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Soviet higher education had a distinctive institutional landscape. It combined two institutional types in a uniform model that embedded higher education in the national economy. This paper focuses on the post-Soviet system-level changes in the institutional landscape in all 15 countries of the former USSR. It shows that over last three decades the Soviet two-type institutional model evolved into a three-type model, with the specialized university as a new institutional type. Highlighting the instruments of horizontal and vertical differentiation for each country, the paper explains how structural reforms and market forces led to the rise of the university/multiversity form of institution, and the strengthening of vertical stratification at system level. The comparative analysis shows that there have been different patterns of transformation in the 15 countries, shaped by unique combinations of structural reforms and marketization policies, with certain countries having made more distinctive steps away from the Soviet institutional model. There are now 15 formally different systems of higher education which poses further questions for comparative analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The particular vision of human, bodily life that has been adopted and developed in the neoliberal era since the 1970s is turning humans into a new kind of creature. Both our behavioral and conceptual notions of what it means to be human have been re-oriented to a vision of the "enterprising self," the social and political actor who negotiates the world through competition, self-regulation, and rational choice. The concern of this paper is to demonstrate how this framework is theologically unsound and has a destabilizing effect on what constitutes human nature as a particular embodied existence. Attending to the rationale and theological response to the neoliberal logics, this paper seeks to promote a vision of human life and activity that is ordered and oriented to human flourishing and provide examples of resistance to the person-forming capacity of neoliberal social formations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we develop a daily-frequency measure of economic and policy uncertainty for Chile, employing information obtained from Twitter accounts using web scraping techniques and following closely the methodology proposed by Baker et al. (2016). Our proposed measure, called DEPUC, aims to capture the level of general disagreement -a proxy for economic and policy uncertainty-in topics such as the economy, economic policies, uncertainty about particular events, and Chile's conjuncture situation. The index, available from 2012 onwards, shows significant hikes that coincide with several local and international episodes that provoked extraordinary levels of uncertainty in Chile, especially after the events around the civil protests in mid-October 2019 and the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-March 2020. An empirical exercise reveals that the proposed measure is a significant determinant of the nominal exchange rate dynamics, especially when this variable's magnitude is high and a week after the shock occurs. On the contrary, when the exchange rate is low, the impact of uncertainty on this variable is quantitatively smaller for any forecasting horizon. These features, and others discussed in the paper, highlight the usefulness of the proposed metric as an additional indicator that policymakers can incorporate into their monitoring toolkit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A robust medical claims review system is crucial for addressing fraud and abuse and ensuring financial viability of health insurance organisations. This paper assesses claims adjustment rate of the paper- and electronic-based claims reviews of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in Ghana.Methods: The study was a cross-sectional comparative assessment of paper- and electronic-based claims reviews of the NHIS. Medical claims of subscribers for the year, 2014 were requested from the claims directorate and analysed. Proportions of claims adjusted by the paper- and electronic-based claims reviews were determined for each type of healthcare facility. Bivariate analyses were also conducted to test for differences in claims adjustments between healthcare facility types, and between the two claims reviews.Results: The electronic-based review made overall adjustment of 17.0% from GHS10.09 million (USD2.64 m) claims cost whilst the paper-based review adjusted 4.9% from a total of GHS57.50 million (USD15.09 m) claims cost received, and the difference was significant (p < 0.001). However, there were no significant differences in claims cost adjustment rate between healthcare facility types by the electronic-based (p = 0.0656) and by the paper-based reviews (p = 0.6484).Conclusions: The electronic-based review adjusted significantly higher claims cost than the paper-based claims review. Scaling up the electronic-based review to cover claims from all accredited care providers could reduce spurious claims cost to the scheme and ensure long term financial sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A conference on current research and educational programs in production of crops for bio-fuel was sponsored and organized by the EARTH University and the University of Florida in November, 2008. The meeting addressed current research on crops for bio-fuel production with discussions of research alternatives for future crop production systems, land use issues, ethics of food vs. fuel production, and carbon sequestration in environmentally sensitive tropical and sub-tropical regions of the Americas. The need and potential for development of graduate and undergraduate curricula and inter-institutional cooperation among educational institutions in the region were also discussed. Delegations from Belize, Brazil, Columbia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Honduras, Panama, The Dominican Republic, and the United States including ministers of Agriculture and Energy attended this meeting. Over a two-day period, four working groups provided a framework to facilitate networking, motivate task oriented creative thinking, and maintain a timely accomplishment of assigned duties in the context of the conference themes. Participants in the conference were assigned to one of four working groups, each following given topics: Agronomy, Environment, Socio-Economics and Education/Extension. It was the consensus of representatives of industry, academic and regulatory community assembled in Costa Rica that significant research, education and socio-economic information is needed to make production of bio-fuel crops sustainable. Agronomic research should include better crop selection based on local conditions, improved production techniques, pest and disease management, and mechanical cultivation and harvesting. Another conclusion was that tailoring of production systems to local soil characteristics and use of bio-fuel by-products to improve nutrient use efficiency and reduction of environmental impact on water quantity and quality is critical to sustainability of bio-fuel crop production. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The paper entitled “An economic analysis of energy requirements and input costs for tomato production in Turkey” used energy input–output analysis in tomato (industrial type) production and compare it with production costs. The research also pursued to analyze the effect of farm size. As a result of that research, the authors claimed that the better benefit–cost ratio was found on the large farms and it was more successful in economic performance. However, there are some minor and major miscalculations that could, and perhaps should be added to the result section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing demand for paper has raised the need for low-cost raw materials and also for the development of new process in order to boost production. Non-wood fibers, for example agricultural residues and annual plants, are considered an effective alternative source of cellulose for producing pulp and paper sheets with acceptable properties. This paper reviews some physical and chemical properties of non-wood pulps which have effects on the making of paper. The less polluting pulping processes that use organic solvents are of interest for pulp production. The delignification of the Organosolv pulping process depends on the type of Organosolv methods and cellulosic sources used. The chemicals and cooking conditions, such as the catalysts, solvent concentration, cooking temperature, cooking time, and liquor to raw material ratio, all influence the properties of the pulp and paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws upon Alfred Korzybski's distinction between extensional and intensional orientations to reveal how time-binding relates to wealth, economics, and politics. As economic concerns and sensibilities inform a good deal of political thought, the paper shows how the phenomenon of wealth- and in particular the rise of superabundance-warrants careful examination and also how general semantics provides needed resources for thinking about these issue. "Wealth," understood within GS, provides an exemplar of uniquely human properties that emerge only with the time-binding class of life. By tracing the intricate connections between time-binding and wealth creation, this paper engages in thoroughgoing re-evaluation of self-understanding, and therein, it opens new vistas for thinking about contemporary political divisions and social problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Economics seeks to understand and explain the allocation of resources within society and to suggest appropriate policy to achieve goals such as optimal efficiency. Relating antimicrobial use and antibiotic resistance is a complex task and requires very clear and careful analyses of many relationships. To address these relationships, antibiotic use data must be linked with other basic data. Ideally, a complex relational database needs to be developed. These must include data on: antimicrobial usage, farm-level animal productivity, basic disease, basic farm management, consumer response, and antimicrobial resistance at multiple levels (farm, during process, on a variety of both animal, vegetable and grain-derived food products, from humans, from other animal species, and from the environment) among other data. Such a complex relational database can help with the attribution and risk assessment process. Also these linked data are needed in order to develop the economic production models and other economic models, as well as control for confounding so that there is both adequate and appropriate statistical control. Antimicrobial usage data may become economically important for reasons unrelated to animal productivity and animal health. With expanding global trade of animals and animal products, there have been changes in restrictions and regulations associated with the movement of products. Future trade opportunities may be linked to antimicrobial usage. The European Union banned the use of antimicrobials for growth-promoting purposes based on perceived risk and on public opinion. Monitoring antimicrobial use, disease occurrence, and resistance patterns following changes in usage that are a result of either policy changes or response to new information will help in the understanding of the complex relationships in microbial and disease ecology. There is a lot of evidence substantiating the productivity and profitability gains to producers from the use of antimicrobials. There is also evidence for the potential gains to consumers, both from an economic perspective as well as from a health perspective. Economists can help identify the implications of these relationships both at a micro- and macroeconomic level; both relative to producer and to consumer welfare. We are at a pivotal time in history with sufficient analytical expertise and tools to address this complex issue from a scientific perspective. Linking various agencies so there can be coordination of data collection and data sharing is needed to successfully address this topic. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

As part of a larger study, this paper presents findings from my exploration of discourses about China-US geopolitics through popular discussions on Chinese international students (CIS) who are attending American universities during the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic. The study seeks to advance scholarship for international students attending American colleges, with particular implications for Chinese students, as agents of geopolitical relations. In doing so, it investigates (a) how these students are represented in American media and (b) the criticality of international geopolitics in the mobility of international students. The findings reveal that American popular media sources assume a tone when writing about CIS that may stem from a deeper anti-Chinese sentiment that exists in the US. They also suggest that American institutions of higher education, and American companies that employ CIS after graduation, treat these students as imported subjects/objects that support America's intellectual and economic advancement. In doing so, the media perpetuates narratives of geopolitical tensions between the United States and China, while representing CIS as unwitting agents of those tensions. The study seeks to advance scholarship on international students attending US colleges, particularly those from China, during an era of rising populism and right-wing movements in the US coupled with rapidly deteriorating US-China relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, international academics recognized that quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) may not always fully capture the benefits produced by an intervention, and considered incorporating additional elements of value into cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA). Examples of these elements are adherence-improving factors, insurance value, value of hope, and real option value, which form the "value flower". In order to explore whether it is scientific and reasonable to incorporate additional elements into CEA, this paper focuses on what pharmacoeconomic evaluation should do and what it can do. By elaborating the connotation of value, the connotation of decision, and tracing the origin of pharmacoeconomic evaluation, we believe that it is unscientific and unreasonable to incorporate additional elements of value into CEA, which has exceeded the essential connotation and capability of pharmacoeconomic evaluation. The analysis results belong to the theoretical level, empirical test is needed to verify the correctness and scientificity of this conclusion in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gilboa, Postlewaite, Samuelson and Schmeidler (2022, Economic theories and their dueling interpretations. Journal of Economic Methodology, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350178X.2022.2142270; henceforth GPSS) give a ‘sociological’ account of various ways in which economists claim to find value in ‘analytical’ models – i.e. models that investigate formal relationships between concepts without deriving substantive empirical or normative conclusions. In this paper, I argue that some of the claims that GPSS report economists as making are defensible, but that others are used in support of modelling strategies that have little or no scientific value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on social capital. Definition of social capital; Social capital services; Relationship between social capital, attachment value and icons; Motives for investing/disinvesting in social capital.

This article examines the success of paper-based alternative currencies in facilitating convivial, sustainable localised economies. Based on fieldwork in the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany, it discusses the capacity of activists to create alternative forms of currency that communicate the organisers' visions of a localised economy, before examining material practices: for whom do the currencies work, and who struggles to use them? Using insights from a diverse economies perspective, the article argues that we cannot read off the likelihood of an economic actor using the currency from the extent of their local economic embeddedness: economic actors in similar positions respond to the same stimuli in different ways, and local business owners and activists can form productive alliances to develop their shared project. The article concludes by arguing that local currencies should be used more proactively to stimulate new forms of concrete local production to meet locally identified needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article introduces papers published within the issue which were presented at the 6th Annual Forum of the World Association for Political Economy (WAPE) in Amherst, Massachusetts in May 2011, including one on state-owned enterprises (SOE) in China, another on the implications of the need to prevent major climate change for the developmental strategies of China and India and a paper on the influence of neoliberalism on the reform of emergency services in Great Britain.

Compares the social costs and benefits of electronic cash presentment (ECP) with trunctuation to those of paper check collection. Description details associated with check trunctuation; Analysis on why the private market has not yet already transformed the check payment system to trunctuation. INSET: Key terms..

The White Paper on Chinese population policy, entitled "Family Planning in China," was issued by the Chinese Information Office of the State Council on August 23, 1995. The population problem is an important question that touches upon the survival and development of the Chinese nation, the success or failure of China's modernization drive as well as the coordinated and sustained development between the population on one hand and the economy, society, resources and environment on the other. It is a natural choice that the Chinese government has made to implement family planning, control population growth and improve the life quality of the population a basic state policy on the basis of a wish to make the state strong and powerful, the nation prosperous and the people happy. In the 1960s, the country's population entered its second peak birth period. From 1962 to 1972, the annual number of births in China averaged 26.69 million, totaling 300 million. In the practice of carrying out family planning programme, whilst persistently proceeding from its reality and taking into full account and observing principles and regulations concerning population and family planning formulated by international institutions and organizations, the Chinese government has gradually set up guiding principles, policies, measures and methods that reflect the basic interests and various rights and interests of the people and has continuously improved these as the actual situations change, so as to better safeguard the right to subsistence and development of the Chinese region.

Background: The MODEM project (A comprehensive approach to MODelling outcome and costs impacts of interventions for DEMentia) explores how changes in arrangements for the future treatment and care of people living with dementia, and support for family and other unpaid carers, could result in better outcomes and more efficient use of resources.Methods: MODEM starts with a systematic mapping of the literature on effective and (potentially) cost-effective interventions in dementia care. Those findings, as well as data from a cohort, will then be used to model the quality of life and cost impacts of making these evidence-based interventions more widely available in England over the period from now to 2040. Modelling will use a suite of models, combining microsimulation and macrosimulation methods, modelling the costs and outcomes of care, both for an individual over the life-course from the point of dementia diagnosis, and for individuals and England as a whole in a particular year. Project outputs will include an online Dementia Evidence Toolkit, making evidence summaries and a literature database available free to anyone, papers in academic journals and other written outputs, and a MODEM Legacy Model, which will enable local commissioners of services to apply the model to their own populations.Discussion: Modelling the effects of evidence-based cost-effective interventions and making this information widely available has the potential to improve the health and quality of life both of people with dementia and their carers, while ensuring that resources are used efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following Follett's ([10]) terminology, this call for papers seeks to explore how we might generate and expand I power-with i in a I power-over i world. For example, John Gaventa's ([12]) early work explains how three dimensions of power operate in the pluralist, power-over system, but then in later works he goes into how I power-within, power-to, i and I power-with i function, particularly in the context of community practice and social change (Gaventa, [13]). Similarly, Mary Follett ([9], [10]) provides a robust explanation of I power-with i and its transformational capacity toward a new state - one that looks quite similar structurally but is wholly different in terms of relational functions and operations. [Extracted from the article]

Objective Pending a comprehensive study of tobacco economics in Saudi Arabia, our aim was to estimate the economic costs of tobacco consumption in Saudi Arabia over a period of 10 years (2001-2010). Methods Pertinent data on imported tobacco were obtained from the Saudi Customs Authority through the Central Department of Statistics and Information. Mortality was calculated using the following parameters: 1 ton of tobacco consumed causes an average of 0.65 premature deaths, and the net loss was calculated as US$47.6 million (2011 US$ prices) for every 1000 tons of tobacco consumed. This represented the net cost of premature deaths and the direct and indirect costs of morbidity. Results Using 2011 prices, the economic loss due to tobacco was US$20.5 billion over the last 10 years, without accounting for smuggled (illegally imported) tobacco. If the smuggling rate was 10% or 25%, the economic loss would be 22.6 or 25.6 billion US$, respectively. There were 280 000 premature deaths during the same period without accounting for smuggled tobacco. Conclusions In Saudi Arabia, short-term and long-term economic gains will result from reductions in tobacco use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence-based policy ensures that the best interventions are effectively implemented. Integrating rigorous, relevant science into policy is therefore essential. Barriers include the evidence not being there; lack of demand by policymakers; academics not producing rigorous, relevant papers within the timeframe of the policy cycle. This piece addresses the last problem. Academics underestimate the speed of the policy process, and publish excellent papers after a policy decision rather than good ones before it. To be useful in policy, papers must be at least as rigorous about reporting their methods as for other academic uses. Papers which are as simple as possible (but no simpler) are most likely to be taken up in policy. Most policy questions have many scientific questions, from different disciplines, within them. The accurate synthesis of existing information is the most important single offering by academics to the policy process. Since policymakers are making economic decisions, economic analysis is central, as are the qualitative social sciences. Models should, wherever possible, allow policymakers to vary assumptions. Objective, rigorous, original studies from multiple disciplines relevant to a policy question need to be synthesized before being incorporated into policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education has long played an important role in social policy as a means for strengthening labour market integration and increasing social mobility. The shift towards a knowledge economy has placed education policy even more centrally in efforts to provide the institutional preconditions for making economic efficiency compatible with social inclusion. To provide conceptual and theoretical context to the special issue, this paper first explores the key tension in the role of education in modern economies between serving concerns for efficiency and inclusion. Second, it argues that it remains possible for education policy to balance between efficiency and inclusion, but that the capacity of advanced economies to do so is politically mediated. Finally, the paper reviews the four main arenas in which such mediation processes take place—the parliamentary arena, the corporatist arena, the state, and public opinion—and how the contributions to the special issue study these. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hydrogen (H2) momentum affects the aviation sector. However, a macroeconomic consideration is currently missing. To address this research gap, the paper derives a methodology for evaluating macroeconomic effects of H2 in aviation and applies this approach to Germany. Three goals are addressed: (1) Construction of a German macroeconomic database. (2) Translation of H2 supply chains to the system of national accounts. (3) Implementation of H2-powered aviation into the macroeconomic data framework. The article presents an economy-wide database for analyzing H2-powered aviation. Subsequently, the paper highlights three H2 supply pathways, provides an exemplary techno-economic cost break-down for ten H2 components and translates them into the data framework. Eight relevant macroeconomic sectors for H2-powered aviation are identified and quantified. Overall, the paper contributes on a suitable foundation to apply the macroeconomic dataset and to conduct macroeconomic analyses on H2-powered aviation. Finally, the article highlights further research potential on job effects related to future H2 demand. • The hydrogen momentum affects the aviation sector, but a macroeconomic perspective is currently lacking. • This article derives a methodology for evaluating the macroeconomic effects of hydrogen use in aviation and applies this approach to an economy-wide dataset for Germany. • The study investigates three hydrogen supply pathways, provides an exemplary cost break-down for ten hydrogen components and translates them into a national data framework. • Eight macroeconomic sectors relevant for hydrogen-powered aviation are identified and quantified by assigning the respective techno-economic cost components. • The article highlights meaningful research potential on macroeconomic analyses of hydrogen-powered aviation and employment effects related to future hydrogen demands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Has a post-neoliberal policy regime emerged from the challenges to neoliberalism that have accompanied the rise of nationalism and populism in some Eastern and Central European countries? Why has the political organization of these challenges to neoliberalism endured in some countries but not in others? By drawing on a mix of primary and secondary sources culled from the institutional, political and economic realities of Hungary and Romania, this paper makes two claims. First, the article sugegsts that these transformations have amounted to a distinctive variety of neoliberalism that can be dubbed 'national-neoliberalism.' At its core one finds the slightly modified old goals of neoliberal orthodoxy embedded into a protective cocoon of orthodox and unorthodox economic policy instruments and institutions. The second claim of the paper is that the political organization of the national-neoliberal project was resilient in Hungary but not in Romania. The evidence suggests that this variation owes not only to the fact that the 'national' elements of national-neoliberalism had protections against the bond markets. While this factor was indeed critical, the resilience of Hungarian national-neoliberalism seems to have been made possible by the fact that its proponents could manage a broader social bloc and deploy techno-political capabilities that bolstered their political power relative to that of challengers. In contrast, the challengers to orthodox ("globalist") neoliberalism did not posess these characteristics in Romania. As such, the paper rejects the hypothesis of a nationalist-heterodox successor to neoliberalism and takes a first cut at a theory of policy resilience for national-neoliberalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of a heat pump (HP) with a combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) to control the inlet air temperature is a promising technology to meet the requirements imposed by the current electricity systems in terms of efficiency and flexibility. If the HP is coupled with a thermal energy storage (TES) in an inlet conditioning unit (ICU), it can be exploited in different modes to enhance the off-design CCGT's efficiency or to boost the power output at full load. Furthermore, fuel-saving would be reflected in avoided emissions. The optimal sizing of the ICU, as well as an accurate estimation of the benefits, is a complex problem influenced by several factors such as the local climate and electricity market prices. This paper aims to systematically investigate, utilizing a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model for optimal dispatch, the feasibility of an ICU integration in different scenarios (EU and US). Different electricity markets have been analyzed and classified according to the parameters describing the average and variability of prices, the interdependency with the gas market, the ambient temperature, or the local carbon pricing policy. The most favorable conditions are identified and the dependency of the optimal ICU sizing on the climate and the electricity market is highlighted. This paper provides information for a first viability assessment: the concept appears to be highly profitable in hot regions with high price variability. Additionally, even in less profitable conditions (i.e., stable low prices in a cold climate), the system increases operating hours and reduces economic losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper suggests how natural disasters may serve as the final propulsion for changes already taking place within a society. While focusing on shifts in human-non-human animal relations, this text also discusses their embedding in broader transformations of human-environment relations and the underlying economic and cultural change. It carves out interspecific dependencies that constitute an agro-ecosystem and follows their demise as the agricultural species are switched to market economic production in a post-disaster context. It thereby suggests that the human-facilitated semiotic fitting of the agricultural species is replaced by human-imposed fitting in which the species composition is largely determined by the market prices. At the same time, the paper draws attention to the cessation and transformation of human-non-human communication as a marker, but also an experiential corollary, of modernization and market economy. As a case study, it focuses on the 2010 Mt. Merapi eruption in Indonesia and its aftermath in the villages on its slope. The study analyses how the shift from using plough buffalo to utilizing market economic cattle farming reflects not just an economic, but also an affective and semiotic change stemming from a shift in the intensity and kind of human-animal relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Happiness is an increasingly prominent topic across academia, with a burgeoning array of research into its different aspects. Among the most dynamic and interdisciplinary work in this arena are studies exploring the myriad factors that influence it. These span multiple topics and fields of enquiry, from physiology and identity to politics and economics, covering analyses at both individual and national levels. This paper offers a comprehensive overview of such work, identifying seven overarching 'conditions' (in themselves multifaceted) that contribute towards the complex creation of happiness: temperament; health; demographics; relationships and communities; culture; economics and equality; and governance. Theoretically, these are conceived as constituting the 'multidimensional conditionality' of happiness (i.e. conditions that contribute to its arising, which interact in complex ways). The paper also highlights issues with current scholarship, providing a stimulus for further work on this important topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wellbeing plays a key role in economic psychology, illustrating how psychological mechanisms impact on economic factors. Wellbeing is vital for occupational psychologists as it allows for the development of interventions to protect and improve workers health. The contribution of economic psychology has received little attention within occupational psychology to improve the measurements of individual wellbeing. The aim of this commentary paper was to bring forward a call to action of two methods that have been used in economic psychology that occupational psychologists can adopt to better measure wellbeing. This commentary paper is based on the insights of Kirchler and Hoelzl (2018) and both time-sample diaries and day reconstruction methods. The analysis showed that by using time-sample diaries, occupational psychologists could better understand the current mood, current mental state and objective characteristics of worker situations. This commentary article identified that by using day reconstruction method, occupational psychologists can have a better insight into employee experiences and feelings in a timely manner. This commentary article recommends that by using insights from economic psychology, occupational psychologists can better measure the wellbeing of workers using time-sample diaries and day reconstruction methods. The paper should, therefore, be of value to scholars and practitioners wishing to improve wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Produced through pyrolysis, biochars are used as a soil amendment. Differences in feedstock and processing result in differentiated products which impact their values in different soil conditions. Despite the enormous potential, biochars have not been widely used. This paper overviews the benefits and potential demand for biochar and features of supply chain, and identifies opportunities for viable introduction of biochars. The value of biochars should be evaluated as a part of the pyrolysis system that coproduces biochars and biofuels. Biochars can improve agricultural productivity and soil functioning and contribute to climate change mitigation through carbon sequestration. Furthermore, it can provide extra benefit by contributing to fire prevention. The cost of biochar system depends on the costs of feedstock acquisition, transportation, and processing. Biochar is most likely to be adopted in locations with marginal land and high‐value crop, and near low‐cost feedstock sources. The adoption of biochar can be enhanced by compensation for carbon sequestration, further investment in research, and learning of producers to enhance efficiency of the supply chain. Biochar is a charcoal that has been used to improve soil quality. It is obtained through heating organic materials such as crop and forest residues without oxygen. Diverse types of biochar can be coproduced with biofuels. The paper reviews the benefits and potential demand of biochar, and features of the supply chain that would be used to produce and market it. Biochar can improve agricultural productivity and mitigate climate change. Current adoption is low but will be improved with compensation for carbon sequestration, placing processing facilities closer to the biomass sources, and investment in research to reduce cost of production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whereas Simon Newcomb formulated the equation of exchange, he rejected the causality and the proportionality postulates of the quantity theory in some cases. To solve this puzzle, this paper relies on the distinction between the classical theory of money and the quantity theory of money and shows that, according to Newcomb, the quantity theory applied only for inconvertible paper money, while metallic money and convertible bank issues were regulated by different mechanisms. Understanding Newcomb's distinction between the different types of issues also sheds light on his stance in the monetary debate of the U.S. Reconstruction period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a nine-city cell phone survey in 2019, this paper systematically examines which groups showed stronger support for armed unification with Taiwan and what factors and mechanisms might contribute to their support. The bivariate analysis shows the politically, economically, and socially privileged groups and those with stronger national pride and more understanding of Taiwan were more pro-armed unification, while residents of the two coastal cities, Xiamen and Guangzhou, were less supportive. Further analysis indicates education and unfavorable view of the Taiwanese government were the two most powerful factors contributing to the support. Possible contributing mechanisms might include both top-down mechanisms, such as political indoctrination and propaganda, and bottom-up ones, such as the respondents' interest and identity considerations influenced by their city's proximity to Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses an ethnographic approach to explore the religious practices of the modern religious organization called the Mahamevnawa Buddhist Temple. This study aims to investigate the spiritual information practices of both monks and devotees of the temple. The findings reveal that participants' religious practices lead to a range of outcomes, expressed in terms of the Bourdieusian notion of capital, with karmic capital emerging as a very important outcome of these practices. An essential argument posited by the author pertains to the distinctive nature of karmic capital—a hybrid manifestation of capital that is intricately interwoven with cultural and symbolic capital. Unlike the conventional influence of economic capital or social affiliations, the potency of karmic capital hinges upon a distinct paradigm. However, the fact that a resource gives power within a society also applies to karmic capital too. Furthermore, the author underscores the epistemological standing of karmic capital, which derives its essence from the principal sociological forms of capital—namely, economic, cultural, and social forms. This article also delves into the characteristics of karmic capital and its transformative nature. A key contribution of this study lies in its recognition of the impact of cultural norms on the consequences of information science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary goal of Liberation Theology is to change the material conditions of marginalised and oppressed groups in society. Within Islamic Liberation Theology, however, issues related to class and economic inequality are notably missing. This paper seeks to begin this conversation and highlight the necessity of addressing economic exploitation, which affects most of the world's population and Muslims disproportionately. Using a praxis-based methodology, it centres the interpretation of activists from Nijjor Manush, a British Bengali activist group, and seeks to understand how Islam is used as a liberative tool to combat class oppression. Through interviews and focus groups, an alternative and revolutionary Islam emerges. Echoing a Marxist understanding of class, it sees exploitation as an inherent part of the current capitalist system and recognises the necessity of people seizing economic power. This overarching objective is the lens through which activism in the here and now is interpreted and tactics decided. Establishing economic justice therefore means trying to secure "non-reformist reforms" in the short term, which resist the logic of capital and secure the interests of the marginalised, while working towards the ultimate goal of ending economic exploitation and, by extension, abolishing class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In health intervention research, epidemiologists and economists are more and more interested in estimating causal effects based on observational data. However, collaboration and interaction between both disciplines are regularly clouded by differences in the terminology used. Amongst others, this is reflected in differences in labeling, handling, and interpreting the sources of bias in parameter estimates. For example, both epidemiologists and economists use the term selection bias. However, what economists label as selection bias is labeled as confounding by epidemiologists. This paper aims to shed light on this and other subtle differences between both fields and illustrate them with hypothetical examples. We expect that clarification of these differences will improve the multidisciplinary collaboration between epidemiologists and economists. Furthermore, we hope to empower researchers to select the most suitable analytical technique from either field for the research problem at hand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines whether or to what extent San Francisco International Airport's (SFO's) purportedly high costs relative to other airports suppressed SFO's traffic demand and prolonged the recovery of passenger traffic in the period after the 11th September, 2001 terrorist attacks. A comparative analysis of the historical data shows that SFO's direct airport costs per enplanement (CPE) were higher than most other major airports in the post-9/11 period by a considerable margin, but that airport costs likely were not a significant factor in SFO's prolonged recovery. Airport costs likely did not affect airline profitability sufficiently to influence route and scheduling decisions, and it is unlikely that passenger demand was dampened by the pass-through of higher costs to airfares. This research suggests at best a tenuous relationship between airport rates and passenger activity, and at SFO the evidence does not suggest that an extremely high CPE relative to peer airports affected the pace of its slow return to pre-9/11 traffic levels. Rather, the slow return of traffic to SFO and its neighbour, Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC), compared to the robust growth at Oakland International Airport (OAK) can be explained by traditional economic means. It also suggests that in a multi-airport region where each airport is somewhat specialised, an individual airport's over- or underperformance relative to its neighbours is more likely to be a function of economic geography than of any airport's rate-setting practices. If this conclusion holds true for other US airports, it emphasises the ability of airports to create capital plans and set rates and charges to make long-term investments in organic air traffic growth, ensuring that new entrant airlines have sufficient facilities to begin service and that existing airlines have sufficient capacity to grow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is an international move towards greater integration of health and social care to cope with the increasing demand on services.. In Scotland, legislation was passed in 2014 to integrate adult health and social care services resulting in the formation of 31 Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs). Greater integration does not eliminate resource scarcity and the requirement to make (resource) allocation decisions to meet the needs of local populations. There are different perspectives on how to facilitate and improve priority setting in health and social care organisations with limited resources, but structured processes at the local level are still not widely implemented. This paper reports on work with new HSCPs in Scotland to develop a combined multi-disciplinary priority setting and resource allocation framework. Methods: To develop the combined framework, a scoping review of the literature was conducted to determine the key principles and approaches to priority setting from economics, decision-analysis, ethics and law, and attempts to combine such approaches. Co-production of the combined framework involved a multi-disciplinary workshop including local, and national-level stakeholders and academics to discuss and gather their views. Results: The key findings from the literature review and the stakeholder workshop were taken to produce a final combined framework for priority setting and resource allocation. This is underpinned by principles from economics (opportunity cost), decision science (good decisions), ethics (justice) and law (fair procedures). It outlines key stages in the priority setting process, including: framing the question, looking at current use of resources, defining options and criteria, evaluating options and criteria, and reviewing each stage. Each of these has further sub-stages and includes a focus on how the combined framework interacts with the consultation and involvement of patients, public and the wider staff. Conclusions: The integration agenda for health and social care is an opportunity to develop and implement a combined framework for setting priorities and allocating resources fairly to meet the needs of the population. A key aim of both integration and the combined framework is to facilitate the shifting of resources from acute services to the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the heating performance of a solar-assisted cold-water phase-change-energy heat pump system, its heating performance under series and parallel connections is simulated for a community in Harbin, the influence of ice thickness on the different operation modes is analyzed, and the economy of the system is calculated for series and parallel connections in this paper. The results show that the water supply temperature is higher and more uniform in the parallel operation, and more terminal heat is supplied; the ice thickness has more of an influence on the series connection compared to the parallel connection; and the dynamic payback period is 6.72 years for the series connection and 7.28 years for the parallel connection. This case study can serve as a guide for practical engineering application projects and act as a reference for heating and economic data for the promotion of this heat pump system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, social scientists have begun to study the implications of increasing pressures in the early academic career. Studies focusing mostly on the life sciences have shown junior scholars making research decisions based on a productivity logic to increase their chances of career success. In this paper, we extend this literature to the very different context of economics, characterized by a dominant mainstream, a clear hierarchy, and an independent/small-team approach to scholarship. Adopting a culture-in-action framework, we analyze how cultural repertoires help early career economists deal with the sometimes competing career pressures associated with working in high-status departments. Drawing from in-depth interviews with tenure-track economists in three Scandinavian countries, we find that skillful use of discovery-talk and delivery-talk helps respondents respond to the challenges they face as junior academics. Implications for research include the avoidance of, e.g., interdisciplinary work and questions of only regional importance. Furthermore, the data indicate that discovery and delivery notions partly overlap and so contribute to preserving economics as a relatively coherent and homogenous field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is to explore the clinical effect of transvaginal single-port laparoscopic appendectomy, a minimally invasive technique for acute appendicitis. The clinical data of 8 lady cases with acute simple appendicitis undergoing transvaginal single-port laparoscopic appendectomy from May 2019 to September 2020 were analyzed. The process of the procedure and details were recorded, and its safety and feasibility are retrospectively analyzed. The operation of all 8 cases was successfully completed, with no case required conversion to routine laparoscopic or open surgery. The average operation time was (50.27 SD8.66) min. The average intraoperative bleeding was (2.77 SD0.90) ml. The average intestinal function recovery time was (8.87 SD3.94) h. The average hospitalization time was (3.86 SD0.74) day. And the average hospitalization cost was (1.28 SD0.10) thousand yuan. Besides, 24-h postoperative pain score, CRP and IL-6 were (2.66 SD0.89) mg/l, (40.93 SD5.56) mg/l, and (68.66 SD15.19) pg/ml, respectively. No postoperative complications were observed during hospital stay, but two patients developed complications after discharge, including one abdominal infection and one poor healing of the wound. Patients' satisfaction with their incision accounted for 87.5% after 1-month follow-up. And none of the patients had discomforts after 6-month follow-up, especially for sexual life. At the same time, patients' self-confidence was improved greatly. Traditional single-port laparoscopic approach is a safe and feasible method for transvaginal appendectomy, which broadens the path of appendectomy and avoids the drawbacks of transabdominal surgery. Besides, it is more minimally invasive, without scars on the skin, and has accurate cosmetic effect. Therefore, it is considered to be a feasible approach for lady patients with appendicitis and higher cosmetic requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the concepts of social navigation and vital conjunctures, this paper investigates how Cameroonian returnees experience their return in a crisis-ridden context in constant decay, characterised by material and existential uncertainties. Based on semi-structured interviews with 41 Cameroonians returning from countries in the Global North under different circumstances, we examine the ingenuity of these returnees to navigate an environment that is constantly changing. To uncover this, we first analysed returnees' perspectives on how they were received by their different communities of origin. Second, through the subjective experiences of returnees, we explain the unpredictable macro-structural challenges such as the 'anglophone crisis', labour market integration and institutional challenges in creating business. We further explore the tactics generated by returnees to navigate the socio-cultural, economic and political context characterised by uncertainties. The results illustrate the agency and proactivity by returnees who returned empty-handed and those who returned with resources to generate diverse tactics to cope with community expectations and sustain themselves economically. This article contributes to the literature on return and reintegration, where the returnees developed complex actions to manoeuvre unpredictable events in a changing spatial context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to find out what attitudes Economics and Business students have towards sustainability and what they expect from their education in relation to the achievement of economic, social and environmental sustainability. The objective is to find out if the studies of Economics and Business favour the development of pro-sustainability attitudes, taking into account factors such as the gender of the students, the course in which they are enrolled and the economic training received before entering university. Design/methodology/approach: A survey was designed covering ecological, social, cultural, economic and political aspects. The survey was conducted among students of the Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration and Management and the Bachelor's Degree in Economics. The authors used discriminant analysis and analysis of variance to test the research hypothesis. Findings: Students are concerned about environmental problems and are aware of the need for action, but there is little consensus on the actions needed to overcome them. Some negationist traits are detected: those who rely more on technology give less importance to environmental problems and to the possibility of a major ecological catastrophe. Girls are more in favour of sustainability than boys, and students who have previously studied economics consider that their training has enabled them to evaluate the resources available and necessary to perform any job more than those who have not studied economics, regardless of their sex and year. Originality/value: Many articles have focused on the importance of sustainability in higher education, but hardly any have analysed the role of economic education in achieving sustainability. Given the importance and the proven inter-relationship between economics and sustainability, with this article, the authors contribute to fill the gap in the literature. It is necessary that current students and future professionals receive adequate economic education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study reviewed papers published in the Web of Science database from 2014 to 2020 in SSCI indexed journals on learner- and instructor-related challenges for learners' engagement in MOOCs based on the Technology-Based Learning Model. The focus is on research design, instructor-related factors that foster and frustrate learner engagement, learner-related engagement hindering factors, and the foci of investigation. In terms of design, quantitative designs were implemented most, followed by mixed method designs. As for instructor-related factors that foster learners' engagement, focusing on learners' SRL skills, learner-learner interaction, intrinsic motivation, and providing timely feedback were mentioned by most studies. As for instructor-related frustrating factors, poor MOOC designs, which lack learner interaction and motivating strategies, instructors' lack of experience, and time for preparation, were identified in a number of studies. As for the learner-related factors which hinder engagement, lack of SRL skills, lack of adequate background skills, and economic barriers were identified as the hindering factors in a number of studies. As for the foci of investigation, motivation/interest, learning strategies, interactions, and engagement are the most identified foci of the studies. A proposed learner engagement MOOC framework, discussion based on the results, followed by implications for future research directions and conclusions are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social psychological scholarship has emphasized the importance of effective leadership during the COVID‐19 pandemic. However, the wider material contexts of these dynamics have often remained understudied. Through a critical discursive lens, this paper investigates differences in the social constructions used by leaders of richer and poorer nations during the COVID‐19 pandemic. We identify a sharp economic bifurcation in global discourses of pandemic leadership. Pandemic leadership in wealthier nations exercises power in abundance by mobilizing institutions and inspiring communities through discursive frames of coordination and collaboration. Conversely, pandemic leadership in poorer settings negotiates agency amid scarcity by tactically balancing resources, freedoms and dignity within discursive frames of restriction and recuperation. Implications of these findings are unpacked for understanding leadership especially during an international crisis, highlighting the need for critical sensitivities to wider societal structures for a genuinely global social psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective/Context: During the eighteenth century, officials from different colonial powers attempted to turn the viceroyalty of the New Kingdom of Granada—present-day Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Panama—into an economically viable territory. The Spanish Crown embraced its most radical jurisdictional reform in centuries to exercise effective state control, extract more revenue, and defend the colonies from foreign incursions. This article explores the particularities of New Granada’s economic governance and argues that colonial officials produced local discourses of political economy to turn unfamiliar spaces into familiar places for economic, political, and military ends. In doing so, producing knowledge about the land and its resources became a key bureaucratic practice that shaped the imagining of a paradoxical territoriality in Northern South America. First, I detail the impact of political economy frameworks on imperial governance and bureaucratic practices. I then showcase how administrative narratives, mapping projects, and fiscal networks reveal the workings of Bourbon economic governance and the search for regional integration. Methodology: This article is built from an analysis of archival documents consisting of a selection of evidence from chorographic texts about New Granada and its provinces produced between 1720 and 1808. Originality: Reflecting on the ways in which the pursuit of knowledge for wealth creation affected the creation of territorialities contributes to uncovering how the imperial political economy was never a top-down imposition. Local officials negotiated it vis-à-vis singular geographical realities and knowledge production practices. Conclusions: Chorographic texts were central devices of imperial reform. The search for wealth production and territorial integration occurred in colonial outposts, not in intellectual treatises in Europe. In forging New Granada as an integrated, potentially rich place, bureaucrats’ experience of moving across the territory and inscribing the landscape on paper shaped perceptions of cohesion and difference, economic dependence, and regional fragmentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goal of this paper is to improve the understanding of the spatial distribution of small-scale inshore fisheries (SSF) in coastal waters of the Bay of Biscay. The study used a participatory process, in which fishers, regional administration, and researchers were involved in supplying the data. Displayed on a 1-km2 grid, the data for effort and catch composition, variable costs, revenue, and profits at each site show the spatial patterns of the main SSF metier activities. This information indicates the economic value of the fishing grounds and the cost of reaching those areas, which can reveal possible trade-offs for more distant fishing grounds. Trammelnet vessels are widely dispersed, following economic incentives, while longliners also demonstrate high mobility, using many fishing sites, though the economic incentive does not always lead to high benefits. A narrow expansion range with activity close to the coastal area (trap, gillnet, and trammelnet users) suggests that the target-species stocks maintain their economic profitability even though it is lower than that in other coastal fleets. Such information helps develop a holistic approach to SSF management in this multi-use region by increasing the availability of high-quality multidisciplinary geospatial data, currently in short supply for this fleet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proportion of international students in Chinese higher education is increasing, however, there remains little research that explores their motivations and how their learning of Chinese influences their identities and imagined futures. In this paper, we address the need for research on South-South migration—specifically Sino-African relations—and draw on the concept of linguistic capital to explore what it means for 15 self-funded international students from six different African countries. The findings highlight African youths' negotiation of power matrices in different fields and their desire for Chinese linguistic capital. The acquisition of such capital would position themselves advantageously in terms of employability and social prestige within the geopolitical and geo-economic context of China-Africa relations. In documenting their investment in Chinese language learning, the study compels us to reflect on the intersection of identity, ideology and capital within the language acquisition process and what Chinese language learning has come to mean for those from the peripheral nation-states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the Department of Digital, Culture, Media & Sport committee's inquiry into the economics of music streaming. The scrutiny of the committee's oral and written evidence, and final report is placed within the context of the music industry's significance to UK cultural policy since the late 1990s. The perspectives of the UK's musicians and song-writers are a focal point of the analysis of the inquiry's published documentation, as they are when discussing the committee's recommendations released in July 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reputation disparity between teaching and research has stirred up an unending debate. The age‐long notion that teaching and research overlap has become a controversial issue in academia. Consequences of the institutionalization of Publish OR Perish (POP) abound in the literature. This paper investigates the reputations disparity between teaching and research productivity and the rewards for these academic activities. It explores which, out of teaching activities and research publications receive higher or less attention and rewards. Relevant existing literature was reviewed to establish the institutionalization of POP and its consequences of the reputations disparity between teaching and research and its adverse effects on these activities. Evidence from the literature reviewed reveals the existence of POP reputation disparity as part of its consequences. A key finding is that teaching activities are insignificant and unrewarded as research publications. Neither the effectiveness nor the number of teaching loads counts like the numbers of publications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we explore the hypothesis that constrained uses of imagination are crucial to economic modeling. We propose a theoretical framework to develop this thesis through a number of specific hypotheses that we test and refine through six new, representative case studies. Our ultimate goal is to develop a philosophical account that is practice oriented and informed by empirical evidence. To do this, we deploy an abductive reasoning strategy. We start from a robust set of hypotheses and leave space for the generation of further hypotheses and theoretical claims based on the qualitative analysis of new empirical data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]