bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The valuation of licensed premises
Authors: Day Howard , Kelton Rupert
Published: April 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explain the rationale and methodology applied to the rental valuation of wet led (i.e. pub or bar) retail leisure outlets. The paper does not cover the valuation of other leisure property (e.g. restaurants, hotels).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper opens with a brief outline of the factors and legislative changes which have shaped the public house market over the past 15 years. This is followed by a explanation of the rental valuation methods in use in the pub and bar sector and examination of the impact of some current issues – in particular the impact of the full implementation of the Licensing Act 2003 along with other legislative and regulatory changes. Finally the paper comments on some of the issues relevant to freehold investment purchases of public houses and bars.

Findings

As a consequence of the nature of the industry, profits based valuations continue to dominate the market and this raises difficult questions of method and interpretation particularly, as the market is further complicated by legislative and regulatory changes introducing greater uncertainty. With regard to public house and bar freehold investment changes in the structure of the market have had a significant impact on perceptions of the investment quality of the leisure sector with consequences both for flows of capital and the structure of yields in the market place.

Practical implications

Valuers need to be aware that freehold investment values in this sector have potentially peaked and that investment decisions in the sector should be based upon sustainable rent.

Originality/value

The paper is of use to all valuers in this niche market and provides a practical understanding of the profits test method of valuation from which a sustainable rent may be derived.
Problems and resolutions to future knowledge‐based assets reporting
Authors: Rodgers Waymond
Published: April 2007

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a measurement system of knowledge‐based assets for graduate students, researchers and practitioners which can help them enhance their understanding of valuation issues. Design/methodology/approach – Three types of validity are reported to be relevant for the purposes of understanding knowledge‐based assets information systems: criterion validity – establishment of a statistical relationship with a knowledge‐based information system and productivity; content validity – representation of a specified universe of contents in the knowledge‐based information system; construct validity – measurement of knowledge. Findings – A framework is provided that helps explain why measurement is important in deciding characteristics such as information value, cost, reliability, validity, and bias (random and non‐random error) which is germane to the development of an efficient and effective knowledge‐based assets information system. Practical implications – The paper is a very useful source of information for graduate students, researchers and practitioners involved with testing, designing, valuing and/or implementing a knowledge‐based information system. Originality/value – A measurement model is presented that may spark future models that can be implemented, tested and translated into actions in various organizational settings.
Investigating the value and efficiency of intellectual capital
Authors: Kujansivu Paula , Lönnqvist Antti
Published: April 2007

Purpose

This paper seeks to provide an empirical view of the present state of intellectual capital (IC) in Finnish companies. It also examines the relationship between the concepts value of IC and efficiency of IC.

Design/methodology/approach

Calculated Intangible Value (CIV), which measures the monetary value of IC, and Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAICTM), which describes how a company's IC adds value to the company, were applied to approximately 20,000 companies per year during the period 2001‐2003 and studied using correlation analysis.

Findings

Value and efficiency of IC are described in 11 industries in both SMEs and large companies. The theoretically unclear relationship between the value and efficiency of IC remains vague even after the empirical analysis. Calculating the value of IC in relative terms by dividing the value of a company's IC by the value of its tangible assets was found to be illustrative in comparing different industries.

Research limitations/implications

The measures used are based on financial statement information and their validity is questionable. However, the large set of data examined has a positive effect on the reliability of the study.

Practical implications

The results in this paper highlight the absolute or relative value, and thus importance, of IC for a company, depending on the industry.

Originality/value

The industry level analysis of IC and the implementation of scarcely used CIV measure in a large set of companies enhance the existing knowledge of the measurement of IC. The analysis of the relationship between CIV and VAICTM measures has not previously been done.
Human capital convergences in intellectual capital and sustainability reports
Authors: Pedrini Matteo
Published: April 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the points of convergence between intellectual capital and corporate responsibility reports with a focus on human capital issues.

Design/methodology/approach

To investigate this degree of integration the paper analyzes the common elements between human capital accounting and the Global Reporting Initiative Guidelines 2002. The assessment methodology consists of a study of which indicators for employees proposed in GRI guidelines are frequently used in 20 international best practices for intellectual capital reports.

Findings

Results show a large overlapping of indicators around three issues: the description of human capital, the reporting on diversity and opportunity, and the measurement of the quality and intensity of training.

Research limitations/implications

The research is focused on human capital that is one of the three dimensions of intellectual capital. It could also be interesting to study the points of convergence between corporate responsibility and the remaining two dimensions of intellectual capital: network capital and organizational capital.

Practical implications

The results demonstrate that the opportunity exists to integrate intellectual capital and corporate responsibility report in a global report, that will be useful to orient the sustainability practices in developing human capital.

Originality/value

This paper sustains the possibility that a correct management of corporate responsibility practices will be an opportunity to develop intellectual capital and a source of value creation.
Cancellations of elective orthopaedic procedures
Authors: Dussa C.U. , Durve K. , Singhal K.
Published: April 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to find the incidence and medical reasons for cancellations of elective orthopaedic cases following admission for an operation in a district general hospital. The paper also aims to determine the deficiencies in the local preoperative assessment protocol.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a retrospective study. The elective orthopaedic surgeries cancelled following their admission into the hospital due to medical reasons between January 2003 and December 2004, were identified. These cases were reviewed using the preoperative assessment charts and case notes. The NHS Modernisation Agency's guidelines,National Good Practice Guidance on Preoperative Assessment for Inpatient Surgery, are taken as the benchmark for comparison.

Findings

The paper finds that 44 elective orthopaedic cases were cancelled due to medical reasons. Of these patients, 64 per cent did not have a pre‐operative assessment prior to the admission for the planned surgery; 6 per cent had inadequate documentation of relevant past medical history; and 30 per cent (patients with significant medical problems) were not referred to the anaesthetist for advice although these problems were identified during the pre‐operative assessment.

Research limitations/implications

It is possible to stimulate good medical practice through audit.

Practical implications

Cancellation of an elective operation is not uncommon in hospital practice. This paper aims to highlight the possible avoidable causes for such cancellations. The paper identifies such deficiencies in the local preoperative assessment protocol and suggests remedies to improve the quality of care. These improvements and close adherence to the guidelines are important as preoperative assessment by nurse‐led clinics are being increasingly practised through out the UK.

Originality/value

The paper fulfils its aims of identifying the medical causes for cancellation of an operation and also the existing deficiencies in the preoperative assessment practice. The paper values the importance of adherence to NHS Modernising Agency's guidelines in preoperative assessment. It is useful not only to the Orthopaedic department but also to the department managers.
Formal complaints at an eye hospital: a three‐year analysis
Authors: Chavan Randhir , Porter Carol , Sandramouli Soupramanien
Published: April 2007

Purpose

Complaints can provide the health provider with vital information on its performance and can point towards areas for improvement. The purpose of this study was to undertake a retrospective study of all formal complaints in an eye hospital over a three‐year period in order to look at the complaint rate, demographics, their nature, how they were resolved and the lessons learned.

Design/methodology/approach

Complaints received were entered onto the complaints module of the DATIX database system. Formal patient complaints between April 2003 and March 2006 available on the DATIX database were analysed retrospectively.

Findings

The study found that there were total of 94 formal complaints out of 186,323 attendances at the hospital. The overall complaint rate was 5.09 per 10,000 attendances. 52(55.31 per cent) complaints were about rescheduling or cancellation of appointments. Complaints related to communication failure were 17(18.08 per cent) followed by clinical complaints, which totalled 13 (13.82 per cent). Four (4.25 per cent) complaints each under the category of amenities, administrative and waiting times were also recorded. The complaint rate for Outpatients Department was 1.5 per 10,000 attendances. The in‐patient ward had a complaint rate of 0.91 per 1000. The complaint rate for A&E department was 0.88 per 10,000 attendances. The operation theatre plus laser sessions had a complaint rate of 0.95 per 10,000. 79 (84.04 per cent) complaints were resolved at the first stage of local resolution. Complaints during the study period brought about two clinical changes in practice.

Originality/value

The use of complaints data as an important tool to learn from less satisfied patients is recommended. Comparing and sharing data on complaints between hospitals can help to highlight common deficient areas and can also be used to plan strategies.
Reporting drug errors in a British acute hospital trust
Authors: Armitage Gerry , Newell Rob , Wright John
Published: April 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to examine a sample of paper‐based incident reports concerning drug incidents to assess the utility of a reporting system.

Design/methodology/approach

A 50 per cent random sample of drug‐related incident reports between 1999 and 2003 (n=1,253) was reviewed. Details of the incident including error type and contributory factors were identified, as was status of the reporter. Content analysis of the free text established whether the data provided could promote medication safety and organisational learning.

Findings

The paper finds that all definitive drug errors (n=991) allowed an error type to be identified, but 276 (27.8 per cent) did not include the contributory factor(s) involved. Content analysis of the errors demonstrated an inconsistent level of completeness, and circumstances, causation and action taken were not always logically related. Inter‐rater reliability scores were varied. There was sometimes a significant focus on the actions of one individual in comparison to other factors.

Research limitations/implications

Incident reports can be biased by psychological phenomena, and may not be representative of the parent organisation other than those who report. This study was carried out in a single health care organisation and generalisability may be questioned.

Practical implications

How health professionals interpret drug errors and their reporting could be improved. Reporting can be further developed by reference to taxonomies, but their validity should be considered. Incident report analysis can provide an insight into the competence of individual reporters and the organisation's approach to risk management.

Originality/value

This paper highlights the various data that can be captured from drug error reports but also their shortfalls which include: superficial content, incoherence; and according to professional group – varied reporting rates and an inclination to target individuals.
Implementation of NICE guidelines
Authors: Singh Vineet , Mahadun P. , Nathan V.
Published: April 2007

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to assess the monitoring standards of methylphenidate prescribed by general practitioners (GPs) against the NICE guidelines.

Design/methodology/approach

The data on methylphenidate prescribing by GPs in Chorley and South Ribble were collected using a custom designed proforma from patient records held at GP surgeries and interviews with GPs. The data were then analysed using descriptive statistics.

Findings

The study finds that the majority (96 per cent) of the subjects who were on methylphenidate prescription from GPs were monitored by specialist services. This included both the National Health Service and the private sector. Only 62.5 per cent had documentation on physical monitoring and psychosocial intervention.

Practical implications

The results of the study showed that the monitoring of children on methylphenidate did not conform to the NICE guidelines. This highlighted the need for clear communication of responsibility of monitoring across the services. This is more important in regions where there are not optimal functioning child and adolescent mental health services.

Originality/value

As far as the authors know this was the first audit of its kind assessing the standards of methylphenidate prescribing done by general practitioners.
Good Medical Practice should improve patient safety
Authors: Cowan Jane
Published: April 2007

Purpose

With the new emphasis on patient safety in the General Medical Council's revised guidelines on good medical practice, this article seeks to draw doctors' awareness to their duties in this regard.

Design/methodology/approach

This article looks at recent important publications relating to medical professionalism, paying particular attention to the patient‐safety agenda. The main focus is on two key documents published in 2006 – the GMC's Good Medical Practice and the CMO's consultation document, Good Doctors, Safer Patients.

Findings

The article finds that attention to patient safety is considered an important aspect of good medical practice, yet there is evidence that the medical profession is lagging behind in embracing the concept of reporting adverse incidents. This is particularly apparent in the primary‐care sector.

Practical implications

If doctors do not demonstrate a commitment to patient‐safety initiatives, their registration may be at risk.

Originality/value

This article highlights an aspect of the duties of a doctor that many in the medical profession may be unaware of.
Regional hydroclimatic variability and Brazil's 2001 energy crisis
Authors: Simoes Silvio J. , Barros Ana P.
Published: April 2007

Purpose

This paper seeks to address the issue of persistent and widespread drought conditions during 2000 and 2001, which were the apparent cause of the decline of water levels in the reservoirs of Brazilian hydroelectric power plants.

Design/methodology/approach

This issue is addressed here through a case study of the hydroclimatology of the Paraíba river basin, in Southeast Brazil, home to four large multi‐purpose operational reservoirs.

Findings

The data analysis shows that neither changes in the frequency nor magnitude of extreme hydrological events (droughts and floods) nor in annual rainfall amounts can be detected from the existing climate record. The explanation is consistent with the fact that the terrestrial water and energy cycles are tightly, and non‐linearly, coupled through evapotranspiration.

Research limitations/implications

Therefore small change in the seasonality of rainfall can have a significant impact on the basin's overall hydrologic regime, and thus on the availability of water resources.

Originality/value

Often, adaptation and resilience to climate variability are discussed in the context of catastrophic events such as floods and droughts. This study suggests that a different type of impacts, those associated with subtle, yet persistent changes of seasonality in the terrestrial water cycle, cannot be ignored in studies of long‐term sustainability of water resources.
SEA on the 11th five‐year plan for national economic and social development of Wuhan City in China
Authors: Wu Jing , Xu He
Published: April 2007

Purpose

This paper aims to address a pilot case study of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) on the 11th five‐year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of a city located in central China.

Design/methodology/approach

A three‐tiered evaluation process was adopted during this study. First, the resources and environmental capacities of the city were evaluated in terms of the capacities of land use, energy transportation and water resources. Second, the draft plan was examined to assess the extent of potential ecological impacts and environmental impacts on air, water, noise and the increment of solid waste, and resulted potential hazards to the proximity of new development. Following the integrated assessment, several partial evaluations were carried out to estimate the relative performance of individual elements of each module of the draft plan.

Findings

It is necessary to integrate SEA into the five‐year plan. It was recognized that some key issues should be addressed in the SEA for five‐year plan and recommended indicators should be considered in the SEA.

Originality/value

This pilot study reflects the latest progress of SEA in China in both the development of concepts and evaluation methods.
Leadership, national culture and performance management in the Chinese software industry
Authors: Tsang Denise
Published: April 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to adopt a national cultural perspective to explore the issue of performance management in human resources among successful Chinese software firms which are owned and led by their founders. The paper aims to highlight the unique characteristics of performance management that has emerged from a Confucian culture shaped by the socio‐economic model in post‐Second World War China.

Design/methodology/approach

Multiple case study of large‐medium‐small software firms using data collected from primary and secondary sources.

Findings

The basic tenet is that despite prevailing international best practice of performance management in the Chinese software industry, the success of indigenous firms is associated with entrepreneurial leaders who align their firms' performance management with the core cultural value of collectivism.

Research limitations/implications

The paper provides a unique insight into the influence of collectivism on the process of performance management in the human resources function.

Practical implications

There might be a fine balance between implanting global performance management practices and accentuating the strengths and capabilities of the local employees within the confines of China's long history and distinctive culture.

Originality/value

Since competitor and customer variables share similar characteristics across segments of the global software industry, the human resources that enable firms to generate competitive advantages in marketing and technology will be critical for success. This paper provides an important test of the relationship between core cultural value and performance management of a knowledge‐intensive sector.
Strategy development for competitiveness: a study on Indian auto component sector
Authors: Singh Rajesh K. , Garg Suresh K. , Deshmukh S.G.
Published: April 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to analyse different aspects of competitiveness relating to the Indian auto component sector, set within a globalised economy with its attendant pressures and constraints. It examines the strategies adopted for quality improvement, cost reduction, investment and competency development. It also aims to establish the relationship between strategies and the different dimensions of competitiveness.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire was used to collect the research data: 75 valid responses were received. Statistical analysis of data acquired from the survey was carried out by a reliability test, t‐test and correlation analysis.

Findings

A growth‐supportive environment, raising funds from the market and a shortage of technical manpower are major constraining factors whereas cost, quality, and delivery time are the main pressures on the auto component sector. The auto component sector is flexible in developing strategies and those strategies relating to cost, quality; investment and competency development are significantly correlated with competitiveness.

Research limitations/implications

This study could be further extended by considering other aspects of strategy development, such as human resource, vendor development, organization culture, etc.

Practical implications

Organisations should make the necessary investment to develop new competencies, and should address cost reduction and quality improvement. They should also benchmark themselves against industry standards to sustain competitiveness.

Originality/value

This study will help organizations in shaping competitive strategies and in deciding dimensions of performance measurement.
Performance measurement system for enterprise networks
Authors: José Alfaro Saiz Juan , Ortiz Bas Angel , Rodríguez Rodríguez Raúl
Published: April 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this research paper is to present a performance measurement system for enterprise networks (PMS‐EN) developed within the context of a European project's context.

Design/methodology/approach

This research follows a constructivist approach, based on the following activities: recompilation, analysis and study of scientific knowledge, acquisition of main postulates and construction of initial framework.

Findings

This paper describes a performance measurement system called PMS‐EN that can be used for managing performance in the enterprise networks context. After analysing different frameworks relating to such a thematic, and once their main weaknesses were identified, it was decided to develop a PMS that will overcome these difficulties and, at the same time, provide enterprises operating within these environments, with a simple, efficient, robust and useful framework.

Research limitations/implications

This PMS has been built upon the framework called PMS IE‐GIP, but thought could be given to building it upon other frameworks existing within the literature.

Practical implications

Even though this proposal has been successfully applied to an enterprises network, it should be tested further by implementing it to other enterprises networks, with the main objective of enriching and extending it to other sectors.

Originality/value

This paper has described a new performance measurement system called PMS‐EN that can be used for managing performance in the enterprise networks context. It provides enterprises operating in this context a simple, efficient, robust and useful framework. Additionally, it is an efficient and effective tool for creating, managing and monitoring performance measures, in an analytical and graphical way, at both global and individual levels of the enterprise networks, which is lacking in most of the existing frameworks.
Benchmarking masonry labor productivity
Authors: Enshassi Adnan , Mohamed Sherif , Mayer Peter , Abed Karem
Published: April 2007

Purpose

Labor productivity is one of the most important factors that affect the physical progress of any construction project. In order to improve labor productivity, site production should be measured on a regular basis, and then compared to acceptable standard benchmarks. The objective of this paper is to measure masonry labor productivity in Gaza Strip, Palestine, using a consistent benchmarking approach.

Design/methodology/approach

Production data were collected from nine different construction projects located in Gaza. For each project, values for baseline productivity, disruption index, performance index and project management index were calculated.

Findings

Based on the nine targeted projects, the baseline productivity of masonry works in Gaza seems to range from 0.29 to 0.80 work‐hours per square meter. Calculated values were utilized to develop a correlation between two project benchmarks (i.e. disruption and project management indices). AS only four out of the targeted nine projects performed reasonably well, the paper strongly recommends developing a benchmarking standard for each local construction firm in Palestine which may lead to an improvement in the national construction productivity.

Originality/value

The outcome of this research will improve the national construction productivity in Palestine and highlights the benefit of improving benchmarking standard.
Reversal of loss of glomerular filtration rate in children with transplant nephropathy after switch to everolimus and low‐dose cyclosporine A
Authors: Pape Lars , Ahlenstiel Thurid , Ehrich Jochen H. H. , Offner Gisela
Published: April 2007

Abstract:   Until now there have been no good therapeutic options in children with biopsy‐proven transplant nephropathy (TN) and loss of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) while receiving cyclosporine A (CsA), mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and prednisolone (Pred). In 13 kidney transplanted children (mean age 13 yr, SD 4) with CsA/MMF/Pred immunosuppression, renal biopsy revealed significant TN. MMF was discontinued, CsA dose was reduced to 50% and Everolimus was started (1.6 mg/m2/day). Pred was stopped in 10 of 13 patients. The mean GFR was 55 mL/min/1.73 m2 (SD 24) one yr before switch, 45 mL/min/1.73 m2 (SD 16, p < 0.05) at the time of switch and 47 mL/min/1.73 m2 (SD 18, p < 0.05) 12 months later. There were no severe side‐effects or acute rejections. Lactate dehydrogenase, cholesterol, creatine kinase, and U‐albumin/creatinine ratio did not increase significantly. After six months, the mean certican‐C0 level was 4.0 μg/L (SD 1.5) and mean CsA‐C0 level was 52 ng/mL (SD 23). The GFR of transplanted kidneys in children with TN improved by changing immunosuppression from CsA/MMF/Pred to everolimus and low‐dose CsA.
Oral graft vs. host disease in children – Treatment with topical tacrolimus ointment
Authors: Albert Michael H. , Becker B. , Schuster F. R. , Klein B. , Binder V. , Adam K. , Nienhoff C. , Führer M. , Borkhardt A.
Published: April 2007

Abstract:  Oral chronic graft vs. host disease (GVHD) frequently presents in patients with sclerotic features of skin GVHD and is often associated with considerable limitations of oral food intake and decreased quality of life. Systemic tacrolimus is efficacious for prophylaxis and treatment of acute and chronic GVHD and topical tacrolimus has shown activity in chronic GVHD skin lesions. We therefore initiated a pilot study to investigate the safety and efficacy of topical tacrolimus ointment in children with oral GVHD. Six patients suffering from oral GVHD (five chronic and one acute) were included in the study. Tacrolimus ointment 0.1% was applied twice daily using sterile gauze. The only side‐effects observed were a slight burning discomfort after the first application in one patient and after food intake in another patient. Tacrolimus was absorbed systemically in four of six patients. Of six patients, we observed a complete response in two, a very good partial response (VGPR) in two, and a PR in two patients, respectively. We conclude that topical application of tacrolimus ointment holds promise as a safe and efficacious treatment for oral GVHD in children. The Food and Drug Administration has recently issued a health advisory about a potential cancer risk associated with topical tacrolimus treatment of the skin; therefore, its benefits should be weighed against its potential risks and diligent long‐term follow‐up should be carried out especially in children.
On Classification of Integrable Nonevolutionary Equations
Authors: Mikhailov Alexander V. , Novikov Vladimir S. , Wang Jing Ping
Published: April 2007

We study partial differential equations of second order (in time) that possess a hierarchy of infinitely many higher symmetries. The famous Boussinesq equation is a member of this class after the extension of the differential polynomial ring. We develop the perturbative symmetry approach in symbolic representation. Applying it, we classify the homogeneous integrable equations of fourth and sixth order (in the space derivative) equations, as well as we have found three new tenth‐order integrable equations. To prove the integrability we provide the corresponding bi‐Hamiltonian structures and recursion operators.
Earth, sky, wind, and weather
Authors: Ingold Tim
Published: April 2007

This paper seeks to understand what it means to live ‘in the open’. It begins with an account of experiments that test whether children have acquired a scientifically correct understanding of the shape of the earth, according to which people live all around on the outside of a solid sphere. This understanding cannot accommodate the phenomenon of the sky, in relation to which the earth can appear only as the ground of human habitation. James Gibson's ecological approach to perception offers a possible alternative, depicting earth and sky as complementary hemispheres. Yet for Gibson, this earth‐sky can be inhabited only insofar as it is furnished with objects. To that extent, it ceases to be open. Drawing on elements of Merleau‐Ponty's phenomenology, it is argued that in the open world persons and things relate not as closed forms but by virtue of their common immersion in the generative fluxes of the medium – in wind and weather. Fundamental to life is the process of respiration, by which organisms continually disrupt any boundary between earth and sky, binding substance and medium together in forging their own growth and movement. Thus to inhabit the open is not to be stranded on the outer surface of the earth but to be caught up in the transformations of the weather‐world.
Khoisan wind: hunting and healing
Authors: Low Chris
Published: April 2007

In this paper I draw on my findings and those of historical and recent Khoisan ethnography to attempt to explain how these southern African ‘Khoi’ and San peoples relate to wind and how the environmental phenomenon has informed their epistemology and ontology. I begin by fleshing out the knowledge and experience of wind among these past and recent hunter‐gatherers and, pointing to continuity in wind relationships and the ideas that stem from them, I go on to demonstrate how wind weaves into Khoisan understandings of the body and illness. Despite extensive interest in Bushman healing, anthropologists have overwhelmingly concentrated on the ‘trance’ healing dance. My findings suggest this partiality has obscured the wider healing context in which the dance operates. Exploring the wider context, including massage, ‘medicinal cuts’, and witchcraft, reveals that the ‘potency’ conceived as central to the healing dance is, in certain contexts, equivalent to overlapping ideas of wind, arrows, and smell. Examination of the ethnography reveals that a number of the associations I make between wind and potency have been partially recognized in specific Khoisan contexts but, because comparative studies of Khoisan are difficult and unpopular, these similarities have gone largely unnoticed.
Gruff boreas, deadly calms: a medical perspective on winds and the Victorians
Authors: Jankovic Vladimir
Published: April 2007

The medical connotations of winds have been known since antiquity. In the Western tradition, the Hippocratic opus put emphasis on the pathological exposure to winds which were considered as contributing to the so‐called ‘atmospheric constitutions’, defined by the nature and intensity of the prevailing diseases. While such views continued to inform medical environmentalism well into the modern period, the early colonial encounters with extreme atmospheres brought to attention the extraordinary qualities of the non‐European winds. The winds were individual entities and their pathological agency was associated with geographical origins. The article looks at the period in which such cultural understandings of the wind underwent a profound shift and eventual decline. Owing to the changing public importance of scientific medicine in Victorian Britain, the environmental meanings that had previously coexisted in an epistemic continuum collapsed into a unitary theory that reduced the wind's syncretic pathology to the physical qualities of atmospheric air. The declining interest in medical analyses of windquawind marked the end of a ‘colloquial’ meteorology and the end of winds as ‘natural’ kinds endowed with geographical footprints and peculiar ‘ways of blowing’.
Time to move: winds and the political economy of space in Andamanese culture
Authors: Pandya Vishvajit
Published: April 2007

Seasons, or temporal duration, for Andamanese are created by the flow of winds through the Andamanese cultural construct of space, which is neither fixed nor constant. In order to organize the space for society, Andaman islanders have to move constantly out from the place where the winds are. Winds associated with temperamental spirits are powerful aspects of nature that culture has to negotiate. Within this worldview where winds affect individual body condition and the capacity to continue hunting and gathering, Andaman islanders negotiate space by creating conditions that invite winds to structure and sustain life. For this purpose, smells are ritualized and wind movements are manipulated. As a result, seasons are distinguished either by winds that are spirit‐given, or by a lack of winds caused by islanders' actions. Based on ethnographic data from the Ongees and Jarwas, this analysis will focus on how various forms of movement in Andamanese culture are negotiated according to a political economy of winds and smells. The worldview of the Andaman islanders, within which winds are so central, has major implications for government authorities, who are keen to confine the translocating Jarwas to a specific and permanent location. But is this possible for the Andamanese, for whom space, like time, changes by the presence and absence of winds?
Wafting on the wind: smell and the cycle of spirit and matter
Authors: Parkin David
Published: April 2007

Over the centuries among many peoples, wind, air, breath, and notions of soul and life‐force have been regarded as intertwined semantically and in their effects on the world. Humans and intangible and invisible non‐human agents are often said to share these elements. Life as breath and wind as spirit, and both as evidence of consciousness, intention or soul, allow persons to abridge what they otherwise view as the separate domains of solid and non‐solid phenomena. They may understand them as transformable one into the other: human becoming spirit and spirit taking on human characteristics and form. The further association of this complex with smell reinforces the cyclical idea of human and non‐human transformation, by presenting it as what we ethnocentrically call a material and spiritual cycle, because smell itself has molecular origin and effect and yet, as regards vision and touch, can be elusive like spirit. The particular case described is of Bantu‐speaking inhabitants of the East African coast, and shows how Muslims and non‐Muslims have common metaphysical assumptions concerning this semantic cluster despite differences of religious belief.
Pneumabetween body and soul
Authors: Lloyd Geoffrey
Published: April 2007

This paper explores the divergent ideas that different ancient Greek thinkers entertained on the nature of wind and air outside the body, on the role of breath and air within it (e.g. in causing disease), on their contribution to life and intelligence, and on the mind‐body problem, where dualists who insisted that the soul is incorporeal were locked in controversy with monists who denied that. One of the distinctive features of Greek thought is its polemical nature, with rival views on offer both on substantive questions and on methodology. Alongside the speculative theories of the philosophers, there were those who tackled the problems empirically. But the advances that Galen (in particular) made in his understanding of the anatomy of the nervous and blood‐vascular systems did nothing to resolve the problem of the physical basis of vital functions.
Introduction
Authors: Low Chris , Hsu Elisabeth
Published: April 2007

The introduction contextualizes the historical, ethnographic, and theoretical accounts of wind in the following papers, all of which deal with how wind the ‘natural’ phenomenon relates to human life and culture. It draws attention to the diversity of relationships with wind whilst also addressing why it is that similar patterns of ideas surrounding wind exist across cultures. It explores the notion that human/wind relationships are tightly bound to the sensuous qualities of wind, which in turn reflect the embedded unfolding of human life as an aspect of environment, and drawing on phenomenology as a particularly apposite hermeneutic approach to understanding the relationship.
Quantifying stochastic and deterministic threats to island seabirds: last endemic prions face extinction from falcon peregrinations
Authors: Jiguet F. , Robert A. , Micol T. , Barbraud C.
Published: April 2007

Understanding how anthropically induced interacting factors may compromise the viability of a particular species or population necessitates expressing them in terms of quantitative effects on population dynamics. The use of mechanistic models to assess these effects is especially helpful to management plans when the causes of species decline are multi‐factorial and potentially interacting. Here, we took the opportunity of observed predation by a vagrant falcon on a rare and endemic seabird to develop a population dynamics model encompassing multiple deterministic and stochastic threats. The Macgillivray's prion Pachyptila macgillivrayi, with a world breeding population of c. 540 individuals confined to one rat‐free islet off Saint‐Paul Island (Southern Indian Ocean), faces high extinction risk from vagrant falcon predation. Extinction is predicted to occur within 200 years if one falcon preys on prions every 5 years, with predation occurring either on breeders only or also on non‐breeders. The minimum initial prion population size ensuring a low extinction risk increased linearly with the annual probability of predator occurrence. Therefore, increasing the initial population size is a useful management option to help the prion face stochastic predation. Recent rat eradication on Saint‐Paul Island helps the prion to face this threat as it released the carrying capacity of the colony, but the earlier population size might never be recovered if falcons carry on preying on prions frequently. This rare burrowing petrel provides a remarkable case study of an endemic insular species threatened with predation by alien mammals, which reduced historical population size dramatically, and by genuine vagrants as catastrophic events that reduce population growth and increase its temporal variance, and might cause the extinction.
Global population size of a critically endangered lemur, Perrier's sifaka
Authors: Banks M. A. , Ellis E. R. , Antonio  , Wright P. C.
Published: April 2007

The Perrier's sifaka Propithecus perrieri, considered critically endangered by the IUCN (World Conservation Union; 2004), is one of the least studied and most endangered primates in the world, yet baseline information on its distribution and population levels has not been updated for over 10 years. Density estimates from former studies suggest that only between 100 and 2000 individuals remain in the wild. In 2003–2004, using the line‐transect method, information on the distribution and population levels of this and sympatric primate species were obtained. Multi‐spectral, Landsat 7 satellite images of areas comprising the known Perrier's sifaka distribution, acquired in 1994 and 2002, were compared using spatial analysis techniques to quantify regional patterns of deforestation. Results from this study indicate that the global population of the Perrier's sifaka consists of about 915 individuals and the effective population size is unlikely to exceed 230 individuals. Furthermore, an annual deforestation rate of 1.2% was detected in the only protected area where this species occurs. Deforestation, the decline of taboos against hunting and human immigration patterns influence primate population status in northern Madagascar and threaten to drive the Perrier's sifaka to extinction in the near future.
Is attempting to change marine mammal behaviour a generic solution to the bycatch problem? A dugong case study
Authors: Hodgson A. J. , Marsh H. , Delean S. , Marcus L.
Published: April 2007

Incidental bycatch in fishing nets is a global cause of incidental mortality of marine mammals. Two classes of approaches attempt to mitigate this impact: (1) approaches that change the behaviour of the fisher (e.g. closures and gear modifications), (2) approaches that attempt to change the behaviour of the bycatch species (e.g. acoustic alarms or pingers). Even though the effectiveness of pingers has been established for very few bycatch species, pingers are now mandatory in many fisheries throughout the world. Pingers are being trialled in commercial gill net fisheries in tropical Australia to reduce the bycatch of the dugong and three species of coastal dolphins, despite an absence of robust assessments of: (1) their effectiveness in reducing bycatch, (2) the likelihood of alienating bycatch species from critical habitats. We conducted replicate experiments to test the behavioural responses of dugongs to 4 and 10 kHz pingers in an array simulating a net. Each experiment comprised three sequential 10‐min treatments in which two pingers were: (1) inactive, (2) active, (3) inactive. The rate of decline of the number of dugongs within the focal arena did not change significantly while pingers were activated. Dugongs passed between the pingers (where a net would be located) irrespective of whether the alarms were active or inactive, fed throughout the experiments and did not change their orientation to investigate pinger noise, or their likelihood of vocalizing. We conclude that: (1) pingers are unlikely to alienate dugongs from critical habitats or reduce dugong mortalities in fishing nets, (2) bycatch mitigation strategies such as pingers that rely on changing animal behaviour should only be used after rigorous testing on all likely bycatch species.
Mechanisms Underlying Different Surface ECG Morphologies of Recurrent Monomorphic Ventricular Tachycardia and Their Modification by Procainamide
Authors: OSSWALD STEFAN , WILBER DAVID J. , LIN JIUNN‐LEE , DU DUKE , HOLDEN HARTLEY B. , RUSKIN JEREMY N. , GARAN HASAN
Published: April 2007

ECG Pleomorphism of Ventricular Tachycardia. Introduction: Distinct surface ECG morphologies (ECGMs), from one episode to the next, of recurrent monomorphic ventricular tachycardia (VT) in the same patient complicate endocardial catheter mapping and the success of ablative therapy. This study investigates the incidence and mechanisms of multiple ECGMs during recurrent monomorphic VTs in a canine model of experimental myocardial infarction (MI).

Methods and Results: Computerized ECG analysis and simultaneous endocardial and epicardial activation mapping with a 64 bipolar electrode array were used to analyze the relation between site of VT origin, local activation sequence, and surface ECGM in 72 VT episodes induced in 9 of 17 dogs with experimental MI. Pairwise comparisons of all VTs induced in the same animal were done in drug‐free state (47 VTs) and after intravenous procainamide (25 VTs). In drug‐free state, VT pairs with similar surface ECGMs manifested endocardial hreak‐through sites (BSs) within a distance < 10 mm in 46 (100%) of 46 VT pairs compared to 43 (45%) of 95 VT pairs with different surface ECGMs (P < 0.0001). Of all 89 VT pairs with endocardial BSs within < 10 mm, similar endocardial activation patterns were found in 34 (74%) of 46 pairs with similar ECGMs in contrast to 6 (14%) of 43 pairs with different ECGMs (P < 0.001). Similar comparisons of VT pairs induced after intravenous procainamide administration showed that the endocardial BSs were located within < 10 mm in 9 (75%) of 12 VT pairs with similar and in 17 (49%) of 95 with different surface ECGMs, respectively (P = NS).

Conclusions: In the same heart, similar surface ECGMs of recurrent VT are highly predictive of closely spaced endocardial BSs in drug‐free state, hut not after procainamide administration. Nearly half of the VTs with different surface ECGMs still originate from closely spaced endocardial BSs but commonly manifest a change in the endocardial activation spread from this site. Thus, assumptions about different mechanisms and sites of VT origin based on dilTerent surface ECGMs should be made with caution.
Atrial Fibrillation/Flutter Induced by Implantable Ventricular Defibrillator Shocks:
Authors: KATZ AMOS , EVANS JOSEPH J. , FOGEL RICHARD I. , SCHIER JOHN J. , MATHENY ROBERT G. , BARANOWSKI GENA M. , PRYSTOWSKY ERIC N.
Published: April 2007

Atrial Fibrillation/Flutter Induced by Defibrillator Shocks. Introduction: We evaluated the incidence and energy dependence of atrial fibrillation/flutter (AF) induced by implantable ventricular defibrillator shocks in 63 patients tested in the operating room or electrophysiology laboratory.

Methods and Results: Defibrillator shocks were epicardial monophasic in 32 patients, and through an Endotak® lead endocardial monophasic in 19 and biphasic in 12 patients. The epicardial and endocardial patient groups had similar clinical characteristics. A total of 517 defibrillator shocks were given. The epicardial group received 336 total defibrillator shocks and 10 ± 6 shocks (mean ± SD) per patient compared with the endocardial group, which received 181 total shocks and 6 ± 4 defibrillator shocks per patient (P = 0.004). In the epicardial group, AF occurred in 13 (41 %) patients and in 17 (5%) of the 336 shocks. No AF was induced with endocardial defibrillator shocks. The epicardial mean energy was 16 ± 9 J, lower than the endocardial mean energy of 20 ± 9 J (P < 0.004). In the epicardial monophasic group, energy correlated with AF induction. Each patient received 7 ± 6 defibrillator shocks < 15 J and 4 ± 2 shocks ≥ 15 J, yet AF occurred in only 2.3% versus 9.6% (P < 0.05) of defibrillator shocks < 15 J and ≥ 15 J, respectively. Of note, AF was not induced with energy < 4 J or > 31 J.

Conclusions: In the epicardial configuration, AF induction is energy dependent, with an apparent lower and upper limit of vulnerability. AF induction by defibrillator shocks delivered through an Endotak lead is very rare, possibly related to an apparent upper limit of vulnerability of less energy, avoidance of thoracotomy, or different energy field distribution.