Estimating monetary policy rules for Malaysia: an optimal monetary conditions index

Based on the concept of the monetary conditions index (MCI) to underscore the important role of the interest rates parity, the paper attempts to estimate a model of optimal monetary policy for open emerging market economies. It is designed to shed a light of significance of the internal and external equilibrium and provide the basis for the analysis. The paper estimated the relative influence of interest rates and exchange rate on the output gap, the weights of real interest rates and real exchange rate, which are used to estimate the optimal monetary conditions index. The estimated weights are 1.6: 1, which can be used to specify operating target rule for monetary policy.

Perceptions of middle-top management on organizational performance in agriculture manufacturers in Yangon, Myanmar

Purpose: This research aims to investigate middle-top management on the factors impacting organizational performance which are novelty-center business model innovation, continuous improvement, transformational leadership, competitive advantages, and employee performance. Research design, data and methodology: The researcher employed quantitative method through online questionnaire distribution to 450 participants who are middle-top management and have been working at least one year in five agriculture manufacturers in Yangon, Myanmar. Sampling techniques used were purposive sampling, stratified random sampling and convenience sampling. Before the data collection, Item Objective Congruence (IOC) was conducted for content validity test and Cronbach’s Alpha (CA) was employed for pilot testing of the items’ reliability. Afterwards, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Model (SEM), including model fit, reliability, and validity were applied. Results: Continuous improvement had a significant impact on competitive advantage as well as the relationship between transformational leadership and employee performance. Furthermore, competitive advantage and employee performance significantly impacted organizational performance. In contrary, novelty-center business model innovation had no significant impact on competitive advantage. Conclusions: Academic researchers are recommended to further investigate factors influencing organizational performance and business executors should promote leadership to enhance employee performance and build business model innovation to gain competitive advantage

Leave-Taking’s Prevailing Effect on Real Wage Growth: Paid vs. Unpaid Maternity Leave

Paid maternity leave’s effect on women’s real wage growth is indeterminate in theory. Paid maternity leave could help a woman return to the same job postpartum, reducing the unemployment in between jobs (which we see as external leaves). Simultaneously, paid maternity leave could incentivize women to take more leave within a job (which we see as internal leaves). According to the human capital theory, if more women increase leave-taking due to the subsidy on leave and the cheaper opportunity cost of pregnancy, women’s overall productivity will decline and their wage growth will slow down. This analysis uses the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY-79) to investigate which one of the two opposing effects of paid maternity leave prevails. Our empirical findings suggest that holding all else equal, an increase in leave-taking led to a bigger decrease in the real wage growth for women who did not receive paid maternity leave compared to women who did receive paid maternity leave

Clinicopathologic Features and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings in 24 Cats With Histopathologically Confirmed Neurologic Feline Infectious Peritonitis

Background: Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is the most common infectious central nervous system (CNS) disease in the cat and is invariably fatal. Improved means of antemortem diagnosis is required to facilitate clinical decision making. Information regarding the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of neurologic FIP currently is limited, resulting in the need for better descriptions to optimize its use as a diagnostic tool. Objective: To describe the clinicopathologic features and MRI findings in cases of confirmed neurologic FIP. Animals: Twenty-four client-owned cats with histopathologic confirmation of neurologic FIP. Methods: Archived records from 5 institutions were retrospectively reviewed to identify cases with confirmed neurologic FIP that had undergone antemortem MRI of the CNS. Signalment, clinicopathologic, MRI, and histopathologic findings were evaluated. Results: Three distinct clinical syndromes were identified: T3-L3 myelopathy (3), central vestibular syndrome (7), and multifocal CNS disease (14). Magnetic resonance imaging abnormalities were detected in all cases, including meningeal contrast enhancement (22), ependymal contrast enhancement (20), ventriculomegaly (20), syringomyelia (17), and foramen magnum herniation (14). Cerebrospinal fluid was analysed in 11 cases; all demonstrated a marked increase in total protein concentration and total nucleated cell count. All 24 cats were euthanized with a median survival time of 14 days (range, 2115) from onset of clinical signs. Histopathologic analysis identified perivascular pyogranulomatous infiltrates, lymphoplasmacytic infiltrates, or both affecting the leptomeninges (16), choroid plexuses (16), and periventricular parenchyma (13). Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Magnetic resonance imaging is a sensitive means of detecting neurologic FIP, particularly in combination with a compatible signalment, clinical presentation, and CSF analysis

Losing Gems as You Translate: Some Experiences of a Burmese Translator

Panel: Writing in Dialogu

A structurally and functionally biomimetic biphasic scaffold for intervertebral disc tissue engineering.

Tissue engineering offers high hopes for the treatment of intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration. Whereas scaffolds of the disc nucleus and annulus have been extensively studied, a truly biomimetic and mechanically functional biphasic scaffold using naturally occurring extracellular matrix is yet to be developed. Here, a biphasic scaffold was fabricated with collagen and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), two of the most abundant extracellular matrix components in the IVD. Following fabrication, the scaffold was characterized and benchmarked against native disc. The biphasic scaffold was composed of a collagen-GAG co-precipitate making up the nucleus pulposus-like core, and this was encapsulated in multiple lamellae of photochemically crosslinked collagen membranes comprising the annulus fibrosus-like lamellae. On mechanical testing, the height of our engineered disc recovered by similar to 82-89% in an annulus-independent manner, when compared with the 99% recovery exhibited by native disc. The annulus-independent nature of disc height recovery suggests that the fluid replacement function of the engineered nucleus pulposus core might mimic this hitherto unique feature of native disc. Biphasic scaffolds comprised of 10 annulus fibrosus-like lamellae had the best overall mechanical performance among the various designs owing to their similarity to native disc in most aspects, including elastic compliance during creep and recovery, and viscous compliance during recovery. However, the dynamic mechanical performance (including dynamic stiffness and damping factor) of all the biphasic scaffolds was similar to that of the native discs. This study contributes to the rationalized design and development of a biomimetic and mechanically viable biphasic scaffold for IVD tissue engineering.published_or_final_versio