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This paper aims to evaluate the sulfide stress cracking (SSC) resistance of L80 casing steels with different alloying chemistries (e.g. Ti-B and Mn-Cr-Mo) by correlating the reduction in area ratio with the mechanical property, inclusion and carbide.

SSC tests were conducted in 5.0 Wt.% sodium chloride and 0.5 Wt.% acetic acid solution saturated with H₂S using constant load tensile method. The microstructure and fracture morphology of the steel were observed using scanning electron microscope. The inclusion and carbide were identified by energy dispersive spectroscopy and auger electron microscope.

Among all the testing steels, electric resistance welding (ERW) L80-0.5Mo steel demonstrates the highest SSC resistance because of its appropriate mechanical properties, uniform microstructure and low inclusion content. The SSC resistance of L80 steels generally decreases with the rising yield strength. The fracture mode of steel with low SSC resistance is jointly dominated by transgranular and intergranular cracking, whereas that with high SSC resistance is mainly transgranular cracking. SSC is more sensitive to inclusions than carbides because the cracks are easier to be initiated from the elongated inclusions and oversized oxide inclusions, especially the inclusion clusters. Unlike the elongated carbide, globular carbide in the steel can reduce the negative effect on the SSC resistance. Especially, a uniform microstructure with fine globular carbides favors a significant improvement in SSC resistance through precluding the cracking propagation.

The paper provides the new insights into the improvement in SSC resistance of L80 casing steel for its application in H₂S environment through optimizing its alloying compositions and microstructure.

Forests support human livelihoods and mitigate against climate change, yet they are at a risk of irreversible loss due to high degradation rates. The success of forest conservation mechanisms depends on involvement and support by forest dependent communities. In this paper, the authors assess forest dependent household's willingness to pay (WTP) labour or cash for a conservation programme seeking to restore degraded forestland in Mount Elgon Forest, Kenya.

Data were collected from 919 households in Mt Elgon forest reserve, Kenya. A double bounded contingent valuation approach was used to examine households' WTP and an ordered probit model to estimate the determinants of WTP.

The findings of the study show a higher WTP for conservation through labour days (12 days/month, equivalent to 1800 KES/month) compared to cash (KES 450/month). Forest dependence has a significant influence on households' willingness to support conservation activities. A higher WTP was observed amongst households with higher vulnerability (high shocks value, low asset value and those in the poorest wealth categories) implying that they are more willing to contribute for forest conservation.

While emerging literature on WTP for forest conservation is growing, few studies have paid attention on the influence of forest dependence on WTP for forest conservation. There are limited studies on use of in-kind contribution as a payment vehicle for WTP. The study's findings show a high WTP in form of labour suggesting the importance of embracing in-kind contribution as a mechanism of supporting forest conservation in contexts of developing countries.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the systematic role played by Six Sigma methodology in improving the quality of healthcare. The literature review identifies the relevant opportunities for successful introduction and development of Six Sigma approach in healthcare sector.

A systematic methodology to identifying literature on Six Sigma in healthcare is presented. Web of Science, Medline, Emerald Insight, ASQ and ProQuest databases (1998-2016) were searched, and 68 papers of fair methodological quality were identified.

The findings of the systematic review reveal a growing interest in research on Six Sigma adoption in healthcare. The findings indicate that Six Sigma applications in healthcare have been focused on the entire hospital with no real focus on a particular department or function. The key findings on benefits, success factors, challenges and common tools of Six Sigma from the existing literature are also presented in the paper.

The papers included in the systematic review were peer-reviewed papers available in English. Due to these limitations, relevant papers may have been excluded. Moreover, the authors have excluded all conference and white papers for their inclusion in this study.

This paper can serve as a guide on how Six Sigma approach can be applied to improve the quality of healthcare. The authors also believe that this is possibly the most comprehensive systematic literature review on the topic and will set the foundation for various research avenues based on the key findings of this study.

The paper aims to investigate disclosure practices in the annual reports of Libyan banks in the run‐up to the opening of the nation's first stock exchange. Banks dominate this embryonic market but very little research has examined the extent (or determinants) of transparency achieved by these firms, an issue argued by Stiglitz and others to be crucial in the post‐crisis era. Currently, no detailed evidence of disclosure practices prior to the launch of the exchange exists, making an accurate assessment of the market's impact in this area impossible; the present study therefore contributes in this regard as well.

The study employs two main methods: a disclosure index‐based analysis of mandatory and overall disclosure levels; and panel regression analysis of the determinants of the overall disclosure levels.

The results suggest that while many items are disclosed on a regular basis, on average barely more than half of all possible items appear in the annual reports. As regards compliance with mandatory requirements, the figures are higher but, worryingly, begin to fall as the launch of the market neared. The results of panel‐data analysis suggest that the overall extent of disclosure is non‐random, instead reflecting the profits achieved by the banks concerned.

This paper is the first detailed analysis of disclosure practices in Libyan banks and the results suggest that market authorities should be looking for an improvement in the figures, in particular the reversal of a downward trend in compliance with mandatory requirements. The paper reports a link between profit level and disclosure propensity; this evidence might be of use to regulators charged with increasing disclosure levels in the future. More generally, the results provide a comparative basis on which to assess the effect of the market's launch on disclosure practices in Libya.

The purpose of this study is to outline a conceptual framework that can be used to organise and guide future research into how celebrity product endorsement creates equity for both the endorsed product‐brand and the endorsing celebrity.

The theoretical perspective adopted in this study is that celebrity product endorsement is a form of co‐branding.

The central thesis is that both endorser image and brand image serve as mediators in the equity‐creation process of celebrity product endorsement.

Research contributions and directions for future research are provided.

MID‐OCTOBER sees the activities of the library world in full swing. Meetings, committee discussions, schools at work, students busy with December and May examinations in view, and a host of occupations for the library worker. This year—for in a sense the library year begins in October—will be a busy one. For the Library Association Council there will be the onerous business of preparing a report on State Control; for libraries there will be the effort to retain readers in a land of increasing employment and reduced leisure; and for the students, as we have remarked in earlier issues, preparations for the new syllabus of examinations which becomes operative in 1938. It is a good month, too, to consider some phases of library work with children, “which,” to quote the L.A. Resolutions of 1917, “ought to be the basis of all other library work.”

At a recent inquest upon the body of a woman who was alleged to have died as the result of taking certain drugs for an improper purpose, one of the witnesses described himself as “an analyst and manufacturing chemist,” but when asked by the coroner what qualifications he had, he replied : “I have no qualifications whatever. What I know I learned from my father, who was a well‐known ‘F.C.S.’” Comment on the “F.C.S.” is needless.

Through a critical review of the impact of luxury international business, this study aims to contribute to an understanding of business activities that depend on an unequal distribution of income and wealth.

Drawing on a wide range of academic and practitioner literature, this study adopts a critical luxury studies approach to provide an assessment of the economic and social impact of luxury international business.

Luxury is an increasingly important sector of the economy, which contributes to the welfare of increasing numbers of people across the world. Alongside its dependence on an unequal distribution of income and wealth and the negative aspects to which this gives rise, luxury business generates significant benefits to the economy and society through promoting economic growth, innovation, cultural enrichment, improved quality of the built environment and environmentally sustainable business practices. Nevertheless, an appropriate level of regulation and taxation on the excesses of contemporary luxury consumption could improve the welfare of all. Hence, luxury international business warrants investigation by critical scholars who recognize the complexity of the benefits and dark sides arising from luxury.

This study draws on an extensive review of academic and practitioner literature. However, primary research is required to investigate further the key issues identified.

Through an exploration of the impact of the production and consumption of luxury, this study reveals how luxury businesses serving the super-rich can contribute to the welfare of society whilst also giving rise to negative outcomes.

By adopting a critical luxury studies approach, this study offers an original contribution to the field of international business and introduces avenues for future critical international business research.

Rulemaking (the process agencies use to make new health, safety, social and economic regulations) is one of the US Government's most important policymaking methods and has long been a target for e-government efforts. Although broad transparency and participation rights are part of its legal structure, significant barriers prevent effective engagement by many citizens. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

RegulationRoom.org is an online experimental e-participation platform, designed and operated by Cornell e-rulemaking Initiative (CeRI), the cross-disciplinary CeRI. Using the Regulation Room as a case study, this paper addresses what capacities are required for effective civic engagement and how they can be nurtured and supported by an online participation system.

The research suggests that effectively designing and deploying technology, although essential, is only one dimension of realizing broader, better online civic engagement. Effective e-participation systems must be prepared to address procedural, social, and psychological barriers that impede citizens' meaningful participation in complex policymaking processes. The research also suggests the need for re-conceptualizing the value of broad civic participation to the policymaking processes and for recognizing that novice commenters engage with policy issues differently than experienced insiders.

The paper includes a series of strategic recommendations for policymaking seeking public input. While it indicates that a broader range of citizens can indeed be meaningfully engaged, it also cautions that getting better participation from more people requires the investment of resources. More fundamental, both government decision makers and participation designers must be open to recognizing non-traditional forms of knowledge and styles of communication – and willing to devise participation mechanisms and protocols accordingly.

This paper describes lessons from a unique design-based research project with both practical and conceptual implications for more, better civic participation in complex government policymaking.

The purpose of the paper is to shed light on the particular organizing design practices behind making items exchangeable into commodities. It is a constructive contribution to establish more critical studies of merchandizing.

The study included several longitudinal projects in retail chains in Scandinavia. The research was based on anthropological and participatory research methods. We introduce the term “waremaking” as a term for the work to make items exchangeable and expand on a distinction between silent and seen design (Gorb and Dumas, 1987).

Waremaking is business, but includes giving form to relations between business and society to make exchanges at all possible. We found considerable silent design work that is not commonly acknowledged in economic and social theory.

There is a need for comparative and aggregate studies. We deconstruct the conventional categories “commodities” and “merchandizing” and a study of the contingent effects on the meaning of other constructs is needed.

Introducing the notion of waremaking yields important insights for organizations and managers. We offer a new framework of waremaking that crosses existing boundaries and helps construct new interfaces between designers, traders and consumers in society.

The papers reveal merchandizing as a culturally complex and nuanced form of work and a crucial field of practice.

Scholars have denoted little attention to the cultural work of merchandizing. By delineating a new practice-based framework encompassing both ordinary and extraordinary work, we can address the cultural production of commodities.