bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Organizational Correlates of the Goals of Business Managements
Authors: DENT JAMES K.
Published: December 2006

This paper presents the goals of business managements as expressed by the chief executives or deputy chiefs of 145 business establishments. The goals most frequently expressed by management are profits, public service in the form of good products, and employee welfare. But other goals are also important such as growth, efficiency, meeting competition, and operating the organization.

Managers of large businesses more often speak of public service than do managers of small businesses, probably because they are relatively secure and because they are in the public eye. If they are unionized, large businesses show more interest in the welfare of their employees than do small businesses. If nonunion, the relationship is reversed. The explanation of these findings regarding expressed interest in employee welfare is probably complex, involving the psychological distance between manager and employee, the varying nature of collective bargaining, and the ideologies of owners and professional managers.

The higher the proportion of white‐collar employees, the fewer the managers who mention profits. Similarly, the higher this proportion the more managers mention growth as a goal (but still not more than the number mentioning profits). These findings appear to reflect the varying cultural milieu of white‐collar and blue‐collar establishments. The finding becomes all the more important in view of the long‐term trend toward greater upgrading and professionalization of labor.

Managers of “successful” growing businesses, like large businesses, more frequently speak of good products than do managers of declining businesses. They are also more interested in meeting and staying ahead of competitors. Their orientation is outward; they express less interest in such internal matters as running the organization. Although these findings do not directly contradict the position of Adam Smith that the public interest is best served by the pursuit of “own self‐interest,” they do suggest that the success of the business itself is furthered not by the pursuit of own self‐interest but by the pursuit of public service in the form of good products. On the other hand, there is no evidence in the present data that the managers' pursuit of broader social responsibilities, such as employee or community welfare, furthers the growth of the business.

These data suggest that understanding and evaluation of organizations and institutions require a consideration of their broad functions and characteristics. It is the characteristics of the total organization and of all its members that determine its goals. If it has a function outside its membership, it is this function that must be given attention, rather than the rewards it offers its leaders, its owners, or its members.
PSYCHOMETRIC CONSIDERATIONS IN SELECTING PERSONNEL FOR UNUSUAL ENVIRONMENTS
Authors: LEVINE ABRAHAM S.
Published: December 2006

Basic psychometric considerations underlying selection of military personnel for unusual environments are old principles which are useful in new situations. As a matter of fact they apply to a wide range of situations–business and industrial as well as military–wherever the need is for relatively small numbers of personnel to fill highly important and critical positions. The unique selection problems are most likely to be found in the substantive rather than methodological domain. Such possible problems as sensory deprivation and “break‐off” effect represent intriguing areas for research but any application to selection technology is still in the future.
ABSENCE and EMPLOYEE FEELINGS ABOUT FAIR TREATMENT1
Authors: PATCHEN MARTIN
Published: December 2006

This study calls into question again a frequently made assumption that variations in employee absence rates may be accounted for solely by examining the direct rewards and punishments provided by the work situation. Absences among nonsupervisory men at an oil refinery were found to be related to feelings of fair treatment with regard to promotion, irrespective of how good employees see their actual chances for promotion to be. Attitudes concerning the fairness of pay also were found to affect absences. The results were interpreted as indicating the importance of feelings of loyalty and obligation among employees in accounting for behavior such as absences.
Comparison of Empirical and Theoretical Expectancies
Authors: TIFFIN JOSEPH , VINCENT NORMAN L.
Published: December 2006

Two previous articles (Lawshe & Bolda, 1958; Lawshe, Bolda, Brune, & Auclair, 1958) in Personnel Psychology have discussed expectancy charts as methods of displaying data on predictor‐criterion relationships. The second of these articles (Lawshe, et al., 1958) dealt with charts based upon theoretical in place of empirical expectancies. A method, based on chi square, of testing the discrepancies between empirical and theoretical expectancies was described.

The present article applies this test to 15 independent sets of predictor‐criterion data. In every case, the use of theoretical expectancies based on an assumed bivariate normal distribution was found to be justified.
SUPERIOR‐SUBORDINATE RELATIONSHIPS AND PERFORMANCE1
Authors: INDIK BERNARD P. , GEORGOPOULOS BASIL S. , SEASHORE STANLEY E.
Published: December 2006

This study is concerned with the proposition that the nature of superior‐subordinate relationships in an organization, as perceived or evaluated by subordinates, affects the job performance of subordinates, whether the latter are considered as a group or as individuals. This rather widely accepted proposition was tested using four more specific hypotheses which were derived from it, and which involve certain aspects of superior‐subordinate interaction, as specified in the paper. The objectives were to test the hypothesized relationships between these variables and subordinate performance, and to examine the generality of these relationships.
JOB‐ORIENTED AND PERSON‐ORIENTED LEADERSHIP
Authors: RUBENOWITZ SIGVARD
Published: December 2006

The statements in forced‐choice rating forms for supervisors were analyzed before and after they had been combined into forced‐choice blocks. Considerable changes in the discrimination power of the statements appeared. The findings indicated that the over‐all attitude of a rater towards a subordinate supervisor is based in a very high degree on behavioral traits, which can be described by statements with production‐oriented content. In contrast, person orientation plays a relatively modest role. Thus in a forced‐choice rating scale those ratees who are primarily production minded get the highest mark at the expense of those who are primarily personnel minded. This seems to reflect an attitude which in some way stands in a contrasting relationship to the human relation attitude, to which so many people pay lip service.
THE EFFECT OF INTENT TO BIAS ON FORCED‐CHOICE INDICES
Authors: WATERS L. K. , WHERRY R. J.
Published: December 2006

The hypothesis that the effectiveness of an attractiveness index is directly related to the similarity in degree of response bias between the situation in which the index was obtained and the situation in which it is used in forced‐choice blocks was investigated. Indices reflecting varying degrees of response bias were obtained from check‐list administrations of a sample of statements. These statements were incorporated into forced‐choice blocks and were administered to three independent groups under instructions designed to induce varying degrees of response bias. Correlations between index deviation values and frequencies of statement choice were of greater magnitude when the degree of response bias in the check‐list and forced‐choice administrations was similar.
SUPERVISORY AND ENGINEERING SUCCESS ASSOCIATED WITH SELF, INTERACTION, AND TASK ORIENTATION SCORES1
Authors: DUNTEMAN GEORGE , BASS BERNARD M.
Published: December 2006

To obtain further understanding of the effects of orientation on performance, 180 supervisory and technical personnel in a chemical plant were administered the Orientation Inventory, assessing their relative self, interaction, and task orientation. In line with expectations, task orientation correlated positively with success as a technically‐trained supervisor, and as a first‐line foreman. Engineers in research and design were likewise more task‐oriented than those in consultative, supervisory, or administrative work whose interaction orientation was likely to be relatively higher. Orientation differences were also found between echelons and between safety and line supervisors.
FAVORABLENESS RATINGS OF FORCED‐CHOICE STATEMENTS: APPLICANTS VS. NON‐APPLICANTS
Authors: HEDBERG RAYMOND , BAXTER BRENT
Published: December 2006

This study reports on the effects of non‐applicant ratings of the favorableness of statements to be included in an experimental forced‐choice test for screening life insurance agent applicants. A comparison of the favorableness ratings of applicants with non‐applicants revealed differences in the perceived favorableness of statements in the middle range of favorableness. It is suggested that the choice of raters may, in certain situations, be more important than previously reported.
THE VALIDITY OF MANAGEMENT TRAITS IN RELATION TO OCCUPATIONAL LEVEL
Authors: GHISELLI EDWIN E.
Published: December 2006

Measures of intelligence, supervisory ability, initiative, self‐assurance, and perceived occupational level were obtained on eleven groups of individuals in various jobs ranging from line to upper management positions. It was found that the higher the level of the job the higher the score on the five tests and the higher the validity of the tests. It was concluded that apparently these traits identify the individuals who seek or are placed in higher positions, and that the higher the position the more critical these traits are in determining job success.
THE FATE OF ROLE STEREOTYPES IN TWO PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SITUATIONS
Authors: HANSON PHILIP G. , MORTON ROBERT B. , ROTHAUS PAUL
Published: December 2006

The present study investigated the effect and course of stereotyped attitudes of supervisors and subordinates interacting to plan changes in the subordinates' performance. In particular, the study concerned the fate of these stereotyped role‐attitudes during the course of two types of appraisal interviews: the traditional traits rating method and the newly‐formulated goals method.

Thirty‐six nursing supervisors were assigned roles as supervisors and subordinates and given appropriate role descriptions and instructions. Both groups made initial trait ratings of the hypothetical subordinate and then role‐played parts in the two types of appraisal interviews. Following each interaction, supervisors and subordinates rated their reactions.

The results clearly indicated that the initial ratings by the supervisors of the hypothetical subordinate were more negative than the ratings made by the subordinates themselves. These differences were present before any interaction had taken place between supervisors and subordinates, and they appear due to stereotyped attitudes inherent in the role of supervisors and subordinates. After role playing, reactions of both supervisors and subordinates to the goals method were more positive than reactions to the traits interaction. When the initial disparity in the critical rating attitudes of supervisors and subordinates was greatest, the traits method interaction perpetuated conflict whereas the goals method interaction either resolved it or in some way avoided it. The traits method appears to force the supervisor to assume an evaluative posture toward the subordinate. This posture fosters the critical attitudes associated with the supervisory role. Under the goals method, on the other hand, the supervisor can take a relatively non‐evaluative role. Consequently, the stereotyped attitudes and behaviors associated with an evaluative relationship are circumvented.
PERFORMANCE SUITABILITY AND ROLE AGREEMENT, TWO FACTORS RELATED TO ATTITUDES
Authors: BARRETT RICHARD S.
Published: December 2006

It was the purpose of this investigation to examine the significance of the perceptions of incumbents on jobs regarding 1) how they did their work (Report of Performance), 2) how they thought their work should be done (Perceived True Requirements), and 3) how they thought their immediate supervisor wanted the work to be done (Perceived Supervisor's Requirements). It was predicted at the beginning of the study that different patterns of consistency and inconsistency among these three perceptions would be related to attitudes of the incumbents regarding themselves, their work, and their supervisors.

The predictions worked out very much as expected, especially when the Perceived True Requirements were compared with the Perceived Supervisor's Requirements. This score is called “Role Agreement”, referring to the subject's report that the role requirements he has for the job agree with what he believes his supervisor requires. Subjects scoring high on Role Agreement rated their supervisors high. They also felt that they were free from pressure from their supervisors to do things the supervisor's way, and that they understood what their supervisors expected of them. They tended to be satisfied by their work and to see in it an opportunity to show what they could do.

On the other hand, high Role Agreement had nothing to do with how a man rated his own work, or his basic qualifications to do the work. These attitudes were closely related to the amount of agreement between Perceived True Requirements and Report of Performance, called “Performance Suitability”. That is, people who reported that they were doing the job the way they thought it should be done tended to rate their work and their abilities high, and to derive satisfaction from their work. They felt also that their supervisors would rate their work high.

A third comparison was made involving the Report of Performance and Perceived Supervisor's Requirements. To score high on this measure, a person reported that what he was actually doing was in line with what he believed his supervisor required of him. High scorers tended to rate high both their supervisor and their understanding of his requirements, and they tended to be satisfied with their work. The relationships between this type of agreement and positive attitudes were less pronounced than the others, and, in the case of over‐all job satisfaction, disappeared when the effects of Role Agreement and Performance Suitability were partialed out.

The results lead to the hypothesis that the two orientations, Role Agreement and Performance Suitability, are independent, and each contributes to general satisfaction and to specific job attitudes. If this hypothesis is true, much of the difficulty in finding clear‐cut relations between gross measures of job satisfaction, and other variables such as productivity, and supervisory ratings may be explained.
THE INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGIST'S JOB
Authors: MACKINNEY ARTHUR C. , DUNNETTE MARVIN D.
Published: December 2006

This paper presents the results from the sections of Dunnette's (1961) survey of one‐half of the Division 14 membership which solicited job description information. Results are summarized in terms of frequencies with which the respondents indicate that nineteen job descriptive categories make up an important part of their jobs. A factor analysis of the intercorrelations among these categories reveals five factors: (I) a general factor, psychological work in industry, (II) personnel administration, (III) test research, (IV) working with people, and (V) a factor labeled, variously, organizational analysis, morale measurement, or advising management.
CONTROL OF “HALO” IN FACTOR ANALYSIS OF A SUPERVISORY BEHAVIOR INVENTORY
Authors: RITTI R. R.
Published: December 2006

This paper has described a factor analysis of supervisory behavior ratings using a procedure of standardizing both by variable and by subject, in order to eliminate a component of correlation due to differences in subjective means and standard deviation. The results show that:

1. The procedure results in a large reduction in the relative size of the first principle component.

2. The procedure results in a systematic reduction in the correlations between the primary vectors of the oblique factor solution.

3. The procedure results in a more clearly defined simple structure resulting from the oblique rotation.

It seems likely that these results are due primarily to the elimination of the component of a variance attributable to the differences between subjective means. It also seems likely that some of the difference between the two solutions has resulted by giving less weight to the extreme responding, nondiscriminating subjects. Both of these adjustments are judged to be desirable in helping the researcher understand the true organization of reports of individual perceptions of behavior and attitudes where the universe concerned is homogeneous with retudes where the universe concerned is homogeneous with respect to some valuative or other over‐all response tendency.
FACTOR ANALYSIS OF A SALES SELECTION BATTERY
Authors: FEINBERG M. R. , PENZER W. N.
Published: December 2006

A sales executive selection battery from 458 applicants was subjected to a principal components factor analysis using varimax factor rotation. The study was undertaken because of the gaps created by the almost nonexistent factorial studies of an operational sales selection battery. The final rotated matrix yielded seven factors which suggested that the battery of the original 28 scales could be considerably reduced. The factors were identified as follows: I—Level of Aspiration, II—Technical Interest, III—Anti‐Aestheticism, IV—Religious‐Social Values, V—Social Acquiescence, VI—Computational‐Clerical, VII—Intellect. Implications of the factor analysis patterns were discussed.
Identification of Job Requirement Factors By Use Of Simulated Jobs1
Authors: Madden Joseph M. , Giorgia M. Joyce
Published: December 2006

Air Force officer jobs are evaluated by rating a verbal job description on ten requirement factors. If these factors cover all the requirements, judging merited pay or grade for the job incumbent could be based on a simulated job description presenting only the numerical ratings on the ten factors. To test this assumption, two groups of USAF majors ranked thirty real job descriptions and two groups ranked simulated descriptions in order of merited pay. Application of a multiple regression technique to the factor values showed that error in predicting the rank‐order criterion was significantly greater for rankings from simulated descriptions than from the verbal descriptions. Examination of mean‐rank discrepancies showed that, in this particular sampling of jobs, the ranking of simulated jobs was higher for jobs closely concerned with the primary defense mission and lower for jobs requiring a high level of scientific, professional, or technical competence. Adding ratings on these two factors to the simulated descriptions might result in judgments closer to those obtained from verbal descriptions.
A STUDY OF THE GRAPEVINE IN A GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Authors: SUTTON HAROLD , PORTER LYMAN W.
Published: December 2006

The purposes of this investigation were to replicate a classic study of the grapevine reported by Davis in 1953, and to extend the results by obtaining personality data (Bass Orientation Inventory scores) on the subjects. The present study was carried out in a state government unit with 79 employees. Davis’“ecco analysis” method was used to study the flow of information through the grapevine. Nine grapevine items were investigated with respect to where, when, and how the subjects had learned of the information.

Two of Davis’ findings–the relatively small percentage of in‐dividuals functioning in a liaison capacity in disseminating any particular item of information, and the positive relationship between grapevine knowledge and an individual's level in the organizational hierarchy–were confirmed. Two other findings of Davis–relating to the degree of within‐unit vs. between‐unit spread of information, and the degree of individual consistency in functioning as liaisons–were not confirmed. Again, it should be stressed that, while Davis’ study was concerned with communication within the managerial force of a manufacturing concern, the present study was carried out in a governmental organization and involved personnel from both the managerial and the rank‐and‐file levels. Thus, because of the particular nature of the samples in each of the two investigations, any generalizations about the operation of grapevines in organizations need to be stated with extreme caution.
A NOTE CONCERNING THE MATCHED GROUP DESIGN
Authors: MAYO GEORGE DOUGLAS , LONGO ALEXANDER A.
Published: December 2006

Despite its strong logical and technical appeal, the employment of the matched group design in applied psychological research has been restricted by practical problems associated with its use. A procedure which circumvents several of the problems of conventional matching was described. Basically, the procedure involves pairing of subjects from two or more treatment pools after the completion of training or other treatment, but without knowledge of the performance of the subjects. Three empirical tryouts of the procedure were summarized. The procedure worked quite well when only two groups were involved and was fairly satisfactory when applied to four groups. Other experimental designs may be better when more than two groups are involved. It was concluded that matching from treatment pools after differential treatment of the pools warrants more extensive use in applied psychological research than it has been accorded in the past.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SUPERVISORY‐ AND SELF‐APPRAISALS OF EXECUTIVE PERFORMANCE
Authors: THORNTON GEORGE C.
Published: December 2006

There has been increased use of self‐appraisal programs for evaluating the performance of executive personnel. Because objective measures of performance are rarely available or adequate for this level of personnel, ratings are often relied upon. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between supervisory‐perceptions and incumbent self‐perceptions of the performance of executive personnel. The rationale for this study was that the relationship between supervisory‐ratings and self‐ratings has important implications for the usefulness of self‐appraisal programs. If self‐evaluations are to be effective in enlisting a person's cooperation and participation, it seems essential that his perceptions agree with those of his superior. This study was designed to identify those areas of executive performance where there might be significant amounts of disagreement. Knowledge of these problem areas would then be useful in conducting self‐appraisal programs.

Supervisory‐ratings and self‐ratings on 27 performance variables were obtained for the top executives of a large manufacturing corporation. A measure of promotability was used as the criterion and analysis of variance and correlation analyses were carried out to attain the objectives. The major conclusions of the study were: (1) Executives tended to rate themselves higher than they were rated by their supervisors, (2) Disagreement in the relationship of the two sets of ratings was found in several areas, (3) Executives who tended to overrate themselves were found to be the ones who were considered least promotable on the basis of a criterion measure of success in the organization.
CONSTRUCTING JOB FAMILIES: AN ANALYSIS OF QUANTITATIVE TECHNIQUES USED FOR GROUPING JOBS
Authors: COLIHAN JOE ,   IBM, BURGER GARY K.
Published: December 2006

A Monte Carlo study was conducted to examine the performance of several quantitative grouping strategies for the purpose of grouping jobs into job families. Two factors were found to substantially affect the accuracy of these grouping strategies in terms of identifying the correct number of families, and accurately classifying jobs into those families. Through simulation of job analysis data sets designed to reflect various underlying structures among a set of jobs, it was found that techniques based on the commonly used hierarchical cluster analysis model were relatively inaccurate when applied to data containing measurement error or overlap between job families. Alternatively, Q‐type factor analysis and hybrid techniques involving a combination of factor and cluster analysis proved to be viable and robust grouping strategies for job classification research.
COMPARATIVE EFFECTS OF LACTIC ACID, NISIN, COATING COMBINED AND ALONE APPLICATIONS ON SOME POSTMORTEM QUALITY CRITERIA OF REFRIGERATED SARDINA PILCHARDUS
Authors: GOGUS UGUR , BOZOGLU FARUK , YURDUGUL SEYHUN
Published: December 2006

Fish meat is highly prone to microbiological contamination from hunting and slaughtering stages to the transportation and kitchen, especially by Pseudomonas spp. In this study, effects of nisin (0.04 g/L/kg at pH 5.2), lactic acid (5% at pH 2.9) and their combinations were studied on coated (where vegetable oil, beeswax and distilled water mixture with pH 7.2 was used as the main coating material) and noncoated fish specimens on inhibition of Pseudomonas and mesophilic aerobic bacteria (MAB) at refrigeration temperatures (+4C). Lactic acid, nisin and coating reached 5.95 log units as cfu/mL on total MAB on the seventh day of shelf life at+4C, whereas control has reached 6.62 log on the fifth day. Lactic acid, nisin and coating, and lactic acid and coating applications were determined as the most preservative applications with lowest acidity losses and highest bacterial inhibition, including Pseudomonas spp. (P < 0.01).
THE EFFECTS OF FLAXSEED, SOY AND CORN FLOURS ON THE TEXTURAL AND SENSORY PROPERTIES OF A BAKERY PRODUCT
Authors: ALPASLAN MEHMET , HAYTA MEHMET
Published: December 2006

The objective of this study was to assess the effects of some healthy ingredients on the properties of a ring‐shaped bagel/pretzel‐type bakery product to offer an alternative product satisfying consumer demand. For this purpose, ground flaxseed, defatted soy flour and corn flour were blended at a weight basis with wheat flour at 5, 10 and 15%. The taste score decreased upon increasing the level of substitution of flaxseed, soy and corn flours. Samples containing 15% of flaxseed were rated poorest in taste. No significant difference was observed in crust color except 15% level of flaxseed. The control sample had highest crust color value. The crispness scores of control and other samples containing 5% corn flour were higher than that of other samples. The samples with 5% flaxseed flour had lower crust L values. Flaxseed, soy and corn flour showed significant effects on the hardness, cohesiveness, springiness, gumminess, fracture force and stiffness values (P < 0.05). Samples with 15% corn flour had the highest hardness value. The results of the present study suggest that flaxseed, soy and corn flours could be added to a typical snack formulation up to levels of 10% with a reasonable acceptance offering promising nutritious and healthy alternative to consumers.
Hedging and Value in the U.S. Airline Industry
Authors: Carter David A. , Rogers Daniel A. , Simkins Betty J.
Published: December 2006

This article discusses the findings and practical import of the authors' study of the fuel hedging activity of 28 U.S. airlines during the period 1992‐2003. The aim of the study was to answer the following question: Does fuel hedging add value to the airlines and, if so, how? The airline industry provides a natural experiment for investigating the relation between hedging and value for a number of reasons: (1) the industry is by and large competitive and remarkably homogeneous; (2) airlines are exposed to a single, volatile input commodity—jet fuel—that represents a major economic expense for all competitors; and (3) fuel price increases cannot be easily passed through to customers because of competitive pressures in the industry.

The results of the study show that jet fuel hedging is positively related to airline firm value. Those airlines that hedged their fuel costs had Tobin's Q ratios that were 5‐10% higher, on average, than those of airlines that did not hedge. What's more, the higher the proportion of future fuel requirements hedged, the larger the valuation premium. The authors' results also suggest that the main source of value added by hedging in the airline industry is its role in preserving the firm's ability to take advantage of investment opportunities that arise when fuel prices are high and airline operating cash fl ows and values are down. Consistent with this argument, the study finds that the value premium associated with hedging increases with the level of the firm's capital spending.

The authors also report that the most active hedgers of fuel costs among the airlines are the larger firms with the least debt and highest credit ratings. This result is somewhat surprising, at least to the extent that smaller airlines are expected to have larger financial distress costs (as a percentage of firm value) and hence greater motive to hedge. One explanation is that the smaller airlines have lacked either sufficient resources or the strategic foresight to acquire a derivatives hedging capability. A second possibility—one that is consistent with the study's main findings—is that the largest airlines also have the highest costs of financial distress (even as a percentage of firm value) in the form of larger growth opportunities that could be lost as a result of high leverage and financial risk. In other words, only the largest airlines are typically able to buy distressed assets during periods of industry weakness; to the extent this is so, such firms may also have the most to gain from hedging.
Risk Management and the Cost of Capital for Operating Assets
Authors: O'Brien Thomas J.
Published: December 2006

This article attempts to clarify the effect of risk management on a company's cost of capital in the spirit of the traditional M&M/CAPM model. The traditional cost of capital model can and should be used to find the hurdle rate for a company's operating assets, since it can be applied regardless of the composition of the firm's non‐operating assets or its risk management policy. The author's main message is that if a firm manages idiosyncratic risk, the correct cost of capital for the operating investment is not the firm's enterprise WACC, but rather the required return on the assets being funded. Using the case of a company with a single line of business that is evaluating an investment opportunity, the author demonstrates how to adjust the firm's overall WACC to find the cost of capital for the operating assets to be acquired.
Factors influencing the short‐term outcome following thoracic surgery in 98 dogs
Authors: Tattersall J. A. , Welsh E.
Published: December 2006

Objectives:To evaluate the factors influencing the short‐term (<14 days) outcome of thoracic surgery in dogs.

Methods:A retrospective review of 98 dogs undergoing thoracotomy over a five‐year period was undertaken.

Results:A pre‐operative diagnosis was achieved in 69 per cent of cases. Intrathoraic neoplasia had the lowest pre‐operative diagnosis rate (5·5 per cent). Mortality rates of 21 per cent were recorded and were significantly higher for intrathoracic neoplasia (50 per cent) and significantly lower for persistent ductus arteriosus (7·4 per cent) and vascular ring anomaly (0 per cent). Median sternotomy was the preferred approach for pyothorax (85 per cent) and penetrating thoracic injuries (66 per cent). Intercostal thoracotomy was the preferred approach for all other diseases. Postoperative complications occurred in 39 per cent of cases. Wound complications were more common for pyothorax (45 per cent) and following median sternotomy (71 per cent). Thoracic drains were placed in 77 per cent of cases and complications were recorded in 23 per cent. Pyothorax and chylothorax had thoracic drains maintained for significantly longer periods of time. Longer thoracic drain duration was correlated significantly with increased complication rates.

ClinicalSignificance:The short‐term outcome following thoracic surgery is influenced by diagnosis. The thoracic approach is determined by intrathoracic disease, but may influence outcome by affecting the incidence of postoperative wound complications. The risk of thoracic drain complications increases with drain duration, which is influenced by the underlying disease. Drains should be maintained for the minimal amount of time possible.
Thoracic bite trauma in dogs: a comparison of clinical and radiological parameters with surgical results
Authors: Scheepens E. T. F. , Peeters M. E. , L’Eplattenier H. F. , Kirpensteijn J.
Published: December 2006

Objectives:Canine bite wounds may cause severe underlying tissue trauma even with no clinically evident puncture wounds. In order to assess the ability of pre‐operative diagnostic parameters to predict the extent of internal damage inflicted by a thoracic bite wound, the clinical, radiological and surgical data of 45 dogs that sustained thoracic bite trauma were recorded.

Methods:Clinical, radiographic and surgical parameters from 45 dogs of various breeds with thoracic bite trauma, were analysed (P<0·05). All dogs were treated according to a previously described protocol and had exploratory surgery including a thoracotomy.

Results:Mainly small‐breed dogs were traumatised. Clinical and radiological data were suggestive of internal trauma but not reliable as accurate indicators for internal lesions. Only radiological evidence of lung contusion was significantly associated with the presence of surgically confirmed lung contusion (P=0·006). Dogs with postoperative wound complications had a significantly higher risk of dying than those without complications (P=0·04).

ClinicalSignificance:This study concludes that according to protocol an optimal management of thoracic bite wounds in small dogs includes surgical exploration of the wound and the thoracic cavity in the presence of flail or pseudo‐flail chest, fractured ribs, radiological evidence of lung contusion, pneumothorax or any combination of these.
Use of biochemical markers of osteoarthritis to investigate the potential disease‐modifying effect of tibial plateau levelling osteotomy
Authors: Girling S. L. , Bell S. C. , Whitelock R. G. , Rayward R. M. , Thomson D. G. , Carter S. C. , Vaughan‐Thomas A. , Innes J. F.
Published: December 2006

Objectives:To evaluate the hypothesis that the concentration of the 1/20/5D4 epitope of keratan sulphate, cartilage oligomeric matrix protein and total sulphated glycosaminoglycans in synovial fluids from dogs with cranial cruciate ligament disease would be affected by tibial plateau levelling osteotomy. In addition, to evaluate the hypothesis that medial meniscal release or meniscal injury would alter the expression of these candidate biomarkers.

Methods:Forty‐one dogs with naturally occurring cranial cruciate ligament disease were recruited prospectively. Synovial fluids were collected from the index joint before surgery and six weeks and six months postsurgery. Following tibial plateau levelling osteotomy, synovial fluids were assayed for 1/20/5D4 epitope of keratan sulphate and cartilage oligomeric matrix protein concentration using an inhibition ELISA and for sulphated glycosaminoglycans using a direct dye‐binding assay.

Results:The sulphated glycosaminoglycans ratio did not change significantly during the study. Medial meniscal injury at entry was associated with lower concentrations of synovial fluid cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (P<0·05, unpairedttest). There was no association between medial meniscal release and the changes in marker concentrations, either from 0 to six weeks or 0 to six months.

ClinicalSignificance:Tibial plateau levelling osteotomy did not significantly alter the expression of the named candidate biomarkers. These findings reflect the limited nature of the arthrotomy or indicate that tibial plateau levelling osteotomy does not influence the progression of osteoarthritis (OA). From these studies, there is no evidence that tibial plateau levelling osteotomy affects cartilage metabolism.
Bilothorax following cholecystectomy in a dog
Authors: Guillaumin J. , Chanoit G. , Decosne‐Junot C. , Goy‐Thollot I.
Published: December 2006

A 10‐year‐old, entire female Pyrenean shepherd dog was presented for acute onset of gastroenteritis. An abdominal ultrasound examination showed the presence of a suspected gall bladder mucocele. After surgery for cholecystectomy, the dog showed signs of an acute onset of respiratory distress due to bilothorax. The bilothorax responded well to medical treatment that comprised of thoracocentesis and oral steroids.
Comparison of three techniques for the diagnosis of urinary tract infections in dogs with urolithiasis
Authors: Gatoria I. S. , Saini N. S. , Rai T. S. , Dwivedi P. N.
Published: December 2006

Objectives:To identify an appropriate sampling technique(s) to accurately detect the bacteria causing urinary tract infections in dogs with urolithiasis.

Methods:Twenty‐one dogs with urolithiasis were included in the study. Three types of samples were taken from each dog. Urine was collected by cystocentesis, and a urinary bladder mucosal biopsy and urolith were retrieved during cystotomy. The samples were then cultured on blood agar and MacConkey’s agar to identify the bacteria associated with urinary tract infections.

Results:Bacterial urinary tract infection was found in 16 cases (76·19 per cent). The most prevalent bacteria found to cause urinary tract infection wereEscherichia coli(n=7), followed by coagulase‐positiveStaphylococcusspecies (n=4),Klebsiella pneumoniae(n=2),Pseudomonas aeruginosa(n=2) andProteus mirabilis(n=1). In the case of a positive urine culture, the same bacteria were also cultured from the urinary bladder mucosal biopsy alone or from both the urinary bladder mucosal biopsy and urolith. However, in the case of a negative urine culture, bacteria were found to be present in the urinary bladder mucosal biopsy or urolith cultures in 23·81 per cent of dogs. The uroliths that gave positive culture results were either infection‐induced uroliths composed of struvite and calcium carbonate phosphate, ammonium acid urate only or metabolic uroliths composed of calcium oxalate and calcium phosphate, or calcium phosphate only. All the uroliths that gave negative culture results were metabolic uroliths composed of calcium oxalate and/or calcium phosphate, and uric acid and calcium phosphate.

ClinicalSignificance:When the culture from the urine obtained by cystocentesis is negative, cultures of urinary bladder mucosal biopsy and urolith are recommended in dogs with urolithiasis in order to accurately assess the microbiological status of the urinary tract.
Optimum beamformer in correlated source environments
Authors: Kim Seungil , Lee Chungyong , Kang Hong-Goo
Published: December 2006

A new method for overcoming signal cancellation problems due to correlated interferences which occur in a minimum variance distortionless response beamformer is proposed. Instead of decorrelating the correlated interferences, the coherently combining signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (CC-SINR) beamformer regards them as replicas of the desired signal and coherently combines them with the desired signal. This method uses an eigenvector constraint that suppresses only noise and uncorrelated interferences but retains the desired signal and correlated interferences. The CC-SINR beamformer does not require any preliminary information on correlated interferences. The signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR) of the proposed beamformer output was compared to that of a conventional SINR beamformer when correlated interference, uncorrelated interference, and white noise exist. In addition, various key parameters that affect the performance of the beamformer, such as signal-to-noise ratio, uncorrelated interference-to-noise ratio, angular separation between signals, attenuation factor, phase delay of correlated interference, and the number of sensors were analyzed. All of the experimental results were in good agreement with the analytical results.
Constructing and disrupting listeners’ models of auditory space
Authors: Freyman Richard L. , Keen Rachel
Published: December 2006

A major problem for an auditory system exposed to sound in a reverberant environment is to distinguish reflections from true sound sources. Previous research indicates that the process of recognizing reflections is malleable from moment to moment. Three experiments report how ongoing input can prevent or disrupt the fusion of the delayed sound with the direct sound, a necessary component of the precedence effect. The buildup of fusion can be disrupted by presenting stimuli in alternation that simulate different reflecting surfaces. If buildup of fusion is accomplished first and then followed by an aberrant configuration, breakdown of the precedence effect occurs but it depends on the duration of the new sound configuration. The Djelani and Blauert (2001) finding that a brief disruption has no effect on fusion was confirmed; however, it was found that a more lengthy disruption produces breakdown.
Binaural segregation in multisource reverberant environments
Authors: Roman Nicoleta , Srinivasan Soundararajan , Wang DeLiang
Published: December 2006

In a natural environment, speech signals are degraded by both reverberation and concurrent noise sources. While human listening is robust under these conditions using only two ears, current two-microphone algorithms perform poorly. The psychological process of figure-ground segregation suggests that the target signal is perceived as a foreground while the remaining stimuli are perceived as a background. Accordingly, the goal is to estimate an ideal time-frequency (T-F) binary mask, which selects the target if it is stronger than the interference in a local T-F unit. In this paper, a binaural segregation system that extracts the reverberant target signal from multisource reverberant mixtures by utilizing only the location information of target source is proposed. The proposed system combines target cancellation through adaptive filtering and a binary decision rule to estimate the ideal T-F binary mask. The main observation in this work is that the target attenuation in a T-F unit resulting from adaptive filtering is correlated with the relative strength of target to mixture. A comprehensive evaluation shows that the proposed system results in large SNR gains. In addition, comparisons using SNR as well as automatic speech recognition measures show that this system outperforms standard two-microphone beamforming approaches and a recent binaural processor.
Statistical analysis of the autoregressive modeling of reverberant speech
Authors: Gaubitch Nikolay D. , Ward Darren B. , Naylor Patrick A.
Published: December 2006

Hands-free speech input is required in many modern telecommunication applications that employ autoregressive (AR) techniques such as linear predictive coding. When the hands-free input is obtained in enclosed reverberant spaces such as typical office rooms, the speech signal is distorted by the room transfer function. This paper utilizes theoretical results from statistical room acoustics to analyze the AR modeling of speech under these reverberant conditions. Three cases are considered: (i) AR coefficients calculated from a single observation; (ii) AR coefficients calculated jointly from an M-channel observation (M>1); and (iii) AR coefficients calculated from the output of a delay-and sum beamformer. The statistical analysis, with supporting simulations, shows that the spatial expectation of the AR coefficients for cases (i) and (ii) are approximately equal to those from the original speech, while for case (iii) there is a discrepancy due to spatial correlation between the microphones which can be significant. It is subsequently demonstrated that at each individual source-microphone position (without spatial expectation), the M-channel AR coefficients from case (ii) provide the best approximation to the clean speech coefficients when microphones are closely spaced (<0.3m).
Individual differences in the sensitivity to pitch direction
Authors: Semal Catherine , Demany Laurent
Published: December 2006

It is commonly assumed that one can always assign a direction—upward or downward—to a percept of pitch change. The present study shows that this is true for some, but not all, listeners. Frequency difference limens (FDLs, in cents) for pure tones roved in frequency were measured in two conditions. In one condition, the task was to detect frequency changes; in the other condition, the task was to identify the direction of frequency changes. For three listeners, the identification FDL was about 1.5 times smaller than the detection FDL, as predicted (counterintuitively) by signal detection theory under the assumption that performance in the two conditions was limited by one and the same internal noise. For three other listeners, however, the identification FDL was much larger than the detection FDL. The latter listeners had relatively high detection FDLs. They had no difficulty in identifying the direction of just-detectable changes in intensity, or in the frequency of amplitude modulation. Their difficulty in perceiving the direction of small frequency/pitch changes showed up not only when the task required absolute judgments of direction, but also when the directions of two successive frequency changes had to be judged as identical or different.
Variation in the hearing sensitivity of a dolphin population determined through the use of evoked potential audiometry
Authors: Houser Dorian S. , Finneran James J.
Published: December 2006

A portable electrophysiological data collection system was used to assess hearing in a captive population of bottlenose dolphins by recording auditory evoked potentials (AEPs). The AEP system used a transducer embedded in a suction cup to deliver amplitude modulated tones to the dolphin through the lower jaw. Evoked potentials were recorded noninvasively using surface electrodes. Adaptive procedures allowed hearing thresholds to be estimated from 10 to 150kHz in a single ear in about 45min. Hearing thresholds were measured in 42 bottlenose dolphins (28 male, 14 female), ranging in age from 4 to 47 years. Variations in hearing sensitivity with age and sex followed patterns seen in humans and terrestrial mammals: generally, within the population there was a progressive loss of high frequency hearing with age and an earlier onset of hearing loss in males than in females. Hearing loss generally occurred between the ages of 20 and 30, and all animals over the age of 27 had some degree of hearing loss. Two dolphins with profound hearing loss were found within the population. Aberrant hearing patterns were observed in related dolphins suggesting genetic links to hearing ability may exist.
Cepstral coefficients and hidden Markov models reveal idiosyncratic voice characteristics in red deer (Cervus elaphus) stags
Authors: Reby David , André-Obrecht Régine , Galinier Arnaud , Farinas Jerome , Cargnelutti Bruno
Published: December 2006

Bouts of vocalizations given by seven red deer stags were recorded over the rutting period, and homomorphic analysis and hidden Markov models (two techniques typically used for the automatic recognition of human speech utterances) were used to investigate whether the spectral envelope of the calls was individually distinctive. Bouts of common roars (the most common call type) were highly individually distinctive, with an average recognition percentage of 93.5%. A “temporal” split-sample approach indicated that although in most individuals these identity cues held over the rutting period, the ability of the models trained with the bouts of roars recorded early in the rut to correctly classify later vocalizations decreased as the recording date increased. When Markov models trained using the bouts of common roars were used to classify other call types according to their individual membership, the classification results indicated that the cues to identity contained in the common roars were also present in the other call types. This is the first demonstration in mammals other than primates that individuals have vocal cues to identity that are common to the different call types that compose their vocal repertoire.