Currency Market Reactions to Good and Bad News During the Asian Crisis

There is considerable disagreement among analysts about the extent to which the spread of the Asian crisis was based on reasonable changes in expectations about fundamentals versus pure contagion effects resulting from imperfections in the behavior of currency and financial markets. In this paper we focus specifically on the behavior of the foreign exchange market for the five Asian countries. We find little support for the hypothesis that the Asian currency crisis was dominated by panic in the markets such that investors and speculators reacted much more strongly to bad than to good news. While the strongest reactions were to home news, there were also a number of significant cross effects. Almost all of these were of the same sign, suggesting that investors typically assumed that what was good for one country was good for all. Again, there was no systematic evidence of stronger reactions to bad than to good news. The markets may have overreacted in general, pushing currencies below the levels justified by the fundamentals, but, if so, this did not undercut the markets ability to respond to good as well as bad news, nor do these responses appear to have been systematically smaller to good than to bad news. The symptoms of the blind panic that has so often been alleged do not appear in the data.

Skill formation, automation and governance: comparing German and Korean automotive manufacturers in Central-Eastern Europe

Building on neo-institutionalist models of the transfer of HRM practices within multinational companies, this article analyzes the transfer of skill formation concepts using the cases of two automotive OEMs in Slovakia. The purpose of the article is twofold. First, it aims to explain the differences between the two multinationals. Second, it builds on the empirical analysis to reconsider the neo-institutionalist theoretical framework.The article is based on two qualitative case studies of automotive multinationals in Slovakia. The home country locations of both companies represent different approaches to skill formation: systematic vocational education for blue-collar workers is regarded as crucial at the German manufacturer, while the Korean company relies mainly on on-the-job-training and puts much less emphasis on skilled blue-collar work. The article shows that the differences between the companies are related to different understanding of technology/automation. It argues that the increasing automation and the decentralization of responsibilities for the product-launch processes supported the transfer of German skill formation concepts to the plant in Slovakia, while the Korean manufacturer's specific engineering-led automation concept and centralization of product launch responsibilities in its Korean headquarters reduced the need to invest in skill formation for blue collars abroad. The article concludes that theories of the transfer of HRM practices within multinationals must include technological factors, and must also develop more specific concepts of the centralization of multinationals. The article is to our knowledge the first to include technology as a core variable into the neo-institutionalist theory in the field of international business and HRM. While the relationship between technology and organization has gained huge prominence in the recent discussions about digitalization, it has been so far neglected by scholars of international business

Interference Effects of Blue tooth on WLAN Performance

In this paper, Network stumbler version 0.4.0 was used to estimate the impact of impulsive interference on Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) when Bluetooth coexist by measuring radiation from a WiFi Access Point (AP) in a homogeneous and heterogeneous scenarios. The parameters measured include Received Signal Strength (RSS) and Signal-to-Noise ratio (SNR) while Bit Error Rate (BER) performance was theoretically deduced from the measured data. Results obtained from the measurements of both scenarios were compared and used in describing the interference problem. The study revealed that Bluetooth impact on performance was minimally significant with mean degradation of 4.74% in RSS and 0.77% in SNR despite the fact that its signal are weak and are designed to accommodate WiFi devices by AFH technology.http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v34i1.2

Appraisal of Strategic Alliances and Corporate Effectiveness

The paper appraises strategic alliances and corporate effectiveness. The findings of the study are; strategic alliance of firms leads to effectiveness, it helps in sourcing the required capital, it minimizes competition among firms in similar market and it is a tool for penetrating saturated or complex markets. The study concludes that: Strategic alliances provide opportunities for participants to tap into the resources, knowledge, and skills of their collaborators; it provides social potential for the strategic allies to significantly leverage its member‟s resources and capabilities, it helps partners in an alliance to overcome legal, political and socio-cultural barriers to cross-national transactions. The paper recommends that firms that aim at achieving effectiveness in their operations in the face of scarce resources should take advantage of strategic alliance through which they will be able to accumulate adequate capital, penetrate saturated or complex markets, fight competition, and achieve competitive advantage.Key Words: Appraisal, Corporate, effectiveness, Strategic Alliance

BEYOND CLINICAL GUIDELINES: HOW CARE PATHWAYS AND QUALITY-IMPROVEMENT METHODS CAN SUPPORT BETTER ALLERGY CARE

The increasing prevalence of allergic disease has resulted in the recognition of allergy as a global public health concern. Yet health services worldwide appear to be ill-equipped to deliver high-quality allergy care. Clinical guidelines have been developed to describe what high-quality care looks like for most allergic diseases. However, allergy guidelines do not describe how the delivery of such care is organised across clinicians and provider organisations with varying degrees of access to allergy expertise and clinical resources. In this article, we describe how care pathways can be used to improve the organisation and delivery of allergy care in accordance with the characteristics of allergic disease and local constraints in the health service. We then describe how quality-improvement methods can support the successful realisation of allergy care pathways in practice. Realising care pathways involves a highly complex process of changing the way care is practised and organised. This could involve developing a new service, clinical training or other interventions. Qualityimprovement methods were developed as a guide to navigate and support the process of change and improvement

The Falsification of Four Popular Hypotheses about International Financial Behavior during the Asian Crisis

Various claims have been made about the causes of the Asian crisis and its spread. Here, we use data on the behavior of capital flows during the crisis to test the strong forms of four such hypotheses, including the dominant role of portfolio investors and hedge funds in initiating and spreading the crisis; moral hazard; and, finally, the role of Japanese banks in spreading the trouble to countries in which they were the largest source of funds. All are falsified as monocausal explanations. For example, portfolio investments that could not have been subject to substantial moral hazard continued to flow into Asia until very shortly before the crisis. Likewise, contrary to common expectations banks were a much larger source of capital outflows during the crisis than were portfolio investors. While falsified in their strongest forms, several of these hypotheses in less strong form should play a role in a more nuanced analysis. It is time to move past simple single-factor approaches in order to produce a more complete, synthetic explanation of this episode.

Morphological alteration of seminiferous tubules of testes of Wistar rat offspring exposed to alcohol during pregnancy and/or lactation

This paper presents the effects of alcohol on the morphology of seminiferous tubules of testes of Wistar rat offspring exposed to alcohol during pregnancy and/or lactation. Seventy five adult female Wistar rats divided into 3 groups of 25 each and their offsprings were used. The offspring of group 1 served as control, those of group 2 were exposed to 2 g/kg body weight of 30% ethanol (v/v) during pregnancy and lactation (APL) while those of group 3 were exposed to the same dose of ethanol during lactation only (AL). At Day (D) 7, 14, 21, 35 and 49 of postnatal life, 5 male offspring were randomly selected from the three groups and sacrificed. After the sacrifice, the two testes were dissected out and then prepared for routine histological evaluation. The result of the study showed that the seminiferous epithelia of the testes of the alcohol-exposed groups were characterized by few adluminal as well as defoliated germ cells. The result further showed significant reduction (P<0.05) in the diameter of the seminiferous tubules of the testes in alcohol-exposed groups. This histomorphometric effects which persisted into adulthood may have implications on the fertility of male offspring of dams who abuse alcohol during pregnancy and/or lactation.Keywords: Alcohol, pregnancy, lactation, testes, histomorphometry, Wistar rat

Morphometric studies of thyroid gland of Wistar rats exposed to alcohol during pregnancy and/or lactation

Maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy and lactation results to some developmental defects such as microcephaly, impairment of central nervous system and mental retardation in the offspring. However,information is limited on the effects of alcohol on the organs of dams being exposed during pregnancy and/or lactation including the thyroid gland. Rat model was employed to investigate the morphometric effects ofalcohol on the thyroid gland in dams. 75 female Wistar rats assigned to 3 groups of 25 each were used. Group 1 served as control (C), group 2 and 3 were exposed to alcohol during pregnancy and lactation (APL) and duringlactation only (AL) respectively. At Day (D)7, D14, D21, D35 and D49 postpartum, 5 lactating rats were randomly selected from the three groups and sacrificed. After the sacrifice, the thyroids were dissected out andtheir weights determined. Thereafter, thyroid tissues were fixed in Bouin’s fluid and prepared for routine histological examination. The results of the investigation showed significant reduction (p<0.05) in the weightsof the thyroid glands. Histological evaluation showed reduced diameter of thyroid follicles, disorganization of follicular cells and desquamation of follicular cells of thyroid glands in alcohol-exposed rats. Our findingssuggest that alcohol intake during pregnancy and/or lactation could be injurious to the thyroid glands.Keywords: Alcohol, pregnancy, lactation, thyroids, Wistar rats

Can exercise limits prevent post-exertional malaise in chronic fatigue syndrome? An uncontrolled clinical trial.

<b>Objective</b>: It was hypothesized that the use of exercise limits prevents symptom increases and worsening of their health status following a walking exercise in people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). <b>Design</b>: An uncontrolled clinical trial (semi-experimental design). <b>Setting</b>: Outpatient clinic of a university department. <b>Subjects</b>: 24 patients with CFS. <b>Interventions</b>: Subjects undertook a walking test with the two concurrent exercise limits. Each subject walked at an <i>intensity</i> where the maximum heart rate was determined by heart rate corresponding to the respiratory exchange ratio =1.0 derived from a previous sub-maximal exercise test and for a duration calculated from how long each patient felt they were able to walk. <b>Main outcome measures</b>: The Short Form 36 Health Survey or SF-36, the CFS Symptom List, and the CFS-Activities and Participation Questionnaire were filled in prior to, immediately and 24 hours post-exercise. <b>Results</b>: The fatigue increase observed immediately post-exercise (p=0.006) returned to pre-exercise levels 24 hours post-exercise. The increase in pain observed immediately post-exercise was retained at 24 hours post-exercise (p=0.03). Fourteen of 24 subjects experienced a clinically meaningful change in bodily pain (change of SF-36 bodily pain score ³10). Six of 24 participants indicated that the exercise bout had slightly worsened their health status, and 2 of 24 had a clinically meaningful decrease in vitality (change of SF-36 vitality score ³20). There was no change in activity limitations/participation restrictions. <b>Conclusion</b>: It was shown that the use of exercise limits (limiting both the intensity and duration of exercise) prevents important health status changes following a walking exercise in people with CFS, but was unable to prevent short-term symptom increases