Major Items Research Articles

Household spending on transport in Latin America and the Caribbean: A dimension of transport affordability in the region

In Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), transportation constitutes one of the major items in the basket of good and services consumed by households. This paper describes household spending on transport in the region. Engel curves are estimated to understand the relationship between transport spending and changes in household income. Using income and expenditure surveys from 2003 to 2014 in 12 LAC countries – Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, and Uruguay – this paper finds a notable heterogeneity in transport spending in LAC. The results of the Engel curves lead to two simultaneous challenges, and the need to develop an urban transport strategy following a two-pronged approach. Low income population, that rely heavily on the use of public transport, face an affordability problem. Concurrently, the high-income elasticity of private transport, coupled with the growth of the middle class in the region, point to an ever-increasing private car ownership. On the public transport dimension, affordability should be addressed through demand side subsidies as they are known for minimizing errors of inclusion and avoiding supply side distortions. On the private transport dimension, the elasticities calculated suggest that fiscal policy instruments (taxes and charges) to pursue a desired outcome may not have the looked-for impact.

Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Ukrainian version of the ABILHAND-Kids questionnaire

Purpose To develop and cross-culturally validate the Ukrainian version of the ABILHAND-Kids questionnaire by testing its psychometric properties in a sample of Ukrainian children with cerebral palsy. Methods The ABILHAND-Kids questionnaire was translated into Ukrainian, cross-culturally adapted, and administered to 113 parents of children with cerebral palsy. The psychometric properties of the Ukrainian version and its cross-cultural validation were investigated through the Rasch rating scale model. Results One major misfit has been found for the item “Rolling up a sleeve of a sweater” that further was removed. The item “Putting on a backpack/schoolbag” was split into gender-specific items, separately for girls and for boys, as it was systematically easier for Ukrainian girls. All remaining items contributed to the definition of a unidimensional measure of manual ability. The internal consistency reliability of the scale was high (R = 0.95). No significant floor (4%) and ceiling effects (5%) were observed. Three major differential item functioning items were found across Belgium and Ukraine, highlighting the need to use the Ukrainian calibration of ABILHAND-Kids in Ukraine. Conclusion The Ukrainian ABILHAND-Kids questionnaire has good psychometric properties for assessing manual ability in Ukrainian children with cerebral palsy, holding potential to be implemented in clinical practice nationwide. Implications for rehabilitation Cerebral palsy impairs manual ability leading to decreased quality of life and participation. Professionals need valid and reliable tools to detect small changes of manual ability during rehabilitation. Metric properties and availability of the Ukrainian version of the ABILHAND-Kids questionnaire make it a useful tool in the assessment of children with cerebral palsy.

스포츠공공조직의 특성 탐색 : 공공조직 특성과의 비교를 중심으로

Purpose: The study aims to reveal differentiated characteristic of sport public organization and to derive policy implication.BR Method: A literature analysis was conducted to achieve the purpose of the study.BR Results: The result of the study was obtained in three parts. The fitr sis the search for the characteristics ofsport. First, I looked at the attributes and values of sport.n I addition to the physical, mental and educational aspects, the value of welfare in the social aspect has recent lybeen emphasized as the ultimate value of sport. Next, I looked at the public nature and autonomy of sport. Sport is not private, but has the attributes and characteristics of public character associated with different membres of the community. At the same time, sport is also considered to have strong autonomous personality. The second is the search for characteristics of public organization. I looked at the characteristics of public organization by dividing them into four main items: organizational environment, organizational goals & needs, organizaitonal structure & operation, and organizational performance & reflux. In terms of organizational environment, market information tended to be non-exchangeable and political control was strong. In terms of organizational goals and needs, goals were vague and varied, and sought the public interest. In terms of organizational structure and operation, it has been shown that the work style is regularized and formalized, and the hiearchy and control trends are strong. In terms of organizational performance and reflux, it was found that performance extraction and reflux were difficult. The last third is the search for characteristics of the sport pubcl iorganization. After examining the characteristics of the sport public organization in four categories: organizaotinal environment, organizational goals & needs, organizational structure & operation, organizational performance & reflux, The aspects of organizational goals & needs, organizational structure & operation were found to be not much different from public organizations. However, in terms of organizational environment and organizational performance & reflux, it was found to be relatively autonomous and independent.BR Conclusion: The result of the study was summarized. And major itemized usdt ies and comparative studies are presented separately as follow-up studies. First, it is cosnidered that research by major item, such as by characteristic, by event, and by type, is necessary. The next comparative study found that comparisons among public, public sport organization and private sport organization are necessary.

Is there a gender difference in accurately predicting the sign of growth in durables spending?

ABSTRACTThe answer is yes, according to the Michigan Surveys of Consumers (MSC) data. A survey question under the ‘Household durables buying conditions’ category asks: ‘About the big things people buy for their homes – such as furniture, a refrigerator, stove, television, and things like that. Generally speaking, do you think now is a good time or a bad time for people to buy major household items?’ Using the individual responses, the MSC calculates a balanced index representing consumer durable buying attitudes separately for all, female, and male participants in addition to those in the lower 33%, middle 33%, and upper 33% income categories. We show that only the change in female durable buying attitudes accurately predicts the sign of growth in durables spending.

The impact of maize price shocks on household food security: Panel evidence from Tanzania

Using three waves (2008/09, 2010/11, 2012/13) of the Tanzanian National Panel Survey, this study investigates the impact of maize price shocks on household food security. Between 2008/09 and 2012/13, calorie intake stagnated for urban households, yet sharply deteriorated for rural households. The latter was driven by a significant decline in the consumption of the major staple maize which showed strongest price hikes among all major food items. Fixed-effects regressions indicate a clear negative relationship between maize prices and average household energy intake. Almost all population groups were found to be negatively affected by maize price shocks, with rural landless households being the most vulnerable group. In particular, a 50 percent rise in maize prices decreases caloric intake for rural (urban) households on average by 4.4 (5.4) percent, and for rural landless households by 12.6 percent. Results further indicate that subsistence agriculture can act as an effective strategy to insure against food price volatility.

Efficacy and Safety of Belimumab and Azathioprine for Maintenance of Remission in Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody-Associated Vasculitis: A Randomized Controlled Study.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the safety and efficacy of belimumab as adjunctive therapy to maintain remission in antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)–associated vasculitis (AAV).MethodsIn this multicenter, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled study, patients with AAV (ages ≥18 years) were randomized 1:1 to receive azathioprine (2 mg/kg/day), low‐dose oral glucocorticoids (≤10 mg/day), and either intravenous belimumab (10 mg/kg) or placebo, following remission induction with rituximab or cyclophosphamide along with glucocorticoids. The primary end point was time to first protocol‐specified event (PSE), with first PSE defined as a Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score (BVAS) of ≥6, presence of ≥1 major BVAS item, or receipt of prohibited medications for any reason, resulting in treatment failure (adjusted for ANCA type [proteinase 3 (PR3) or myeloperoxidase (MPO)], disease stage at induction, and induction regimen). Vasculitis relapse was defined as the PSE of either a BVAS activity score of ≥6 or receipt of prohibited medications for vasculitis. Changes in treatment practice led to truncation of the study population from ~300 patients to ~100 patients.ResultsThe intent‐to‐treat population totaled 105 patients with AAV, of whom 52 (40 with PR3‐ANCAs, 12 with MPO‐ANCAs) received placebo and 53 (41 with PR3‐ANCAs, 12 with MPO‐ANCAs) received belimumab; 27 of the patients were in rituximab‐induced disease remission, while 78 were in cyclophosphamide‐induced disease remission at baseline. Compared with placebo, treatment with belimumab did not reduce the risk of a PSE (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.07, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.44–2.59; P = 0.884) or vasculitis relapse (adjusted HR 0.88, 95% CI 0.29–2.65; P = 0.821). The overall rate of PSEs was low (11 [21.2%] of 52 patients receiving placebo, 10 [18.9%] of 53 patients receiving belimumab). Vasculitis relapse in the placebo group (n = 8) occurred independent of the induction regimen, disease stage, or ANCA type. All vasculitis relapses in the belimumab group (n = 6) occurred in patients who had PR3‐ANCA–associated vasculitis with cyclophosphamide‐induced disease remission. Adverse events occurred in 49 (92.5%) of 53 patients receiving belimumab and 43 (82.7%) of 52 patients receiving placebo, with no new safety concerns.ConclusionBelimumab plus azathioprine and glucocorticoids for the maintenance of remission in AAV did not reduce the risk of relapse.

Misappropriation of medications and equipment in the emergency department

ObjectiveTo determine the nature and extent of misappropriation of medications and equipment from the ED. MethodsWe undertook a retrospective audit of medications procured and administered, and equipment replaced, in 2016, within a tertiary referral ED. Medication procurement and administration data were obtained from our MERLIN® pharmacy system and CERNER® electronic prescribing system, respectively. A medication ‘discrepancy rate’ was defined as the percentage of a medication procured that could not be accounted for by electronic administrations. The study also comprised a nested intervention sub-study where, from July 1, 2016, all Panadeine Forte tablets were stored in a locked facility. Victorian Hospital Healthcare Equipment invoices were audited to determine which major non-disposable equipment items most commonly needed resupply. ResultsDiscrepancy rates for paracetamol 500mg and 665mg tablets were 23.3% and 54.9%, respectively. Following the Panadeine Forte intervention, the discrepancy rate for this medication fell from 70.5% to 8.8%. Orally administered medications with the potential for misappropriation had high discrepancy rates: caffeine (90.6%), cephalexin (62.9%), ondansetron (50.1%), pantoprazole (42.9%), amoxicillin (41.1%), metoclopramide (41.0%) and the ‘morning after pill’ (levonorgestrel) (36.4%). Parenterally administered medications had lower discrepancy rates: ceftriaxone (7.9%) and ampicillin (3.4%). The largest equipment replacement rates were for tourniquets and crutches. ConclusionDiscrepancy rates for many medications, especially those administered orally, are high. Further research is required to determine how these medications ‘go missing’. Placing a medication with a high discrepancy rate in a locked facility with a ‘logbook’ substantially reduces this rate. Misappropriation of non-disposable equipment items is uncommon.

Estimating Environmental Load of PSC Beam Bridge using Standard Quantities and Resource DB Model

Efforts should be expended during the design stages to reduce the environmental load to ensure the existence of possible design alternatives and to realise an eco-friendly design. This study suggests a model for environmental load estimation using the minimum possible information from the initial design stages for a Pre-Stressed Concrete (PSC) beam bridge, the most common type. The standard quantity database (DB) and resource DB of major work items are established to estimate the total amount of resources required. Major design variables including bridge length and width, height of substructure and foundation depth are used. The environmental load can be calculated along with the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) DB. The proposed method can estimate the material requirements for each work process with higher accuracy because it allows for the calculation of the quantity of resources according to the unit quantity of all major work items. The results obtained from this model are compared with those of the actual cases. The environmental load of the suggested model yields a mean absolute error rate of 2.44% and a standard deviation of 2.58%. This model exhibits higher reliability compared with the conventional basic unit method, which is commonly used for environmental load estimation.

Calculation of land social security value in the process of urban non-agricultural construction land transfer--Based on field investigation in rural areas of Guangzhou

The social security value of land includes four major items, namely, unemployment security, minimum living security value, old-age security value and medical security value. The non-agricultural construction land compensation substance produced in the process of social security is the land value of the market price, the farmers and urban residents, land value can be partial social security. To determine the process of land expropriation for non-agricultural construction reasonable compensation, we need to provide scientific standards. Through the calculation, Guangzhou ’ s current land compensation provide social security value of basic level, but due to the large regional land requisition compensation amount difference, the current land expropriation compensation is actually the coexistence of insufficient and transition compensation.

Определение процесса обучения (типы мотивации и теории)

Learning is one of the major items dealt with psychology. Learning is typically defined as modification of behavior through practice and training. The process of learning is affected by such factors as environment, motivation, health, emotions, maturation and aging. A number of theories are found operative for the process of learning among which the prominent are: Classical conditioning by I.P. Pavlov, Operant conditioning by B.F. Skinner, Trial and Error theory by E.L. Thorndike, Gestalt or Insightful theory by F. D. Kohler and Kurt Koffka, J. B. Watson’s theory of learning and etc. It is suggested that for the best transfer of learning the individual should discover interrelationships for himself. He should be exposed to the diverse and multifaceted interrelationships and principles that can help draw generalizations.

중국어 관광통역안내사 근무환경에 관한 질적 연구

The purpose of this study is to figure out cause and reason for the work environment which the Chinese tourist guide feels uncomfortable and to find improvement about the environment. The research method was applied to qualitative study rather than empirical study using questionnaire. Through the in-depth interview method, this study intended to find fundamental problems which would have not been found advanced research and empirical study.BR In-depth interviews were done from July 11th to August 15th 2018 by using one-to-one interview. The interviewees were consist of Korean, oversees Chinese and oversees Korean etc. Therefore total twelve Chinese tourist guides, who were two Koreans, six oversees Koreans and four oversees Chinese, were taken in-depth interview. The result of this study found seven factors. Employment related item, balance related item, shopping related item, job related item, unqualified chinese tourist guide related item, four major insurance related item and female tourist guides related item.

Macrosynthetic plastic waste in the Black Sea surface waters and the phenomenon „plastic cloud`

The goal of this paper setting the rice growth the pollution of the Black Sea surface waters with macro synthetic plastic waste . Plastics accounted the major item of marine solid wastes which pollute the sea surface, sealed and beaches. The phenomenon „plastic cloud` is also analysed.

Nonrecurring Items in Debt Contracts

ABSTRACTUsing a large sample of debt contracts, we study the determinants of excluding nonrecurring items from covenant calculations. We investigate this choice across firms, across items, and through time. We find that nonrecurring items are more likely to be excluded when the agency costs of debt are higher and less likely to be excluded when they predict borrowers' performance. Our evidence further suggests that the interplay between agency costs and nonrecurring items' predictive ability affects the decision to exclude these items from covenant computations. Finally, when examining the exclusion by different nonrecurring item types, we find confirmatory evidence that the probability of exclusion decreases with the predictive ability for borrowers' future performance of major nonrecurring item types. Overall, our research extends the literature on the determinants of contract design and improves understanding of the usefulness of accounting information in debt contracting.

From craftsmen to laborers: A history of carpet making in Republican China

Beijing and Tianjin hand-woven carpets were once a major export item of Republican China. These carpets were mainly bound for the Western markets, especially the United States. In the late Qing dynasty, Chinese carpets found their way into the collections of wealthy connoisseurs and then, increasingly throughout the 1920s, into the homes of America’s rising middle class. This paper shows that by pursuing a strategy of export maximization, the Republican Chinese carpet industry submitted itself to technical standards set by the American market, as well as to the shifting tastes of American homemakers. This resulted in the valorization of knowledge about foreign market and devalorization of traditional Chinese artisanal knowledge. Eventually, entrepreneurs with direct connections to the foreign market came to dominate the carpet production; weavers were reduced to manual laborers.

Skeleton and Infill Housing Construction Delivery Process Optimization Based on the Design Structure Matrix

Skeleton and Infill (SI) housing system is considered as a significant path of sustainably prolonging building life by improving structural durability and infill variability for its nature that the skeleton system is fixed, while the infill system could be rebuilt to satisfy users’ changing demands in different stage without damaging the skeleton system. The application of a SI housing system involves two new characteristics compared to traditional cast-in-place housing system: components production in factories and site construction are carried out simultaneously; the skeleton system and the infill system are constructed in parallel phases, which increase enormous parallel work. Iterations and rework would increase with the improper handling of parallel works, which lead to higher construction cost and lower participant willingness of stakeholders in SI housing construction delivery process. It is essential to establish a model to clarify the dependencies among major parallel work items and recognize parallel work sets to optimize the construction sequence for stakeholders to strengthen communication and coordination on key work items in a more efficiency way. By conducting investigations into the construction delivery process of typical SI housing projects in China, this paper developed a parallel collaborative mode based on the design structure matrix (DSM) to identify the complex dependencies among major cooperative work items. Furthermore, to provide an optimized parallel collaborative process, graph theory was introduced to find parallel work sets and eliminate repetition and iteration caused by improper work execution sequences. The results provide a guide for stakeholders to make appropriate cooperation strategies in implementing major work items and promoting cooperating efficiency by reducing iteration and rework.

Comparative study of international codes wind loads and CFD results for low rise buildings

The structural design of the building includes the calculation of the applied wind loads as one of the major items in the design process. The available codes data for the listed structures in these codes extracted from wind tunnel experiments but not cover all the designed structures types. There is a necessity to provide the designer with design wind parameters considering that the experimental data is costly and not always available. This research aims to facilitate the necessary wind parameters for the structural design such as pressure distribution, drag coefficient for some building adopting the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) techniques. The validation of the application of CFD technique with existing wind tunnel results for some structures is investigated. Then the application of the CFD techniques performed on some structures such as single span short gable structure with mono and double slopes, trusses and domes. The basic parameters considered in the analysis of gable building including roof slops, wind direction. In addition, for gable buildings, the different roof zones coefficients of pressure assessed to compare the application of CFD technique with the international wind standards and codes of practice. The obtained results compared with each of the Euro code and ASCE10.

Exploring General Science Questions of Secondary School Certificate (SSC) Examination: Assessment Effects on Students Learning

Creative question is generally considered as a tool to measure students’ various levels of learning. The study focused on exploring the present situation of General Science test items/creative questions in Bangladesh. This descriptive study was conducted using a concurrent triangulation research design. To conduct this study both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. 16 test of General Science test items/creative question papers of 2015 or 2016 were selected purposively as sample from all educational boards. 48 students were selected conveniently for interview from those who had been passed the SSC examination of 2015 or 2016. For collecting data from these sources test analysis protocol and interview protocol were used as research tools. Test analysis protocol was consisted of two criteria; wording criteria and practicing criteria. Selected test items were analysed based on these two criteria and Bloom’s cognitive domain. The study revealed that major test items were developed in a way which direct students towards lower level learning. Few test items were focused to students understanding, application and higher order learning. In practice, students were engaged to only memorization and understanding through SSC examination assessment. Few test items were devoted to application level learning of students. Higher order learning was totally ignored in SSC examination questions.

KIET Framework for Cloud Adoption

The expenses in the sustenance of IT investments has become a major ledger item in businesses to the extent that in some cases business priorities had to be changed for sustaining IT systems. Cloud computing, a disruptive technology, is changing the sustenance model with on-demand and metered service approach. However, the adoption of this technology has not been consistent across sectors due to fear on loss of control and changes required in application development and deployment. Authors propose KIET (Knowing, Initiating, Evolving and Transforming) framework based on diffusion theory for adoption of cloud computing in organizations that have strong regulatory framework. Authors implemented the proposed framework on the Indian Banking sector, with majority of the banks being in the public sector. After the implementation of the framework, 49.4% of the banks have adopted cloud computing and another 27.8% of the banks have started the initial steps for adoption.

PMU15 - ANALYSIS OF THE METHODOLOGICAL OBJECTIONS REGARDING INDIRECT TREATMENT COMPARISON SUBMITTED TO THE HAUTE AUTORITÉ DE SANTÉ (HAS)

Inclusion of comparators is a main topic for the cost-effectiveness evaluation of health technology by HTA. Outside the framework of direct comparison, an extensive literature has emerged to generate robust indirect treatment comparison based on various methods. The objectives were to assess the indirect comparison methods used in the publicly available French health-economic opinions. We performed a retrospective analysis regarding methodological objections delivered by the HAS based on an online electronic database: https://efficience.heva-heor.com. A list of major items was collected and sorted by structural choices, results, sensitivity analysis and methodological objections. We focused this analysis on the comparison methods reported in the opinions published from December 2014 (date of the first economic opinion) until May 25th, 2018. 62 health-economic opinions were available. We identified 36 opinions with indirect comparisons (58%). Among those, the most common were naive comparisons (33%) and Network-Meta-Analysis (NMA,33%) and Matching-Adjusted Indirect Comparisons (MAIC,14%). For 6 opinions (17%) the method was not explicit. On average, NMA generated 1.7 objections for each opinion versus 1.08 for naive comparisons. There are fewer important and major objections for the NMA (0.67 for each opinion) than for naive comparison (1 for each opinion). The MAIC lead to similar objections than NMA with only 0.60 objection for each opinion. Indirect treatment comparisons are widely used in health economic evaluations in France. No clear correlation or signal appear between the choice of methods and numbers nor level of objections. Naïve comparisons are frequently used and don’t necessarily lead to a major objection. The lack of details regarding comparison methods and objections are a constraint for the completeness of the analysis.

Stomach contents and stable isotopes confirm ontogenetic diet shifts of Nile perch, Lates niloticus, in southern Lake Victoria

Nile perch (Lates niloticus), a main target for Lake Victoria's fisheries, shifts its diet from invertebrates to fish during its ontogeny. We combined stomach contents with stable isotopes to study these diet shifts in Mwanza Gulf, southern Lake Victoria. During four seasons between 2009 and 2011 we collected and analysed 6697 stomachs and 516 stable isotope samples of Nile perch. Caridina shrimp and haplochromine cichlids were the major food items in Nile perch of 5–40 cm. Based on stomach contents, the shift of dominance of Caridina towards haplochromines in the diet varied from 6.7 cm length in the southern part of the gulf, to >20 cm in the northern part, possibly related to the higher abundance of Caridina in the north. In general isotope-based and stomach-content-based estimates of Nile perch diets agreed. We observed only two discrepancies: in Nile perch >20 cm, the isotope-based estimates of the contribution of haplochromines to the diet were much lower than based on stomach contents and the contribution of juvenile Nile perch to the diet were much higher in the isotope-based estimates than in the stomach based-based estimates. This discrepancy may be explained by e.g. different timespan-coverages between isotopes and stomach contents, by movements of Nile perch between the Gulf and the rest of Lake Victoria, or by the overlapping isotopic profiles of haplochromines and juvenile Nile perch. With the recent recovery of haplochromines in Lake Victoria, Nile perch appears to rely more on this prey again, as it did in the 1980s.