Disparity Of Power Research Articles

Protection of Small and Medium-sized Investors under the Securities Law A Study on Information Disclosure and Early Payment System of Listed Companies

Small and medium-sized investors occupy the vast majority of China's securities market. However, the rights and interests of small and medium investors are not protected due to the disparity of power with companies, lengthy trial periods, high trial costs and lack of professional knowledge. Through comparative legal analysis, the article first examines the natural investors, followed by the analysis of the policies and implementation status in China and the United States based on data and cases, along with the viability of relevant policies in both countries. Finally, it provides suggestions for the existing policies.

Comparison of VTE risk scores in guidelines for VTE diagnosis in nonsurgical hospitalized patients with suspected VTE

BackgroundThe assessment of VTE likelihood with VTE risk scores is essential prior to imaging examinations during VTE diagnostic procedure. Little is known with respect to the disparity of predictive power for VTE diagnosis among VTE risk scores in guidelines for nonsurgical hospitalized patients with clinically suspected VTE.MethodsA retrospective study was performed to compare the predictive power for VTE diagnosis among the Wells, Geneva, YEARS, PERC, Padua, and IMPROVE scores in the leading authoritative guidelines in nonsurgical hospitalized patients with suspected VTE.ResultsAmong 3168 nonsurgical hospitalized patients with suspected VTE, VTE was finally excluded in 2733(86.3%) ones, whereas confirmed in 435(13.7%) ones. The sensitivity and specificity resulted from the Wells, Geneva, YEARS, PERC, Padua, and IMPROVE scores were (90.3%, 49.8%), (88.7%, 53.6%), (73.8%, 50.2%), (97.7%,16.9%), (80.9%, 44.0%), and (78.2%, 47.0%), respectively. The YI were 0.401, 0.423, 0.240, 0.146, 0.249, and 0.252 for the Wells, Geneva, YEARS, PERC, Padua, and IMPROVE scores, respectively. The C-index were 0.694(0.626–0.762), 0.697(0.623–0.772), 0.602(0.535–0.669), 0.569(0.486–0.652), 0.607(0.533–0.681), and 0.609(0.538–0.680) for the Wells, Geneva, YEARS, PERC, Padua, and IMPROVE scores, respectively. Consistency was significant in the pairwise comparison of Wells vs Geneva(Kappa 0.753, P = 0.565), YEARS vs Padua(Kappa 0.816, P = 0.565), YEARS vs IMPROVE(Kappa 0.771, P = 0.645), and Padua vs IMPROVE(Kappa 0.789, P = 0.812), whereas it did not present in the other pairs. The YI was improved to 0.304, 0.272, and 0.264 for the PERC(AUC 0.631[0.547–0.714], P = 0.006), Padua(AUC 0.613[0.527–0.700], P = 0.017), and IMPROVE(AUC 0.614[0.530–0.698], P = 0.016), with a revised cutoff of 5 or less, 6 or more, and 4 or more denoting the VTE-likely, respectively.ConclusionsFor nonsurgical hospitalized patients with suspected VTE, the Geneva and Wells scores perform best, the PERC scores performs worst despite its significantly high sensitivity, whereas the others perform intermediately, albeit the absolute predictive power of all isolated scores are mediocre. The predictive power of the PERC, Padua, and IMPROVE scores are improved with revised cutoffs.

THE CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT IN LABOUR LAW: OBSTACLE OR PANACEA?

The disparity of power in the employment relationship has courted argument that this imbalance continues to be perpetuated in the guise of “the contract of employment”, thereby rendering the contract of employment irrelevant and ineffective in advancing labour law rights. This article counters this view by illustrating the changed nature of the traditional foundation of the employment relationship, known as the contract of employment. The advent of a constitution and our courts’ willingness to develop and strengthen rights and obligations arising from the contract of employment are considered. In addition, the impact of legislation, collective bargaining and the recent more purposive interpretation of the statutory definition of “employee” are discussed. The writers conclude that, although the contract of employment is not a panacea to the employment relationship, it is useful and expedient when interpreted and enforced against the backdrop of constitutional imperatives.

A Chinese Perspective: Will China‐India Friction Paralyze the BRICS?

AbstractA puzzle of BRICS is why countries such as India and China work together within the group despite facing consistently difficult bilateral border tensions. This contribution argues that the multilateral logic of BRICS gives its members a chance to cooperate. As emerging powers, BRICS members need to adopt a collective approach to enhance their voices in the global governance system. Existing evidence shows that China and India have managed to separate their bilateral frictions from their collective actions within BRICS. This contribution examines the stakes of China and India’s BRICS engagement. Since China and India are the most promising emerging powers in global governance, their partnership will determine the BRICS’ depth and the length. Since China has dealt with the pandemic better than other BRICS members, it has become stronger which might increase the disparity of power within BRICS. Following the multilateral logic it may help India to cooperate with a stronger China in the post‐COVID‐19 era.

Analytical estimates of short duration mean power output and variability for deepwater wave power generation

With deepwater wave power generation being seriously considered as a viable option across the marine vicinity of India, seasonal disparity of mean power as well as short duration power variability are of interest in the context of site and technology selection. Past experience with an onshore wave power installation in the region has not been altogether encouraging, which justifies good concern on the two aspects.This paper formulates closed form analytical expressions for short duration mean power generation and associated variability that may be conveniently employed for prior estimates of the two measures with reference to prospective installation sites and wave energy converter (WEC) technologies. The formulae evolved can serve as useful support at the stage of project planning and resource assessment, as well as for general viability analysis of marine power generation.As part of the exercise, the concept of capture width function is introduced for feasible operating points of a WEC technology, inclusive of functional morphing and statistical morphing effects on output power. Illustrative examples cover eight deepwater grids spread across the marine neighborhood of India, and two candidate WEC technologies considered for operational viability.

More scientific, more ethical: The ADHD controversy and boundary-work in Taiwan.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most controversial childhood psychiatric condition. With the globalisation of its diagnosis and treatment, Taiwan has followed other medically advanced countries in meeting the challenge of medicalising children's problematic behaviours and encountering the resistance discourses on ADHD. To contribute to the extant literature, this study employs the social worlds framework to decipher the relational dynamics amongst these competing discourses on ADHD, namely the mainstream psychiatry, the critiques of overdiagnosis and the antipsychiatric protest, and to suggest the links between these domestic advocacies and the relevant debates abroad. In addition, the concept of boundary-work is used to analyse the strategies through which these collective actors pursue legitimacy for their respective claims. Based on the existing research of scientific and ethical boundary-work, this study argues that when it comes to clinical practices fraught with uncertainties, these two seemingly distinct forms of boundary-work may become mutually supportive in order to act as arbiters of disputes. Despite the disparity of power amongst these social worlds in this case study with seemingly predictable outcomes of the dispute, representing their heterogeneous narratives and the process of discursive struggle helps to destabilise the seemingly naturalised conceptualisation of biomedical ADHD.

Real-time prediction of upcoming respiratory events via machine learning using snoring sound signal.

The aim of the study was to inspect the acoustic properties and sleep characteristics of a preapneic snoring sound. The feasibility of forecasting upcoming respiratory events by snoring sound was also investigated. Participants with habitual snoring or a heavy breathing sound during sleep were recruited consecutively. Polysomnography was conducted, and snoring-related breathing sound was recorded simultaneously. Acoustic features and sleep features were extracted from 30-second samples, and a machine learning algorithm was used to establish 2 prediction models. A total of 74 eligible participants were included. Model 1, tested by 5-fold cross-validation, achieved an accuracy of 0.92 and an area under the curve of 0.94 for respiratory event prediction. Model 2, with acoustic features and sleep information tested by Leave-One-Out cross-validation, had an accuracy of 0.78 and an area under the curve of 0.80. Sleep position was found to be the most important among all sleep features contributing to the performance of the 2 models. Preapneic sound presented unique acoustic characteristics, and snoring-related breathing sound could be deployed as a real-time apneic event predictor. The models, combined with sleep information, serve as a promising tool for an early warning system to forecast apneic events. Wang B, Yi X, Gao J, etal. Real-time prediction of upcoming respiratory events via machine learning using snoring sound signal. J Clin Sleep Med. 2021;17(9):1777-1784.

MEDIA PROJECTION OF CHINA-PAKISTAN ECONOMIC CORRIDOR

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a project of development and economic prosperity which will transform the economic activities in the region. The potential for unprecedented social and economic growth is evident not only in Pakistan but the entire area. The project includes the construction of the Gwadar port, roads and bridges, railway upgrades, power generation and provincial-level projects worth about US$62 billion. Since CPEC is a national project, the purpose of this paper is to develop a complete skeleton that presents the combination and general trend of CPEC research, and academic research on the importance of media as a stakeholder and the successful implementation of the project. The topic of research is based on research conducted in academic institutions, whether it is done in Pakistan or at the highest level. The results suggest that research conducted by hostile countries like India and United States measured CPEC as danger to territorial integrity directly or indirectly and disparity of power. In contrast, media point of view over institutional research conducted in Pakistan or China scaled CPEC as economic development and game-changer in the territory. Results also reveal that the role of Pakistani media in the successful completion of CPEC is displeasing.

The South China Sea Dispute: A Reflection of Southeast Asia’s Economic and Strategic Dilemmas (2009-2018)

The asymmetric distribution of power in the Asian maritime region is favoring China, increasing theapprehension of its neighbors that, faced with their evident vulnerability, fear about Beijing’s intentions. In this context, the balance of power maintains the status quo and limits China’s behavior against other coastal countries. Given the disparity of military and economic power between Southeast Asia and China, this balance can only be achieved with the intervention of an extra-regional power, the United States. The renewed American participation as a guarantor of regional security has created new bonds of strategic dependence for Southeast Asia, which in turn have economies that mainly rely on China. The South China Sea conflict is then posing two dilemmas for the region: China’s increasing economic leverage and Washington’s reactive and challenging Indo-Pacific policy, which might make a stalemate in the maritime conflict possible.

The String of Pearls: Regional Disparity and Imbalance of Power in Indian Ocean Region with Reference to India

‘The history of Sea power is largely, though by no means solely, a narrative of contests between nations, of mutual rivalries, of violence frequently culminating in war’ Alfred Thayer Mahan, the Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660–1783. Thispaper envisages Chinese String of Pearls' strategy as ageo political tussle between potential Chinese intentions in the Indian Ocean region spreading regional disparity and instability in South Asia. It refers to the network of Chinese military and commercial facilities and relationships along its sea lines of communication, extending from the Chinese mainland to Port Sudan. Spreading regional discrepancy along the sea lines, it runs through several major maritime choke points such as the Strait of Mandeb, the Strait of Malacca, the Strait of Hormuz and the Lombok Strait. The investigation underscores that the neck or the continental mass around which the string hangs includes Pakistan, Tibet, Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar. On the seaward side, it starts with Hainan the southernmost Chinese province that has a submarine bay; listening post at Coco, Hainggyi, Kyaukpyu, Mergui and Zadetkyi Kyun port facilities in Myanmar; Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka; Chittagong in Bangladesh and Gwadar on the Arabian Sea in Pakistan which are referred here as Pearls. In effect, it surrounds India all around its frontiers, except Bhutan. In military-strategic sense, a port facility for the Chinese navy in Myanmar provides it with a direct access to Bay of Bengal without having to voyage through South China Sea and the Straits of Malacca. It shortens the journey to Bay of Bengal by 3, 000 km or 6–7 days. Ports in Myanmar undoubtedly provide China one of the biggest advantages in the region.

Distribution Network Design with Distributors Advance Payment and Fuzzy Commitment

This paper investigates the distribution network design problem in a two-echelon decentralized supply chain with a manufacturer and number of candidate distributors. A game theoretical approach is proposed for the problem while the objective of the chain members is to minimize the inventory costs and create stable network. Due to the disparity of power among chain members, manufacturers ask distributors to pay a fraction of the purchase cost in advance. On the other hand, distributors have a fuzzy commitment that affects the network stability. The Stackelberg equilibrium is developed for the problem and a methodology structure is proposed for decision-making on the network design alternatives, at the end the numerical example is presented for more explanation.

A query on research methodology and ethics: defending Citizens Advice, its work and goals

This is a response to an article by Holgate et al., in which the authors argue that minority ethnic workers lack support and legal advice on employment problems; in particular they found the Citizens Advice Bureau network to be ‘not very successful’ and ‘ineffectual’. This response raises concerns about research methodology, including the integrity with which existing literature was cited and the rigour with which new data were generated and interpreted. This author uses her insight into Citizens Advice work to contextualize – and contest – some of the interpretations made by Holgate and colleagues. From a research ethics perspective, this case highlights the disparity of power between the researchers and the researched – and reiterates the impact of previous research on future research endeavours. While Open Access is good for those outside academia, those within must become more astute about the myriad contexts within which their published work might be mis/interpreted.

Transformative ICT Developments, Border Conflicts and Qualitative Methods

Transformative ICT's influence on international politics is analyzed in this paper. A qualitative methods idea for researching current border conflicts is presented. The information economy is presented as a significant influence on everything happening in the world today. The issue that has much importance for border conflict is the rate at which ICT is becoming more pervasive. Always seen as a metamorphosis influence from technology to other fields, pervasive ICT is having an even more influential reason now. As ICT becomes an idea all people use, the influence of the phenomena continues to increase. Now everyone uses three or four different interconnected devices. The number of different ICT devices in use by each person is continually increasing. ICT does not always prove an enlightening influence. Sometimes the negative externalities are so great that conflict happens.Border conflicts are explained in terms of rational decisions by people across the border. Over the centuries, conflicted often occurs along borders where there is disparity of power between protagonists across a border. In some instances, the weaker state has been aggrandized by the stronger one. Instances exist where perception of strength has been determinant. Erroneous perceptions that the adjacent state is weak, also, leads to conflict. Instances exist where conflict occurs irrationally because of ideological, religious, and other cultural reasons. Predominantly, however, border conflict is explained using a rational choice model. Political leaders across the border simply decide to initiate conflict with the expectation of making economic gains. Qualitative methods offers authentic possibilities for gaining knowledge and better understanding current border conflicts. The paper uses the examples of tension along the North Korean borders and the present situation between Ukraine and Russia in discussing border conflict. Both conflicts are seen as analyzable with the rational choice model of border conflicts that has been presented. Using qualitative methods that combine performance ethnography and narrative, the issue of whether political leaders in the North Korean and Ukrainian-Russian border cases follow the rational model. Researchers using performance ethnography create narratives as they impersonate political leaders interfacing with Planet Romeo's matchmaking/dating/meeting capabilities. Different researchers with varying expert levels impersonate political leaders interfacing with Planet Romeo. Narratives explaining what happens are created and analyzed. Interpretivism produces qualitative results, and knowledge about border conflicts improves. The methodology places substantial emphasis on transformative ICT and the information economy. Conclusions emerge that are useful in discussing the rationality of present border conflicts.

Collective Begging at Its Best: Labor-Management Relations in South Dakota

Public employee labor unions in South Dakota possess a feeble set of bargaining rights, so weak it should be considered “collective begging.” However, our recent contract contains significant victories despite decades of playing defense. What lessons can be learned from this experience that might help other similarly situated faculty unions? What does this case study teach us about the disparity of power, especially where labor has fewer legal and political tools than management? I apply DiGiovanni’s (2011) typology of “intangible influences” on collective bargaining to explain our success. As DiGiovanni predicts, history and timing played a large role in influencing the outcome to labor’s advantage. In particular, the state’s rapid transformation of higher education from primarily undergraduate education to invest in research probably brought new participants into the negotiations process. After management imposed a contract, it seems likely that these outsiders pushed for a signed contract. Management was forced to concede on two issues to gain the single tool labor possessed: its signature on a collective bargaining agreement. Contrary to DiGiovanni, unrealistic expectations may have led to a positive labor outcome and an overly-combative labor leader did not prove poisonous.

Social Justice and Intercountry Adoptions: The Role of the U.S. Social Work Community

Using social justice as the conceptual foundation, the authors present the structural barriers to socially just intercountry adoptions (ICAs) that can exploit and oppress vulnerable children and families participating in ICAs. They argue that such practices threaten the integrity of social work practice in that arena and the survival of ICA as a placement option. Government structures, disparity of power between countries and families on both sides, perceptions regarding poverty, cultural incompetence, misconceptions about orphans and orphanages, lack of knowledge about the impact of institution-based care, and the profit motive are driving forces behind the growing shadow of unethical ICAs. The U.S. social work community has a large role and responsibility in addressing these concerns as the United States receives the most children adopted through ICAs of all receiving countries. In addition to the centrality of social justice as a core value of the profession, the responsibility to carry out ethical and socially just ICA has recently increased as a matter of law, under the implementation legislation to the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. While acknowledging that these issues are complex, authors provide suggestions for corrective policy and practice measures.

Bullying, psychiatric pathology and suicidal behavior

Bullying is a highly prevalent behavior which carries a significant social, medical and financial cost for its victims and perpetrators, with powerful and long-lasting psychological and social impact. Bullying has been defined as a specific form of intentional, repeated aggression, that involves a disparity of power between the victim(s) and perpetrator(s). The aggression can take physical, verbal or gestural forms. The behavior of bullying crosses sociodemographic categories of age, gender, ethnicity, level of academic achievement and professional environment. It has been abundantly observed by teachers and parents in elementary schools, but has also shown its negative presence in corporate boardrooms. The direct outcome of bullying, for both victims and perpetrators, is an increased risk of psychiatric disorders including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorders, substance abuse and suicidal behavior. Cruelty (and bullying, as one of its manifestations) breaks the basis of morality. Mental health professionals usually treat the victims of those actions unfortunately long after they have been exposed to the harm. The evidence does not support the idea that the majority of cruel actions are intrinsically "pathological", in the sense of being motivated by "mental disorders". Therefore, only moral rules and legal actions - but not psychiatric or psychological interventions - may dissuade humans from this form of cruelty.

Anarchy, State, or Utopia? Checks and Balances of Power in Internet Governance

In the beginning, the Internet was managed primarily through a social contract. Good behavior from all parties involved produced a ripe environment for invention and innovation and generated tremendous benefits for the entire world. But over time, the influx of money and power began to reward selfish behavior more and more, breaking open the Internet’s utopia and leading to crime, censorship, and fights over control. As a result, many are questioning whether national or international governmental bodies should play a more active role in Internet governance. As it is frequently framed, this question of “more or less government” on the Internet is overly simplistic. Today, Internet governance is a complex system of checks and balances among users, businesses, and governments – and too great a disparity of power, for any of these parties, could create imbalance and undermine some policy goals in favor of others, to the detriment of the Internet as a whole.

“We had a constant battle”. The role of attachment status in counselling psychologists’ experiences of personal therapy: Some results from a mixed-methods study

There has been curiously little empirical investigation into the experiences of psychotherapeutic practitioners undertaking a mandatory training therapy. We present results from a qualitatively-driven mixed-methods study designed to explore the way in which counselling psychologists’ attachment status and levels of reflective function intersect with how they experience the therapeutic relationship within their personal therapy. Participants were interviewed twice: once using Main and Goldwyn's (1998) Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) to explore representations of early childhood relationships; and subsequently using a semi-structured interview format, analysed via Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), to explore experiences of personal therapy. Meshing results from both sets of data showed that insecurely-attached participants experienced their personal therapy differently from secure or earned-secure participants, and were more troubled by a perceived disparity of institutional and interpersonal power within the therapeutic relationship. Results are considered in terms of the power dynamics within training therapy. Implications for training and future research in this neglected field are briefly discussed.

Towards the concerned study of religion: Exploring the double power–play disparity

Increasing numbers of students of religion, from various disciplines, address issues of public interest, going beyond documentation and analysis, taking the quality of human life in religion and society as a criterion for their recommendations. Accordingly, systematic reflection on the concerned study of religion is gaining relevance. The approach chosen in this article is to focus on one particular aspect, in this case the double – cognitive and moral – disparity in religious contexts between forms of power and play. Power is viewed as the human capacity to influence other people’s behaviour, even against their will. Play is defined here as the human capacity to deal simultaneously with different realities. Power and play represent two human capacities that in themselves are neutral but in combination may change from means, a situation of parity, into goal, a situation of disparity. A first type of disparity is cognitive in nature. It stems from the reduction of the potential open dynamic meaning-making that the power–play constellation could stimulate as well. A second disparity is of a moral nature. It stems from the fact that the power–play set may come to interfere with the quality of human life. As a set, power and play thus move between the roles of being either subservient means or self-fulfilling goal, between a soft and a hard version. Religion is one field in which the gift for play is applied, resulting in the relationship with a sacred or divine reality. Whereas religions cannot survive without some form of power, the form given to the power–play set marks out a religion’s identity. Within our time the critical study of the double disparity of hard power and play has gained urgency. Global society faces severe problems of poverty, violence, pollution and miscommunication. Religions may act as a cause, but also as problem solver. Students of religion are invited to form multidisciplinary teams to study the double disparity in its actual form, while simultaneously exploring prospects for the promotion of both open meaning-making and the quality of human life, with power and play in a relationship of parity. This turn would necessitate a reappraisal of the research agenda for Religious/World-view Studies. It demands an identity change for this study field, both in the selection of themes for research and funding, and in the explicitly applied nature of scholarly work.

Information, power and environmental justice in Botany: The role of community information systems

In the environmental conflict that surrounds the sighting of hazardous waste facilities there is usually a volatile mix of disparities in power, expertise and information access as well as differing views on risk, which are all played out amidst commercial arrangements and environmental justice concerns. In recent times, the volatility of this mix has been further compounded by the growing climate of public concern and distrust surrounding scientific developments and technology. While there is no ‘quick fix’ to the complex conflict that this entails, community information systems (CISs) based on participatory models can help address the outstanding issues of capacity, information access, power inequities and environmental justice. CISs are an effective response to the five crucial elements of a toxic dispute, that is, the dialogue, capacity building, information access, evaluation of hazards and risk, and expertise. This paper will review the role of community accessible information systems in the dispute in Botany over the management and destruction of Orica Australia's stockpile of the persistent organic pollutant, hexachlorobenzene (HCB). It will focus on the role of CIS in responding to the challenges for expert information delivery, and in addressing the disparity of informational power within the toxic dispute.