Towards a Typology of Corporate Responsibility in Different Governance Contexts

This paper develops a typology of different country governance contexts, in which we propose four broad categories of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our analysis measures the most appropriate methods for helping to create a climate that is receptive to fostering corporate accountability. Our criteria are based on several different factors, none of which is determinative: the natural resources of the country; the country\u27s dependence on one commodity; the corruption level; the stability and accountability of the government; the state of civil society; and the existence of ongoing conflict. Examining these factors together results in measuring not just the country\u27s receptivity to change, but also the means for producing change. At one end of the spectrum, what we label Category 0 countries, are nations with economies and governments that are so poorly managed that there is little multinational investment - sometimes even in the context of lucrative investment opportunities. At the other end lie those countries with acceptable levels of good governance, more developed economies and markets, and with, consequently, a comparatively high level of both domestic and multinational corporate investment. We examine the appropriateness of strategies to apply external or internal pressure in different types of countries. Next, we discuss the affects of applying the proposed intervention strategies to the countries, addressing both short and long-term expected results. We find that in Category 0 countries, with extremely low levels of international investment, strategies should focus on improving governance and overall human welfare, which often could lead to welcoming international corporate investment. Other categories of countries, with greater - and often problematic - international corporate involvement, require different types of approaches

Towards a Typology of Corporate Responsibility in Different Governance Contexts

This paper develops a typology of different country governance contexts, in which we propose four broad categories of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our analysis measures the most appropriate methods for helping to create a climate that is receptive to fostering corporate accountability. Our criteria are based on several different factors, none of which is determinative: the natural resources of the country; the country\u27s dependence on one commodity; the corruption level; the stability and accountability of the government; the state of civil society; and the existence of ongoing conflict. Examining these factors together results in measuring not just the country\u27s receptivity to change, but also the means for producing change. At one end of the spectrum, what we label Category 0 countries, are nations with economies and governments that are so poorly managed that there is little multinational investment - sometimes even in the context of lucrative investment opportunities. At the other end lie those countries with acceptable levels of good governance, more developed economies and markets, and with, consequently, a comparatively high level of both domestic and multinational corporate investment. We examine the appropriateness of strategies to apply external or internal pressure in different types of countries. Next, we discuss the affects of applying the proposed intervention strategies to the countries, addressing both short and long-term expected results. We find that in Category 0 countries, with extremely low levels of international investment, strategies should focus on improving governance and overall human welfare, which often could lead to welcoming international corporate investment. Other categories of countries, with greater - and often problematic - international corporate involvement, require different types of approaches

Communicating About Evaluation: A Conceptual Model and Case Example

Background: Despite consensus within the evaluation community about what is distinctive about evaluation, confusion among stakeholders and other professions abounds. The evaluation literature describes how those in the social sciences continue to view evaluation as applied social science and part of what they already know how to do, with the implication that no additional training beyond the traditional social sciences is needed. Given the lack of broader understanding of the specialized role of evaluation, the field struggles with how best to communicate about evaluation to stakeholders and other professions. Purpose: This paper addresses the need to clearly communicate what is distinctive about evaluation to stakeholders and other professions by offering a conceptual tool that can be used in dialogue with others. Specifically, we adapt a personnel evaluation framework to map out what is distinctive about what evaluators know and can do. We then compare this map with the knowledge and skill needed in a related profession (i.e., assessment) in order to reveal how the professions differ.  Setting: Not applicable. Intervention: Not applicable. Research Design: Not applicable. Data Collection and Analysis: Not applicable. Findings: We argue that using a conceptual tool such as the one presented in this paper with comparative case examples would clarify for outsiders the distinct work of evaluators. Additionally, we explain how this conceptual tool is flexible and could be extended by evaluation practitioners in a myriad of ways. Keywords: evaluation knowledge; evaluation skill; profession; professionalizatio

Heat flux-based strategies for the thermal monitoring of sub-fumarolic areas: Examples from Vulcano and La Soufrière de Guadeloupe

Although it is relatively easy to set-up, the monitoring of soil temperature in sub-fumarolic areas is quite rarely used to monitor the evolution of hydrothermal systems. Indeed, measurements are highly sensitive to environmental conditions, in particular daily and seasonal variations of atmospheric temperatures and rainfalls, which can be only partially filtered by the established statistical analysis. In this paper, we develop two innovative processingmethods, both based on the computation of the heat flux in the soil. The upward heat flux method (UHF), designed for dry environments, consists in computing both the conductive and convective components of the heat flux between two thermocouples placed vertically. In the cases of wet environments, the excess of total heat method (ETH) allows the integration of rain gauges data in order to correct the heat balance fromthe superficial cooling effect of the precipitations. The performances of both processing techniques are faced to established methods (temperature gradient and coefficient of determination) on soil temperature time series from two test volcanoes. At La Fossa di Vulcano (Italy), the UHF method undoubtedly detects three thermal crises between 2009 and 2012, enabling to quantify not only the intensity but also the precise timing of the heat flux increase with respect to corresponding geochemical and seismic crises. At La Soufrière de Guadeloupe (French Lesser Antilles), despite large rainfalls dramatically influencing the thermal behavior of the soil, a constant geothermal heat flux is retrieved by the ETH method, confirming the absence of fumarolic crisis during the observation period (February–August 2010). Being quantitative, robust, and usable in almost any context of sub-fumarolic zones, our two heat flux-based methods increase the potential of soil temperature for the monitoring, but also the general interpretation of fumarolic crises together with geochemical and seismological observations. A spreadsheet allowing direct computation of UHF and ETH is provided as supplemental material.Published122-1342V. Struttura e sistema di alimentazione dei vulcaniJCR Journa

Pathways to Kindergarten Readiness: The Roles of Second Step Early Learning Curriculum and Social Emotional, Executive Functioning, Preschool Academic and Task Behavior Skills

Efforts to improve the achievement gap between low-income children and their more affluent peers has led to the development of classroom interventions and curricula to increase executive functioning (EF) and social-emotional skills (SE), thought to be foundational for learning. The Second Step Early Learning (SSEL) curriculum is a commercially available curriculum designed to improve school readiness by building EF and SE skills. However, although widely used, it has not been widely studied. Modeling SSEL’s underlying theory of change, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to longitudinally examine the effects of the curriculum on low-income preschool children’s kindergarten school readiness through the hypothesized mediating role of EF and SE skills in improving pre-academic skills and task behavior in preschool. In a cluster randomized trial, 972 children attending 63 preschool classrooms within 13 low-income Head Start or community preschools were individually tested at the beginning (T1) and end of preschool (T2, n = 836) and followed into kindergarten. Children’s average age at T1 was 53 months, with 51% male, 42% Anglo-American, 26% African–American, and 40% Hispanic-American. Children’s EF, social skills, pre-literacy/language, and pre-math skills were assessed by trained child assessors blind to study conditions at T1 and T2. Assessors also rated children’s task behavior in the testing situation at T1 and T2. School records of children’s kindergarten screening scores were obtained on 345 children at T3. It was expected that SSEL would have both direct and indirect effects on kindergarten readiness through improvements in children’s SE and EF skills preschool academic skills and on-task behavior. We found no direct effects of SSEL on either pre-academic or on-task behavior outcomes in preschool, nor on later kindergarten readiness. However, SSEL significantly increased EF, and as expected by SSEL’s theory of change, growth in EF predicted gains in both pre-academics (particularly pre-math), and on-task behavior in preschool. End-of-year pre-academic skills and on task behavior in turn predicted better kindergarten readiness. Further, SE (although not impacted by SSEL) had direct and indirect effects on kindergarten readiness. Thus, overall, our findings largely support SSEL’s theory of change, particularly in relation to EF

Functional mechanisms underlying pleiotropic risk alleles at the 19p13.1 breast-ovarian cancer susceptibility locus

A locus at 19p13 is associated with breast cancer (BC) and ovarian cancer (OC) risk. Here we analyse 438 SNPs in this region in 46,451 BC and 15,438 OC cases, 15,252 BRCA1 mutation carriers and 73,444 controls and identify 13 candidate causal SNPs associated with serous OC (P=9.2 × 10-20), ER-negative BC (P=1.1 × 10-13), BRCA1-associated BC (P=7.7 × 10-16) and triple negative BC (P-diff=2 × 10-5). Genotype-gene expression associations are identified for candidate target genes ANKLE1 (P=2 × 10-3) and ABHD8 (P<2 × 10-3). Chromosome conformation capture identifies interactions between four candidate SNPs and ABHD8, and luciferase assays indicate six risk alleles increased transactivation of the ADHD8 promoter. Targeted deletion of a region containing risk SNP rs56069439 in a putative enhancer induces ANKLE1 downregulation; and mRNA stability assays indicate functional effects for an ANKLE1 3′-UTR SNP. Altogether, these data suggest that multiple SNPs at 19p13 regulate ABHD8 and perhaps ANKLE1 expression, and indicate common mechanisms underlying breast and ovarian cancer risk

The Physics of the B Factories

This work is on the Physics of the B Factories. Part A of this book contains a brief description of the SLAC and KEK B Factories as well as their detectors, BaBar and Belle, and data taking related issues. Part B discusses tools and methods used by the experiments in order to obtain results. The results themselves can be found in Part C

Goodbye Hartmann trial: a prospective, international, multicenter, observational study on the current use of a surgical procedure developed a century ago

Background: Literature suggests colonic resection and primary anastomosis (RPA) instead of Hartmann's procedure (HP) for the treatment of left-sided colonic emergencies. We aim to evaluate the surgical options globally used to treat patients with acute left-sided colonic emergencies and the factors that leading to the choice of treatment, comparing HP and RPA. Methods: This is a prospective, international, multicenter, observational study registered on ClinicalTrials.gov. A total 1215 patients with left-sided colonic emergencies who required surgery were included from 204 centers during the period of March 1, 2020, to May 31, 2020. with a 1-year follow-up. Results: 564 patients (43.1%) were females. The mean age was 65.9 ± 15.6&nbsp;years. HP was performed in 697 (57.3%) patients and RPA in 384 (31.6%) cases. Complicated acute diverticulitis was the most common cause of left-sided colonic emergencies (40.2%), followed by colorectal malignancy (36.6%). Severe complications (Clavien-Dindo ≥ 3b) were higher in the HP group (P &lt; 0.001). 30-day mortality was higher in HP patients (13.7%), especially in case of bowel perforation and diffused peritonitis. 1-year follow-up showed no differences on ostomy reversal rate between HP and RPA. (P = 0.127). A backward likelihood logistic regression model showed that RPA was preferred in younger patients, having low ASA score (≤ 3), in case of large bowel obstruction, absence of colonic ischemia, longer time from admission to surgery, operating early at the day working hours, by a surgeon who performed more than 50 colorectal resections. Conclusions: After 100&nbsp;years since the first Hartmann's procedure, HP remains the most common treatment for left-sided colorectal emergencies. Treatment's choice depends on patient characteristics, the time of surgery and the experience of the surgeon. RPA should be considered as the gold standard for surgery, with HP being an exception

Functional mechanisms underlying pleiotropic risk alleles at the 19p13.1 breast-ovarian cancer susceptibility locus

A locus at 19p13 is associated with breast cancer (BC) and ovarian cancer (OC) risk. Here we analyse 438 SNPs in this region in 46,451 BC and 15,438 OC cases, 15,252 BRCA1 mutation carriers and 73,444 controls and identify 13 candidate causal SNPs associated with serous OC (P = 9.2 x 10(-20)), ER-negative BC (P = 1.1 x 10(-13)), BRCA1-associated BC (P = 7.7 x 10(-16)) and triple negative BC (P-diff = 2 x 10(-5)). Genotype-gene expression associations are identified for candidate target genes ANKLE1 (P = 2 x 10(-3)) and ABHD8 (PPeer reviewe