scholarly journals How did the multi-fiber agreement affect the level of specialization in the textile sector of the countries?

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (120) ◽  
pp. 283-291
Author(s):  
Birol ERKAN ◽  
Elif Tuğçe BOZDUMAN
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Trade Balance ◽  
Global Competition ◽  
Textile Trade ◽  
Before And After ◽  
High Level ◽  
Textile Sector

This paper aims to reveal the effects of the Multi-Fibre Agreement (MFA), which determines the course of the textile trade and the global competition on countries' levels of specialization. In this perspective, we analyze the levels of specialization (competition) of the 10 countries whose exports were the highest in the sector before and after the complete abolition of quotas in a comparatively. In the analyses, we use the Index of Contribution to Trade Balance (ICBT), the Export-Import Ratio Index (EIRI) and the Michaely Index (MI) to measure the progress of countries' level of specialization in the sector by years. All of these indices indicate that the highest levels of specialization in the sector were Pakistan, India and Turkey before the end of the MFA. After 2005, when quotas were completely eliminated, China and Hong Kong increased their level of expertise in the sector and separated positively from other countries. In this context, China achieved a global competitive advantage in the sector, especially with high level of specialization.

How Special is the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region? A Classic Example of the Interface between Language and Politics

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-308
Author(s):  
Cheung King Man
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Special Administrative Region ◽  
Republic Of China ◽  
Administrative Region ◽  
Political Purpose ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Language And Politics ◽  
High Level

Language is never just an instrument of communication, but also a political symbol. Translators, interpreters, and other language professionals working for governments and international organizations often have to take their personal preference out of the equation while taking into account the legal and political connotations in choosing the most appropriate words and expressions when handling official documents relating to international relations, public administration, and law. The case of Hong Kong is probably one of the best examples illustrating the interface between language and politics. Of particular note is the equal status enjoyed by the Chinese and English languages. Translators and interpreters working for the Hong Kong government both before and after 1997 have to consider legal and political factors in performing their duties. Translation or interpretation is no longer just a matter of language and communication, but also serves legal and political purpose. With reference to the political discourse relating to the change in Hong Kong’s political status from a British dependent territory to a special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China, what then are the legal and political connotations of words and expressions that translators and interpreters of the Hong Kong government have to consider? To answer this question, the author is writing this paper with at least two identities: a practitioner and a researcher. As a practitioner, the author has been a translator and conference interpreter serving at high-level meetings between the Hong Kong government and the authorities of the Mainland of China for more than ten years. As a researcher, the author is developing a theoretical framework by having dialogues with the relevant political discourse that he himself has participated in producing. The author has integrated discourse analysis with his first-hand experience as a translator and conference interpreter, borrowing concepts from such disciplines as international relations, politics, law, and translation.

scholarly journals Benefit of a pharmacist-led intervention for medication management of renal transplant patients: a controlled before-and-after study

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 204062232110052
Author(s):  
Jeremy Chambord ◽  
Lionel Couzi ◽  
Pierre Merville ◽  
Karine Moreau ◽  
Fabien Xuereb ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Medication Adherence ◽  
Immunosuppressive Therapy ◽  
Medication Management ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Knowledge Score ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Patient Knowledge ◽  
Transplant Patients ◽  
Before And After ◽  
High Level

Aims: To assess the effect of a pharmacist-led intervention, using Barrows cards method, during the first year after renal transplantation, on patient knowledge about their treatment, medication adherence and exposure to treatment in a French cohort. Methods: We conducted a before-and-after comparative study between two groups of patients: those who benefited from a complementary pharmacist-led intervention [intervention group (IG), n = 44] versus those who did not [control group (CG), n = 48]. The pharmacist-led intervention consisted of a behavioral and educational interview at the first visit (visit 1). The intervention was assessed 4 months later at the second visit (visit 2), using the following endpoints: treatment knowledge, medication adherence [proportion of days covered (PDC) by immunosuppressive therapy] and tacrolimus exposure. Results: At visit 2, IG patients achieved a significantly higher knowledge score than CG patients (83.3% versus 72.2%, p = 0.001). We did not find any differences in treatment exposure or medication adherence; however, the intervention tended to reduce the proportion of non-adherent patients with low knowledge scores. Using the PDC by immunosuppressive therapy, we identified 10 non-adherent patients (10.9%) at visit 1 and six at visit 2. Conclusions: Our intervention showed a positive effect on patient knowledge about their treatment. However, our results did not show any improvement in overall medication adherence, which was likely to be because of the initially high level of adherence in our study population. Nevertheless, the intervention appears to have improved adherence in non-adherent patients with low knowledge scores.

scholarly journals Gender Differences in Neuromuscular, Haematological and Urinary Responses during Padel Matches

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (11) ◽  
pp. 5864
Author(s):  
Francisco Pradas ◽  
Alejandro García-Giménez ◽  
Víctor Toro-Román ◽  
Nicolae Ochiana ◽  
Carlos Castellar
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Red Blood Cells ◽  
Grip Strength ◽  
Blood Cells ◽  
Temporal Structure ◽  
Hand Grip Strength ◽  
Squat Jump ◽  
Hand Grip ◽  
Before And After ◽  
High Level

Research on the acute physiological response to a padel match is limited. The present study aimed to: (a) evaluate neuromuscular, urinary, and hematological responses after simulated padel competition (SC) and (b) analyze possible gender differences. In this study, 28 high-level padel players participated (men = 13, age = 26.83 ± 6.57 years; women = 15, age = 30.07 ± 4.36 years). The following parameters were analyzed before and after SC: neuromuscular (hand grip strength, squat jump (SJ), countermovement jump (CMJ), and Abalakov jump (ABK)), hematological (red blood cells, hemoglobin, and hematocrit), and urinary (pH, specific gravity, microalbuminuria, and red blood cells). Significant gender differences were found in neuromuscular and hematological responses, with men obtaining higher values (p < 0.05). For the SC influence, changes were noted in ABK and microalbuminuria (p < 0.05). The percentages of change in hand grip strength, SJ (height and watts), CMJ (height), and ABK (height) were higher for men than women (p < 0.05). SC negatively influenced the neuromuscular parameters to a greater extent in women. Our results could be related to gender differences in game actions, the temporal structure, and anthropometric and physiological characteristics. Game dynamics and a different organic response between male and female padel playing were confirmed.

scholarly journals Real-Time High-Level Acute Pain Detection Using a Smartphone and a Wrist-Worn Electrodermal Activity Sensor

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (12) ◽  
pp. 3956
Author(s):  
Youngsun Kong ◽  
Hugo F. Posada-Quintero ◽  
Ki H. Chon
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Electrodermal Activity ◽  
Smartphone Application ◽  
Real Time Processing ◽  
Pain Stimulation ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Electrical Pulses ◽  
Pain Detection ◽  
High Level

The subjectiveness of pain can lead to inaccurate prescribing of pain medication, which can exacerbate drug addiction and overdose. Given that pain is often experienced in patients’ homes, there is an urgent need for ambulatory devices that can quantify pain in real-time. We implemented three time- and frequency-domain electrodermal activity (EDA) indices in our smartphone application that collects EDA signals using a wrist-worn device. We then evaluated our computational algorithms using thermal grill data from ten subjects. The thermal grill delivered a level of pain that was calibrated for each subject to be 8 out of 10 on a visual analog scale (VAS). Furthermore, we simulated the real-time processing of the smartphone application using a dataset pre-collected from another group of fifteen subjects who underwent pain stimulation using electrical pulses, which elicited a VAS pain score level 7 out of 10. All EDA features showed significant difference between painless and pain segments, termed for the 5-s segments before and after each pain stimulus. Random forest showed the highest accuracy in detecting pain, 81.5%, with 78.9% sensitivity and 84.2% specificity with leave-one-subject-out cross-validation approach. Our results show the potential of a smartphone application to provide near real-time objective pain detection.

scholarly journals Transfer and generalization of learned manipulation between unimanual and bimanual tasks

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor Lee-Miller ◽  
Marco Santello ◽  
Andrew M. Gordon
Keyword(s):  
Learning Transfer ◽  
Center Of Pressure ◽  
Center Of Mass ◽  
Pressure Point ◽  
Torque Generation ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Object Center ◽  
High Level ◽  
Bimanual Grasping ◽  
Partial Learning

AbstractSuccessful object manipulation, such as preventing object roll, relies on the modulation of forces and centers of pressure (point of application of digits on each grasp surface) prior to lift onset to generate a compensatory torque. Whether or not generalization of learned manipulation can occur after adding or removing effectors is not known. We examined this by recruiting participants to perform lifts in unimanual and bimanual grasps and analyzed results before and after transfer. Our results show partial generalization of learned manipulation occurred when switching from a (1) unimanual to bimanual grasp regardless of object center of mass, and (2) bimanual to unimanual grasp when the center of mass was on the thumb side. Partial generalization was driven by the modulation of effectors’ center of pressure, in the appropriate direction but of insufficient magnitude, while load forces did not contribute to torque generation after transfer. In addition, we show that the combination of effector forces and centers of pressure in the generation of compensatory torque differ between unimanual and bimanual grasping. These findings highlight that (1) high-level representations of learned manipulation enable only partial learning transfer when adding or removing effectors, and (2) such partial generalization is mainly driven by modulation of effectors’ center of pressure.

scholarly journals Analysis of the resistance mediated by several R-factors to Tetracycline and Minocycline

1972 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Robertson ◽  
E. C. R. Reeve
Keyword(s):  
Tetracycline Resistance ◽  
Klebsiella Aerogenes ◽  
R Factor ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Challenge Tests ◽  
Simple Growth ◽  
High Level ◽  
K 12 ◽  
R Factors ◽  
Level Group

SUMMARYThe resistance levels conferred by the T-determinants in four R-factors to Tetracycline and Minocycline in cells ofEscherichia coliK 12, before and after induction of maximum resistance by treatment with sub-inhibitory concentrations of the drugs, are measured by simple growth-and-challenge tests. The effect of a plasmid TKwhich confers tetracycline resistance on its hostKlebsiella aerogenesis tested in the same way. The five T-determinants fall into a high-level and a low-level group for resistance, the former giving 3- to 4-fold higher resistance in both induced and uninduced cells than the latter. The T-determinants all confer much lower resistance to Minocycline (a tetracycline molecule modified at the C-6 and C-7 positions) than to Tetracycline. The main cause of this difference is that cells carrying a T-determinant exclude Minocycline much less efficiently than Tetracycline, but in addition Minocycline is less effective than Tetracycline in inducing increased resistance. These results are discussed in the light of a model put forward to explain the inducible nature of R-factor resistance to the tetracyclines.

Global competition of an organization: Managerial analysis of IBM’s global operations under the concepts - value chain, value network and value shop

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 99-115
Author(s):  
Francis Kwadade-Cudjoe
Keyword(s):  
Human Resources ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Joint Ventures ◽  
Global Competition ◽  
Value Network ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Sustained Competitive Advantage ◽  
Global Operations

Globalization has been one of the strategies many organizations looking to achieve competitive advantage in their markets of operation have been implementing. It has been in existence since the Europeans and Americans started to move into other continents to conquer nations within those continents. Globalization involves the movement of an organization to other parts of the globe in order to utilize the opportunities normally available in those countries for manufacturing of products and trading. There are many strategies through which organizations could use to go global. However the most popular strategies are alliances, acquisitions, mergers and joint ventures.  Most organizations which go global usually look for how they could cut cost by utilizing the cheaper natural and human resources available in those countries for production of goods and services. These organizations which go global are called multi-national companies (MNCs), as they usually have assets in the countries they operate from. Some organizations have been able to benefit substantially from globalization, whilst others not. The successful organizations have been able to achieve competitive advantage and some of them have even been able to attain sustained competitive advantage in their fields of operation.

scholarly journals Evaluation of nutritional values of smoke cured riverine and marine hilsa (Tenualosa ilisha; Hamilton, 1882)

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-184
Author(s):  
Sumon Debnath ◽  
Gulshan Ara Latifa ◽  
Mohajira Begum ◽  
Md Abu Obaida
Keyword(s):  
Head Region ◽  
Nutritional Values ◽  
Caudal Region ◽  
Abdominal Region ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Tenualosa Ilisha ◽  
High Level

Present study was conducted to evaluate nutritional values of smoked hilsa fish (Tenualosa ilisha; Hamilton, 1882) in relation to its raw condition. Smoking is one of the processes of fish preservation from ancient period of our country. The nutrients values of the hilsa from two different regions were significantly (p < 0.05) varied. The nutritional values were different before and after processing of hilsa. Riverine hilsa contains relatively more moisture (56.45 ± 0.51%) and protein (15.98 ± 0.50%) than marine hilsa. Fat (16.18 ± 0.45%) and salt (1.92 ± 0.18%) contents are higher in marine hilsa; whereas ash (8.34 ± 0.35%) content was higher in riverine hilsa. Minerals like iron (4.72 ± 0.08 mg/100 g) and calcium (481.77 ± 6.20 mg/100g) remain in large amount on marine hilsa but phosphorus (115.73 ± 4.36 mg/100 g) content remain high level in riverine hilsa. In addition, the protein (raw condition, 19.54 ± 0.47%, riverine; 17.12 ± 0.42%, marine and smoked condition, 29.64 ± 0.41%, riverine; 28.51 ± 0.51%, marine) and fat (raw condition, 16.41 ± 0.46%, riverine; 20.07 ± 0.39%, marine and smoked condition, 20.71 ± 0.47%, riverine; 23.31 ± 0.47%, marine) content were higher in abdominal region of riverine and marine hilsa both raw and smoked condition than head region (protein in raw condition, 11.21 ± 0.51%, riverine; 10.51 ± 0.53%, marine and smoked condition, 17.14 ± 0.42%, riverine; 15.69 ± 0.4%, marine; fat in raw condition, 9.04 ± 0.45%, riverine; 11.21 ± 0.51%, marine and smoked condition, 12.32 ± 0.44%, riverine; 14.56 ± 0.47%, marine) and caudal region (protein in raw condition17.21 ± 0.52%, riverine; 15.22 ± 0.66%, marine and smoked condition, 27.68 ± 0.44%, riverine; 26.73 ± 0.46%, marine; fat in raw condition, 14.05 ± 0.5%, riverine; 17.28 ± 0.47%, marine and smoked condition, 17.35 ± 0.43%, riverine; 19.18 ± 0.51%, marine). Bangladesh J. Zool. 46(2): 177-184, 2018

Triggering of transient LES relaxations in ferrets: role of sympathetic pathways and effects of baclofen

2000 ◽  
Vol 279 (1) ◽  
pp. G157-G162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther Staunton ◽  
Scott D. Smid ◽  
John Dent ◽  
L. Ashley Blackshaw
Keyword(s):  
Gastroesophageal Reflux ◽  
Lower Esophageal Sphincter ◽  
Glucose Infusion ◽  
Gastric Distention ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Esophageal Sphincter ◽  
Splanchnic Mechanoreceptors ◽  
High Level

Activation of gastric vagal mechanoreceptors by distention is thought to be the trigger for transient lower esophageal sphincter relaxations (TLESR), which lead to gastroesophageal reflux. The contribution of higher-threshold gastric splanchnic mechanoreceptors is uninvestigated. GABABreceptor agonists, including baclofen, potently reduce triggering of TLESR by low-level gastric distention. We aimed to determine first whether this effect of baclofen is maintained at high-level distention and second the role of splanchnic pathways in triggering TLESR. Micromanometric/pH studies in conscious ferrets showed that intragastric glucose infusion (25 ml) increased triggering of TLESR and reflux. Both were significantly reduced by baclofen (7 μmol/kg ip) ( P < 0.05). When 40 ml of air was added to the glucose infusion, more TLESR occurred than with glucose alone ( P < 0.01). These were also reduced by baclofen ( P < 0.001). TLESR after glucose/air infusion were assessed before and after splanchnectomy (2–4, 9–11, and 23–25 days), which revealed no change. Baclofen inhibits TLESR after both low- and high-level gastric distention. Splanchnic pathways do not contribute to increased triggering of TLESR by high-level gastric distention.

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