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Following a review of the methods used in the electronics industry to study the corrosivity of fluxes for soft soldering, two procedures have been developed based on a proposal published by W. Rubin and B.M. Allen. In the first test, the loss in strength of anodically polarised copper wires coated with soldering flux residues is measured after exposure to humid conditions for 24 hours. The second test uses a printed circuit board carrying a copper track test pattern which is coated with soldering flux residues and held in a humid environment. Tracks on the test circuit are polarised anodically at 250 V and changes in their electrical conductivity are monitored. These give an indication of the progress of corrosion through a ‘corrosion factor’, Fc(t), derived from:

Friendships, an important form of people’s everyday relationships with others, have been studied by many scholars from different disciplines. However, there is limited research on friendship in the context of childhood, particularly that of Chinese rural children. This chapter presents findings from an in-depth study on Chinese children’s understandings and experiences of friendships with peers in the context of a rural primary boarding school. Data for this research were collected through an intensive five-month study, using an ethnographic approach, in a rural primary boarding school (given the pseudonym ‘Central Primary School’) in the western area of China in 2016. This chapter discusses parents’ influences on children’s selection of friends, particularly their ‘good’ friends, and their understandings of the functions of making friends in the context of rural China. It unpacks parents’ interventions on children’s friendships by discussing the moralised hierarchical relationship between children and their parents – children are expected to show obedience to parents. Then, it argues that the Confucian-collectivist values construct a relationship between a child’s individual achievement and their family’s collective good, which makes friendship not only an individual issue but also a collective one too.

Recent developments in synthetic resin based non‐corrosive fluxes for soft soldering have coincided with completion of the work of the international flux standard committee. With the increasing usage of surface mounted components these special synthetic resin‐based, zero‐halide, low solids fluxes can be used to leave minimal residues after soldering, which without removal do not affect long‐term reliability of soldered assemblies. Similar chemistry has been applied to devise flux cored solders and solder pastes which also leave minimal, safe residues, thereby avoiding cleaning processes.

Insoluble residues may be formed for a number of reasons as a result of flux‐solder‐conductor reactions occurring during the crucial operation of soldering, in which both metals and fluxes are molten and at elevated temperatures. The consequences can be serious, since corrosion of joints may be aggravated, coatings may not adhere or bridging between conductors may occur. One such residue, which was formed during defluxing of printed circuits with a commercial methanol‐fluorocarbon solvent, has been characterised in some detail. It appears to be a tin abiate complex which remains insoluble in most solvents except organic amides.

We discuss the two most popular frameworks for identification, estimation and inference in regression discontinuity (RD) designs: the continuity-based framework, where the conditional expectations of the potential outcomes are assumed to be continuous functions of the score at the cutoff, and the local randomization framework, where the treatment assignment is assumed to be as good as randomized in a neighborhood around the cutoff. Using various examples, we show that (i) assuming random assignment of the RD running variable in a neighborhood of the cutoff implies neither that the potential outcomes and the treatment are statistically independent, nor that the potential outcomes are unrelated to the running variable in this neighborhood; and (ii) assuming local independence between the potential outcomes and the treatment does not imply the exclusion restriction that the score affects the outcomes only through the treatment indicator. Our discussion highlights key distinctions between “locally randomized” RD designs and real experiments, including that statistical independence and random assignment are conceptually different in RD contexts, and that the RD treatment assignment rule places no restrictions on how the score and potential outcomes are related. Our findings imply that the methods for RD estimation, inference, and falsification used in practice will necessarily be different (both in formal properties and in interpretation) according to which of the two frameworks is invoked.

Investigates urban bias in state policy making in Mexico. Refers to literature claiming that rural poverty in developing nations is a major problem because capitalism reflects an urban bias. Examines social security coverage for the rural poor in Mexico and notes that there are great variations depending on area, suggesting that social security coverage is politically negotiable. Outlines briefly the historical development of Mexico’s welfare state and uses a power resource model to demonstrate how groups with competing interests go about securing benefits from the state. Cites literature on dependency theory, indicating that rural groups have failed to mobilize politically and have therefore not secured the same state resources (such as social security benefits and housing) as urban groups, yet argues that this does not always apply in Mexico, partially due to party politics and bureaucratic paternalism. Explains how data was collected to examine regional variations in social security coverage among the rural poor and how the data was analysed. Reveal that workers in important international export markets (such as cotton and sugar) have greater political leverage in obtaining better social security benefits. Notes also that areas supporting the political party in power obtain better benefits. Concludes, therefore, that rural workers are not powerless in the face of urban capitalism and that urban bias and dependency theories do not reflect the situation in Mexico – rather social security benefits are politically negotiable.

Based on a qualitative study of civic discourse in four distinct school settings, this article describes how students’ civic identities—the sense of who one is as an American citizen—are rooted in their experiences in particular schools and communities. Students’ developing civic identities vary from aware and empowered to complacent and discouraged, depending on their experiences both in and out of school. A civic education that taps into these experiences may be successful at creating a more active, engaged citizenry. This article describes a new understanding of youth civic identity and a problem-posing approach to civic education.

Managerial interpersonal skills (MIPS) are widely considered important for management development, yet the nature of MIPS has eluded researchers. The purpose of this paper is to propose five MIPS core skills, giving attention to the role of context, the relationship of MIPS to traits, and implications for training design, assessment and evaluation.

The authors interweave a discussion forum of domain experts (Hillary Anger-Elfenbein, Timothy Baldwin, Paulo Lopes, Bronston T. Mayes, Ronald Riggio, Robert Rubin and David Whetten) with research commentary and implications for management development. The discussion focussed on: first, how do we define MIPS? Second, how important is context for defining, assessing or developing MIPS? Third, are MIPS traits, or skills that can be developed?

The authors propose MIPS include five core skills that sequentially build upon one another: managing-self, communicating, supporting, motivating and managing conflict. Although context may impact the importance of each skill across cultures, situations and jobs, the authors offer these skills as a useful starting point for MIPS assessment, training design and evaluation.

The proposed five core skill model for MIPS needs further research and psychometric validation.

By proposing MIPS include five specific trainable skills that are relevant across contexts, this paper advances MIPS research, assessment and development.

This study investigated the effects of arbitration condition and risk‐taking propensity upon bargaining behavior. Negotiators anticipating final‐offer arbitration settled more contracts, resolved more contract issues, and conceded more than did negotiators anticipating conventional arbitration. Contrary to our hypothesis, low risk‐taking propensity dyads did not settle significantly more contract issues under final‐offer arbitration than they did under conventional arbitration. Union negotiators made significantly greater concessions during the 30 minute pre‐arbitration bargaining period and conceded a greater total amount than did management negotiators. Possible explanations for these findings are presented.