bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Exchange rate interest rate linkages in India: an empirical investigation
Authors: Shastri Shruti , Shastri Swati 
Published: October 2016

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to examine the linkages between exchange rate and interest rate in India using quarterly data from Q1 of 1996 to Q4 of 2014.Design/methodology/approachStationarity properties of data are checked using the Augmented Dickey–Fuller (ADF), Dickey–Fuller test with GLS de-trending (DF-GLS) and Kwiatkowski-Phillips-Schmidt-Shin (KPSS) tests and Perron’s unit root test with structural breaks. Johansen Juselius and Gregory Hansen tests are applied to assess cointegration, and block exogeneity test is used to detect causality among variables.FindingsThe study finds long-run relationship among interest rate, rupee–dollar exchange rate, capital flows, intervention, inflation differential, money supply differentials, output differentials and trade-balance differentials. However, the interest rate does not explain movements in the exchange rate, directly and indirectly, via capital flows. Intervention by the Central Banks to stabilize exchange rate does not have implications for movements in interest rate.Research limitations/implicationsThe study finds capital flows to be insensitive with respect to interest rates and hence thwarts International Monetary Fund ’s (IMF) claim of using interest rates as a tool to stabilize exchange rate. The much-debated conflict between exchange-rate stabilization and control over interest rates also does not hold up to the empirical reality of India.Originality/valueThe study augments the existing literature by taking into account the problem of structural break in the relationship between interest rate and exchange rate. Three measures of interest rate are used to assess the robustness of results adding to their credibility compared to previous studies.
Beggaring thy neighbor at the state and local level
Authors: Murphy Ryan H. 
Published: October 2016

PurposeThis paper aims to address a growing empirical literature which measures the size of the fiscal multiplier at the state and local levels. This literature generally fails to consider the reaction function of the central bank, which typically should be expected to offset local increases in spending by reducing it elsewhere in the currency area. This is true under rather orthodox assumptions, such as an inflation targeting central bank meeting its target.Design/methodology/approachThe author reviews prominent examples of the literature and establishes the extent to which the empirical methodology avoids the issue he raises. Subsequently, the author discusses its importance.FindingsCertain papers in the literature, especially Nakamura and Steinsson (2014), are careful about the issue. Most papers reviewed, however, are not.Practical implicationsThere are severe limitations to papers using these methodologies. They are either contingent on very specific assumptions regarding central banks or lack policy relevance. Earlier methodologies, such as vector autoregression and the “narrative” method, deserve higher relative credence among methodologies applied to studying the size of the fiscal multiplier.Originality/valueThe current literature either entirely ignores the issue raised here or it is very briefly brushed aside. Considering the orthodoxy of the assumptions, at the very least, the issue deserves far greater recognition in the future. It may demand a broader re-evaluation of the family of methods.
Macroeconomic uncertainty and “global” economic performance
Authors: Abaidoo Rexford , Ellis Florence 
Published: October 2016

PurposeThis study aims to explore potential paradigm shift in how “global economies” react to adverse macroeconomic conditions from key dominant economies such as the US and the Chinese economies. This is done by examining how economic activities within key economies around the world react to, or are impacted by, modeled adverse macroeconomic condition emanating from the Chinese and the US economies.Design/methodology/approachTo verify potential paradigm shift in how external macroeconomic uncertainty impacts “global” industrial productivity and overall gross domestic product (GDP) growth within selected economies, this study opts for seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) model. Adoption of this method has been influenced by the potential for correlated error terms between modeled adverse macroeconomic condition, industrial productivity and GDP growth variables being tested in a two-equation system.FindingsEmpirical results based on SUR analysis find no evidence of this potential paradigm shift within the time frame examined in the study. Estimated results suggest that notwithstanding the recent growth surge of the Chinese economy, macroeconomic happenings within the US economy still exert significantly more influence on key economies around the world. For instance, this study finds that macroeconomic uncertainty associated with the US economy significantly constrains both industrial productivity and overall GDP growth within most of the economies tested, whereas the same condition emanating from the Chinese economy seems to rather have a weak positive impact on the same macroeconomic variables.Research limitations/implicationsResearch results are strictly limited to the focus time frame for this study; it is likely that expanded data involving more years beyond what was analyzed in this study could yield different results.Originality/valueThis study is an original research based on data from a reputable US federal institution.
Transforming South Africa’s health sector
Authors: Katuu Shadrack 
Published: October 2016

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the challenges of transforming South Africa’s health sector through the country’s eHealth Strategy and particularly one of its key components, the implementation of an integrated Electronic Document and Records Management System (EDRMS).

Design/methodology/approach
The study conducted an extensive review of literature and used it as a basis to analyse the challenges as well as opportunities in South Africa’s transformation path within its health sector based on the nation’s eHealth Strategy.

Findings
South Africa’s health sector faces three main transformation challenges: inequity, legacy of fragmentation and a service delivery structure biased towards curative rather than preventive services. Health information systems provide a solid platform for improving efficiency but, within South Africa, these systems have been highly heterogeneous. A recent study showed the country had more than 40 individual health information systems scattered in all provinces, with over 50 per cent not adhering to any national or international standards and more than 25 per cent being stand-alone applications that shared information neither locally nor externally. The eHealth Strategy offers a robust platform to start addressing the legacy of fragmentation and lack of interoperability. However, it also raises a few other concerns, including the use of different terminology such as Electronic Medical Record (EMR) interchangeable with Electronic Health Record (EHR), or EDRMS parallel with Electronic Content Management (ECM). In addition, there is the opportunity to explore the use of the maturity model concept in the EDRMS implementation experiences within South Africa.

Originality/value
This paper demonstrated the complex nature of the legacy of fragmentation in South Africa’s health information systems and explored three aspects relating to terminology as well as maturity models that should be considered in the country’s future eHealth Strategy.
Factors affecting the diffusion and success of collaborative interactions between university and industry
Authors: Capaldo Guido , Costantino Nicola , Pellegrino Roberta , Rippa Pierluigi 
Published: October 2016

Purpose
This paper aims to investigate factors and weaknesses influencing university–industry interactions diffusion and success by focusing on the research services initiatives because there are limited studies in literature focusing on this specific form of interaction between the two actors.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors carried an explorative research based on multiple case studies referring to research services experienced between two big Italian universities and small and medium-sized enterprises located in the same area.

Findings
By conducting a cross-case analysis, the authors highlight categories of data in terms of factors influencing interactions’ diffusion and success, as perceived by researchers and by firms; and weaknesses in the interactions process to identify suggestions for improving interactions’ diffusion and success, from researchers and firms.

Practical implications
The outcomes provide managerial implications useful for agencies supporting the diffusion of innovation among firms and firms’ systems for defining new policies and action plans aimed at making the university–industry interactions faster and more effective, improving the innovation processes within firms.

Originality/value
This paper gives new insight in the analysis of factors enhancing university–industry relationships with a focus on research services collaborations and focusing both on university and industry, where large contributions focus predominantly on both groups.
The Key Role of Education in Reducing Poverty in South Sudan
Authors: Shimeles Abebe , Verdier‐Chouchane Audrey 
Published: October 2016

AbstractBased on the 2009 National Baseline Household Survey (NBHS), the objective of the paper is to analyse the education sector in South Sudan and to highlight its key role in reducing poverty and inequality in the country. The first estimation highlights the role of educational attainment on the risk of poverty based on a Probit model with marginal effects. The second performs estimates of returns for each level of schooling using an extended Mincerian earnings equation. The third estimation uses benefit concentration curves to assess progressivity of education subsidy. Results confirm the negative correlation between education and poverty. For instance, someone with a primary level of education earns 36.5 per cent more than someone with no schooling and this figure increases until 188.6 per cent for university graduates, highlighting a convexity trend of private returns to education. The education challenge is enormous in post‐conflict South Sudan where more than 70 per cent of the population is illiterate and many children don't attend school. In terms of policy recommendations, the welfare analysis shows that subsidizing primary education is a pro‐poor policy in South Sudan. However, the government would also need to focus its action in the rural areas where the challenges are even more salient than in urban areas.
A narrative analysis of the birth stories of early‐age mothers
Authors: Carson Anna , Chabot Cathy , Greyson Devon , Shannon Kate , Duff Putu , Shoveller Jean 
Published: October 2016

AbstractThe telling of birth stories (i.e. stories that describe women's experiences of giving birth) is a common and important social practice. Whereas most research on birth narratives reflects the stories of middle‐class, ‘adult’ women, we examine how the birth stories told by early‐age mothers interconnect with broader narratives regarding social stigma and childbearing at ‘too early’ an age. Drawing on narrative theory, we analyse in‐depth interviews with 81 mothers (ages 15–24 years) conducted in Greater Vancouver and Prince George, Canada, in 2014–15. Their accounts of giving birth reveal the central importance of birth narratives in their identity formation as young mothers. Participants’ narratives illuminated the complex interactions among identity formation, social expectations, and negotiations of social and physical spaces as they narrated their experiences of labour and birth. Through the use of narrative inquiry, we examine the ways in which re‐telling the experience of giving birth serves to situate young mothers in relation to their past and future selves. These personal stories are also told in relation to a meta‐narrative regarding social stigma faced by ‘teenage’ mothers, as well as the public's ‘gaze’ on motherhood in general – even within the labour and delivery room.
A New Approach of Juvenile Age Estimation using Measurements of the Ilium and Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS) Models for Better Age Prediction
Authors: Corron Louise , Marchal François , Condemi Silvana , Chaumoître Kathia , Adalian Pascal 
Published: October 2016

AbstractJuvenile age estimation methods used in forensic anthropology generally lack methodological consistency and/or statistical validity. Considering this, a standard approach using nonparametric Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS) models were tested to predict age from iliac biometric variables of male and female juveniles from Marseilles, France, aged 0–12 years. Models using unidimensional (length and width) and bidimensional iliac data (module and surface) were constructed on a training sample of 176 individuals and validated on an independent test sample of 68 individuals. Results show that MARS prediction models using iliac width, module and area give overall better and statistically valid age estimates. These models integrate punctual nonlinearities of the relationship between age and osteometric variables. By constructing valid prediction intervals whose size increases with age, MARS models take into account the normal increase of individual variability. MARS models can qualify as a practical and standardized approach for juvenile age estimation.
Adsorption of Shiga Toxin to Poly‐γ‐Glutamate Precipitated
Authors: Goto Tsukie , Tsuji Makiko , Kanemaru Kaori , Yokoigawa Kumio 
Published: October 2016

AbstractWe screened foods containing indigestible ingredients in the ability to adsorb Shiga toxin (Stx). When 5 mg of foods and dietary fibers such as dry vegetables and inulin were mixed and incubated with 0.5 mL of Stx solution (100 ng/mL) containing 0.5% bovine serum albumin, both Stx1 and Stx2 seemed to be adsorbed by only a fermented food, natto (a traditional Japanese food prepared from steamed soybeans by the biological action of Bacillus subtilis). We purified the Stx‐adsorbing substance from natto by extraction with H2O, acid treatment, Proteinase K treatment, and an ion exchange chromatography. The purified substance showed an average molecular mass of about 600 kDa. We identified it as poly‐γ‐glutamate (PGA) by amino acid analysis of its hydrolysate and peptide analysis after its treatment with Proteinase K. Purified PGA (MW: molecular weight = about 600 kDa) was considered to adsorb both Stx1 and Stx2 when we separated adsorbed and unadsorbed Stxs (MW = about 72 kDa) by an ultrafiltration method with a centrifugal filter unit (MWCO: molecular weight cut‐off = 100 K). However, PGA with the ability to adsorb Stx was an insoluble form precipitated in the filter unit during centrifugation. PGA precipitated beyond the saturated density was also confirmed to well adsorb both Stx1 and Stx2 by an equilibrated dialysis method. To the best of our knowledge, this is the 1st report on food‐adsorbing Stx.
Influence of Intestinal Microbiota on the Catabolism of Flavonoids in Mice
Authors: Lin Weiqun , Wang Wenting , Yang Hai , Wang Dongliang , Ling Wenhua 
Published: October 2016

AbstractAlthough in vitro studies have shown that flavonoids are metabolized into phenolic acids by the gut microbiota, the biotransformation of flavonoids by intestinal microbiota is seldom studied in vivo. In this study, we investigated the impact of the gut microbiota on the biotransformation of 3 subclasses of flavonoids (flavonols, flavones, and flavanones). The ability of intestinal microbiota to convert flavonoids was confirmed with an in vitro fermentation model using mouse gut microflora. Simultaneously, purified flavonoids were administered to control and antibiotic‐treated mice by gavage, and the metabolism of these flavonoids was evaluated. p‐Hydroxyphenylacetic acid, protocatechuic acid, p‐hydroxybenzoic acid, vanillic acid, hydrocaffeic acid, coumaric acid, and 3‐(4‐hydroxyphenyl)propionic acid were detected in the serum samples from the control mice after flavonoid consumption. The serum flavonoid concentrations were similar in both groups, whereas the phenolic metabolite concentrations were lower in the antibiotic‐treated mice than in the control mice. We detected markedly higher flavonoids excretion in the feces and urine of the antibiotic‐treated mice compared to the controls. Moreover, phenolic metabolites were upregulated in the control mice. These results suggest that the intestinal microbiota are not necessary for the absorption of flavonoids, but are required for their transformation.
Strain improvement of Pichia kudriavzevii TY13 for raised phytase production and reduced phosphate repression
Authors: Qvirist Linnea , Vorontsov Egor , Veide Vilg Jenny , Andlid Thomas 
Published: October 2016

SummaryIn this work, we present the development and characterization of a strain of Pichia kudriavzevii (TY1322), with highly improved phytate‐degrading capacity. The mutant strain TY1322 shows a biomass‐specific phytate degradation of 1.26 mmol g−1 h−1 after 8 h of cultivation in a high‐phosphate medium, which is about 8 times higher compared with the wild‐type strain. Strain TY1322 was able to grow at low pH (pH 2), at high temperature (46°C) and in the presence of ox bile (2% w/v), indicating this strain's ability to survive passage through the gastrointestinal tract. The purified phytase showed two pH optima, at pH 3.5 and 5.5, and one temperature optimum at 55°C. The lower pH optimum of 3.5 matches the reported pH of the pig stomach, meaning that TY1322 and/or its phytase is highly suitable for use in feed production. Furthermore, P. kudriavzevii TY1322 tolerates ethanol up to 6% (v/v) and shows high osmotic stress tolerance. Owing to the phenotypic characteristics and non‐genetically modified organisms nature of TY1322, this strain show great potential for future uses in (i) cereal fermentations for increased mineral bioavailability, and (ii) feed production to increase the phosphate bioavailability for monogastric animals to reduce the need for artificial phosphate fortification.
Microbial copper resistance: importance in biohydrometallurgy
Authors: Martínez‐Bussenius Cristóbal , Navarro Claudio A. , Jerez Carlos A. 
Published: October 2016

SummaryIndustrial biomining has been extensively used for many years to recover valuable metals such as copper, gold, uranium and others. Furthermore, microorganisms involved in these processes can also be used to bioremediate places contaminated with acid and metals. These uses are possible due to the great metal resistance that these extreme acidophilic microorganisms possess. In this review, the most recent findings related to copper resistance mechanisms of bacteria and archaea related to biohydrometallurgy are described. The recent search for novel metal resistance determinants is not only of scientific interest but also of industrial importance, as reflected by the genomic sequencing of microorganisms present in mining operations and the search of those bacteria with extreme metal resistance to improve the extraction processes used by the biomining companies.
Intellectual Property & Global Policy
Authors: David Matthew , Halbert Debora J. 
Published: October 2016

AbstractThis article discusses Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and in particular globalIPRexpansion. That globally protected intellectual property (IP) is more valuable than ever must be set against the fact that today's global network capitalism, in whichIPis so valuable, also enables information to circulate beyondIPcontrol. Similarly, globalIPexpansion and its resistance go hand in hand, as globalIPexpansionist policy contains but also encourages infringement. We document this conflict, the paradoxical space affording it, the boundary disputes that manifest it, and the globalIPexpansionist policy ‘ratchet’ designed, but which fails, to contain it. We then evaluate globalIPRs and the case for extensions, as manifested in treaties such asACTA,TPPandTTIP. This evaluation is undertaken though specific examinations of copyright, patent and trademark laws. Claims for the overall social benefit of globalIPharmonisation and expansion policies are rejected.
Effects of high‐dose ethanol intoxication and hangover on cognitive flexibility
Authors: Wolff Nicole , Gussek Philipp , Stock Ann‐Kathrin , Beste Christian 
Published: October 2016

AbstractThe effects of high‐dose ethanol intoxication on cognitive flexibility processes are not well understood, and processes related to hangover after intoxication have remained even more elusive. Similarly, it is unknown in how far the complexity of cognitive flexibility processes is affected by intoxication and hangover effects. We performed a neurophysiological study applying high density electroencephalography (EEG) recording to analyze event‐related potentials (ERPs) and perform source localization in a task switching paradigm which varied the complexity of task switching by means of memory demands. The results show that high‐dose ethanol intoxication only affects task switching (i.e. cognitive flexibility processes) when memory processes are required to control task switching mechanisms, suggesting that even high doses of ethanol compromise cognitive processes when they are highly demanding. The EEG and source localization data show that these effects unfold by modulating response selection processes in the anterior cingulate cortex. Perceptual and attentional selection processes as well as working memory processes were only unspecifically modulated. In all subprocesses examined, there were no differences between the sober and hangover states, thus suggesting a fast recovery of cognitive flexibility after high‐dose ethanol intoxication. We assume that the gamma‐aminobutyric acid (GABAergic) system accounts for the observed effects, while they can hardly be explained by the dopaminergic system.