Child labour and supply chain : profitability or (mis)management

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a realistic assessment, with an historical perspective, of the current practises and progress made by organisations towards elimination of child labour in global supply chains.

Design/methodology/approach – Literature review in the area of use of child labour within the global supply chain was combined with additional information obtained from the company searches of the GRI database, company ranking tables, and other sources.

Findings – Child labour is one of a number of areas of concern in global supply chains. Continued exploitation of child labour indicates an imbalanced state and consequently forces can be unleashed through standardization, collaboration and communication amongst all stakeholders to ensure protection of the vulnerable. This paper is part of the broader analysis informing incremental changes to supply chain management to preserve the rights and welfare of children in the present and future generations. Research/limitations/implications – The analysis is based on secondary data sources and further research is thus needed to verify the individual weightings of the criteria used in the primary ranking of the companies.

Practical implications – The findings provide encouragement for policy and decision makers to implement incremental changes to global supply chains in order to protect the rights and welfare of children, according to the standards of Social Accountability (SA) 8000, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and other world trade stakeholders.

Originality/value – This paper questions the view that child labour incidences have diminished proportional to economic development. A swinging fulcrum with hidden traps for developed and developing nations in light of cross border transactions through supply chains has been proposed.

Cost-efficacy of surgically induced weight loss for the management of type 2 diabetes : a randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVE -- To determine the within-trial cost-efficacy of surgical therapy relative to conventional therapy for achieving remission of recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes in class I and II obese patients.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS -- Efficacy results were derived from a 2-year randomized controlled trial. A health sector perspective was adopted, and within-trial intervention costs included gastric banding surgery, mitigation of complications, outpatient medical consultations, medical investigations, pathology, weight loss therapies, and medication. Resource use was measured based on data drawn from a trial database and patient medical records and valued based on private hospital costs and government schedules in 2006 Australian dollars (AUD). An incremental cost-effectiveness analysis was undertaken.

RESULTS -- Mean 2-year intervention costs per patient were 13,400 AUD for surgical therapy and 3,400 AUD for conventional therapy, with laparoscopic adjustable gastric band (LAGB) surgery accounting for 85% of the difference. Outpatient medical consultation costs were three times higher for surgical patients, whereas medication costs were 1.5 times higher for conventional patients. The cost differences were primarily in the first 6 months of the trial. Relative to conventional therapy, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for surgical therapy was 16,600 AUD per case of diabetes remitted (currency exchange: 1 AUD = 0.74 USD).

CONCLUSIONS -- Surgical therapy appears to be a cost-effective option for managing type 2 diabetes in class I and II obese patients.

Risk management or goods promotion : the relationship between approach and avoidance goals in treatment for sex offenders

In this paper, we propose that there is a direct relationship between risk management and goods (or goal) promotion in the treatment of sexual offenders. We argue that the causal conditions required to promote specific goods are likely, in turn, to eliminate or modify dynamic risk factors (i.e., criminogenic needs). First, the concepts of risk and goals are briefly discussed and their important dimensions clarified. Second, the relationship between criminogenic needs and goals are analyzed in depth. Third, we further clarify our arguments by focusing on four classes of criminogenic needs recently identified in the sexual offending literature: sexual self-regulation, offense supportive cognitions, level of interpersonal functioning, and general self-management problems. Finally, we conclude the paper with some suggestions for future research and treatment.

Diabetes MILES - Australia (Management and Impact for Long-Term Empowerment and Success) : methods and sample characteristics of a national survey of the psychological aspects of living with type 1 or type 2 diabetes in Australian adults

Background Successful management of diabetes requires attention to the behavioural, psychological and social aspects of this progressive condition. The Diabetes MILES (Management and Impact for Long-term Empowerment and Success) Study is an international collaborative. Diabetes MILES-Australia, the first Diabetes MILES initiative to be undertaken, was a national survey of adults living with type 1 or type 2 diabetes in Australia. The aim of this study was to gather data that will provide insights into how Australians manage their diabetes, the support they receive and the impact of diabetes on their lives, as well as to use the data to validate new diabetes outcome measures.

Methods The survey was designed to include a core set of self-report measures, as well as modules specific to diabetes type or management regimens. Other measures or items were included in only half of the surveys. Cognitive debriefing interviews with 20 participants ensured the survey content was relevant and easily understood. In July 2011, the survey was posted to 15,000 adults (aged 18-70 years) with type 1 or type 2 diabetes selected randomly from the National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS) database. An online version of the survey was advertised nationally. A total of 3,338 eligible Australians took part; most (70.4%) completed the postal survey. Respondents of both diabetes types and genders, and of all ages, were adequately represented in both the postal and online survey sub-samples. More people with type 2 diabetes than type 1 diabetes took part in Diabetes MILES-Australia (58.8% versus 41.2%). Most respondents spoke English as their main language, were married/in a de facto relationship, had at least a high school education, were occupied in paid work, had an annual household income > $AUS40,000, and lived in metropolitan areas.

Discussion A potential limitation of the study is the under-representation of respondents from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin). Diabetes MILES-Australia represents a major achievement in the study of diabetes in Australia, where for the first time, the focus is on psychosocial and behavioural aspects of this condition at a national level.

Balanced efficacy, safety, and tolerability recommendations for the clinical management of bipolar disorder

Objective:  To provide practical and clinically meaningful treatment recommendations that amalgamate clinical experience and research findings for each phase of bipolar disorder.

Methods:  A comprehensive search of the literature was undertaken using electronic database search engines (Medline, PubMed, Cochrane reviews) using key words (e.g., bipolar depression, mania, treatment). All relevant randomised controlled trials were examined, along with review papers, meta-analyses, and book chapters known to the authors. In addition, the recommendations from accompanying papers in this supplement have been distilled and captured in the form of summary boxes. The findings, in conjunction with the clinical experience of international researchers and clinicians who are practiced in treating mood disorders, formed the basis of the treatment recommendations within this paper.

Results:  Balancing clinical experience with evidence informed and lead to the development of practical clinical recommendations that emphasise the importance of safety and tolerability alongside efficacy in the clinical management of bipolar disorder.

Conclusions:  The current paper summarises the treatment recommendations relating to each phase of bipolar disorder while providing additional, evidence-based, practical insights. Medication-related side effects and monitoring strategies highlight the importance of safety and tolerability considerations, which, along with efficacy information, should be given equal merit.

Supporting personalised content management in smart health information portals

Information portals are seen as an appropriate platform for personalised healthcare and wellbeing information provision. Efficient content management is a core capability of a successful smart health information portal (SHIP) and domain expertise is a vital input to content management when it comes to matching user profiles with the appropriate resources. The rate of generation of new health-related content far exceeds the numbers that can be manually examined by domain experts for relevance to a specific topic and audience. In this paper we investigate automated content discovery as a plausible solution to this shortcoming that capitalises on the existing database of expert-endorsed content as an implicit store of knowledge to guide such a solution. We propose a novel content discovery technique based on a text analytics approach that utilises an existing content repository to acquire new and relevant content. We also highlight the contribution of this technique towards realisation of smart content management for SHIPs.

Pharmacological management of unipolar depression

Objective : To be used in conjunction with ‘Psychological management of unipolar depression’ [Lampe et al. Acta Psychiatr Scand 2013;127(Suppl. 443):24–37] and ‘Lifestyle management of unipolar depression’ [Berk et al. Acta Psychiatr Scand 2013;127(Suppl. 443):38–54]. To provide clinically relevant recommendations for the use of pharmacological treatments in depression derived from a literature review.

Method : Using our previous Clinical Practice Guidelines [Malhi et al. Clinical practice recommendations for bipolar disorder. Acta Psychiatr Scand 2009;119(Suppl. 439):27–46] as a foundation, these clinician guidelines target key practical considerations when prescribing pharmacotherapy. A comprehensive review of the literature was conducted using electronic database searches (PubMed, MEDLINE), and the findings have been synthesized and integrated alongside clinical experience.

Results : The pharmacotherapy of depression is an iterative process that often results in partial and non-response. Beyond the initiation of antidepressants, the options within widely used strategies, such as combining agents and switching between agents, are difficult to proscribe because of the paucity of pertinent research. However, there is some evidence for second-line strategies, and a non-prescriptive algorithm can be derived that is based broadly on principles rather than specific steps.

Conclusion : Depression is by its very nature a heterogeneous illness that is consequently difficult to treat. Invariably, situation-specific factors often play a significant role and must be considered, especially in the case of partial and non-response. Consulting with colleagues and trialling alternate treatment paradigms are essential strategies in the management of depression.

An ontology-based learning resources management framework for exploratory e-learning

This paper presents an ontology-based conceptual framework for effectively managing exploratory e-learning resources. The proposed framework has five significant novel features including authentication of retrieved resources, automatic ontology-based query refinement, reuse-oriented management of retrieved resources, adaptive retrieval of learning resources based on the style and preference of individual learners, and synthesisation of retrieval and management activities for creating reusable learning repositories. The applicability of the framework is demonstrated using a sample fragment of an ontology developed in the database domain.

Self-management programmes in stages 1–4 chronic kidney disease: a literature review

Background
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a complex health problem, which requires individuals to invest considerable time and energy in managing their health and adhering to multifaceted treatment regimens.

Objectives
To review studies delivering self-management interventions to people with CKD (Stages 1–4) and assess whether these interventions improve patient outcomes.

Design
Systematic review.

Methods
Nine electronic databases (MedLine, CINAHL, EMBASE, ProQuest Health & Medical Complete, ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health, The Cochrane Library, The Joanna Briggs Institute EBP Database, Web of Science and PsycINFO) were searched using relevant terms for papers published between January 2003 and February 2013.

Results
The search strategy identified 2,051 papers, of which 34 were retrieved in full with only 5 studies involving 274 patients meeting the inclusion criteria. Three studies were randomised controlled trials, a variety of methods were used to measure outcomes, and four studies included a nurse on the self-management intervention team. There was little consistency in the delivery, intensity, duration and format of the self-management programmes. There is some evidence that knowledge- and health-related quality of life improved. Generally, small effects were observed for levels of adherence and progression of CKD according to physiologic measures.

Conclusion
The effectiveness of self-management programmes in CKD (Stages 1–4) cannot be conclusively ascertained, and further research is required. It is desirable that individuals with CKD are supported to effectively self-manage day-to-day aspects of their health.

Development Of Climate Change Information Database And Its Use In Civic Consciousness Enlightenment

GCM outputs such as CMIP3 are available via network access to PCMDI web site. Meteorological researchers are familiar with the usage of the GCM data, but the most of researchers other than meteorology such as agriculture, civil engineering, etc., and general people are not familiar with the GCM. There are some difficulties to use GCM; 1) to download the enormous quantity of data, 2) to understand the GCM methodology, parameters and grids. In order to provide a quick access way to GCM, Climate Change Information Database has been developed. The purpose of the database is to bridge the users and meteorological specialists and to facilitate the understanding the climate changes. The resolution of the data is unified, and climate change amount or factors for each meteorological element are provided from the database. All data in the database are interpolated on the same 80km mesh. Available data are the present-future projections of 27 GCMs, 16 meteorological elements (precipitation, temperature, etc.), 3 emission scenarios (A1B, A2, B1). We showed the summary of this database to residents in Toyama prefecture and measured the effect of showing and grasped the image for the climate change by using the Internet questionary survey. The persons who feel a climate change at the present tend to feel the additional changes in the future. It is important to show the monitoring results of climate change for a citizen and promote the understanding for the climate change that had already occurred. It has been shown that general images for the climate change promote to understand the need of the mitigation, and that it is important to explain about the climate change that might occur in the future even if it did not occur at the present in order to have people recognize widely the need of the adaptation.

Volunteered Geographic Information For Water Management: A Prototype Architecture

Driven by Web 2.0 technology and the almost ubiquitous presence of mobile devices, Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) is knowing an unprecedented growth. These notable technological advancements have opened fruitful perspectives also in the field of water management and protection, raising the demand for a reconsideration of policies which also takes into account the emerging trend of VGI. This research investigates the opportunity of leveraging such technology to involve citizens equipped with common mobile devices (e.g. tablets and smartphones) in a campaign of report of water-related phenomena. The work is carried out in collaboration with ADBPO - Autorità di bacino del fiume Po (Po river basin Authority), i.e. the entity responsible for the environmental planning and protection of the basin of river Po. This is the longest Italian river, spreading over eight among the twenty Italian Regions and characterized by complex environmental issues. To enrich ADBPO official database with user-generated contents, a FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) architecture was designed which allows not only user field-data collection, but also data Web publication through standard protocols. Open Data Kit suite allows users to collect georeferenced multimedia information using mobile devices equipped with location sensors (e.g. the GPS). Users can report a number of environmental emergencies, problems or simple points of interest related to the Po river basin, taking pictures of them and providing other contextual information. Field-registered data is sent to a server and stored into a PostgreSQL database with PostGIS spatial extension. GeoServer provides then data dissemination on the Web, while specific OpenLayers-based viewers were built to optimize data access on both desktop computers and mobile devices. Besides proving the suitability of FOSS in the frame of VGI, the system represents a successful prototype for the exploitation of user local, real-time information aimed at managing and protecting water resources.

Green Supply Chain Management: uma análise da produção científica recente (2001-2012)

The goal of this study was to analyze international scientific production in the area of constant-production green supply chain management from 2001 to 2012 using the Business Source Complete database (EBSCO Host). The database was checked for cooperation between authors and institutions, author entrants, production and continuity categories, regularity of publication and distribution of publications over time. Ninety articles were included in the sample, and the results showed a reduction in the number of publishing authors, concentrated in one-timers category with 68.90%. The highest yield for a single author was 10 articles, and the most prolific periodical was the Journal of Cleaner Production, with 12 articles published on the subject. Clark University (USA) stood out in terms of output, with 12 affiliated authors. It was concluded that the subject had experienced a significant rise in published literature over that time period.

Genetic diversity strategy for the management and use of rubber genetic resources: more than 1,000 wild and cultivated accessions in a 100-genotype core collection

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Green supply chain management em uma indústria de bens do consumo do Vale do Paraíba - SP

The Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) is gaining prominence in the academy and business, as an approach that aims to promote economic and environmental gains. The GSCM is operated through the Environmental Management System Tools and treated as an Environmental Management System (EMS), involving Reverse Logistics, Green Purchasing, Green Sourcing, Green Design, Green Packaging, Green Operation, Green Manufacturing, Green Innovation and Customer Awareness. The objective of this study is to map the GSCM tools and identify their practice in a consumer goods industry in the Vale do Paraiba. The approach and data collection were made in the company's database chosen as the object of study, as well as through on site visits and interviews. The results showed that the tools Green Operation, Green Manufacturing, Green Innovation and Green Sourcing are applied in the company and just Costumer Awareness tool showed no practice at all. To other tools was identified ideology or interest of the company in applying them