bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Coal Resources and Development of the Coal Industry in China
Authors: Guocai Xia , Bingchi Wang , Yinghua Han
Published: January 2017

There are large coal resources of various types in China where it plays a dominant role in energy consumption.

Since the foundation of the new China, the coal industry has developed rapidly. The annual output of coal produced increased from 32.43 Mt in 1949 to 1 billion tonnes in 1989. Now China is able to design, construct and equip large-scale coal mines as well as coal-washing plants. The coal industry has reached a level as advanced as that in other countries.

Since coal is the main energy source in China rapid development of the industry will ensure that of the national economy. Hence, substantial funds should be invested in the coal industry. Attention should also be paid to coal transportation. Some railway lines should be renovated and some new ones built in order to increase the capacity for coal transport. In addition, research work should be conducted in mining and technology to raise productivity of the industry.
Analysis of Petroleum Demand in China
Authors: Wucheng Song , Yinghua Han
Published: January 2017

China is one of the earliest countries to discover and use oil and natural gas. Even so, the growth of the oil industry was quite slow before the foundation of the People's Republic of China. Since 1949, China's oil industry has developed fast, especially during the period from 1970 to 1980. The geological reserves of oil are relatively abundant in China.

The refinery industry takes most of the crude oil. With price as a lever the refinery industry has developed rapidly. The transportation sector is the big user of oil products.

As energy demand will be bigger than energy supply in the coming years and coal will play a dominant role in total energy consumption the share for oil will be less than 20% in future.
Urban Energy of China
Authors: Zhengping Jiang
Published: January 2017

This paper, dealing with urban energy in China, describes coal utilization, gaseous fuels, power and heat. Analysis is made of strategy and policy and problems and difficulties are discussed. Recent statistics were used in the paper so as to ensure accuracy.
Natural Gas Development in the Russian Far East
Authors: Khartukov Eugene M.
Published: January 2017

The poorly explored and mostly undeveloped gas resources of the Russian Far East (RFE) are large enough to support several large-scale projects, with an aggregate exportable surplus of up to 30 bcm of natural gas a year. However, owing to the uncertainties of the regional and national investment climate, new development projects, which heavily rely upon invited foreign participation, are likely to be delayed and will hardly yield, by the year 2000, more than 10 bcm of Russian gas for export. Nevertheless, in the foreseeable future the region will surely emerge as an important player in the Asia-Pacific energy market and, consequently, in this area's geopolitical arena as well.
The Development of the Hibernia Offshore Field: Panacea for a Depressed Regional Economy?
Authors: Locke L. Wade , Feehan James P.
Published: January 2017

The development of the Hibernia offshore oil and gas field is one of the largest ventures undertaken by the oil industry in Canada. It is also the first field to be developed on Canada's Grand Banks. Located in waters adjacent to the east coast of Canada's least developed, its discovery led to hope of prosperity for Newfoundland. The project offers the prospects of employment royalties and development of other offshore fields. With these prospects in mind, federal and provincial governments have provided substantial inducements to a consortium of oil companies to ensure that it would develop the field. This paper reviews Hibernia's controversial past and assesses the extent to which it may serve as a catalyst for economic recovery in Newfoundland.
A Hydrocarbon Charge Model of the Hibernia Drainage Area, Jeanne d'Arc Basin, Offshore Newfoundland
Authors: Williamson Mark , Coflin Kevin , King Scott , Desroches Kevin , Moir Phil , McAlpine K. Donald , Wray Andrew
Published: January 2017

An integration of map based and geological/geochemical modelling methodologies has enabled us to image the burial, subsidence, thermal and organic maturation histories of an area which, given its present and past structural geometry, drains into the Hibernia Oil Field. Our models indicate that the deeper parts of the Hibernia Drainage Area (HDA) contributed significant volumes of hydrocarbons, as early as 80–100 Ma, to the Hibernia structural culmination. The shallower portion of the HDA, such as the area vertically below pooled petroleum at Hibernia, has only been contributing hydrocarbons during the last 30–40 Ma. Translation of the modelled maturation history into volumetric estimates of generated, expelled and migrated oil within the area is accomplished assuming a 20% saturation threshold prior to hydrocarbon flow from the source to the reservoir/carrier system. Secondary Migration loss is estimated through assuming a reservoir/carrier-wide residual saturation of 2%. Our volume estimates suggest that the defined HDA was unable to provide sufficient charge volumes to fill the Hibernia structure and that additional charge must have been available from a drainage area to the north across the Nautilus fault. Extrapolation of HDA volumes throughout specifically defined play areas and the broader Jeanne d'Arc Basin suggests that, after accounting for secondary migration loss and assuming 30% recovery efficiency, some 2,015 106m3 (12,650 Mmbbls) of oil remains to be discovered. Our models do not account for losses due to biodegradation processes. Although this is not thought to be significant within the HDA, it will reduce basin-wide resources estimates and requires further study.
Tract of Vegetation as Means of Ensuring the Ecological Safety of Overhead Transmission Lines
Authors: Alexandrov G.N. , Kashina V.A. , Lisochkina T.V. , Podporkin G.V.
Published: January 2017

It is possible to design ecological safe environments under high voltage overhead transmission lines. The experiments carried out in the USSR are described with considerable supporting technical detail.
A Retrospective Cross-sectional Analysis of Health Education Disparities in Patients With Diabetes Using Data From the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey
Authors: Branoff Janelle D. , Jiroutek Michael R. , Kelly Chloe R. , Huma Sadia , Sutton Beth S.
Published: January 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was an association between receipt of diet/nutrition, exercise, and weight loss education in adult patients with a primary diagnosis of diabetes with various demographic and socioeconomic variables using data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) for the years 2008 to 2011.

Methods

This retrospective, cross-sectional, observational study design included patients ≥ 18 years of age with diabetes in the NAMCS between 2008 and 2011, inclusive. A series of weighted multivariable logistic regression models was constructed to evaluate predictors of diet/nutrition, exercise, and weight loss education. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were reported.

Results

Among patients included in this study (n = 3027), 35.6% received diet/nutrition education, 21.8% received exercise education, and 13.6% received weight loss education. From the multivariable analyses, visits using “other” payment type, visits with Medicaid, and visits occurring in non-Metropolitan Statistical Areas were significantly less likely to receive diet/nutrition education; visits using other payment type, visits in non-Metropolitan Statistical Areas, and visits by those ≥ 65 and 45-64 years of age were significantly less likely to receive exercise education. No significant disparities in the receipt of weight loss education were found.

Conclusion

These findings indicate that although only approximately one third or fewer patients diagnosed with diabetes were receiving diet/nutrition, exercise, or weight loss education, there appeared to be limited disparities among the groups studied. Education rates appear to be trending upward over time, to be slightly improved as compared with previous studies, and to include fewer disparities.
Ethnomedical Anthropology and Paul's “Thorn” (2 Corinthians 12:7)
Authors: Glessner Justin M.
Published: January 2017

In 2 Corinthians 12:7–10, Paul confesses to being beset by “a thorn in the flesh” connected in some way with a prior ecstatic experience (vv 2–4), which he summons “the Lord” on three occasions to remove (v 8). The intersecting topoi of this passage—illness, pain, healing, altered states of consciousness ( Pilch 2004 ; Goodman 1990 ), strength and weakness, the role of non-human forces in human illness, explanations of/for illness, and the (non)efficacy of prayer for healing—raise a complex of questions that ought not be answered in isolation. In pursuit of answers to such questions regarding illness and healing in the “symbolic world” of Paul and the community he addressed, I employ here conceptual tools garnered from the field of ethnomedical anthropology. I offer fresh readings of the dynamics at work in Paul's “thorn” discourse—a key component of the rhetorical culmination of Paul's speech act designed to (re-)assert his credentials as God's apostle to the gathered people at Corinth ( Neufeld 2000 )—while making reference throughout to its immediate literary context, the so-called “letter of tears” (2 Cor. 10–13), as well as to its relationship to the structure of ideas on illness and healing in Paul's larger epistolary corpus (e.g. Galatians 4:13–15; 1 Corinthians 11:27–34; 12:8–10, 28, 29–30).
Reading the Areopagus Speech in Acts 17 from the Perspective of Sacral Manumission of Slaves in Ancient Greece
Authors: van Aarde Andries G.
Published: January 2017

This article suggests that the metaphor of Paul as seed-picker who gathers dirt from the market in Athens (Acts 17:18) is part of the broad slave metaphor found in Greco-Roman literature and in the New Testament. The stigma of depersonalization, desocialization, and religious marginalization is attached to enslavement. Slaves are excluded from authentic personhood. The article explores the rhetoric in Paul's Areopagus speech. It demonstrates Pauline influence on the narrative in Luke-Acts. The essence of the Areopagus speech is the universal unity of humanity and the life-giving effect of the resurrection belief. Building on the notions of fictive kinship and quasi-kinship the article compares the practice of sacral manumission for slaves with that of manumissio in ecclesia.
On the Tension between Full Revelation and Earnings Management: A Reconsiderastion of the Revelation Principle
Authors: Ronen Tavy , Yaari Varda (Lewinstein)
Published: January 2017

We challenge the popular view that because of the revelation principle, the research on earnings management must be restricted only to situations in which a truth-telling, fully revealing equilibrium/i> does not exist. After presenting and discussing the revelation principle, we state conditions under which truth-telling equilibria may be dominated by equilibria wherein the message (such as earnings) is managed. The optimal message in an undominated equilibrium may involve either partial suppression of information (omission of some data) or aggregation (summarization of data).
Tracks
Authors: Ballester Marta , Livnat Joshua , Sinha Nishi
Published: January 2017

This study examines the selective disclosure of labor-related costs by U.S. firms and estimates the proportion of these costs that the market values as an investment in human capital. Labor-related costs are separately identified in the financial reports of only a small fraction of all U.S. Compustat firms. Larger firms, firms in industries that are regulated, are more labor-intensive, and have relatively little competition are more likely to report these costs voluntarily. Using a modification of the residual income valuation framework with a sample of firms that consistently disclosed their labor-related costs, the study finds that for these firms about 16 percent of all such costs represent an investment in human capital, and that about a third of this asset depreciates annually. Further, the human capital asset averages about 5 percent of the total market value of the firm and accounts for about 16 percent of the difference between market and book value. The ratio of the human capital asset to market value is found to be positively related to operating uncertainty, industry concentration, and industry-adjusted average compensation paid to employees. The human capital asset is also positively associated with analysts' long-term forecasts of earnings.
Simultaneous Signaling in IPOs via Management Earnings Forecasts and Retained Ownership: An Empirical Analysis of the Substitution Effect
Authors: Li Yue , McConomy Bruce J.
Published: January 2017

This study empirically tests the substitution effect outlined in theoretical bivariate signaling models using a Canadian IPO setting. We first show that retained ownership and the provision of management earnings forecasts are credible (value-relevant) signals for our sample of IPOs, and that they jointly affect IPO valuation. We then use simultaneous equations to investigate what factors affect managers' choices of these two signals and whether the two signals act as complements or substitutes. Our analysis indicates that managers' choices of the earnings forecast and retained ownership signals are jointly determined after controlling for other factors that affect each decision independently, and that a substitution effect exists between managers' choices of the two signals. These findings are consistent with Hughes's (1986) bivariate signaling model.
The Effect of Oil and Gas Producers' FRR No. 48 Disclosures on Investors' Risk Assessments
Authors: Thornton Daniel B. , Welker Michael
Published: January 2017

We hypothesize that oil and gas producers' sensitivity and value-at-risk (VAR) disclosures, mandated by SEC Financial Reporting Release Number 48 (FRR No. 48), convey useful information to investors about commodity betas (defined as the sensitivity of firms' equity price changes to commodity price changes). Consistent with the hypothesis, we find that first-time sensitivity and VAR disclosers experience greater commodity beta shifts at 10-K filing dates than do nondisclosing firms in a matched control sample. To enhance confidence that the observed shifts are associated with FRR No. 48 disclosures, we repeat the analyses in the year before the release was effective, when firms did not disclose sensitivity or VAR. At the prior year 10-K filing dates, we find that firms in the disclosure sample do not exhibit significant commodity beta shifts. We conclude that the results are consistent with FRR No. 48-mandated sensitivity and VAR disclosures providing useful information to investors.
Reported Earnings Quality Under Conservative Accounting and Auditing
Authors: Sen Pradyot K.
Published: January 2017

While conservatism may lead to a reduction of the current period's income, a consistent use of conservative accounting builds a hidden reserve that can inflate future earnings when investment growth slows down. For the same reason, reported earnings may be of a lower quality in terms of predictability of future cash flow when investments are growing. Managers of a growing firm, therefore, must choose to report a conservative but lower quality number or to undo the effects of conservatism by less conservative current-period cost estimates to improve the quality of reported earnings. Such departure from conservatism in the current period may lead to a conflict with the auditor, which may affect firm value as well as the manager's own wealth. Managers of a steady-state investment firm, on the other hand, have an opportunity either to report conservative and high quality earnings or to slow down its investments and/or choose less conservative current period cost estimates to report higher earnings in order to effectively mimic the (high quality) report of the growing firm. In this environment, an increase in auditor's conservatism may improve the informational efficiency of the market by reducing the incentives of the nongrowing firms to mimic a growing firm's disclosure. An increase in incentives that are based on firm value tends to increase a growing firm manager's propensity to report higher quality earnings while increasing the nongrowing firm's manager's propensity to cut back investment. Thus, we are faced with a situation where improving incentives for reporting higher quality earnings may be associated with an incentive to reduce investments by some firms.
TRACKS: Assessing the Quality of Not-For-Profit Efficiency Ratios: Do Donors Use Joint Cost Allocation Disclosures?
Authors: Khumawala Saleha B. , Parsons Linda M. , Gordon Teresa P.
Published: January 2017

We examine whether required disclosures regarding joint cost allocations raise concerns about the validity of efficiency ratios reported by not-for-profit organizations. An experimental design is used to hold constant the geographic location, size, and mission of competing charitable organizations. Participants include financial officers of not-for-profit organizations (preparers), foundation executives (expert donors), and students (novice donors). We find that preparers base contribution decisions almost entirely on the reported fund-raising cost and accept the validity of reported program ratios. Foundation executives, representing experienced users of not-for-profit financial statements, also appear to accept the joint cost allocations as reported. By contrast, novice users are the most attentive to the allocation disclosures and consider them more often when deciding on the amount of a hypothetical gift. Overall, there is little evidence that joint cost allocation disclosures are used to adjust reported expenditures for fund-raising costs. Based on our results, donors appear to ignore the effects of allocating joint costs. Although current accounting standards limit the availability of an accounting method commonly used to manage financial results, it appears that the opportunity for not-for-profit managers to use joint cost allocations to manage ratios and influence donors remains.
In Defense of Interperiod Income Tax Allocation
Authors: Kissinger John N.
Published: January 2017

This paper views deferred income taxes as a summary measurement correction that adjusts the various income statement items to an aggregate net-of-tax valuation. Further, the author observes that the tax effects of revenue timing differences are conceptually distinct from the tax effects of expense timing differences and concludes that the FASB should adopt a combination method of comprehensive interperiod allocation.
Property Rights Theory and the Formulation of Financial Statements
Authors: Gamble George O.
Published: January 2017

This article explains and demonstrates, by way of proposed financial statements, a practical application of a theory (property rights) that has important implications for financial reporting and for the FASB's conceptual framework project.
Big Eight Firms and the Accounting Literature: The Falloff in Advocacy Writing
Authors: Zeff Stephen A.
Published: January 2017

The author marshals evidence that partners in Big Eight firms, as well as the firms themselves, have engaged significantly less in advocacy writing in the accounting literature during the last decade compared with the output of articles and firm publications on controversial topics that appeared in the 1960s. He suggests several likely explanations for this trend in the literature, including the increasing competitiveness of public accounting and the transfer of standards-setting authority from a part-time board in which the Big Eight firms played a major role to the full-time Financial Accounting Standards Board. Other explanatory factors are the litigious climate and congressional oversight.
The Performance Effects of Pursuing a Diversification Strategy by Newly Founded Nonprofit Organizations
Authors: Mendoza-Abarca Karla I. , Gras David
Published: January 2017

Product diversification is commonly seen as an expansion strategy firms adopt late within their life cycles. In this article, we elucidate the practice of employing a product diversification strategy from inception. We explore the performance effects of product diversification on newly created nonprofit organizations. Our findings suggest that being diversified from the start-up phase is, while detrimental to organizational efficiency, beneficial for organizational survival. We also find that the revenue strategy employed by the organization moderates the relationship between product diversification and survival. The study offers implications for researchers and practitioners regarding diversification as an entry strategy and performance assessment of new nonprofit organizations.
Use of a Technological Prompting Device to Aid a Student with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder to Initiate and Complete Daily Tasks: An Exploratory Study
Authors: Epstein Jeffery N. , Willis Melissa G. , Conners C. Keith , Johnson Diane E.
Published: January 2017

This single-subject study examined the effects of a technological prompting device for assisting a student with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, predominantly inattentive type, to initiate and complete daily tasks. The subject, a fourth-grade male, and his family were provided with computer software and a paging device with word prompting capabilities. The family, in collaboration with the child's teacher, selected particular behaviors to target for use with the intervention. A reversal design across settings with a third return to baseline and intervention was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the prompting device in assisting the student in remembering daily tasks. Study results demonstrated that the intervention was effective in promoting the occurrence of target behaviors but did not affect overall ADHD symptomatology. In addition, the devise appeared to be more useful in the student's structured school environment than his less-structured home environment. Parent and teacher reported a high degree of consumer satisfaction with the device. Overall, the results suggest that the use of a prompting device may be an effective technological intervention for addressing some of the memory-associated symptoms of ADHD.
Simultaneous and Delayed Video Modeling: An Examination of System Effectiveness and Student Preferences
Authors: Taber-Doughty Teresa , Patton Scott E. , Brennan Stephanie
Published: January 2017

The effectiveness of simultaneous and delayed video modeling when used by three middle-school students with moderate intellectual disabilities was examined. Alternating between modeling systems, students were taught to use the public library computer to locate specific book call numbers and use the Dewey Decimal Classification System to locate specific books and DVDs in the library. An alternating-treatment design with withdrawal, preference, and generalization conditions was used to illustrate the effectiveness of the video modeling systems on each student's task performance. Results indicated that both systems were effective for increasing independent student performance. Additionally, the preferred modeling system was the more effective system for two students, resulting in greater independent performance than when using the non-preferred system.
Teacher Use of Diagnostic Questioning and Modeling in Language Development
Authors: Hendrickson Jo M. , Stowitschek Carole E.
Published: January 2017

The effects of two diagnostic questioning strategies on the acquisition of specific language responses of four handicapped preschoolers were investigated. Replication of effects was demonstrated using a within-subject multiple baseline design. Results indicated that the diagnostic questioning strategy using Full Model to Open Question was more efficacious for modifying the structure and content of young learners' expressive language repertoires than a strategy referred to as Open Question to Full Model.
Parenting and the Handicapped
Authors: Moseley Peggy F.
Published: January 2017

Giving Birth and Independence is a program which includes four 30-minute videotapes in soap-opera style and which enables parents to meet the special demands of having a handicapped child. This series helps parents, professionals, and paraprofessionals learn to talk, to listen, and to work with handicapped children. The program also contains a workshop manual with specific instructions for audience participation. Even though participants can absorb important information from viewing only one program, parents and professionals can retain more information and can get emotional help from this series if it is shown in a workshop setting.
The Relationship Between Core Members’ Social Capital and Perceived and Externally Evaluated Prestige and Cooperation Among HIV/AIDS-Related Civil Society Organizations in China
Authors: Wang Danni , Xu Xiaoru , Mei Guangliang , Ma Ying , Chen Ren , Qin Xia , Hu Zhi
Published: January 2017

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the core members’ social capital was associated with individually perceived and externally evaluated prestige and cooperation among the HIV/AIDS-related civil society organizations (CSOs). To accomplish this, a cross-sectional study using multistage sampling was carried out in eight provinces of China. Data were collected from the 327 core members via questionnaires and self-evaluated performance of the respondents were evaluated and measured. The interviews were conducted with all core members and the supervisory staff of the local Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that social support (adjusted odds ratio [a OR] = 1.87) and organizational commitment (a OR = 1.57) were significantly associated with a higher odds of prestige performance in self-evaluation. Furthermore, social support (a OR = 1.65), trust (a OR = 1.33), and organizational commitment (a OR = 1.52) were significantly correlated with cooperation performance. Trust was positively associated with the cooperation performance on external evaluation. These findings may provide a new perspective on challenges that the CSOs face in response to a growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in China. Social capital may increase performance and accelerate organizational growth, ultimately improving HIV/AIDS prevention and care.
Embassy cinema: what WikiLeaks reveals about US state support for Hollywood
Authors: Moody Paul
Published: January 2017

In an article for Foreign Affairs at the outbreak of the World War II, film producer Walter Wanger referred to Hollywood movies as ‘120,000 American ambassadors’. The preeminence of Hollywood in presenting US ideology to the world has been asserted ever since. Yet the relationship between Hollywood and America’s actual ambassadors, employed by the global network of American embassies, has rarely been investigated, despite the key role that this often overlooked aspect of the state apparatus plays in the maintenance of Hollywood’s commercial interests and American cultural hegemony. The release by WikiLeaks in November 2010 of over 250,000 diplomatic cables has provided an opportunity to address this gap, by offering researchers an unparalleled insight into the worldwide network of American embassies. This article employs these documents to explain how these embassies have influenced global film policies since early 2003, and the implications they have for conceptions of American power in the wake of the ‘War on Terror’.
Engaging and Misbehaving: How Dignity Affects Employee Work Behaviors
Authors: Lucas Kristen , Manikas Andrew S. , Mattingly E. Shaunn , Crider Cole J.
Published: January 2017

While there has been a growing body of research on workplace dignity, the majority of studies tend to focus on how dignity is experienced by organizational members, paying considerably less attention to consequences for organizations. In this study, we explore the influence of workplace dignity on employee work behaviors that affect organizational performance. Framing our inquiry with Sharon Bolton’s yet-untested multidimensional theory of dignity, we analyze Randy Hodson’s content-coded ethnographic data to reveal that increases in workplace dignity tend to predict increases in employee engagement, yet have mixed effects on counterproductive workplace behaviors. Following a post-hoc ethnographic reimmersion, we identify the critical role of safe and secure working conditions in enabling and constraining employees’ ability to redress or resist workplace indignities with counterproductive workplace behaviors.
Patient Reflections on Decision Making for Laryngeal Cancer Treatment
Authors: Shuman Andrew G. , Larkin Knoll , Thomas Dorothy , Palmer Frank L. , Fins Joseph J. , Baxi Shrujal S. , Lee Nancy , Shah Jatin P. , Fagerlin Angela , Patel Snehal G.
Published: January 2017

Objective

To describe the reflections of patients treated for laryngeal cancer with regard to treatment‐related decision making.

Study Design

Cross‐sectional survey‐based pilot study.

Setting

Single‐institution tertiary care cancer center.

Subjects/Methods

Adults with laryngeal carcinoma were eligible to participate (N = 57; 46% treated surgically, 54% nonsurgically). Validated surveys measuring decisional conflict and regret explored patients’ reflections on their preferences and priorities regarding treatment‐related decision making for laryngeal cancer and how patient‐reported functional outcomes, professional referral patterns, and desired provider input influenced these reflections.

Results

When considering the level of involvement of surgeons, radiation oncologists, and medical oncologists in their care, patients were more likely to believe that the specialist whom they saw first was the most important factor in deciding how to treat their cancer (Fisher’s exact, ~χ2 = 16.2, df = 6, P =. 02). Patients who were treated for laryngeal cancer who reported worse voice‐related quality of life recalled more decisional conflict (P =. 01) and experienced more decisional regret (P <. 001). Of the patients for whom speech was a top priority prior to treatment, better voice‐related quality of life overall scores were correlated with less decision regret about treatment decisions (P <. 02). Of the patients for whom eating and drinking were top priorities prior to treatment, better MD Anderson Dysphagia Inventory global scores were correlated with less decision regret about treatment decisions (P <. 002).

Conclusion

Patient priorities and attitudes, coupled with functional outcomes and professional referral patterns, influence how patients reflect on their choices regarding management of laryngeal cancer. Better understanding of these variables may assist in ensuring that patients’ voices are integrated into individualized laryngeal cancer treatment planning.
Thyroid Ultrasound‐Guided Fine‐Needle Aspiration Cytology Results: Observed Increase in Indeterminate Rate over the Past Decade
Authors: Manning Amy M. , Yang Huaitao , Falciglia Mercedes , Mark Jonathan R. , Steward David L.
Published: January 2017

Objectives

To evaluate changes in distribution of reported thyroid nodule fine‐needle aspiration (FNA) cytopathology results since implementation of the Bethesda classification and revised 2015 American Thyroid Association (ATA) guidelines for selecting nodules for biopsy.

Study Design

Retrospective review.

Setting

Tertiary academic medical center.

Subjects and Methods

Evaluation of ultrasound (US)–guided thyroid FNA by a single surgeon using 2015 ATA nodule selection criteria and Bethesda reporting on 211 thyroid nodules in a 1‐year period (2015). Comparison is made to an earlier sample wherein any nodule >1 cm underwent US FNA with cytology reported prior to Bethesda consensus (2006).

Results

The current cohort involved mostly women (79%); nodules ranged from 1 to 7 cm (mean ± SEM, 2.4 ± 0.07 cm). Mean ± SEM age was 53.5 ± 1.1 years. Bethesda reporting yielded 6% nondiagnostic, 57% benign, 3% malignant, and 34% indeterminate (27% atypia of undetermined significance [AUS]/follicular lesion of undetermined significance [FLUS], 4% follicular neoplasm [FN]/Hürthle neoplasm [HN], and 2% suspicious for malignancy [SFM]). The malignancy rate in indeterminate nodules was 26% (18% AUS/FLUS, 33% FN/HN, and 80% SFM). Age, sex, or nodule size did not correlate with indeterminate cytology. The comparator sample of 447 nodules had significantly different distribution, with 7% nondiagnostic, 80% benign, 5% malignant, and 8% indeterminate (P <. 00001).

Conclusion

We observed a significantly increased proportion of indeterminate cytology and corresponding decrease in benign nodules compared with an earlier sample, predominately from an increase in AUS/FLUS. Multiple factors are likely involved, including selection of sonographically suspicious nodules for biopsy based upon 2015 ATA guidelines coupled with cytopathological interpretation by a new generation of cytopathologists trained in the era of Bethesda reporting; further study is required to make a definitive conclusion.
Human Adipose‐Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Osseous Rehabilitation of Induced Osteoradionecrosis: A Rodent Model
Authors: Janus Jeffrey R. , Jackson Ryan S. , Lees Katherine A. , Voss Stephen G. , Wilson Zachary C. , Remmes Nicholas B. , Keeney Michael G. , Garcia Joaquin J. , San Marina Serban
Published: January 2017

Objective

Human adipose‐derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) were used to rehabilitate bone damaged by osteoradionecrosis (ORN) in an established animal model.

Study Design

Prospective animal study.

Setting

Academic department laboratory.

Subjects and Methods

After institutional review board and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee approval, 24 athymic nude rats were divided into 5 groups: 4 groups irradiated (20 Gy) by brachytherapy catheter placed at the left hemimandible and 1 mock irradiation control (n = 4). For all groups, ORN was initiated by extraction of the central molar 1 week later. After 28 days, animals (n = 5/group) received injection at the extraction site with saline (SAL), ADSCs, platelet‐rich plasma and collagen (PRP/COL), or ADSCs + PRP/COL. Rats were sacrificed 28 days later and their mandibles harvested for histopathology analysis (osteoblasts, osteoclasts, and fibrosis) and bone volume measurement using 3‐dimensional micro–computed tomography.

Results

All but 1 rat survived the experiment period (23/24). Radiographic and histological analysis revealed 60% bone loss in the SAL group compared with the nonirradiated control. Injection of ADSCs increased jaw region bone volume by up to 36% (P <. 01). All experimental groups (ADSC, PRP/COL, and ADSC + PRP/COL) showed dramatically decreased osteoclast counts (P <. 001) while injection of PRP/COL with or without ADSCs increased osteoblasts. Increased fibrosis was observed after ADSC injection (P <. 05).

Conclusion

The application of human ADSCs to an induced mandibular osteoradionecrosis model in athymic rats results in increased deposition or preservation of bone, demonstrated both histologically and radiographically. This offers an encouraging possible treatment option for translational research in this difficult disease.
Linkage between Economic Value Added and Market Value: An Analysis
Authors: Banerjee Ashok
Published: January 2017

Maximizing shareholder value has become the new corporate paradigm. Corporations in the US have started disclosing EVA information from the beginning of 90s as a measure of corporate performance. It is believed that market value of a firm (hence shareholder wealth) would increase with the increase in EVA. Various studies done in the US also confirm this belief. EVA (a term coined and registered by Stern Stewart & Co. New York) is a residual income that subtracts the cost of capital from the operating profits generated by a business. The present study makes an at tempt to find the relevance of Stewart's claim that market value of the firm is largely driven by its EVA generating capacity in the Indian context. Based on a sample of 200 firms over a period of five years, the study shows that market value of a firm can be well predicted by estimated future EVA streams. The study has also found that market value of most of the firms in the sample is explained more by current operational value than future growth value of firms.
Erhardt+Leimer India Limited: Strategic Transformation through ERP
Authors: Madhavan S Kaushika
Published: January 2017

Erhardt+Leimer India Limited (ELIL), in the business of textile and related equipment manufacturing, is facing increased competition, stagnation in revenue, and eroded profitability. ELIL's parent company in Germany had implemented Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions to enhance its effectiveness and had offered ELIL some licences free of cost. Mr S Rajaram, Vice-President (Operations) of ELIL, though excited about the possibility of adopting ERP solutions is also concerned about implementation issues. They are: inadequate computing infrastructure, need for substantial investment, need to improve process orientation, data discipline, the prevailing organizational culture, and the high rate of failure in ERP implementation. Considering that he has to make a recommendation to the Board on ERP implementation, he is wondering whether ELIL is prepared for this change.

Readers are invited to send their responses on the case to Vikalpa office.
On Challenges and Opportunities of Designing Integrated IT Platforms for Supporting Knowledge Works in Organizations
Authors: Laha Arijit
Published: January 2017

In an ideal Knowledge Management environment in an organization, two objectives need to be achieved. Firstly, knowledge workers should have customized informational support for their respective works and secondly, workers across the organization should be able to easily understand and utilize information produced from myriads of knowledge works. Unfortunately, in current KM research and practices, these two goals are rarely addressed together. In fact, most of the KM practices subscribe either to the task-based KM approaches or to the generic/universalistic KM approaches. Typically, each of them is either unable to cater to the need of the other category or provide some ad hoc measures.

This paper examines the major issues from a very basic level to understand the problems and attempts to present a solution that systematically covers both the objectives of KM. In the process, it develops a theory, the Task-oriented Organizational Knowledge Management (TOKM), within which the problems are analysed and a viable solution is identified. TOKM gives us a set of design principles for building a new class of IT-based support systems which can serve as a major component of organizational KM.

TOKM focuses on information usage in knowledge works and the scope of technology intervention in the related processes. In this paper, the Task-oriented Organizational Knowledge Management is presented as an Information System Design Theory (ISDT) for building integrated IT platforms for supporting organizational KM. In developing the design, the information requirements of knowledge workers in light of an information usage model of knowledge works is studied. Then the model is extended to study possibilities of more advanced IT support and formulate them in the form of a set of meta-requirements. Following the IS design theory paradigm, a set of artifacts are hypothesized to meet the requirements. Finally, a design method, as a possible approach of building an IT-based integrated platform, the Knowledge-work Support Platform (KwSP), is outlined to realize the artifacts in order to meet the requirements.

KwSP is a powerful platform for building and maintaining a number of task-type specific Knowledge-work Support Systems (KwSS) on a common sharable platform. Each KwSS, for the task-type supported by it, can be easily designed to provide extensive and sophisticated support to individual as well as group of knowledge workers in performing their respective knowledge work instances.
Restructuring State-owned Enterprises of a State Government of India: Problems, Prospects, and Lessons Learnt
Authors: Bose Suvendu
Published: January 2017

Poor performance has become a regular feature of the state-owned manufacturing enterprises in spite of their having experienced workforce, old brand reputation, etc. Most of them have fallen into a vicious cycle due to their prolonged poor performance.

The problem starts with the poor working capital position, leading to high raw material cost and uncompetitive final product pricing. This leads to the generation of a very low investible surplus. Not having investible surplus has forced the state-owned manufacturing companies to a financial situation where they are facing severe dearth of capital. The age-old plant and machineries coupled with outdated technology used for production face severe problem under the dearth of capital condition and the manufacturing units become incapable of generating sufficient investible surplus. Lack of modernization of machinery and upgradation of people skills lead to constraints in producing value-added product which have both market demand as well as the potential for greater contribution than the regular product. Therefore, the manufacturing companies continue to perform poorly, without any product-mix diversification. The poor operational performance also gets reflected in their financial performance. Despite having positive contribution at operating margin before direct labour, most of the state-owned manufacturing companies are incurring losses at Earning Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) level, even under the best-case scenario, mainly because of huge amount of employee cost.

This paper suggests two solutions for these manufacturing companies — restructuring and disinvestments. The financial restructuring of the state-owned enterprises has become a unique programme in the country having the following key features: Broad political consensus has been arrived at on the financial restructuring programme. Unique and extensive stakeholder consultation process has been adopted to facilitate buy-in of staff associations and unions on restructuring proposals Innovative framework and principles have been established for: categorization of enterprises early retirement scheme for employees Social Safety Net programme financial restructuring transparent and competitive bidding process with in-built safeguard A Public Enterprises Cell has been created for guiding the restructuring efforts. Impact of government's budgetary resources is seen in reduction of the State loan exposure to the tune of around Rs.344 crore, primarily through conversion of loans to equity. Impact on performance of enterprises identified for restructuring is reflected in the reduction in aggregate net loss to the tune of around Rs. 67.5 crore.

Further improvement of the state-owned enterprises has been recommended based on the lessons learnt during the process of financial restructuring. It is believed that opportunities do exist for widening the scope of the programme.
The Role of Cognitive Appraisal in Work-Family Experiences of Indian IT Employees
Authors: Padhi Mousumi , Pattnaik Snigdha
Published: January 2017

Demographic changes have had a catalytic effect on the number of people participating in multiple roles and juggling them as they go through various life functions. Two of the major domains where these roles are based are work and family.

This study draws on Person-environment fit theory to understand to what extent congruence between an individual and her⁄his environment affects her⁄his experience of work-family interface. Through this, the study seeks to capture the cognitive appraisal process by which work and family experiences can exacerbate work-family conflict (WFC) and enhance work-family enrichment (WFE). This study is an attempt to respond to calls by researchers to look at the process of cognitive appraisal and congruence which have largely been ignored in work-family literature. These processes could help understand why given the same situation and environmental contexts, individuals might differ in their work-family experiences.

Congruence, measured at two levels — congruence and incongruence — has been taken as the independent variable in the study. The different measures of work-family conflict and work-family enrichment have been taken as the dependent variables. Responses in the study were drawn from software professionals working in IT organizations.

It was found that the incongruent individuals reported significantly higher levels of work-family conflict on all the dimensions of conflict as compared to the congruent individuals. In contrast, when it came to work-family enrichment, congruent individuals reported significantly higher levels of enrichment on all the dimensions as compared to incongruent individuals. By capturing the role of cognitive appraisal on work-family interface, the study contributes theoretically and empirically to the extant literature on work and family. As organizations across sectors are taking steps to promote work-life harmony, the finding that congruence leads to greater work-family enrichment and incongruence leads to greater work-family conflict has important practical implications for the formulation of work-family policies.
Factors Affecting the Work Attitudes of Indian Re-entry Women in the IT Sector
Authors: Ravindran Bharathi , Baral Rupashree
Published: January 2017

India has witnessed increased participation of women in all sectors of the labour market. However, the career path of Indian women is not a continuous one. Despite the overflowing career prospects, women continue to quit their jobs. Some re-enter after taking a break, while others are forever lost to the labour markets. Those women, who re-enter the workforce find difficulty in gaining back their career momentum because of the demands they face at work and home. Organizations are increasingly valuing these re-entry women's talent and are therefore taking initiatives to bring them back to workforce and retain them by providing several workplace support systems such as flexible timings and work-from-home options.

Consequently, a number of studies have empirically examined the relationships between such organizational supports and job attitudes of employees. But, there are very few studies that have analysed the moderating role of perceived work and family demands in these relationships particularly for re-entry women. Although there are a few studies on re-entry women in other socio-cultural contexts, hardly any study is found in the Indian context. Barely anything is known about the main reasons for career exit and career re-entry and the factors, challenges, barriers, and opportunities at the individual, family, and organizational levels for women who decide to join back employment after a career break. Further, lack of qualitative research prevents the emergence of new ideas regarding re-entry women. Studies on examining the jobrelated attitudes of re-entry women are also limited.

The current study aims at examining the effect of organizational factors like policy support, diversity climate, work-family culture, and organizational justice on the attitudes of re-entry women like career satisfaction, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and career commitment. Responses were collected from the re-entry women in Indian IT organizations through a survey questionnaire.

Findings indicate that the career outcomes and attitudes of Indian re-entry women are directly related to organizational factors. Organizations are therefore suggested to provide the right kind of support to these women by revising their policies and making the workplace environment and culture more supportive and inclusive for women returners.