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The scale of the damage due to chemical accidents in Korea is significant, and appropriate preparation and response are required. Currently, Korean enterprises are managed on the basis of the presence of certain substances. However, chemicals other than these also cause chemical accidents. It is necessary to develop a relative ranking risk index that can be calculated through use of the chemical enterprise information on chemical enterprises that is available. The Korean chemical accident risk index (KCARI), which consists of the flammability, reactivity, explosiveness, corrosiveness, toxicity, and inventory sub-indices, was developed and verified by determining the for difference in KCARI was performed by accident, and accident severity category, calculating the correlation between the KCARI values, the factors, and some sub-indices, determining how an increase in the KCARI would impact how the incident rate changed as KCARI increased and how well the KCARI can predict the chemical accident risk of chemical handling enterprises, and confirming the consistency of the proposed index and the current system. These results indicated that the frequency and severity of chemical accidents, and the presence of accidental substances, showed significant differences in the KCARI values. However, there were limitations in the ability of the fitted model to precisely predict the accident. Thus, this model can be used as a tool for the early screening and management of enterprises with a high risk of chemical accident.

Using network meta-analysis, we evaluated the adverse effects of the seven most common treatment methods, i.e., bridging external fixation, non-bridging external fixation, K-wire fixation, plaster fixation, dorsal plating, volar plating, and dorsal and volar plating, by their associated risk of developing complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) in distal radius fracture (DRF) patients. Following an exhaustive search of scientific literature databases for high quality studies, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) related to our study topic were screened and selected based on stringent predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data extracted from the selected studies were used for statistical analyses using Stata 12.0 software. A total of 17 RCTs, including 1658 DRF patients, were enrolled in this network meta-analysis. Among the 1658 DRF patients, 452 received bridging external fixation, 525 received non-bridging external fixation, 154 received K-wire fixation, 84 received plaster fixation, 132 received dorsal plating, 123 received volar plating, and 188 received dorsal and volar plating. When compared to bridging external fixation patients, there was no marked difference in the CRPS risk in DRF patients receiving different treatments (all > 0.05). However, the surface under the cumulative ranking curves (SUCRA) for plaster fixation (77.0%) and non-bridging external fixation (71.3%) were significantly higher compared with the other five methods. Our findings suggest that compared with bridging external fixation, K-wire fixation, dorsal plating, volar plating, dorsal and volar plating, plaster fixation and non-bridging external fixation might be the better treatment methods to reduce the risk of CRPS in DRF patients.

The media commonly gauges a firm’s performance by comparing its performance to others within the same industry. We provide evidence that investors and analysts positively value improvements to the firm’s relative performance ranking (RPR) within its industry. Consistently, RPR is positively associated with the firm’s earnings persistence, which suggests that RPR provides information about the firm’s ability to capture profits within the industry. We also find that managers use non-GAAP exclusions from earnings to improve the appearance of the firm’s RPR and that not all the information found in the firm’s performance ranking is priced by investors at the time of the earnings announcement. This evidence suggests that investors and analysts use the entire distribution of earnings to evaluate a firm’s performance, allowing us to identify an alternative benchmark not previously explored.

The implementation of margin trading and securities lending mechanism offers us a unique circumstance to analyze the impact of short selling regulations in China. We define the addition events as the stocks are included to the designated securities list and therefore can be sold short. By focusing on the 30 trading days around the addition events, the results document statistically significant post-event increase in volatility relative to the overall market and absolute value of trading volume. Specifically, small-cap stocks experience the sharpest increase. The robustness is also performed to validate the results.

Assessing the health and environmental risks of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) continues to be a challenging endeavor. Due to extensive challenges related to applying traditional risk assessment frameworks to ENMs, decision making regarding the use of ENMs in products and applications may need to rely on structured decision support tools such as risk ranking approaches. This study examines the use of one risk ranking tool that incorporates both quantitative and qualitative information regarding the potential human health risks of ENMs, focused primarily on worker and soldier health. Using a case study involving Army materiel (i.e., equipment), a relative risk ranking algorithm is proposed that accounts for not only the physicochemical characteristics of the ENMs, but also the characteristics of the Army materiel. In this way, the resulting risk potential for soldiers and workers is not solely based on the inherent characteristics of the ENMs but is also influenced within the context of the technology being developed. Among other important findings, the results from applying this risk ranking algorithm in this case study suggest that inhalation from accidental exposures to carbon nanotubes and copper flakes incorporated into energy and obscurant materiel by Army workers rank highest relative to the other items evaluated in this baseline assessment. As the presence of data gaps was one of the greatest challenges to applying this risk ranking algorithm, future applications may benefit from reliance on a continually revised database that may be updated in real time and possibly synced with publically available databases in order to use the most current and comprehensive set(s) of data available.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach of quantitative assessment of academic value and demand of journals for a discipline. Design/methodology/approach This study defines relative citation rate (RCR) and utilization rate (UR) of journals cited by a discipline with a case of inorganic chemistry discipline in Jilin University, ranks the journals in decreasing order of RCR and UR, and analyzes the RCR and UR curves with mathematical statistics and physics. Findings The RCR and UR curves can be expressed as: RCR(n)=N1exp(−n/t(N1))+N2exp(−n/t(N2))=64.54exp(−n/1.98)+31.14exp(−n/23.11) and UR(n)=Y1exp(−n/t(Y1))+Y2exp(−n/t(Y2))=85.06exp(−n/108.6)+12.94exp(−n/705.8). The parameters t(N1), t(N2), t(Y1) and t(Y2) can be used to assess quantitatively academica value and demand of journal for a discipline and to determine core journals of the discipline. Research limitations/implications This approach is used to quantitatively assess academic value and demand of journals for a discipline. Practical implications This approach may provide useful information for journal management of library. Originality/value The present work is original.

While most studies of the decision to immigrate focus on absolute income differences between countries, we argue that relative change in purchasing power or status, as captured by an individual's ranking in the wage distribution, may also be another important determinant of the migration decision. Using data on Indian immigrants in the US and the UK matched to comparable data on individuals who remained in India, we show that the average Indian immigrant will experience a fall in their relative ranking in the wage distribution compared to the position similar individuals achieve by remaining in the origin country. The fall in relative rankings is larger for immigrants to the UK than to the US, and largest of all for those with intermediate skills.

The genetics of human phenotype variation and especially, the genetic basis of human complex diseases could be understood by knowing the functions of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs). The main goal of this work is to predict the deleterious non-synonymous SNPs (nsSNPs), so that the number of SNPs screened for association with disease can be reduced to that most likely alters gene function. In this work by using computational tools, we have analyzed the SNPs that can alter the expression and function of cancerous genes involved in colon cancer. To explore possible relationships between genetic mutation and phenotypic variation, different computational algorithm tools like Sorting Intolerant from Tolerant (evolutionary-based approach), Polymorphism Phenotyping (structure-based approach), PupaSuite, UTRScan and FASTSNP were used for prioritization of high-risk SNPs in coding region (exonic nonsynonymous SNPs) and non-coding regions (intronic and exonic 5′ and 3′-untranslated region (UTR) SNPs). We developed semi-quantitative relative ranking strategy (non availability of 3D structure) that can be adapted to a priori SNP selection or post hoc evaluation of variants identified in whole genome scans or within haplotype blocks associated with disease. Lastly, we analyzed haplotype tagging SNPs (htSNPs) in the coding and untranslated regions of all the genes by selecting the force tag SNPs selection using iHAP analysis. The computational architecture proposed in this review is based on integrating relevant biomedical information sources to provide a systematic analysis of complex diseases. We have shown a “real world” application of interesting existing bioinformatics tools for SNP analysis in colon cancer.

In New Zealand and elsewhere no system has existed for objectively ranking the relative importance of different use (e.g., irrigation and hydro electric power) and non-use (e.g., whitewater kayaking, recreational angling, native birdlife) river values. Development of such a system would provide an opportunity for improved policies and rules around water and river use, development and conservation opportunities, and for understanding tradeoffs when competing and overlapping demands are placed on the same resource. In this paper the River Values Assessment System (RiVAS), a Multi Criteria Analysis based approach, is described and demonstrated by application to the salmonid angling value (and in a more limited way to swimming) in Tasman District rivers of the South Island, New Zealand. The system has 10 steps, and a decision support system which finally helps decide the national, regional or local (or high, medium or low) importance or significance of rivers for particular values. As with any MCA approach there is a wide range of limitations all of which are addressed, and none of which are ultimately fatally detrimental to the system.

A new method for identification of weights of environmental issues is suggested using the societal approach in the context of a weighting step in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The weights assigned by different economic groups to eleven environmental issues is obtained through analysis of linguistically stated relative rankings using a fuzzy partial ordering method. The system identification technique based on neural networks is used to identify logical connective in the stated relative rankings and this obviated the inconsistency problem normally encountered in the analysis of relative preference statements. The transitive property of a matrix of relative weights is used to minimise the number of responses to be elicited from a respondent.