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The study purpose was to assess the evidence on the effects of hospital restructuring that included layoffs, on nurses who remained employed, using a systematic review of the research literature to contribute to policy formation. Papers addressing research, hospital restructuring resulting in layoffs, effects on nurses, and a stated relationship between the independent and dependent variables were included. Data were extracted and the quality of each study was assessed. The final group of included studies had 22 empirical papers. The main effects were significant decreases in job satisfaction, professional efficacy, ability to provide quality care, physical and emotional health, and increases in turnover, and disruption to healthcare team relationships. Nurses with fewer years of experience or who experienced multiple episodes of restructuring experienced greater effects. Other findings remain inconclusive. Further research is required to determine if these effects are temporal or can be mitigated by individual or organizational strategies.

This longitudinal panel study examined the relationship of three dimensions of control (personal, job and organizational) assessed in the initial phase of a hospital amalgamation on nurses’ reactions two years later during the amalgamation period. The participants were 179 full‐time nurses employed in four community hospitals being amalgamated into two. Nurses reported low organizational control, a finding consistent with the sense of powerlessness frequently associated with nurses. The hypothesis that the three types of control would differentially predict nurses’ reactions to the hospital amalgamation was supported. Personal control significantly predicted changes in perceived co‐worker support and help‐seeking coping over the amalgamation period. Job control significantly predicted changes in perceived supervisor support and direct action coping (putting more effort into doing one’s job) over the amalgamation period. Organizational control significantly predicted changes in perceived hospital support and trust in the hospital over the amalgamation period. The findings indicate the need to include more than one dimension of control in investigations of nurses’ sense of powerlessness and the importance of matching the type of control to outcome variables.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the informational efficiency and integration simultaneously for select Asian and US stock markets while considering the impact of recent financial crisis.

Daily stock market data from 13 world markets covering the period of ten years (from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2010) is tested using Run test, Unit root test, GARCH(1, 1) model, Pearson correlation coefficient, Johansen’s cointegration test and Granger causality test.

It is concluded that the markets under study are inefficient in weak form which creates the chances of earning abnormal returns for the investors. Furthermore, the markets are found to be correlated and integrated in long-run, which makes the international fund diversification insignificant. The degree of inefficiency, in general, is not affected by the recent financial crisis but the level of integration among stock markets is reduced with the effect of recent financial crisis.

Individual/institutional investors, portfolio managers, corporate executives, policy makers and practitioners may draw meaningful conclusions from the findings of this type of researches while operating in stock markets. They can use such studies for the management of their existing portfolios as their portfolio management strategies may be, up to some extent, dependent upon such research work.

The originality of the present study lies in the fact that this paper is an attempt to fill the time gap of comprehensive researches on Asian and US markets and an effort to test stock market efficiency and integration simultaneously.

The costs associated with staffing acute mental health wards is the largest expenditure in the inpatient budget. Exploring skill mix and its impact on outcomes, particularly service user outcomes should be of interest to all stakeholders involved in the commissioning, delivery and receipt of acute mental health care. This paper describes the findings of a literature and practice review of initiatives undertaken to improve staffing and skill mix, and their impact on service user outcomes. The practice review was necessary due to the paucity of published research in this area. Both research and practice initiatives do not appear to be driven by service user need. This results in a restricted and service driven range of outcome measures being used. The paper concludes by proposing recommendations for future workforce development in acute mental health settings.

This study aims to investigate the behavior of the green biomass-derived copper (lignin/silica/fatty acids) complex, copper lignin/silica/fatty acids (Cu-LSF) complex, when incorporated into the nonpolar ethylene propylene diene (EPDFM) rubber matrix, focusing on its reinforcing and antioxidant effect on the resulting EPDM composites.

The structure of the prepared EPDM composites was confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and the dispersion of the additive fillers and antioxidants in the EPDM matrix was investigated using scanning electron microscopy. Also, the rheometric characteristics, mechanical properties, swelling behavior and thermal gravimetric analysis of all the prepared EPDM composites were explored as well.

Results revealed that the Cu-LSF complex dispersed well in the nonpolar EPDM rubber matrix, in thepresence of coupling system, with enhanced Cu-LSF-rubber interactions and increased cross-linking density, which reflected on the improved rheological and mechanical properties of the resulting EPDM composites. From the various investigations performed in the current study, the authors can suggest 7–11 phr is the optimal effective concentration of Cu-LSF complex loading. Interestingly, EPDM composites containing Cu-LSF complex showed better antiaging performance, thermal stability and fluid resistance, when compared with those containing the commercial antioxidants (2,2,4-trimethyl-1,2-dihydroquinoline and N-isopropyl-N’-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine). These findings are in good agreement with our previous study on polar nitrile butadiene rubber.

The current study suggests the green biomass-derived Cu-LSF complex to be a promising low-cost and environmentally safe alternative filler and antioxidant to the hazardous commercial ones.

This study focused on how to realize automatic recognition of young women's neck-shoulder shape based on the front and side images.

The reverse engineering software was used to measure the body sizes of the neck-shoulder part based on the young women's three-dimensional (3D) point cloud data, and the important parameters closely related to the neck-shoulder shape were determined. The neck-shoulder shape of the subjects was classified to establish the classification rules. Then, based on the front and side images, the human body contour was extracted by Matlab, and the data required for neck-shoulder shape classification were obtained by identifying the feature points.

Through the cluster analysis based on the shoulder angle, back angle, shoulder depth/width ratio and armpit depth/width ratio, young women's neck-shoulder shape was divided into four categories, namely round wide shoulder, flat narrow shoulder, round drop shoulder and hunchback flat shoulder. The neck-shoulder shape could be automatically recognized based on the established classification rules and two-dimensional (2D) body measurement method, with an accuracy rate of 90%. The neck-shoulder shape automatic recognition system constructed based on this method is effective.

This study proposed a simple neck-shoulder automatic recognition method based on the 2D body images. This approach can be extended to other group of human body or other parts of the body.

The purpose of this paper is to study the application of entropy based optimized fuzzy logic control for a real-time non-linear system. Optimization of the fuzzy membership function (MF) is one of the most explored areas for performance improvement of the fuzzy logic controllers (FLC). Conversely, majority of previous works are motivated on choosing an optimized shape for the MF, while on the other hand the support of fuzzy set is not accounted.

The proposed investigation provides the optimal support for predefined MFs by using genetic algorithms-based optimization of fuzzy entropy-based objective function.

The experimental results obtained indicate an improvement in the performance of the controller which includes improvement in error indices, transient and steady-state parameters. The applicability of proposed algorithm has been verified through real-time control of the twin rotor multiple-input, multiple-output system (TRMS).

The proposed algorithm has been used for the optimization of triangular sets, and can also be used for the optimization of other fussy sets, such as Gaussian, s-function, etc.

The proposed optimization can be combined with other algorithms which optimize the mathematical function (shape), and a potent optimization tool for designing of the FLC can be formulated.

This paper presents the application of a new optimized FLC which is tested for control of pitch and yaw angles in a TRMS. The performance of the proposed optimized FLC shows significant improvement when compared with standard references.

This study examined a mediating model of income and pay satisfaction with a direct path (income → pay satisfaction) and an indirect path with two mediators (income → the love of money → pay equity comparison → pay satisfaction). Results of the whole sample showed that the indirect path was significant and the direct path was insignificant. When the indirect path was eliminated, income contributed positively to pay satisfaction. We then tested the model across two moderators: culture (the United States versus Spain) and gender. This study provides the following theoretical and empirical contributions: the direct relationship between income and pay satisfaction depends on the indirect path and the extent to which (1) income enhances the love of money and (2) the love of money is applied to evaluate pay equity comparison satisfaction. If both conditions exist, income leads to pay dissatisfaction. If the second condition does not exist, income does not lead to pay dissatisfaction. Pay satisfaction depends on (1) one’s love of money and (2) how one compares. The role of the love of money in pay satisfaction is “not”universal across cultures and gender.

This synthesis covers academic research on the use of valuation, tax, information technology (IT), and forensic specialists on audit engagements. The importance and role of specialists on audit engagements have recently increased, and specialist use has garnered significant attention from regulators and academics. Given the PCAOB’s (2017b) recent proposal to revise auditing standards regarding specialists’ involvement, it is important to review the specialist literature as a whole. By integrating research across these four domains, I identify commonalities and differences related to: (1) factors associated with the use of specialists on audit engagements (including the nature, timing, and extent of use); (2) factors impacting auditors’ interactions with specialists (including specialists contracted by the auditor or management); and (3) outcomes associated with the use of specialists. This integrated analysis of the specialist literatures shows variation in the use of specialists, and various factors affecting both if and how they are involved and whether auditors use specialists internal or external to the audit firm. Additionally, research has sometimes (but not always) linked specialist involvement to higher audit quality. The commonalities and areas of variation identified are informative to audit research and practice, particularly as regulators and audit firms look to improve the quality of audits using specialists. Throughout the synthesis, I also provide a number of directions for future research.