Design of an Information Management System for the Case Library of Business Management Courses

The business management models are updated constantly, making it urgent to reform the teaching methods of business management courses (BMCs). Case-based teaching (CBT) is an important way to integrate the teaching and practice of business management. The construction and management of CBT resources has attracted the attention of scholars at home and abroad. This paper designed an information management system for the BMC case library. Firstly, the goals and content were summarized for the construction of the case library and the information management system. Next, the authors designed the BMC case library forms, as well as the function modules of the information management system. There are three core functions in the system: retrieval, cluster analysis, and course case allocation. At last, experimental results verified the effectiveness of the proposed case clustering algorithm and the good test performance of the established system.

Insolvency judges meet strategic behaviour: A comparative empirical study

This article reports the results of a comparative empirical legal study that analyzed (1) strategic behaviour by actors in insolvencies that is salient to insolvency judges and (2) how insolvency judges respond to such behaviour. After examining four different European countries, namely Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Portugal, the study reveals how differences regarding case allocation, judge – insolvency practitioner (IP) interaction, and remuneration and case financing can result in strategic behaviour on both the side of the judges and the IPs. From this, it follows that improving the efficiency and effectiveness is not merely a matter of implementing legislation and case law, but that it also requires a look into the dynamics between insolvency judges, IPs, and other actors in the insolvency process.

Species delineation of lizardfishes, Saurida pseudotumbil Dutt and Sagar, 1981 and Saurida tumbil (Bloch, 1795) using multivariate tools

Morphometric characters of two species of lizardfishes viz.,Saurida pseudotumbil Dutt and Sagar, 1981 and Saurida tumbil (Bloch, 1795), were studied to delineate the species using multivariate techniques. Specimens were collected from Parangipettai and Cochin waters, southern India, for recording data on 21 morphometric characters. Principal component analysis (PCA) was done after log transformation and the first three components explained 93.36% of the total variation. The most important morphometric characters determined using the eigenvectors (coefficients) of these components were post-orbital length, snout to pectoral, snout to pelvic, snout to anal, anal fin base and dorsal fin base, which showed high loading (≥0.8) in the three components. The overlapping ratio between these species ranged from 42.59 to 89.28%. The PCA data cloud of S. pseudotumbil and S. tumbil also reflected the same trend. Therefore, canonical analysis of principal coordinates (CAP) was done which clearly separated the species with maximum case allocation success (100%) for both S. pseudotumbil and S. tumbil, which clearly showed that both the species are different.

Inclusionary housing policies in Gothenburg, Sweden, and Stuttgart, Germany

Affordable housing shortage and concerns about social and income segregation have become a focal point of housing policy debate in many Western countries, and inclusionary housing policies (IH) have become widespread. IH is a term that summarizes municipal ambitions to spur the inclusion of affordable housing in otherwise market-rate projects through development restrictions. This article investigates IH policy objectives and outcomes of policies applied by the German city of Stuttgart and a Swedish pilot project in the city of Gothenburg. Although IH policies in the two countries generally have very similar objectives and incentive structures, underlying slow-moving institutions decide fundamental traits of the fast-moving institution of IH. In the Swedish case, allocation methods of low-rent apartments under the unitary housing system might prevent targeted polices such as IH from functioning as intended. In the German case, IH is integrated into the existing social and affordable housing system. Therefore its social objectives are not contested, although the limitation of private property rights and the incentive structures of developers are bound to be discussed. Irrespective of the housing system, the extent of public land ownership might also be a decisive factor in whether to implement IH policies or not. In Stuttgart, where public land ownership is limited, IH policies might be an effective way to produce affordable housing, as alternatives, including finding inexpensive land for public production, are limited. As Gothenburg municipality owns most of the land available for housing development, has a planning monopoly and public housing companies with good financial standing, it might find other, quicker and possibly less costly, ways to develop affordable housing than applying IH, especially if it is implemented mainly through public investors.

Choice of forum and case allocation in the EPPO Regulation

The subject matter of ‘conflicts of criminal jurisdiction’ has already required attention of the EU legislator in the negotiations on the regulation on the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO). The purpose of this contribution is to present issues that have arisen in this respect and the solutions that have been found in the course of the negotiations on the EPPO Regulation. As will be shown further below, the outcome of the negotiations on the EPPO Regulation may to a limited extent serve as inspiration also in view of possible models to be developed for a resolution of conflicts of criminal jurisdiction between Member States.

Improving access to Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP): the 2-week wait for cancer comes to psychosis

Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) services aim to rapidly initiate specialist packages of care for those people newly experiencing symptoms. The intention of such rapid engagement is to mitigate the negative effects of a prolonged duration of untreated psychosis. Aiming to achieve a ‘parity of esteem’ between mental and physical health, a new target was introduced by the National Health Service (NHS) England, where 50% of new referrals were expected to receive a concordant package of care within 2 weeks from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. A baseline assessment in late 2014 found that just 21% of all referrals received and accepted met this target within the EIP Team for the North-East London NHS Foundation Trust. This project sought to improve the team’s performance, seeking input from all team members and using an iterative process with the primary aim of meeting the target ahead of its roll-out. It was determined that the relatively high number of inappropriate referrals (34% at baseline) is a key causative agent in delaying staff from processing eligible cases in a timely fashion. These are defined as referrals which do not meet basic eligibility criteria such as no previous treatment for psychosis. Interventions were therefore designed targeting three domains of improving staff awareness of the new target, improving efficiency by changing the case allocation process and improving the referral pathway for external sources. The impact of these changes was re-evaluated over two cycles beyond baseline. By the final cycle, 62% of new referrals were seen within 2 weeks, while inappropriate referrals declined to just 3%. The multi-interventional nature of this project limits its generalisability and further work should be carried out to identify those changes that were most impactful. Nevertheless, focused targeting of the referral pathway may prove to be of benefit to other EIP services struggling with lengthy wait times.