Health Status and Risk Behaviors of Sexual Minorities Among Chinese Adolescents: A School-Based Survey

This study aimed to examine the association between sexual orientation and health disparities among a stratified random sample of 3776 secondary students in Hong Kong. The prevalence of homosexuality and bisexuality were 1.5% and 2.6% in boys and 1.8% and 3.7% in girls, respectively. A total of 10.7% of boys and 8.8% of girls were unsure of their sexual orientation. Homosexual and bisexual boys reported poorer physical and mental health than their heterosexual peers. Homosexual and bisexual boys were more likely to engage in smoking, frequent drinking, and vaginal sex and be subjected to sexually transmitted disease and sexual victimization. However, lesbian and bisexual girls were less likely to engage in risky health behaviors except for smoking and being subjected to sexual victimization. There is a gender-specific problem that may warrant prevention and intervention programs to address the unique health issues facing homosexual and bisexual adolescents in Hong Kong.     

Beyond the Balm of Communicative Planning: Can Actor -Network Theory Insights and a More Agonistic Practice Help Unlock Creative ‘Post-Conflict’ Potential?: Towards a Renewed Research Horizon in Northern Ireland

In a situation, where tribal tram lines seem stuck in place this commentary suggests that an imaginative jolt taking into account recent thinking in planning theory may be warranted and go some small way to subvert the current state of stasis on the still contested terrain of Northern Ireland/North of Ireland. The alliance of procedural agonism and analytical actor network theory (ANT) offers, it is suggested, the augmented potential of a more conceptually diverse approach to planning in terms of conjuring with spatial imaginaries and airing latent outcomes, where communicative planning on its own has exhibited imaginative limitations.     

DFID governance programming in Nigeria: What difference has thinking and working politically made in practice?

The UK Department for International Development's country office in Nigeria (DFID Nigeria) has gradually adopted a thinking and working politically (TWP) approach in its governance programming. The initial focus on strengthening analysis has progressively been linked to discussion about the country and programme strategy, as well as programme‐management practices. Important lessons can be learned from this experience on how the TWP approach can be applied in practice. The article addresses three research questions: (1) To what extent have DFID Nigeria and its governance programmes adopted a TWP approach? (2) How has the TWP approach influenced the design and delivery of programming? (3) Has the application of the TWP approach enhanced the results of the DFID governance programming? Using project documentation and wider theoretical literature, but mainly relying on extensive participant observation within DFID Nigeria programmes, the article uses a historical perspective to outline how the TWP approach has been applied in Nigeria over 15 years of programme design, delivery, lesson‐learning and refinement . Published evaluation reports are used to provide evidence of programme results. DFID Nigeria and its programmes have progressively adopted TWP principles. This has led to clear changes in country strategy and programme design, as well as programme‐management practices. There is some evidence that the adoption of these principles has enhanced the results of DFID Nigeria programmes. By focusing on experimentation and “small bets,” TWP has proven relatively successful in generating and supporting ‘islands of effectiveness,’ but has had more limited impact in terms of generating more systemic, transformational change. The results obtained in Nigeria using the TWP approach have depended not only on Nigeria's political economy but also on the political economy of the development agency and donor country. DFID Nigeria's ability to engage in critical self‐reflection and to create an authorizing environment for risk‐taking have been vital to create enabling conditions for the TWP approach. However, other aspects of DFID and the UK's political economy are creating constraints that limit the prospects to go further and to go deeper in adopting the principles of TWP.     

Global Measures of Information Service Quality: A Cross-National Study*

Maintaining consistently high quality information services (IS) is a powerful means of increasing the overall efficiency and effectiveness of a global enterprise. This study introduces a global Information Services Function (ISF) Quality Framework that outlines the importance of both behavioral and procedural dimensions in planning, implementing and evaluating global IS quality. Based on this framework, the study investigates the cross-national psychometric properties of a behavioral measure of service quality in the IS context. Using a cross-national survey of IS customers from Korea, Hong Kong, the United States and the Netherlands, perceived ISF service quality was measured using a service quality measure (SERVQUAL) to determine cultural affects. Based on confirmatory factor analysis, support was found for four of the original five SERVQUAL quality dimensions in the U.S.A. and the Netherlands. However, the same four-dimensional measurement model did not fit the Hong Kong and Korean samples. Further factor analysis showed that the Hong Kong and Korean samples shared a somewhat similar factor structure that differs from the shared U.S.A. and Netherlands structure. These findings support previous research that has found an “Asian factor'’with differing definitions of IS Service quality. These findings suggest that the feasibility of standardized global ISF measurement depends heavily on the relative magnitude of cultural effects. Rather than merely applying the U.S.A. ISF/SERVQUAL measure, a localized version of the instrument may need to be developed that captures the unique nature of ISF service perceptions in internationally based subsidiaries or companies.     

Incorporating Price and Replacement Purchases in New Product Diffusion Models for Consumer Durables*

The article presents theoretical and empirical research findings which incorporate price and replacement purchases in new product diffusion models. On the theoretical side, this paper characterizes, qualitatively, optimum pricing policies for new products. Possible entry of rivals is not considered, but repeat sales, cost learning dynamics and discounting of future profit streams are allowed. Theoretical research findings suggest that the inclusion of repeat purchases in the diffusion model significantly changes the derived optimal pricing policy even if replacements were not price dependent. On the empirical side, alternative first purchase and repeat purchase models have been estimated and compared using nonlinear procedures. The diffusion data analyzed is related to nine consumer durables. Empirical research findings suggest that, for the considered product categories, diffusion is basically an imitative process, price can affect first and replacement purchases, and unit production cost is a decreasing function of cumulative first purchases. Managerial implications of the research findings are also discussed.     

Heuristic Procedures for Practical-Sized Uncapacitated Location-Capacitated Routing Problems*

Facility location and vehicle routing are two important logistical problems closely interrelated in many real-world applications where locating facilities and determining the associated multi-stop vehicle routes are required simultaneously. Previous research has found that using the classical facility location models on these location-routing problems (LRPs) may lead to suboptimal solutions. We propose an approximate approach for the LRPs, which first generates and improves feasible location/allocation schemes with the associated multi-stop routing costs approximated using some route length estimators. We then design the minimum-cost routes based on the location/allocation results. We review two estimators that can provide accurate approximations to the multi-stop route distances; define the uncapacitated location-capacitated routing problem; and evaluate several heuristic procedures for approximately solving the problem. Computational results show that when vehicle capacities are not too restrictive, the sequential procedures that incorporate the two robust route length estimators can produce good solutions to practical-sized problems with a reasonable amount of computational efforts.     

FLEXIBILITY,ADAPTABILITY, AND EFFICIENCY IN MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS

There are many different approaches and conceptualizations of flexibility in the present literature. This lends itself to a lack of clarity and can result in confusion on the central concept. Here we identify shortcomings in the existing literature. To clarify some of the important concepts, we distinguish between flexibility (ability to change states), adaptability (ability to change within a state), and efficiency (resources utilized). To illustrate such distinctions, we present a capacity expansion model that takes flexibility and adaptability into consideration. Numerical examples show how the concepts of flexibility and adaptability can be used in manufacturing.