Chinese government's formal institutional influence on corporate environmental management

Due to the gravity of its environmental problems where 16 of the 20 most polluted cities on earth reside in China, the national development strategy for environmental protection has become more focused since the Sixth National conference on Environmental Protection in 2006. The government has set the strategic goal of striving for a harmonious "Xiaokang" Society by the year 2020. The State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) is keen to encourage the busines ssector to engage in environmental initiatives.This paper is part of a larger empirical study grounded on senior managers' perceptions of corporate environmental management (CEM) in the People's Republicof China (PRC). To explore the emerging phenomenon of CEM in Shanghai, anappropriate research methodology is used. "Coercive Government Institutional Involvements" emerged as one of the major influencing factors in corporate environmental initiatives. The State regulatory regime has been perceived by Chinese managers to be the most influential, most complex, and least predictable on organisational environmental performance.The study is limited to an investigation of CEM in Shanghai but the implications of this exploratory research is that environmental management systems that work in developed nations should not be directly transplanted to developing nations without considering institutional contexts. Business enterprises operating in the PRC needs to be vigilant and aware that notwithstanding, its dynamic economic boom and modernisation, the state has tremendous influence

Public environmental reporting in China

Public disclosure of environmental performance is of increasing interest to China's State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) due to the gravity of its pollution problems. The State regulatory regime has been perceived by Chinese managers to be themost influential, most complex, and least predictable on organisational environmental performance. Undoubtedly, whilst publicly available corporate environmental reporting (CER) is voluntary, it would appear that environmental disclosures by business enterprises are being undertaken for the government, and not necessarily for the shareholders and other stakeholders.This paper explores the normative assumptions underpinning CER in China focusing on Shanghai utilising a constructivist ontology and an interpretivist epistemology. The data indicate conceptual themes that reverberate well with "cultural/cognitive institutions" and Chinese cultural norms (informal institutional rules). This paper addresses the literature"gap" in the empirical study of CER in an emerging nation such as China. The study is limited to an investigation of CER in Shanghai but the implications of this exploratoryresearch is that those seeking to impose compliance to international CER standards and norms, may need to embrace institutional rules that go through a cultural lens

Occupational Therapy Interventions for Activities of Daily Living in Adults with Osteoarthritis

Primary Focus: Productive Aging Learning Objectives: At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to: Describe the clinical presentation of osteoarthritis and three ways it impacts Activities of Daily Living (ADL) performance Recognize the value of an Occupational Therapy intervention in addition to surgical and pharmacological interventions for osteoarthritis Identify at least three current evidence based practice interventions for improving ADL performance for people with osteoarthritis Abstract: Currently, 30.8 million Americans have diagnoses of osteoarthritis (OA) and the number of individuals with arthritis is projected to increase to 78 million by 2040 (CDC, 2016). Health care costs for individuals with OA are estimated at $18,345 per year, which is more than two times higher than patients without OA (Le, Montejano, Cao, Zhao, & Ang, 2012). OA symptoms greatly impact an individual’s ability to perform life roles with independence (AOTA, 2014). Occupational therapists (OT) implement interventions to preserve and increase mobility necessary to perform activities of daily living (ADLs) (Frost, 2011). A systematic review was conducted using PubMed, CINAHL, and Scopus databases to search existing literature from 2010-2016 to answer the clinical question: What is the current evidence that OT intervention is effective in improving ADL performance in adults with OA? Thirteen articles that addressed adults over age 18, written in the English language, measured ADL outcomes and used interventions within the scope of OT were identified for review. Articles were critiqued using Law & MacDermid’s Critical Review Forms (Law & MacDermid, 2014). Themes that emerged from the evidence include orthotics, exercise-based interventions, preparatory methods, patient education, and pain. This session will present findings from this review. Results show there is moderate evidence supporting the use of orthoses, moderate evidence for exercise-based interventions, mixed evidence for preparatory methods, and insufficient evidence for patient education for improving ADL performance in adults with OA. Pain was a common outcome measure reported in the studies. Findings suggest that interventions that improved pain did not always impact ADL performance. In clinical practice, the strongest evidence suggests exercise-based and orthotic interventions result in improved performance of ADLs in adults with OA. References: American Occupational Therapy Association [AOTA]. (2014). Occupational therapy practice framework: Domain and process. American Occupational Therapy Association, 68(Supplement 1), S1-S48. doi: 10.5014/ajot.2014.682006. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2016). Arthritis-Related Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/data_statistics/arthritis-related-stats.htm Frost, L., (2011). Occupational Therapy’s Role in Managing Arthritis. Retrieved July 15, 2016, from http://www.aota.org/~/media/Corporate/Files/AboutOT/Professionals/WhatIsOT/PA/Facts/Arthritis fact sheet.pdf?la=en Law, M. & MacDermid, J.C. (2014). Evidence Based Rehabilitation: A Guide to Practice, 3rd Ed. Thorofare, NJ: Slack Inc. Le, T. K., Montejano, L. B., Cao, Z., Zhao, Y., & Ang, D. (2012). Health care costs in US patients with and without a diagnosis of osteoarthritis. Journal of Pain Research, 5, 23–30. http://doi.org/10.2147/JPR.S27275 Other: Level of Material: Introductory and Intermediate Level Target Audience: Occupational therapists, Occupational therapist assistants Presentation: 47:2

Long-term survival of olfactory sensory neurons after target depletion.

Life-long addition and elimination of neurons within the adult olfactory epithelium and olfactory bulb allows for adaptive structural responses to sensory experience, learning, and recovery after injury. The interdependence of the two structures is highlighted by the shortened life span of sensory neurons deprived of bulb contact, and has prompted the hypothesis that trophic cues from the bulb contribute to their survival. The specific identity and source of these signals remain unknown. To investigate the potential role of target neurons in this support, we employed a neurotoxic lesion to selectively remove them while preserving the remaining nerve projection pathway, and examined the dynamics of sensory neuron proliferation and survival. Pulse-labeling of progenitors with bromodeoxyuridine showed that, as with surgical bulb removal, increased apoptosis in the epithelium triggered accelerated production of new neurons after chemical depletion of target cells. Rather than undergoing premature death, a large subpopulation of these neurons survived long term. The combination of increased proliferation and extended survival resulted in essentially normal numbers of new sensory neurons surviving for as long as 5 weeks, with an accompanying restoration of olfactory marker protein expression. Changes in neurotrophic factor expression levels as measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR), and in bulb cell populations, including the addition of new neurons generated in the subventricular zone, were observed in the injured bulb. These data indicate that olfactory sensory neurons can adapt to reductions in their normal target field by obtaining sufficient support from remaining or alternative cell sources to survive and maintain their projections

“Yes, and …” Exploring the Future of Learning Analytics in Medical Education

This Conversations Starter article presents a selected research abstract from the 2017 Association of American Medical Colleges Northeastern Region Group on Educational Affairs annual spring meeting. The abstract is paired with the integrative commentary of three experts who shared their thoughts stimulated by the study. Commentators brainstormed “what\u27s next” with learning analytics in medical education, including advancements in interaction metrics and the use of interactivity analysis to deepen understanding of perceptual, cognitive, and social learning and transfer processes

The Iowa Homemaker vol.3, no.1

Table of Contents A Greeting to Iowa Homemakers by Miss Anna J. Richardson, page 1 Where Are the Birds? by J. E. Guthrie, page 2 Her Summer Lingerie by Lucile Barta, page 3 Planting the Back Yard “Forty” by E. C. Volz, page 4 When April Weeps by Eleanor Murray, page 5 Garden Accessories by Juanita Beard, page 6 A Study in Yellow and White by Helen Reidy, page 6 Kiddies Clothes for Spring by Grace Heidbreger and Grace Bourland, page 7 Who’s There and Where by Eleanor Murray and Jeanette Beyer, page 8 The Economy Game and How the Turners Played It by Helen Lamb, page 1