bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The use of workload information to control job lateness in controlled and uncontrolled release production systems
Authors: Bertrand J.W.M.
Published: October 2002

The performance of a workload dependent scheduling and due date assignment rule is investigated. The rule uses time‐phased workload information and time‐phased capacity information. Performance comparisons are made with a rule that uses only time‐aggregated workload information. The performance for two methods of releasing jobs to the shop is investigated: an uncontrolled method where the jobs are released at random, and a controlled method where jobs are released to maintain a specific workload norm. Computer simulation is used as the research tool. The mean and standard deviation of lateness are used as performance measures.

The results indicate that the use of time‐phased workload information may decrease the variance of the lateness, as compared with the use of time‐aggregated workload information only. However, the magnitude of the effect depends on the type of sequencing rule used. Furthermore, if time‐phased information is used, control of the mean lateness requires that the amount of capacity available for loading used in the loading procedure differs from the amount of capacity actually available for production. It is shown that by selecting adequate parameter values, both a constant mean lateness and a small variance of lateness can be obtained with this type of assignment rule.

These results are valid for both types of release situations. So even in the case where the workload of the shop is under strict control, and the mean operation flow time does not, therefore, vary, the use of time‐phased workload information can decrease the variance of the lateness.
Manual versus automated check encoding in commercial banks
Authors: Davis Samuel G. , Reutzel Edward T.
Published: October 2002

Despite moves toward electronic funds transfer systems, the financial community must continue to cope with the labor‐intensive paper processing requirements associated with a payments mechanism still heavily reliant upon checks. An attempt to eliminate the labor intensity is the recent development of optical scanning capture equipment which “reads” printed or handwritten documents. Mathematical programming models are used to compare the manual and the automated processing systems on a cost basis and to identify the kind of environment suitable for automation.
The subassemblies problem: Make to stock or combine?
Authors: Smith Spencer B.
Published: October 2002

In intermittent manufacturing of complex, assembled products, subassemblies are commonly produced on separate production orders, stored, and withdrawn as needed to make higher level assemblies. An alternate procedure is to make subassemblies as a set of operations on the production orders for their parent assemblies. If the latter method is employed, we say the subassemblies are combined.

Whether subassemblies are made to stock or combined affects the number of production orders issued, the amount of stockkeeping and materials handling, the number of setups, and the size of the inventory investment. As a result, the impact on manufacturing costs can be substantial.

In earlier work, the author developed and applied cost minimization methods for making these decisions in a preMRP, order point‐order quantity environment. In this paper these methods are extended so that they are applicable to computer‐based MRP systems.

The proposed decision‐making strategy is to select a product line and establish the set of subassemblies within the line which could be either made to stock or combined. A typical master production schedule is selected and requirements are determined for the level 1 assemblies. Each level 1 assembly is analyzed to determine the cost associated with combining it or not combining it with each of its parents. The minimum cost alternative is selected and the process is repeated for the level 2 assemblies and so forth until all levels have been analyzed.

A number of numerical examples are presented including cases where subassemblies are common to multiple parents, multiple units of a subassembly are used in one parent, and subassemblies have repair demand. Also a method is developed and illustrated for making decisions where learning affects the cost of assembly operations and must be taken into account.

Analysis of product structure to determine whether subassemblies should be made to stock or combined offers the possibility of substantial cost savings. This paper presents a simple, straight forward method for making the analysis in an MRP environment.
On the natural cycle time of assembly lines
Authors: Shtub Avraham
Published: October 2002

Heavy products such as airplanes are assembled in an assembly line fashion. These assembly lines are designed to complete a unit every few hours and up to a few days. The size of the product and the limited space available for work stations motivate the operation of such lines in two or three shifts.

The objective of this research is to analyze the effects of multiple shifts on production scheduling of assembly lines in heavy industry. Two effects are: 1. On learning and improvement of performance as a function of experience and 2. On the production control system.

The use of shifts causes a synchronization problem when the cycle time and the length of each shift do not have some special attributes; this problem can be solved by using parallel assembly line operating at their “natural cycle time.” A procedure for calculating the natural cycle time is suggested.

The effect of parallel assembly lines on the expected labor cost of the line was checked by designing a set of randomly generated problems. The simulation study suggests that the parallel line configuration does not change significantly the total number of workers in the production system when facility layout cost is kept constant.

The major conclusion of this study is that management should consider parallel line configuration whenever a synchronization problem exists and causes difficulties in production control as well as reduction in the learning effect.
Selecting master slab width(s) for continuous steel casting
Authors: Vonderembse Mark A.
Published: October 2002

This research investigates a production planning problem faced by one of the largest companies in the steel industry. The company constructed a continuous caster capable of producing slabs of steel from 92 to 104 inches wide. The planning decision is to select the most economical master slab width(s) from this range. Embedded in this production planning problem is a short‐term scheduling problem. Because master slabs are wider than customer requirements and wider than the equipment which processes them, they must be ripped longitudinally. Before selecting the master slab widths, a procedure must be developed to combine various customer order widths to obtain minimum losses when the master slabs are ripped. The author presents a mathematical programming formulation developed to solve this short‐term scheduling problem, and then demonstrates its use in solving the production planning problem of selecting the master slab width(s). While the actual results may not be directly applicable to different sets of circumstances, the methodology and its use are important, as demonstrated by the fact that the results obtained from the study have been implemented by the company.
Decision support systems (DSS) design for operations managers: an empirical study of the impact of report design and decision style on effective choice
Authors: Davis Donald L. , Davis R. Dean , Shrode William S.
Published: October 2002

In making decisions, production managers usually rely on information contained in reports generated by an information system. Unfortunately, a production manager is likely to receive a report that best supports his/her decision‐making style only by chance. This investigation studies the individual differences in decision‐making style for production managers making production scheduling decisions, and the decision support design that best supports their decisions.

Ninety‐six subjects classified by decision‐making style (Myers‐Briggs Classification) acted as production managers in a simulated production environment. Sequential production scheduling decisions were made based on reports generated by a computerized production simulator. The simulator was an interactive program that simulates a production task in a single‐product organization. Based upon the information contained in the reports, managers developed production schedules for the firm's next production run and input their decisions into the simulator, which then generated the reports for that run. The managers' objective was to minimize the firm's total cost.

Decision‐making style and the type of report were examined as independent variables in the study. The dependent variables were decision time, decision confidence, and total cost of production. Thus, a manager's performance was measured by decision time, confidence, and the manager's total cost.

Each manager was classified by decision‐making style and received as output one of four report designs, i.e., tabular‐raw data, tabular‐summarized data, graphical‐raw data, or graphical‐summarized data.

The results of the experiment suggest that for production decision support systems there are report designs better suited to certain decision‐making styles than others for scheduling decisions. However, the results indicate that managers with certain decision‐making styles can make effective scheduling decisions with more than one type of report design. The implications of the results are illustrated by means of example MRP reports.
MRP strategies: Effects on cash flow
Authors: Veral Emre A.
Published: October 2002

As material requirements planning systems do not consider capacity limitations in their inherent logic, considerable effort must be spent to achieve feasible production plans. This simulation study examines the cash flow consequences of nine production planning strategies consisting of three master production scheduling methods and three component/part scheduling methods. Experimentation examines different operational cost ratios. Evaluation criteria used are characterized by total cash flow and periodic variablity of cash flow to support operating expenses for each planning strategy.

Simulation results indicate that sophisticated methods for planning do not necessarily cause significant savings. A second finding is that a smoother master production schedule tends to result in more stable cash outflow patterns. In comparison, component scheduling efforts are found to have relatively insignificant consequences when compared to the effects of master production schedules.
Performance evaluation of the LDR and the PSH with forecast errors
Authors: Barman Samir , Tersine Richard J. , Burch E.Earl
Published: October 2002

Despite its ability to produce optimal solutions, the Linear Decision Rule (LDR) has not had a significant impact in the business environment. The Production Switching Heuristic (PSH), which has shown promising results when compared with the LDR, has experienced some business application because of its practicability and flexibility. During aggregate production planning, forecast errors are almost unavoidable, but the sensitivity of these models to such errors has not been thoroughly tested. Insufficient attention has been paid to truly understand the cost effects of forecast errors and other important interactions. The study investigates these issues by analyzing the results of 740 simulated problems.

Using the famous “paint factory” cost data, the sensitivity of the LDR and the PSH are examined under various experimental conditions. The factors controlled at different levels are: forecast error mean, forecast error standard deviation, demand pattern, demand variability, and cost coefficients. The results show that 1) the PSH is generally less sensitive than the LDR to forecast errors, 2) both forecast error mean and standard deviation effectively measure the severity of forecast errors, and 3) underforecasts cause less cost penalty than overforecasts.

The outcome of the study has helpful managerial implications for aggregate planning related decisionmaking. It suggests that the use of the PSH could result in potential cost savings even if significant forecast errors are envisioned as long as the period‐to‐period demand variability is not substantially high. Also, BIAS warrants more attention than MSE in evaluating the extent of forecast errors and their eventual cost impact on aggregate production planning.
Use of the net present value criterion in a random job shop where early shipments are forbidden
Authors: Scudder Gary D. , Smith‐Daniels Dwight E. , Rohleder Thomas
Published: October 2002

Both practitioners and researchers in the field of Operations Management have suggested that shop scheduling should be an integral component in both the strategic and tactical plans for an organization's assets. This paper examines the use of an accepted measure of return on assets, net present value (NPV), in a simulated shop scheduling environment where early shipment of jobs before their due dates is forbidden. In addition, early shipment of raw materials to the shop is also forbidden. This shop environment is consistent with the prevalent practice in industry of accepting orders only on a just‐in‐time basis to reduce purchased parts inventories. The NPV measure provides a means of balancing a variety of performance criteria that have been treated as separate objectives previously, including work‐in‐process inventory, finished goods inventory, mean flow time and mean tardiness, while also providing a means of measuring monetarily the value of various shop scheduling approaches.

The NPV performance of priority scheduling rules and order release policies is measured in this research through the simulation of a random job shop under a variety of environmental conditions. It is found in a comparison of priority rules that use time‐based information with those that use job value information that the Critical Ratio rule provides higher average performance than the three other rules used in the study. However, in some situations that are consistent with JIT practice, value‐based priority rules also perform well. The use of a mechanism for delaying the release of jobs to each work center in the shop provided higher average NPV when shop utilization was set at a low level of 80%, while immediate release of work upon its arrival to the shop provided superior performance at a higher shop utilization level of 94%. While JIT materials delivery and costing yields higher NPV, it did not alter the relative ranking of priority rule/release policy combinations. In addition, it was found that environmental factors, including average job length, average number of tasks per job and level of tardiness penalty, resulted in greater variations in NPV performance than the institution of a JIT raw materials delivery policy.
A volume and material handling cost based heuristic for designing cellular manufacturing cells
Authors: Ahmed Mesbah U. , Ahmed Nazim U. , Nandkeolyar Udayan
Published: October 2002

One of the major problems in a group technology or cellular manufacturing environment is the formation of part groups and machine cells. Because of the combinatorial nature of the cell formation problem, it is difficult to solve the problem optimally. Most of the procedures related to cell design in cellular manufacturing operate on the part‐machine incidence matrix in an attempt to identify block diagonality. If complete block diagonality does not exist, the decision about cell configuration is left to the subjective judgement of the designer. These procedures are also generally based on part routing only, and do not consider part volume and material handling costs.

In this paper we develop an integer programming model, as well as a heuristic to effectively assign machines to cells. In these procedures we consider component volumes, costs related to movement of components between and within cells, and penalty for not using all machines in a cell visited by a component. Since the integer programming formulation becomes large even for small problems, an efficient heuristic is developed to solve larger problems. The heuristic solutions to 180 randomly generated small problems were compared against the optimal solutions obtained by the integer programming model. The heuristic has been found to identify optimal solutions in all 180 cases.

This heuristic is also compared to several well known algorithms on 900 larger test problems. These problems were generated to cover a wide range of environmental situations such as varying levels of block diagonality in the part‐machine incidence matrix, and diversity in the component volumes and material handling costs. In 99% of the problems our heuristic generated solutions which are better or as good as the best solution obtained by other algorithms. Further, in situations where complete block diagonality in the part‐machine incidence matrix did not exist, our heuristic produced even better results. Since the maximum number of iterations required in our heuristic is the number of machines in the problem, the heuristic is computationally efficient.
International factory productivity gains
Authors: Schmenner Roger W.
Published: October 2002

This paper analyzes influences on factory productivity gains by using detailed, consolidated, crosssectional survey data from 561 plants on three continents, and by using times series data from five plants of a single company (a major domestic auto maker). Some grand themes, all intuitively satisfying, surface in the regression results on both sets of data. Technology advance, throughput time reduction, work force involvement, quality, inventory reduction, and simplified organization all foster productivity gains. Furthermore, using data from another company (Square D), labor efficiency is debunked as a proxy for labor productivity; other forces are at play in influencing productivity gains.

The breadth of the survey sample (United States/Canada, Europe, Korea) permits tests of two often‐touted hypotheses. It is frequently proposed that location‐related factors (e.g., culture, governmental policies) affect factory productivity. Careful examination of the statistical evidence, however, does not confirm this. Similarly, managers often state that process industry plants are more productive than nonprocess, more fabrication and assembly, plants. This assertion, too, is not confirmed by the statistical evidence. Other things being equal, process industry plants do not show productivity gains any greater than non‐process industry plants.
Alternative quality improvement practices and organization performance
Authors: Adam Everett E.
Published: October 2002

Quality improvement is a highly desired objective in the fiercely competitive international business world, yet it remains elusive to many US organizations. This study relates alternative quality improvement approaches to actual operating and financial performance. Productivity improvement approaches are also investigated and related to performance to define better the relationship between quality and productivity. In this study, multiple quality and productivity approaches are correlated to eight quality, three operating, and three financial performance measures for 187 US business firms. Results indicate a strong relationship between a quality improvement approach and performance quality. The relationship between a quality improvement approach and operating or financial performance is weaker, but significant. Productivity improvement approaches also help predict quality, operating, and financial performance — often similarly to quality improvement approaches. This study suggests that the profile of quality and productivity improvement approach should vary, depending upon whether the firm is most interested in performance quality, operating improvement, or financial performance.
Long-Run Returns on Stock and Bond Portfolios
Authors: Butler Kirt C. , Domian DaleL.
Published: October 2002

This paper presents asset returns over long aping periods in a form useful for retirement planning. Time diversi~cat~n, heretofore analyzed for lump-sum investments, still serves to reduce the risk of stock investments whenfunds are accumulatedmonth by month, We consider investments infive stock and bond asset classes as well as various asset allocation strategies. Probability distributions are computed for retirement wealth over a range of investment horizons.
Abstracts of Articles on Individual Financial Management
Authors: Myers Phyllis Schiller
Published: October 2002

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Characterisation of a novel mouse liver aldo‐keto reductase AKR7A5
Authors: Hinshelwood Alison , McGarvie Gail , Ellis Elizabeth
Published: October 2002

We have characterised a novel aldo‐keto reductase (AKR7A5) from mouse liver that is 78% identical to rat aflatoxin dialdehyde reductase AKR7A1 and 89% identical to human succinic semialdehyde (SSA) reductase AKR7A2. AKR7A5 can reduce 2‐carboxybenzaldehyde (2‐CBA) and SSA as well as a range of aldehyde and diketone substrates. Western blots show that it is expressed in liver, kidney, testis and brain, and at lower levels in skeletal muscle, spleen heart and lung. The protein is not inducible in the liver by dietary ethoxyquin. Immunodepletion of AKR7A5 from liver extracts shows that it is one of the major liver 2‐CBA reductases but that it is not the main SSA reductase in this tissue.
Electrophysiological characterization and molecular identification of the Phoneutria nigriventer peptide toxin PnTx2‐61
Authors: Matavel Alessandra , Cruz Jader S , Penaforte Claudia L , Araújo Demétrius A.M , Kalapothakis Evanguedes , Prado Vânia F , Diniz Carlos R , Cordeiro Marta N , Beirão Paulo S.L
Published: October 2002

A cDNA with 403 nucleotides encoding the precursor of the toxin PnTx2‐6 was cloned and sequenced. Subsequent analysis revealed that the precursor begins with a signal peptide and a glutamate‐rich propeptide. The succeeding peptide confirmed the reported sequence of PnTx2‐6. The purified toxin exerted complex effects on Na+ current of frog skeletal muscle. There was a marked decrease of the inactivation kinetics, and a shift to hyperpolarizing potentials of both the Na+ conductance and the steady‐state inactivation voltage dependences, along with a reduction of the current amplitude. The concentration dependence of the modified current suggests a K
D of 0.8 μM for the toxin–channel complex.
Rhodopsin phosphorylation in bovine rod outer segments is more sensitive to the inhibitory action of recoverin at the low rhodopsin bleaching than it is at the high bleaching
Authors: Senin Ivan I. , Zargarov Aminullah A. , Akhtar Muhammad , Philippov Pavel P.
Published: October 2002

Recoverin, a calcium‐binding protein, is supposed to have rhodopsin kinase as a target in the retinal rod cell. In the present work, we show that efficiency of recoverin as an inhibitor of rhodopsin phosphorylation in bovine rod outer segments is inversely proportional to the level of rhodopsin bleaching. These results, together with the data obtained previously in a reconstituted system (Senin et al. (1997) Biochem. J. 321, 551–555), allow us to hypothesize that recoverin might be responsible for a Ca2+‐dependent regulation of the kinase in vivo, preventing it from participating in the phosphorylation of unbleached rhodopsin.
The Ca2+/calmodulin binding domain of the Ca2+‐ATPase linked to the Na+,K+‐ATPase alters transport stoichiometry
Authors: Zhao Jianxing , Vasilets Larisa A. , Yoshimura Shige H. , Gu Quanbao , Ishii Toshiaki , Takeyasu Kunio , Schwarz Wolfgang
Published: October 2002

Using Xenopus oocytes as an expression system, we have investigated ion‐transport and ouabain‐binding properties of a chimeric ATPase (α1‐CBD; Ishii and Takeyasu (1995) EMBO J. 14, 58–67) formed by the α1‐subunit of chicken Na+,K+‐ATPase (α1) and the calmodulin binding domain (CBD) of the rat plasma membrane Ca2+‐ATPase. α1‐CBD can be expressed and transported to the oocyte plasma membrane without the β‐subunit, and shows ouabain binding. In contrast to ouabain binding, this chimera requires the β‐subunit for its cation (Na+ and K+) transport activity. α1‐CBD exhibits an altered stoichiometry of Na+‐K+ exchange. A detailed analysis of 22Na+ efflux, 86Rb+ uptake, pump current and ouabain binding suggests that the chimeric molecule can operate in an electrically silent 2Na+–2K+ exchange mode and, with much lower probability, in its normal 3Na+–2K+ exchange mode.
Microinjected cDNA encoding JAK2 protein‐tyrosine kinase induces DNA synthesis in NIH 3T3 cells1
Authors: Smith Mark R. , Duhé Roy J. , Liu Ya-lun , Farrar William L.
Published: October 2002

Microinjection of expression plasmids encoding either JAK2 or hyperactive (NΔ661)rJAK2 into serum‐starved NIH 3T3 cells resulted in 20–30‐fold induction of DNA synthesis. Control microinjections of buffer or parental pcDNA3 vector resulted in only 3–5‐fold induction of DNA synthesis. Induction of DNA synthesis was blocked when plasmid encoding JAK2 was microinjected in the presence of the JAK2‐selective inhibitor AG‐490, whereas AG‐490 did not block DNA synthesis induced by microinjected plasmid encoding (NΔ661)rJAK2. The ability of JAK2 to initiate the Go/S cell cycle transition is comparable to that of other proto‐oncogenes, and supports a mechanistic role for overexpressed Janus kinases in carcinogenesis.
PDMP blocks the BFA‐induced ADP‐ribosylation of BARS‐50 in isolated Golgi membranes
Authors: De Matteis Maria Antonieta , Luna Ana , Di Tullio Giuseppe , Corda Daniela , Kok Jan Willem , Luini Alberto , Egea Gustavo
Published: October 2002

We reported that an inhibitor of sphingolipid biosynthesis, D,L‐threo‐1‐phenyl‐2‐decanoylamino‐3‐morpholino‐1‐propanol (PDMP), blocks brefeldin A (BFA)‐induced retrograde membrane transport from the Golgi complex to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) (Kok et al., 1998, J. Cell Biol. 142, 25–38). We now show that PDMP partially blocks the BFA‐induced ADP‐ribosylation of the cytosolic protein BARS‐50. Moreover, PDMP does not interfere with the BFA‐induced inhibition of the binding of ADP‐ribosylation factor (ARF) and the coatomer component β‐coat protein to Golgi membranes. These results are consistent with a role of ADP‐ribosylation in the action of BFA and with the involvement of BARS‐50 in the regulation of membrane trafficking.
Robust planning: a new paradigm for demand chain planning
Authors: Van Landeghem Hendrik , Vanmaele Hendrik
Published: October 2002

This paper proposes a new paradigm for tactical demand chain planning (DCP), called robust planning, based on risk assessment of the supply and demand chain. The concepts of supply chain management (SCM), and its extension demand chain management (DCM), have been at the center of much recent research. One of the reasons for this is that, over the last years, a significant number of information systems have emerged, which claim to support the concept. The paper argues that these systems mostly adopt a myopic view of planning, based on pure deterministic planning methods. It demonstrates that such an approach fails to coop with the considerable uncertainty of the planning information. The proposed robust planning paradigm is then introduced and its impact explained, using the well‐known example of the beer game. It holds the promise of reducing the number of re‐planning cycles, through a better characterization of the expected service level performance over a medium planning horizon. Finally, a case study will show the value of robust planning in a European chemical enterprise.
Postnatal expression and distribution of Refsum disease gene associated protein in the rat retina and visual cortex: effect of binocular visual deprivation
Authors: Ahn Kyu Youn , Nam Kwang Il , Kim Baik Yoon , Cho Chul Woong , Jeong Sang Ki , Yang Kun Jin , Kim Kyung Keun
Published: October 2002

Previously, phytanoyl‐CoA alpha‐hydroxylase‐associated protein 1 (PAHX‐AP1) was isolated as a novel neuron‐specific protein to interact with Refsum disease (RfD) gene PAHX. Its expression in the brain increased after eyelid opening, and the elevated level was maintained through adulthood. In this report, to verify the hypothesis that light could trigger this increase, we have examined the developmental distribution pattern of PAHX‐AP1 in rat retina and visual cortex, and changes of its expression by binocular deprivation. Northern blot analyses demonstrated PAHX‐AP1 expression reached its highest level in the visual cortex and eyeball at 4 weeks after birth, and these levels were maintained through adult life. Two weeks after visual deprivation, its expression in the eyeball and visual cortex decreased compared with the control. In situ hybridization analyses of the retina showed that PAHX‐AP1 expression was limited to the ganglionic cell layer at 10 days after birth, but expressed in the inner nuclear cell layer and extended to the outer nuclear cell layer at 2 and 3 weeks after birth, respectively. Two weeks after visual deprivation, however, it decreased in the ganglionic and inner nuclear cell layer, and disappeared in the rod and cone cell layers. In the visual cortex, strong signals of PAHX‐AP1 were detected in layers IV and VI, and II–VI at 10 days and 2 weeks after birth, respectively. Its expression decreased after 2 weeks of visual deprivation. These results indicate that visual stimulation is essential for the maintenance of PAHX‐AP1 expressions in the retina, especially in the rod and cone cell layers, and visual cortex, and suggest that PAHX‐AP1 may be involved in the developmental regulation of the photoreceptor's function.
What are the reciprocal influences of randomized clinical trials and the patient–psychiatrist relationship?
Authors: Catteau J. , Cyran C. , Bordet R. , Thomas C.E. , Dupuis B.A.
Published: October 2002

The goal of this prospective investigation was to study the course and the quality of patient-psychiatrist relationships during phase II / phase III clinical trials of antidepressant medication prescribed for depressive disorders. All patients who participated in the clinical trials (and subsequently in this survey) signed written informed consent statements and were subject to random double blind treatment assignment. Retrospective analysis of 118 investigations was carried out, and the patients involved were questioned concerning their experiences and impressions during and after the study. Data show that the outcome of clinical trials of antidepressant drugs are not a function of pre-existing good patient-psychiatrist relationships. On the other hand, no effects on the patient-psychiatrist relationship were found as a result of the experimental procedure, and it can be concluded that no detrimental effects on future patient-psychiatrist relationships were incurred.
Effect of preferential concentration on the
settling velocity of heavy particles in
homogeneous isotropic turbulence
Authors: ALISEDA A. , CARTELLIER A. , HAINAUX F. , LASHERAS J. C.
Published: October 2002

The behaviour of heavy particles in isotropic, homogeneous, decaying turbulence has
been experimentally studied. The settling velocity of the particles has been found to be
much larger than in a quiescent fluid. It has been determined that the enhancement
of the settling velocity depends on the particle loading, increasing as the volume
fraction of particles in the flow increases. The spatial and temporal distribution of
the particle concentration field is shown to exhibit large inhomogeneities. As the
particles interact with the underlying turbulence they concentrate preferentially in
certain regions of the flow. A characteristic dimension of these particle clusters is
found to be related to the viscous scales of the flow. Measurements of the settling
velocity conditioned on the local concentration of particles in the flow have shown
that there is a monotonic increase in the settling velocity with the local concentration
(the relation being quasi-linear). A simple phenomenological model is proposed to
explain this behaviour.
Effects of extreme rainfall, typhoons and declaration of marine reserve status on corals beached at Cape d'Aguilar (1998 and 1999)
Authors: Morton Brian
Published: October 2002

In the years 1996 and 1997, the pattern of deposition of beached coral heads and pieces onto the shore of Telecom Bay within the Cape d'Aguilar Marine Reserve, Hong Kong suggested that typhoons were a significant natural perturbation. In August 1997, 808 pieces weighing 60,930 g were washed up following passage of Typhoon Victor. 1997 was also Hong Kong's wettest year on record and a survey of the living corals in the reserve in 1998 showed changes in a number of ecological parameters of species richness, composition and diversity but, most noticeably, that the formerly dominant Goniastrea aspera had been superseded by Platygyra sinensis. In 1998 and 1999, this was reflected in the changed proportions of these two beached corals. Dramatically lowered salinities in the bay during July and August 1997 may have effected this change in relative dominance. Following Typhoon Dan in October 1998, 342 pieces of corals weighing 75,600 g were collected. The 1996 and 1997 pattern seemed to be repeating itself. 1999 was a bad year for severe tropical storms and typhoons in Hong Kong, seven being reported upon. Yet, after each one only 12,490 g (Typhoon Leo), 3390 g (Typhoon Maggie), 3550 g (Severe Tropical Storm: no-name), 55 g (Typhoon Sam), 4500 g (Typhoon York and Typhoon Cam) and 3160 g (Typhoon Dan) were washed up. That is, the seven tropical depressions deposited about 27,640 g coral, approximately the same amount as only Typhoon Sally in 1996 (25,000 g) and Tropical Storm Penny and Typhoon Babs in 1998 (24,574 g) and less than half that of Typhoon Victor in 1997 (60,000 g). In July 1996, Cape d'Aguilar was declared a marine reserve, fishing banned in its 18 hectares of sea and ghost nets removed. The fishing ban seems to be halting the dislodgement of corals and they are thus not now being beached by typhoons.
First record of Solea (Microchirus) boscanion (Osteichthyes: Soleidae) in the Mediterranean Sea, with data on other sympatric soleid species
Authors: Massutí Enric , Reina-Hervás J.A. , Lloris Domingo , de Sola L. Gil
Published: October 2002

The capture of five specimens of Solea (Microchirus) boscanion (Osteichthyes: Soleidae), a species previously unrecorded in the Mediterranean, is reported from the Iberian coast (western Mediterranean). The main morphometric and meristic measurements of this species with data of the other sympatric, and morphologically very similar, soleids Microchirus variegatus and Buglossidium luteum are also given. The record is discussed in relation to climate change and competition between species.
PAYING LIP-SERVICE TO THE PRINCIPLES OF REGULATION: A COMPARATIVE CRITIQUE OF KENYA'S TELECOMMUNICATIONS LAW
Authors: WANJAU MURIU DANIEL
Published: October 2002

The last decade of the twentieht century was a period that saw a worldwide shift from state command economies and welfare states to market-driven economies. In many countries the telecommunications industry has always been seen as as strategic one and thus wwas in most cases completely in the hands of state-owned corporations. It is there fore inevitable that telecommuncations industries the world over have undergone or are undergoing dramatic transformations as governments give up, wholly or in part, ownership and control of the industry.
RIOT VICTIMS AND THE DOCTRINE OF PROXIMA CAUSA IN INSURANCE LAW: THE LESOTHO EXPERIENCE
Authors: KULUNDU-BITONYE WANYAMA
Published: October 2002

One of the most critical factors on the conclusion of an insurance contract is to determine the extent of the insurance risk or cover. This enables parties to the contract to ascertain for themselves the rights and obligations under the policy. On the one hand, the extent of insurance risk determines what is recoverable by the insured or assured on the occurrence of the insured event, and, on the other hand, what level of liability is assumed and the premiums payable to the insurer. The extent of insurance risk also determines what rememdial action, if any, may be undertaken by the insured or assured by way of taking out extra insurance, if the policy at hand is not adequate.
The social context of narrative disruption in The Letter of Alexander to Aristotle
Authors: McFadden Brian
Published: October 2002

David Williams has recently argued that medieval representations of the monster
give humans an image of divinity, but one which can never be totally understood
or described. Positive theology, the via positiva, attempts to take what is known of
divinity and then to derive more precise statements about the nature of God; it
attempts to contain God in human thought and language. The via negativa, by contrast,
forces humans to discard the idea of any positive knowledge about God,
since reason and language are inadequate to the task of containing or describing a
being so totally other to humans. Alexander the Great, the narrator of the Old
English Letter of Alexander to Aristotle, experiences such a negation in his campaign
in India; he attempts to describe the wondrous beings and races which he encounters
with his army, and his narrative of conquest functions as a metaphor for containing
the encountered world in thought, description and mental order. However,
he is resisted at every turn by natives, monsters and classical divinities; he is forced
to realize that his reason and his force are incapable of containing divine power as
manifested in the natural world of India.
Introduction: Scarcity, Conspicuous Consumption, and Performance in South Africa
Authors: Kruger Loren
Published: October 2002

While anti-apartheid theatre was known worldwide for dramatizing the struggle against apartheid, theatre in South Africa today is hampered by the loss of a focused movement for change and by inefficient and compromised institutions of patronage and development. Well-placed administrators and stakeholders channel limited subsidy to large institutions such as the Market and the State Theatre, whose repertoires are dominated by nostalgic revivals, while cutting-edge performance must rely on corporate or international support. Under these conditions, theatre that is innovative in seeking new audiences and functions, as well as forms, happens often outside theatres: in film and radio, in education, and as an informal legacy of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's project of personal and national healing.
Malignancies of the female genital tract in childhood and adolescence
Authors: Brockbank E , Ind T
Published: October 2002

Malignant tumours of the female reproductive tract in childhood and adolescence are rare. The comparative frequencies of tumours in adults and children may be related to the relative accumulation of exposure to environmental factors. An example might be the relationship between exposure to human papillomavirus and the development of vulval, vaginal and cervical cancers. Some cancers in childhood are associated with factors specific to the time of life. Examples include in-utero stilboestrol exposure related to clear cell carcinoma and teenage pregnancy associated with gestational trophoblastic tumours. In childhood and adolescence, 67% of all ovarian tumours are germ cell in origin. This differs significantly to the distribution of ovarian tumours in adults.
‘“All found” they used to call it’: genteel boarding houses in early twentieth-century Melbourne
Authors: O'Hanlon Seamus
Published: October 2002

This paper investigates genteel, or middle- and upper-class boarding houses in Melbourne in the first decades of the twentieth century. It argues that urban historians have neglected boarding as a facet of Australian city life, preferring instead to use a limited range of statistical sources to focus on the importance of nuclear families, suburbia and home ownership as defining features of the Australian city. Utilizing archival, literary and oral sources, this paper re-creates daily life in a variety of these genteel boarding houses and calls for a more ethnological approach to uncovering the urban past.
Research in urban history: a review of recent theses
Authors: Miller Caroline L.
Published: October 2002

This review is intended to provide a broadly based survey of doctoral theses in urban history completed at British and North American institutions. As in previous years the definition of ‘urban history’ has deliberately been given a wide interpretation that allows the inclusion both of theses that address the physical form of the city and those that address the diversity that emerges from urban life. It is the latter aspect that dominates the topics dealt with in this year's review. While this review provides a brief summary of theses, access to a comprehensive range is available electronically. The Index of Theses is located at http://www.theses.com/ and Dissertations Abstracts International at http://wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations.
Politeness and modal meaning in the construction of humiliative discourse in an early eighteenth-century network of patron–client relationships
Authors: Fitzmaurice Susan
Published: October 2002

This article approaches the study of pragmatic meaning in English modal verbs like can, may, and shall in early eighteenth-century English prose using the techniques of corpus linguistic analysis, politeness theory, and social network analysis. The study is based on a quantitative survey of modal expressions across registers in a corpus of fourteen early eighteenth-century authors, which yields relative frequencies of occurrence according to genre and to author. Together with the sociohistorical information provided by the strategic coalitions constructed to develop, nurture and maintain relationships between clients and literary and political patrons, this survey provides the context for a pragmatic study of politeness strategies. The subsequent qualitative examination of letters in the oeuvres of selected authors yields a rich picture of individual pragmatic variation. The study reveals that although the corpus as a whole exhibits trends for different usages in different genres, the letters exhibit a predominance of modal expressions that may be used to index the facework involved in building and maintaining relationships of patronage. Within this genre, modal choice is influenced by a writer's sense of the relationship with the patron as well as the degree of risk and cost involved in the communication.
‘I never even gave it a second thought’: PGCE students' attitudes towards the inclusion of children with speech and language impairments
Authors: Marshall Julie , Stojanovik Vesna , Ralph Sue
Published: October 2002

Approximately 7% of young school‐aged children have specific language impairments. Many such children are now being educated in mainstream settings. However, there is a dearth of up‐to‐date and valid research that considers UK (student) teachers' attitudes towards such children. This study aimed to investigate trainee teachers' attitudes towards teaching children with speech and language impairments, to investigate the reported effects of those attitudes on participants' acceptance of teaching such children, and to consider any implications for speech and language therapy (SLT) services and inclusive education. Nineteen trainee teachers (PGCE students) from a university in the North West of England took part in semistructured group interviews. The data were transcribed and analysed qualitatively, and recurrent themes identified. A range of attitudes was expressed, and six major themes were identified from the data. Participants discussed concerns about the resources and knowledge they considered necessary to support fully children with specific language impairments. There was some differentiation of attitudes related to the types of disability that a child may have and the subject being taught. Much of the discussion was about disabilities in general rather than specific to speech and language impairments. Many of the participants reflected on their own previous experiences to inform their opinions. Although many of the participants expressed positive attitudes, some had concerns about workload and at least one was openly hostile to the idea of teaching children with disabilities within mainstream settings. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to previous research, the quantitative data obtained in this project, SLT services and the increases in the inclusion of children with specific language impairments into mainstream educational settings.
18O Spatial Patterns of Vein Xylem Water, Leaf Water, and Dry Matter in Cotton Leaves
Authors: Gan Kim Suan , Wong Suan Chin , Yong Jean Wan Hong , Farquhar Graham Douglas
Published: October 2002

Three leaf water models (two-pool model, Péclet effect, and string-of-lakes) were assessed for their robustness in predicting leaf water enrichment and its spatial heterogeneity. This was achieved by studying the 18O spatial patterns of vein xylem water, leaf water, and dry matter in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) leaves grown at different humidities using new experimental approaches. Vein xylem water was collected from intact transpiring cotton leaves by pressurizing the roots in a pressure chamber, whereas the isotopic content of leaf water was determined without extracting it from fresh leaves with the aid of a purpose-designed leaf punch. Our results indicate that veins have a significant degree of lateral exchange with highly enriched leaf water. Vein xylem water is thus slightly, but progressively enriched in the direction of water flow. Leaf water enrichment is dependent on the relative distances from major veins, with water from the marginal and intercostal regions more enriched and that next to veins and near the leaf base more depleted than the Craig-Gordon modeled enrichment of water at the sites of evaporation. The spatial pattern of leaf water enrichment varies with humidity, as expected from the string-of-lakes model. This pattern is also reflected in leaf dry matter. All three models are realistic, but none could fully account for all of the facets of leaf water enrichment. Our findings acknowledge the presence of capacitance in the ground tissues of vein ribs and highlight the essential need to incorporate Péclet effects into the string-of-lakes model when applying it to leaves.
Attempt to approach the role of phenolic phenylpropenol structures in the photoyellowing of softwood mechanical pulps
Authors: Ruffin Brigitte , Grelier Stéphane , Nourmamode Aziz , Castellan Alain
Published: October 2002

Three biphenyl (I, II, III) compounds and a benzylarylether (IV) compound were synthesized to detect and quantify the presence of phenolic phenylpropenols in unbleached, peroxide-bleached, or sodium borohydride-reduced mechanical softwood pulps. The methodology used is based on a gas chromatography  mass spectrometry search of the prepared compounds in the residue obtained after ethylation, thioacidolysis, and desulfurization of the pulps. Detection of biphenyl I ([Formula: see text]4 × 106 mol g1) in unbleached and NaBH4-reduced pulps is indicative of the presence of phenolic coniferaldehyde units in these pulps. Traces of biphenyl II, found in the peroxide-bleached pulp, probably came from ferulic acid units formed by oxidation of coniferaldehyde by H2O2. No biphenyl ether III or benzylaryl ether IV were detected in the three pulps. This result indicates that phenolic phenylpropenol units are not present in softwood mechanical pulps and do not contribute to the fast part of their photoyellowing.Key words: mechanical pulp, photoyellowing, phenol, coniferyl alcohol, biphenyl.