine, time value of money, account types, cheque handling and insurance. Data were analysed with Pearson χ2 and independent sample t-test.

Findings

Nominal scores showed that male domination in financial literacy in seven out of the ten questions used to assess financial literacy while female retirees lead in three. These observed nominal differences were, however, found not to be significant through χ2 test of independence except the question on the calculation of interest rate on loans in favour of males. The cumulative effect, through computation of financial literacy index was deemed to be significantly different between males and females, favouring males, using independent sampled t-test.

Practical implications

The implication is that older men continue to have their financial literacy hegemony perpetually and are stronger in computational ability. It suggests that policy responses to address gender disparity in financial literacy should work more on computational ability of females.

Originality/value

There is no known study of financial literacy related to gender disparity in Ghana.
Measuring social performance: reconciling the tension between commercial and social logics
Authors: Siti-Nabiha A.K. , Azhar Zubir , Isa Salmi Mohd , Siti-Nazariah A.Z.
Published: November 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the implementation of microfinance programs in three Malaysian development finance institutions (DFIs). Its main concerns revolve around how these DFIs measure and manage their social performance and how they reconcile their competing social and commercial objectives which are driven by particular logics.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper analyzes the ways in which the DFIs selected for this study measure and manage their social performance. The data were acquired from two sessions of focus group interviews, a series of semi-structured interviews, and extensive reviews of documentaries. The institutional logics perspective is used to explore the interplay between social and commercial logics in shaping the view and use of social performance measures in the three studied DFIs.

Findings

Although these DFIs have consistently offered formal microfinance programs to designated target groups, their ultimate focus has been on measuring financial as opposed to social performance. Hence, performance appraisal is mainly aligned with the breadth of outreach, rather than its depth. Nevertheless, there appear to be conflicts between the need to accommodate both breadth and depth, due to the competing demands of the two objectives. The rivalry between these two competing demands, which represents the interplay between social and commercial logics, is resolved through reconciliation, that is, by making one objective compatible with the other.

Originality/value

This paper examines the ways in which the DFIs in the study measure and manage their social performance, a topic that is, currently, not widely explored. This study contributes to advancing the knowledge on the link between institutional logics and organizational practices, particularly in understanding the extent to which the Malaysian DFIs assign importance to social performance when designing and offering microfinance programs.
The comparative exploration of mobile money services in inclusive development
Authors: Asongu Simplice , Asongu Ndemaze
Published: November 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to respond to some challenges in the transition to sustainable development goals by examining the correlations between mobile and inclusive development (quality of growth, poverty and inequality) in 93 developing countries for the year 2011.

Design/methodology/approach

Mobile money service entails: “mobile used to pay bills” and “mobile used to receive/send money.” Interactive ordinary least squares are employed.

Findings

The following findings are established. First, increasing use of the mobile phones to pay bills is positively linked to “quality of growth” in lower-middle-income countries and negatively correlated with inequality in Latin American countries. Second, growing use of mobile phones to send/receive money is negatively associated with poverty in Asia and Pacific and Central and Eastern Europe.

Originality/value

Macroeconomic data on mobile money service are scarce. No study to the best of our knowledge has used this macroeconomic mobile money service data before.
Innovation programs at the workplace for workers with an intellectual disability
Authors: Meacham Hannah , Cavanagh Jillian , Shaw Amie , Bartram Timothy
Published: November 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine human resource management (HRM) innovation programs in the early stages of employment for workers with an intellectual disability (WWID).

Design/methodology/approach

The first case study was carried out at a large national courier company where a film innovation programme was used to enhance the socialisation process of WWID. The second case study was at a five-star hotel situated in a large city where a buddy system innovation programme was used in the induction and training process of WWID.

Findings

The overarching “life theme” created through these innovation programs was one of enhanced and creative opportunities for social inclusion. The participants displayed more confidence and independence in their ability and exhibited aspirations to advance and succeed in their roles.

Practical implications

The study argues that HR professionals need to be more proactive in finding innovative ways to engage WWID in the early stages of employment.

Originality/value

The qualitative study is underpinned by socialisation and career construction theory which provides the framework to discuss the ways in which socialisation and socially inclusive HRM practices enable participants and other WWID achieve success on their career paths. The key message of our research is that early vocational socialisation innovation programs can make a positive difference to the work experiences of WWID.
HRM and workplace innovations: formulating research questions
Authors: Bamber Greg J. , Bartram Timothy , Stanton Pauline
Published: November 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review the roles of human resource management (HRM) specialists in the contemplation and implementation of innovation in employing organisations and workplaces.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors review some of the literature and practice in this field as well as 11 other articles that are included in this special issue.

Findings

The authors propose six research questions. First, are HRM specialists analysing relevant trends and their implications for the future of work and the workforce? Second, are HRM specialists enabling employing organisations to identify and enable innovative ideas? Third, to what extent are HRM specialists leading partnership arrangements with organised labour? Fourth, what is the role of HRM specialists in creating inclusive work environments? Fifth, how should HRM specialists change to foster enterprise performance, intrapreneurship, agility, creativity and innovation? Sixth, to what extent is there an HRM function for line managers in coordination with HRM specialists in engendering innovation around “change agent” roles?

Originality/value

The authors argue that HRM specialists should embrace and enable innovation. The authors challenge HRM specialists to consider how they can contribute to facilitating innovation. The paper proposes further research on HRM and range of associated stakeholders who, together, have responsibility for innovating in the design and delivery of HRM to enrich our knowledge of HRM and workplace innovations.
Disturbance-observer based control of voltage-source-converter under unbalanced voltage conditions
Authors: Rasool Akhtar , Ozsoy Esref Emre , Ahmad Fiaz , Sabanoviç Asif , Padmanaban Sanjeevikumar
Published: November 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to propose a novel grid current control strategy for grid-connected voltage source converters (VSCs) under unbalanced grid voltage conditions.

Design/methodology/approach

A grid voltage dynamic model is represented in symmetrical positive and negative sequence reference frames. A proportional controller structure with a first-order low-pass filter disturbance observer (DOB) is designed for power control in unbalanced voltage conditions. This controller is capable of meeting the positive sequence power requirements, and it also eliminates negative sequence power components which cause double-frequency oscillations on power. The symmetrical components are calculated by using the second-order generalized integrator-based observer, which accurately estimates the symmetrical components.

Findings

Proportional current controllers are sufficient in this study in a wide range of operating conditions, as DOB accurately estimates and feed-forwards nonlinear terms which may be deteriorated by physical and operating conditions. This is the first reported scheme which estimates the VSC disturbances in terms of symmetrical component decomposition and the DOB concept.

Originality/value

The proposed method does not require any grid parameter to be known, as it estimates nonlinear terms with a first-order low-pass filter DOB. The proposed control system is implemented on a dSPACE ds1103 digital controller by using a three-phase, three-wire VSC.
Deformation analysis of asymmetric break-down rolling of hollow steel
Authors: Yan Tao , Qin Na , Zhao Shuo , Ma Liang , Yu Enlin
Published: November 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to focus on numerical simulation investigations of deformation analysis of asymmetric break-down rolling of a hollow steel, which seriously affects the service life of the final product.

Design/methodology/approach

The 3D rigid-plastic thermo-mechanical coupled finite element method (FEM) for a large strain was used to analyze metal deformation in the deformation zone for asymmetric rolling with different roller diameters.

Findings

The distribution of stress, strain and dimension accuracy for different diameters was obtained. The results show that the additional shear strain which is different from the normal compression deformation is generated in an asymmetric rolling process. The higher the ratio between upper and lower diameters, the greater the additional shear deformation.

Originality/value

Asymmetric rolling is an important factor affecting the dimensional accuracy of the hollow steel. This study can provide a theoretical basis for developing a reasonable rolling process of the hollow steel.
Absent fetal nasal bone in the second trimester and risk of abnormal karyotype in a prescreened population of Chinese women
Authors: Du Yan , Ren Yunyun , Yan Yingliu , Cao Li
Published: November 2017

Introduction

The aim of this study was to evaluate the value of absent fetal nasal bone in the prediction of fetal chromosomal abnormalities, according to whether it was associated with other soft markers or structural abnormalities in a prescreened population of Chinese pregnant women.

Material and methods

In this retrospective cohort study, women whose fetuses had absent nasal bone detected during the second trimester ultrasound scan were followed. Fetal karyotyping was performed and pregnancy outcomes were recorded. The association between absent fetal nasal bone with abnormal karyotype was evaluated according to whether soft markers or structural abnormalities were also observed.

Results

Fetal nasal bone was assessed in 56 707 singleton pregnancies. After exclusion of unqualified cases, 71 (71/56 707, 0.13%) fetuses were included in the final analyses, of which 16 (16/71, 22.54%) were detected to have chromosomal abnormalities, including 12 cases of trisomy‐21, three of trisomy‐18, and one of micro‐deletion (in 7q). Among the 42 cases with isolated absence of nasal bone, two had trisomy‐21 and one had a micro‐deletion. Absence of nasal bone in association with other structural abnormalities had a higher rate of abnormal karyotypes compared with isolated absence of nasal bone [83.33% (10/12) vs. 7.14% (3/42), Fisher's exact test χ2 = 25.620, p < 0.001].

Conclusion

Absent fetal nasal bone is a highly specific ultrasonographic soft marker that should be included in the routine second trimester ultrasound scan.
Botulinum toxin injection vs topical nitrates for chronic anal fissure: an updated systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials
Authors: Sahebally S. M. , Meshkat B. , Walsh S. R. , Beddy D.
Published: November 2017

Aim

Chronic anal fissures (CAFs) are frequently encountered in coloproctology clinics. Chemical sphincterotomy with pharmacological agents is recommended as first‐line therapy. Topical nitrates (TN) heal CAF effectively but recurrences are common. An alternative treatment modality is injection of botulinum toxin (BT) into the anal sphincter. We aimed to perform an updated systematic review and meta‐analysis to compare the effectiveness of BT and TN in the management of CAF.

Method

PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane databases were searched for relevant articles from inception until March 2017. All randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that reported direct comparisons of BT and TN were included. Two independent reviewers performed methodological assessment and data extraction. Random effects models were used to calculate pooled effect size estimates.

Results

Six RCTs describing 393 patients (194 BT, 199 TN) were included. There was significant heterogeneity among the trials. On random effects analysis there were no significant differences in incomplete fissure healing (OR = 0.47, 95% CI 0.13–1.68, P = 0.24) or recurrence (OR = 0.70, 95% CI 0.39–1.25, P = 0.22) between BT and TN, respectively. BT was associated with a higher rate of transient anal incontinence (OR = 2.53, 95% CI 0.98–6.57, P = 0.06) but significantly fewer total side effects (OR = 0.12, 95% CI 0.02–0.63, P = 0.01) and headache (OR = 0.10, 95% CI 0.02–0.60, P = 0.01) compared with TN.

Conclusion

BT is associated with fewer side effects than TN but there is no difference in fissure healing or recurrence. Patients need to be warned regarding the risk of transient anal incontinence associated with BT.
Molecular pathology and thyroid FNA
Authors: Poller D. N. , Glaysher S.
Published: November 2017

This review summarises molecular pathological techniques applicable to thyroid FNA. The molecular pathology of thyroid tumours is now fairly well understood. Molecular methods may be used as a rule‐in test for diagnosis of malignancy in thyroid nodules, eg BRAF V600E point mutation, use of a seven‐gene mutational panel (BRAF V600E, RAS genes, RET/PTC or PAX8/PPARG rearrangement), or as a comprehensive multigene next‐generation sequencing panel, eg ThyroSeq v2. Molecular methods can also be applied as rule‐out tests for malignancy in thyroid nodules, eg Afirma or ThyroSeq v2 or as markers of prognosis, eg TERT promoter mutation or other gene mutations including BRAF V600E, TP53 and AKT1, and as tests for newly defined tumour entities such as non‐invasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary like nuclei, or as a molecular marker(s) for targeted therapies. This review describes practical examples of molecular techniques as applied to thyroid FNA in routine clinical practice and the value of molecular diagnostics in thyroid FNA. It describes the range of molecular abnormalities identified in thyroid nodules and thyroid cancers with some practical applications of molecular methods to diagnosis and prognosis of thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer.