bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The nature of well-being objective function in tax-free regime of ethico-economics
Authors: Choudhury Masudul Alam 
Published: January 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explain the effect of a tax-free regime of socioeconomics in the social well-being function. This paper carries on the message that has been recognized in the economic theory and by many for a long time now. This is that the incidence of all forms of taxes – direct and indirect taxes – proves to cause inequitable distribution of wealth. The rich still comprises the top 1 per cent of the income earners despite the existence of heavy tax burden. This paper goes beyond this observation and its explanation to make the case that the tax regime also causes distortionary effects in the generalized system of social and economic relations.

Design/methodology/approach
In the midst of the generalized system of simulating the well-being function, subject to what is called the circular causation system of the endogenous variables is explained by the critical parameter of the epistemic nature in the unity of knowledge by complementarities between the variables signifying the good choices.

Findings
This paper also contrarily establishes and explains the nature of equitable production and distribution of income in society at large. The tax-free regime is explained to generate and sustain balanced inter-causality between the critical variables in the generalized system of equations for simulating the well-being function. Some of the special properties of the evolutionary learning kind of the well-being simulation problem in the tax-free regime are brought out.

Research limitations/implications
Empirical work could follow.

Practical implications
Of special interest are the Arab Middle Eastern countries, most of which do not levy tax on households; with a small rate on businesses.

Social implications
This paper goes beyond this observation and its explanation to make the case that the tax regime also causes distortionary effects in the generalized system of social and economic relations. Most importantly, the presence of tax regime disturbs the balanced forms of inter-causality between the critical variables of the social and economic type. The social well-being is thus eroded in the midst of a tax regime.

Originality/value
This paper is a rare one of its kind to bring out the question surrounding the tax-free regimes usually practiced in Islamic fiscal theory and today adopted by many Muslim countries in the Middle East.
Factors influencing the selection of unit trust funds among Malaysian retail investors
Authors: Mohammed Kamil Naail , Subramaniam Muthaloo , Ali Halane Elmi , Musah Mohammed Borhandden , Alex Acheampong 
Published: January 2018

Purpose
The efficiency of unit trust (UT) funds from quite number of contexts across the globe has been highlighted in previous literature. Yet, there is dearth of research that empirically investigates the factors that influence the selection of UT funds by retailers, particularly in the Malaysian setting. This paper aims to narrow this research gap, whereby perception of past performance, perception of funds’ commitment to Shari’ah compliance, perception of funds’ size and perception of risk tolerance are hypothesized to exert statistically significant influences on the selection of UT funds by retail investors in Malaysia.

Design/methodology/approach
The empirical study uses a quantitative research approach whereby survey data have been sampled from 140 retail investors from around Malaysia, using simple random sampling technique. Data analysis has been carried out using multiple regression analysis employing SPSS version 20.0.

Findings
The empirical research finds that perceptions of fund size and Shari’ah compliance significantly influence the selection of UT among retail investors in Malaysia. However, there were no enough evidences to support the claims that perceptions of past performance and of risk tolerance influence the selection of UT among Malaysian retail investors.

Research limitations/implications
This research is cross-sectional and uses data from Malaysia only.

Practical implications
The findings from this research will have enormous implications for policymakers in the accounting and finance sectors of government and private financial institutions and for individual professional Malaysian investors. In particular, investors in Malaysia and potential investors abroad may be enlightened by the findings of this research. Again, Islamic financial institutions may use the findings to boost their performance improvement interventions, thus, having clear evidence of the actual factors that influence retailers in the Malaysian setting.

Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is among the pioneering research works that empirically explores the factors that influence Malaysian retailers to invest in UT funds. This research is expected to stimulate further research in this novel area.
Becoming a more culturally responsive teacher by identifying and reducing microaggressions in classrooms and school communities
Authors: Darvin Jacqueline 
Published: January 2018

PurposeThere is more to culturally responsive teaching than selecting multicultural texts and designing inclusive lesson. This paper aims to support teachers in becoming more culturally responsive by guiding them in how to recognize and respond to microaggressions in their daily interactions with students, colleagues, and parents.Design/methodology/approachMicroaggressions have been defined as “brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults toward people of color”.FindingsWhen classroom interactions contain microaggressions, students are damaged in both seen and unseen ways. Interactions between teachers, students and parents afford powerful occasions to analyze classroom communication and provide windows into the nature of student–student, student–teacher and teacher–parent relationships.Practical implicationsRegardless of where, when, why or how they occur, these interactions provide brief opportunities for culturally responsive teachers to demonstrate that they respect their students’ home and community cultures, accept who their students are and honor the education that they receive both inside and outside of school.Social implicationsBecoming more adept at recognizing and addressing microaggressions is one way that teachers can become more culturally responsive. For students, being able to identify and respond more effectively to microaggressions creates greater opportunities for all students to think critically and engage in social action.Originality/valueThis paper presents an original viewpoint on identifying and reducing microaggressions in classrooms and school communities.
Deconstructing teacher quality in urban early childhood education
Authors: Young Jemimah L. , Butler Bettie Ray , Dolzhenko Inna N. , Ardrey Tameka N. 
Published: January 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to deconstruct the extant scholarship on quality in early childhood education and to emphasize the importance of extending the literature to explore the potential influence that a teachers’ educational background may have on kindergarten readiness for African American children in urban early learning settings.

Design/methodology/approach
Research has identified high-quality early education as a significant contributor to the academic success and development of young children. This paper examines current conceptualizations and trends in early childhood education related to the needs of African American children.

Findings
Our assessment indicates that the early learning of African American children in urban settings warrants further consideration by educational stakeholders. Specifically, the process and structural quality of urban early learning environments requires more culturally responsive approaches to policy and practice.

Originality/value
Improving the early learning opportunities of African American students in urban settings has practical and social implications that substantiate the value of the process and structural quality assessments. Recommendations for policy and practice are centered on a growth-based model of opportunities. Policy recommendations include creating urban teacher credentials and sustaining urban education, while practical recommendations include creating opportunities for vicarious experiences, affirming interactions and engaging in multicultural discourse.
E-commerce and entrepreneurship in SMEs: case of myBot
Authors: Shemi Alice P. , Procter Chris 
Published: January 2018

Purpose
The adoption of e-commerce in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is a much researched topic in developed and developing nations. The application of mobile devices, and social media networks (SMNs) such as Facebook has revolutionalised the e-commerce adoption process in SMEs. However, research into this area is still developing and there is a dearth of knowledge on how SMEs in developing countries enact and apply this phenomenon. The purpose of this paper is to explain how e-commerce entrepreneurship using SMN is conceptualised and applied in SMEs, and to highlight factors that influence this e-commerce innovation.

Design/methodology/approach
An interpretive and qualitative case study approach was adopted as a methodological foundation in a firm pseudo-named, myBot. The study employed the contextualism theory as a meta-theoretical framework to conceptualise and analyse the e-commerce entrepreneurship process in the firm. The study employed face-to-face semi-structured and unstructured interviews with the manager as primary means of obtaining in-depth information. Further information was obtained through website content analysis and document analysis of the firm’s reports and observations.

Findings
The results unearth a socially constructed feature of e-commerce entrepreneurship that draws from myBot’s manager’s innovative ability to use Facebook and e-mail to increase sales through its niche market. Factors that propelled e-commerce entrepreneurial activities using Facebook include trust, commitment and innovativeness.

Research limitations/implications
The revelation of this study may have changed due to the dynamic changes in the information and communication technology industry and how these are employed in a particular country and region of the world. Thus, results may not be generalised to other contexts. The study has a methodological limitation as it only had one informant who could respond to the study questions.

Practical implications
The study provides a practical application of using the contextualism theory to analyse e-commerce entrepreneurship in SMN.

Social implications
The application of e-commerce using SMNs such as Facebook widens the scope of tools that SMEs may use.

Originality/value
The study provides a theoretical lens into the understanding of an e-commerce entrepreneurship process using a contextualism theory. The paper showcases how e-commerce using Facebook can be portrayed in a developing country context.
Factors influencing investor’s decision making in Pakistan
Authors: Rasheed Muhammad Haroon , Rafique Amir , Zahid Tayyaba , Akhtar Muhammad Waqar 
Published: January 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to look at the impact of two most commonly used heuristics, namely, representative bias and availability bias on investment decision making and to check that either locus of control interact with the said relations through theoretical proposal and then verification through empirical evidence.Design/methodology/approachThe study is a quantitative research using a survey questionnaire for its data collection. Data are collected from 227 investors operating at Islamabad, Lahore, and Sargodha in Pakistan and analyzed using structural equation modeling while the interaction effect is analyzed through simple linear regression following the rules set by Baron and Kenny (1986).FindingsThe results reveal that both of the heuristics under study significantly cause investors to deviate from rational decision making while the locus of control have no significant moderating effect.Originality/valueThe proposed model provides insight on how the behavioral factors can lead investors to suboptimal decision making. This study is first of its kind to quantify the degree of irrationality caused by these factors. The findings of this study are practically useful for individual investors, investment managers, and also for policy makers.
Increased risk of psoriasis following scabies infection: A nationwide population‐based matched‐cohort study
Authors: Liu Jui‐Ming , Lin Chien‐Yu , Chang Fung‐Wei , Liu Yueh‐Ping , Liang Chung‐Pin , Hsu Ren‐Jun 
Published: January 2018

AbstractBoth scabies and psoriasis are pruritic inflammatory skin diseases. The clinical manifestations are similar and provocation of psoriasis by mite bite was reported. The association between scabies and psoriasis was not investigated before. We conducted this nationwide population‐based matched‐cohort study to describe if patients with a diagnosis of scabies have a different risk of developing new psoriasis. From the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan, patients with scabies (n = 5137) were identified and matched for age and sex with non‐scabies controls (n = 19 142). We tracked them for a 7‐year period to identify the incidence of psoriasis. One hundred and ninety (0.8%) patients with newly diagnosed psoriasis were identified; 91 (1.8%) from the scabies group and 99 (0.5%) from the control group. Patients with scabies had a higher risk of subsequent psoriasis, with a crude hazard ratio of 3.45 and an adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of 3.03 (95% confidence interval, 2.24–4.11). An increased risk for psoriasis among patients with scabies was observed (aHR, 3.03). Immunopathology involving the T‐helper 17 cell‐mediated inflammatory pathway may contribute to this association. Physicians may consider implementing assessments of psoriatic symptoms in patients with scabies.
Successful management of steroid‐resistant vascular tumors associated with the Kasabach–Merritt phenomenon using sirolimus
Authors: Tan Xiaoyun , Zhang Jing , Zhou Shaoyi , Liu Zhenyin , Zhang Tao , Xia Jiejun 
Published: January 2018

AbstractVascular tumors associated with Kasabach–Merritt phenomenon (KMP) are life‐threatening and the mortality is as high as 10–30%. Steroids are considered the primary choice for drug therapy. However, there are many steroid‐resistant cases. In the present study, analyzed data are presented to support the use of sirolimus in clinical practise for the treatment of corticosteroid‐resistant vascular tumors with KMP in eight infants between June 2015 and April 2017 in a single hospital. The time to initial response was 6.8 ± 2.7 days. The average stabilization time for the platelet count was 19.1 ± 8.5 days. At the time of publication, the average duration of sirolimus treatment was 14.1 ± 4.0 months, and the average time for sirolimus treatment as a single agent was 12.6 ± 4.2 months. The side‐effects were tolerable and included oral ulcer, fever, pain, skin rash and transient ascension of serum transaminase and cholesterol. Our study indicated that sirolimus therapy is an effective and safe method for the treatment of corticosteroid resistant vascular tumors associated with KMP in infants.
Inhibition of BRD4 attenuates cardiomyocyte apoptosis via NF‐κB pathway in a rat model of myocardial infarction
Authors: Sun Yiping , Xie Ying , Du Luping , Sun Jingwu , Liu Zhiqiang 
Published: January 2018

SummaryBackgroundMyocardial infarction (MI) remains the most common cause of heart failure (HF) worldwide. For almost 50 years, HF has been recognized as a determinant of adverse prognosis after MI, but efforts to promote myocardial repair have failed to be translated into clinical therapies.AimsIn this study, we investigated the effects of BRD4 on cardiac function and the underlying mechanism.Material and MethodsThe in vivo rat model of AMI and in vitro neonatal cardiomyocytes were established and cultured respectively, the BRD4 and NPPA/NPPB expression levels were detected by qPCR and Western blot, and interaction of BRD4 with acetylation RelA or NPPA/B promoters were examined by co‐immunoprecipitation and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays, respectively.ResultsWe found that BRD4 protein expression was significantly increased in cardiomyocytes of MI rat model and cardiomyocytes under hypoxia, accompanied by the expression of natriuretic peptide A (NPPA) and natriuretic peptide B (NPPB). Functionally, knockdown of BRD4 greatly downregulated the NPPA and NPPB in vivo and in vitro, improved the hemodynamic and biometric parameters in rat with heart failure, as well as decreased the apoptosis occurrence. In vitro studies further demonstrated that BRD4 bound with acetylated RelA to enhance the activation of NF‐κb signaling, which resulted in activation of NPPA and NPPB transcriptions.ConclusionsTaken together, our findings suggest that inhibition of BRD4 attenuated cardiomyocyte apoptosis via NF‐κB pathway in myocardial infarction, and this study sheds light on developing new strategies to overcome myocardial damage.
Hidradenitis suppurativa, a review of pathogenesis, associations and management. Part 1
Authors: Vekic Dunja Ana , Frew John , Cains Geoffrey David 
Published: January 2018

AbstractHidradenitis suppurativa is a chronic, painful, autoinflammatory condition resulting in nodules, abscesses and sinus tracts. We present an evidence‐based review providing new understanding of the pathogenesis of hidradenitis suppurativa and associated comorbidities. By the nature of their speciality, dermatologists are uniquely positioned to investigate and treat patients with this condition. Data collected from a subspecialty hidradenitis suppurativa clinic (N = 106) and experiences thereof are discussed in this review.
The need for further surgical intervention following primary hysteroscopic morcellation of submucosal leiomyomas in women with abnormal uterine bleeding
Authors: Maheux‐Lacroix Sarah , Mennen Jennifer , Arnold Amy , Budden Aaron , Nesbitt‐Hawes Erin , Won HaRyun , Abbott Jason 
Published: January 2018

BackgroundIntrauterine hysteroscopic morcellators have been studied as an alternative method for removing submucosal leiomyomas.AimsTo assess the long‐term efficacy of hysteroscopic morcellation of submucosal leiomyomas in women with abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB).Materials and MethodsWe conducted a prospective cohort study including all women with AUB who underwent a hysteroscopic resection with mechanical morcellation of a benign submucosal leiomyoma confirmed at histopathology. Need for further surgery, patient satisfaction, symptom resolution and post‐operative complications were documented by direct patient contact after a minimum of six months of follow‐up.ResultsA total of 73 women were included in the study with a mean length of follow‐up of 32 ± 13 months. Mean total size of pathology at the time of index surgery was of 42 ± 20 mm. A total of 9/73 (12%) women required subsequent hysterectomy and 20/73 (27%) any subsequent related surgery (operative hysteroscopy, abdominal myomectomy or hysterectomy) with the estimated three‐year cumulative incidence being 30 ± 6%. Satisfaction rate of participants was 84%. In multivariate Cox proportional analyses, only a total size of pathology of 50 mm or more was found to be significantly associated with the risk of requiring further surgical procedures (hazard ratio = 2.9, P = 0.02).ConclusionsHysteroscopic morcellation of submucosal leiomyomas is an effective method to manage women with AUB, although women with larger pathology have an increased risk of requiring subsequent surgical procedures.
The Popularity Costs of Economic Crisis under Electoral Authoritarianism: Evidence from Russia
Authors: Rosenfeld Bryn 
Published: January 2018

AbstractWhile a large literature recognizes that economic crises threaten the stability of electoral autocracies, we know relatively little about how citizens form economic perceptions and how they attribute blame for worsening conditions in these regimes. To gain traction on these questions, I exploit subnational variation in economic performance across Russia's regions during a recent downturn, combining regionally representative surveys of more than 67,000 voting‐age respondents with data on growth and unemployment. Contrary to conventional wisdom that citizens are passive consumers of propaganda, I show that they extract objective economic information from personal experience and local conditions. Moreover, I find that they give greater weight to this information where regional party dominance makes economic performance a clearer indicator of the ruling party's competence and when they believe the media are biased. These results suggest limits on illiberal regimes' ability to exploit informational asymmetries to bolster popular support during economic downturns.
Acute coronary syndrome of very unusual etiology
Authors: Barbosa‐Barros Raimundo , Pérez‐Riera Andrés R. , Koivula Kimmo , de Carvalho Santos Jairo , de Abreu Luiz C. , Nikus Kjell 
Published: January 2018

Aortitis is one of many possible manifestations of tertiary syphilis. Aortic disease is the most common of all cardiovascular syphilitic lesions. Aortic diseases caused by tertiary syphilis include aortitis, aortic root dilation, aneurysm formation, aortic regurgitation and coronary ostial stenosis. A less common manifestation of syphilitic aortitis is coronary artery ostial narrowing related to aortic wall thickening. We report a case of a 40‐year‐old male patient admitted with a clinical picture of acute coronary syndrome (unstable angina). He had no risk factors for coronary artery disease. The physical examination revealed nothing remarkable. The admission electrocardiogram (ECG) showed ST segment depression in the anterolateral and inferior leads (Figure 1). The coronary angiogram showed critical ostial stenosis of the right (RCA) and left main coronary artery (Figure 2a, b). Cardiac‐computed tomography showed aortic wall thickening with involvement of bilateral coronary ostia (Figure 2b, c). The patient was referred for coronary bypass surgery after treatment with two doses of penicillin G. The laboratory test was strongly positive for syphilitic infection. Postoperative treatment with benzathine penicillin, in doses recommended for tertiary syphilis, was implemented.