bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Biological efficacy of low against medium dose aspirin regimen after coronary surgery: Analysis of platelet function
Authors: Lim Eric , Goddard Martin , Bellm Sarah , Sheridan Kate , Large Stephen , Vuylsteke Alain , Cornelissen Jacqueline , Kirtland Stephen
Published: February 2006

The failure of aspirin to inhibit platelet function has been documented in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, but the causes of “aspirin-resistance” remain uncertain. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of aspirin in patients undergoing CABG surgery receiving either 100 mg or 325 mg of oral aspirin for 5-days.Platelet function was tested the day before surgery and on day+1 and day+5, and evaluated by changes in collagen-induced thromboxane-A2 (TxA2) release and platelet aggregation following stimulation with collagen, ADP and epinephrine. In all patients, baseline platelet aggregation was significantly inhibited by pre-incubation with in vitro aspirin (150 µmol/l), with a mean reduction in TxA2-release of ≥95.5% (82.3, 99.1). After 5-days of oral aspirin, platelet aggregation was significantly inhibited, and was not further inhibited by in vitro aspirin. Oral aspirin was also associated with a ≥99.5% (97.8, 99.7) reduction in TxA2-release, and with the reversal of the second-phase of ADP-induced aggregation which is TxA2-dependent. In addition a single-dose of 325mg aspirin on the first post-operative morning may have a greater inhibitory effect on collagen-induced aggregation than 100mg aspirin. Western blot analysis provided no evidence for the presence of COX-2 in platelets, while the up-regulation of p38-MAPK following platelet-stimulation and surgery was seen. The inhibition of COX-2 (NS398) or p38-MAPK (SB203580) activity did not affect platelet aggregation and TxA2-release on day+5. In summary, there was no evidence for inherent or acquired aspirin-resistance in this surgical population, or for the involvement of either COX-2 or p38-MAPK.
Trousseau’s syndrome – what is the evidence?
Authors: Bergqvist David , Wåhlander Karin , Eriksson Henry , Sternby Nils , Ögren Mats
Published: February 2006

Despite numerous studies documenting the association between cancer and venous thromboembolism (VTE), the reason for the excessive risk in certain cancers remains obscure. No large-scale studies have yet investigated the independent effects of cancer type,site and growth pattern.Between 1970 and 1982, 23,796 standardised autopsies were performed, representing 84% of all in-hospital deaths in an urban Swedish population.The relationship between cancer and PE was evaluated with logistic regression.The overall PE prevalence was 23%, and 10% of the population had a fatal PE. Forty-two per cent of pancreatic cancer patients had PE (OR 2.55; 95% CI 2.10–3.09) (p<0.001); gall bladder, gastric, colorectal and pulmonary adenocarcinomas were similarly independently associated with PE. In comparison with squamous cell lung cancer, patients with pulmonary adenocarcinoma had 1.65 times higher odds for PE (95% CI 1.20–2.29). Adenocarcinoma and metastatic cancer were independently associated with PE risk (OR 1.27; 95% CI 1.16 – 1.40; p<0.001, and OR 1.10;95% CI 1.01 – 1.20; p=0.024, respectively) but when controlling for cancer type and spread, pancreatic cancer was still associated with an OR of 2.10 (95% CI 1.71–2.58) of PE (p<0.001).We conclude that the risk of PE in cancer patients depends not only on the cancer site and spread but also on the histological type.The excess independent risk in pancreatic cancer is intriguing and should warrant further research.
Haemostasis and pregnancy
Authors: Franchini Massimo
Published: February 2006

Normal pregnancy is associated with profound alterations in the coagulation and fibrinolytic systems. While these physiological procoagulant changes are aimed to minimise intrapartum blood loss, they do increase the risk of thromboembolism during pregnancy and the post-partum period. In contrast and more rarely, haemorrhage due to an underlying inherited or acquired bleeding disorder may occur and complicatea pregnancy. Based on an analysis of the literature data, this review presents an overview of the main thrombotic and haemorrhagic disorders complicating pregnancy.
Epistatic and pleiotropic effects of polymorphisms in the fibrinogen and coagulation factor XIII genes on plasma fibrinogen concentration, fibrin gel structure and risk of myocardial infarction
Authors: Eriksson Per , Ericsson Carl-Göran , Hamsten Anders , Silveira Angela , Mannila Maria
Published: February 2006

An intricate interplay between the genes encoding fibrinogen gamma (FGG), alpha (FGA) and beta (FGB), coagulation factor XIII (F13A1) and interleukin6 (IL6) and environmental factors is likely to influence plasma fibrinogen concentration, fibrin clot structure and risk of myocardial infarction (MI). In the present study, the potential contribution of SNPs harboured in the fibrinogen, IL6 and F13A1 genes to these biochemical and clinical phenotypes was examined. A database and biobank based on 387 survivors ofa first MI and population-based controls were used. Sixty controls were selected according to FGG 9340T>C [rs1049636] genotype for studies on fibrin clot structure using the liquid permeation method. The multifactor dimensionality reduction method was used for interaction analyses. We here report that the FGA 2224G>A [rs2070011] SNP (9.2%), plasma fibrinogen concentration (13.1%) and age (8.1%) appeared as independent determinants of fibrin gel porosity. The FGA 2224G>A SNP modulated the relation between plasma fibrinogen concentration and fibrin clot porosity. The FGG-FGA*4 haplotype, composed of the minor FGG 9340C and FGA 2224A alleles, had similar effects, supporting its reported protective role in relation to MI. Significant epistasis on plasma fibrinogen concentration was detected between the FGA 2224G>A and F13A1 Val34Leu [rs5985] SNPs (p<0.001).The FGG 9340T>C and FGB 1038G>A [rs1800791] SNPs appeared to interact on MI risk, explaining the association of FGG-FGB haplotypes with MI in the absence of effects of individual SNPs. Thus, epistatic and pleiotropic effects of polymorphisms contribute to the variation in plasma fibrinogen concentration, fibrin clot structure and risk of MI.
Proteomics of the Heart
Authors: McGregor Emma , Dunn Michael J.
Published: February 2006

Heart diseases resulting in heart failure are among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in developed countries. Underlying molecular causes of cardiac dysfunction in most heart diseases are still largely unknown but are expected to result from causal alterations in gene and protein expression. Proteomic technology now allows us to examine global alterations in protein expression in the diseased heart and can provide new insights into cellular mechanisms involved in cardiac dysfunction. The majority of proteomic investigations still use 2D gel electrophoresis (2-DE) with immobilized pH gradients to separate the proteins in a sample and combine this with mass spectrometry (MS) technologies to identify proteins. In spite of the development of novel gel-free technologies, 2-DE remains the only technique that can be routinely applied to parallel quantitative expression profiling of large sets of complex protein mixtures such as whole cell lysates. It can resolve >5000 proteins simultaneously (≈2000 proteins routinely) and can detect <1 ng of protein per spot. Furthermore, 2-DE delivers a map of intact proteins, which reflects changes in protein expression level, isoforms, or post-translational modifications. The use of proteomics to investigate heart disease should result in the generation of new diagnostic and therapeutic markers. In this article, we review the current status of proteomic technologies, describing the 2-DE proteomics workflow, with an overview of protein identification by MS and how these technologies are being applied to studies of human heart disease.
Hurricane Katrina and the Paradoxes of Government Disaster Policy: Bringing About Wise Governmental Decisions for Hazardous Areas
Authors: Burby Raymond J.
Published: February 2006

The unprecedented losses from Hurricane Katrina can be explained by two paradoxes. The safe development paradox is that in trying to make hazardous areas safer, the federal government in fact substantially increased the potential for catastrophic property damages and economic loss. The local government paradox is that while their citizens bear the brunt of human suffering and financial loss in disasters, local officials pay insufficient attention to policies to limit vulnerability. The author demonstrates in this article that in spite of the two paradoxes, disaster losses can be blunted if local governments prepare comprehensive plans that pay attention to hazard mitigation. The federal government can take steps to increase local government commitment to planning and hazard mitigation by making relatively small adjustments to the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 and the Flood Insurance Act. To be more certain of reducing disaster losses, however, the author suggests that we need a major reorientation of the National Flood Insurance Program from insuring individuals to insuring communities.
Rising to the Challenges of a Catastrophe: The Emergent and Prosocial Behavior following Hurricane Katrina
Authors: Rodríguez Havidán , Trainor Joseph , Quarantelli Enrico L.
Published: February 2006

Using several data sources including an extensive database of media reports and a series of government documents, but relying primarily on the University of Delaware’s Disaster Research Center’s field research in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the authors describe the nontraditional behavior that emerged in that catastrophe. They also discuss the prosocial behavior (much of it emergent) that was by far the primary response to this event, despite widespread media reports of massive antisocial behavior. Their study focuses on individual and group reactions in Louisiana during the first three weeks following the hurricane. The authors limit their systematic analyses of emergent behavior to five groupings: hotels, hospitals, neighborhood groups, rescue teams, and the Joint Field Office. Their analysis shows that most of the improvisations undertaken helped in dealing with the various problems that continued to emerge following Katrina. The various social systems and the people in them rose to the demanding challenges of a catastrophe.
The Political Costs of Failure in the Katrina and Rita Disasters
Authors: Waugh William L.
Published: February 2006

The Katrina and Rita disasters have raised serious questions about the capabilities of the national emergency management system to handle catastrophic disasters. The system is broken and must be repaired before the next major hurricane, earthquake, volcanic eruption, terrorist attack, or pandemic. The poor disaster responses may have serious political costs for those officials who failed to manage the hazards along the Gulf and/or failed to respond adequately to the storms—or simply appeared to be ineffectual in very dire circumstances. There have already been political casualties among the administrators responsible for managing the responses, and there may well be casualties among the politicians when voters go to the polls. The recommendation to give the military a lead responsibility in catastrophic disaster responses has been met with strong opposition; the issue may broaden the rift between governors’ offices and the White House over homeland security and emergency management and broaden the gap between local emergency management imperatives and federal policies.
Weathering the Storm: The Impact of Hurricanes on Physical and Mental Health
Authors: Bourque Linda B. , Siegel Judith M. , Kano Megumi , Wood Michele M.
Published: February 2006

The authors briefly review the deaths, injuries, and diseases attributed to hurricanes that made landfall in the United States prior to Hurricane Katrina; recent hurricane evacuation studies and their potential for reducing death, injury, and disease; information available to date about mortality, injury, and disease attributed to Hurricane Katrina; and psychological distress attributable to hurricanes. Drowning in salt water caused by storm surges has been reduced over the past thirty years, while deaths caused by fresh water (inland) flooding and wind have remained steady. Well-planned evacuations of coastal areas can reduce death and injury associated with hurricanes. Hurricane Katrina provides an example of what happens when evacuation is not handled appropriately. Preliminary data indicate that vulnerable elderly people were substantially overrepresented among the dead and that evacuees represent a population potentially predisposed to a high level of psychological distress, exacerbated by severe disaster exposure, lack of economic and social resources, and an inadequate government response.
Agility and Discipline: Critical Success Factors for Disaster Response
Authors: Harrald John R.
Published: February 2006

For more than thirty years, the U.S. emergency management community has been increasing its ability to structure, control, and manage a large response. The result of this evolution is a National Response System based on the National Response Plan and the National Incident Management System that is perceived to have failed in the response to Hurricane Katrina. Over the same period, social scientists and other disaster researchers have been documenting and describing the nonstructural factors such as improvisation, adaptability, and creativity that are critical to coordination, collaboration, and communication and to successful problem solving. This article argues that these two streams of thought are not in opposition, but form orthogonal dimensions of discipline and agility that must both be achieved. The critical success factors that must be met to prepare for and respond to an extreme event are described, and an organizational typology is developed.
Moral Hazard, Social Catastrophe: The Changing Face of Vulnerability along the Hurricane Coasts
Authors: Cutter Susan L. , Emrich Christopher T.
Published: February 2006

The social vulnerability of the American population is not evenly distributed among social groups or between places. Some regions may be more susceptible to the impacts of hazards than other places based on the characteristics of the people residing within them. As we saw with Hurricane Katrina, when coupled with residencies in high-risk areas such as the hurricane coasts, differential vulnerabilities can lead to catastrophic results. The geographic discrepancies in social vulnerability also necessitate different mitigation, post-response, and recovery actions. Given temporal and spatial changes in social vulnerability in the future, a one-size-fits-all approach to preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation may be the least effective in reducing vulnerability or improving local resilience to hazards.
Planning for Postdisaster Resiliency
Authors: Berke Philip R. , Campanella Thomas J.
Published: February 2006

The focus of this article is planning for resiliency in the aftermath of a catastrophe. First, the authors offer their conception of planning for resiliency as a goal for recovering communities, and the benefits of planning in efforts to create more resilient places. Next, they discuss major issues associated with planning for postdisaster recovery, including barriers posed by federal and state governments to planning for resiliency, the promise and risks of compact urban form models for guiding rebuilding, and the failure to involve citizens in planning for disasters. Finally, they discuss lessons from prior research that address these issues and policy recommendations that foster predisaster recovery planning for resilient communities.
Metaphors Matter: Disaster Myths, Media Frames, and Their Consequences in Hurricane Katrina
Authors: Tierney Kathleen , Bevc Christine , Kuligowski Erica
Published: February 2006

It has long been understood by disaster researchers that both the general public and organizational actors tend to believe in various disaster myths. Notions that disasters are accompanied by looting, social disorganization, and deviant behavior are examples of such myths. Research shows that the mass media play a significant role in promulgating erroneous beliefs about disaster behavior. Following Hurricane Katrina, the response of disaster victims was framed by the media in ways that greatly exaggerated the incidence and severity of looting and lawlessness. Media reports initially employed a “civil unrest” frame and later characterized victim behavior as equivalent to urban warfare. The media emphasis on lawlessness and the need for strict social control both reflects and reinforces political discourse calling for a greater role for the military in disaster management. Such policy positions are indicators of the strength of militarism as an ideology in the United States.
Disaster Mitigation and Insurance: Learning from Katrina
Authors: Kunreuther Howard
Published: February 2006

Hurricane Katrina illustrates the natural disaster syndrome. Prior to a disaster, individuals in hazard-prone regions do not voluntarily adopt cost-effective loss reduction measures. The federal government then comes to the rescue with disaster assistance even if it claimed it had no intention of doing so prior to the event. There are a number of reasons why individuals do not protect themselves prior to a disaster. They underestimate the likelihood of a future disaster, often believing that it will not happen to them; have budget constraints; are myopic in their behavior; and/or do not want to be the only one on the block modifying their structure. Given this lack of interest in voluntary protection, benefit-cost analysis can determine when a well-enforced building code would be appropriate. The article concludes by highlighting the importance of public-private partnerships as a way of reducing future disaster losses and aiding the recovery process.
Is the Worst Yet to Come?
Authors: Kettl Donald F.
Published: February 2006

Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, public officials pledged that the nation would rise to the challenge and ensure that the country would not suffer such a disaster again. Almost exactly four years later, however, Hurricane Katrina inflicted a devastating blow on the Gulf Coast. Many of the problems that surfaced during 9/11 returned yet again to plague the Katrina recovery efforts. Moreover, as bad as the problems were in the Gulf, they could have been even worse had the storm been stronger or had it scored a direct hit on New Orleans. More disasters—from earthquakes and floods to bird flu and terrorist attacks—are likely and perhaps inevitable. Unless we take to heart the lessons that Katrina teaches, especially improved systems for communication and coordination, we are likely to repeat the Katrina problems. The worst is yet to come, without a substantial investment of political capital.
President Bush and Hurricane Katrina: A Presidential Leadership Study
Authors: Sylves Richard T.
Published: February 2006

Hurricane Katrina raised many concerns about presidential management of megadisasters. President George W. Bush has been criticized, and has personally accepted blame, for the failures and shortcomings of governmental response to this disaster. This work draws from government documents and public affairs information to analyze the facts of the event, the policies and organizational alignments in place before the disaster, and the president’s performance. This study concludes that how presidents lead, manage federal officials, cope with the news media, address federal-state relations, set the boundaries of civil-military relations, define their policy agendas, and choose political appointees for responsible posts all contribute to their ability, or inability, to address the demands imposed by disasters and catastrophes. In some respects, political, policy, and managerial decisions made by the president and his administration before the disaster seriously impeded the federal government’s ability to mitigate, prepare for, and respond to the catastrophe.
The Effects of Social Group Membership and Social Capital Resources on Careers
Authors: Parks-Yancy Rochelle
Published: February 2006

Using a nationally representative sample, this study looks at the effects of race, gender, and social capital resources on two career measures: (a) earnings and (b) promotions. The author finds that blacks suffer a social capital deficit relative to whites and that men and whites’ career advantages accumulate over time, whereas blacks’ disadvantages accumulate, as well. Thus, race, gender, and social capital resources contribute to unequal career trajectories, and these results generalize to the U.S. population.
Family- and Individual-Level Predictors of Academic Success for African American Students
Authors: Stewart Endya B.
Published: February 2006

Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88), path analytic procedures were performed to test an ecological model of the effects of family- and individual-level characteristics on the academic achievement of African American students. The study results show that several of the family influence variables directly or indirectly affected 12th-grade academic achievement. Furthermore, most of the individual influence variables were directly related to 12th-grade achievement. A surprising finding from this study was the nonsignificant effect of family income on 12th-grade achievement. Overall, the findings support the notion that family- and individual-level characteristics are important predictors of academic success among African American students.
Interracial Friendship and African American Attitudes about Interracial Marriage
Authors: Jacobson Cardell K. , Johnson Bryan R.
Published: February 2006

For a variety of reasons, there is little systematic evidence about African American attitudes about interracial marriage. National data are often sparse or not available, and they are often dated. Using a Year 2000 nationally representative poll from The New York Times, we analyze African American approval of interracial marriage. The sample comprised 934 African Americans. Eighty-five percent say they approve of interracial marriage. Education, sex, age, and region are significantly related to approval in the bivariate analyses. Analysis of the amount of contact or friendship African Americans have with Whites appears to be a critical variable affecting attitudes about intergroup marriage; the effects of most of the other variables become nonsignificant when friendship is included in the analysis.
To Speak or Not to Speak with the Whole Mouth
Authors: Asaah Augustine H.
Published: February 2006

Taboos, since the dawn of time, have been used by human societies to regulate behavior and discourse. African writers are aware of these codes that regulate conduct, supposedly in the name of the common good. The article discusses taboo adherence and taboo violation in respect of death, madness, sex, and incest in Europhone African literature and concludes that African writers largely display a certain dynamism in their reaction to taboos.
Examining Linkages between Race, Environmental Concern, Health, and Justice in a Highly Polluted Community of Color
Authors: Jones Robert Emmet , Rainey Shirley A.
Published: February 2006

Currently, there is a limited amount of research on Black attitudes toward the environment. Moreover, possible linkages between race, environmental attitudes, and perceptions about environmental health and justice have not been examined in the United States. This study contributes to this literature by assessing several of these linkages using data obtained from a survey of 247 residents living in or around a highly polluted community of color. It found that public perceptions about environmental health problems and environmental justice were significantly linked to race and public concern for local environmental problems. Blacks are more likely than Whites to believe they are being exposed to poorer environmental conditions, suffer more related health problems, and think that local public agencies and officials have not dealt with environmental problems in their neighborhood in a just, equitable, and effective manner.
A logic deduction of expanded means–end chains
Authors: Chin-Feng Lin , Hsien-Tang Tsai , Chen-Su Fu
Published: February 2006

This study, based on the expanded means–end chain (MEC) theory, proposes a logic deduction procedure for qualitative analyses as a conceptual structure for establishing information systems. Through the expressions of variable matrix and set theory, the illustrations of data collection and programming procedures reveal the logic deduction framework for analyzing the linkages of consumer value satisfaction and product attribute design. This allows MEC methodology to have an easier programming procedure for creating a related marketing decision support system and thus effective marketing strategies can be developed.
A connectionist and multivariate approach to science maps: the SOM, clustering and MDS applied to library and information science research
Authors: Moya-Anegón Félix , Herrero-Solana Víctor , Jiménez-Contreras Evaristo
Published: February 2006

The visualization of scientific field structures is a classic of scientometric studies. This paper presents a domain analysis of the library and information science discipline based on author co-citation analysis (ACA) and journal cocitation analysis (JCA). The techniques used for map construction are the self-organizing map (SOM) neural algorithm, Ward's clustering method and multidimensional scaling (MDS). The results of this study are compared with similar research developed by Howard White and Katherine McCain [1]. The methodologies used allow us to confirm that the subject domains identified in this paper are, as well, present in our study for the corresponding period. The appearance of studies pertaining to library science reveals the relationship of this realm with information science. Especially significant is the presence of the management on the journal maps. From a methodological standpoint, meanwhile, we would agree with those authors who consider MDS, the SOM and clustering as complementary methods that provide representations of the same reality from different analytical points of view. Even so, the MDS representation is the one offering greater possibilities for the structural representation of the clusters in a set of variables.
A scientometric assessment of the information loss caused by the delays in publication of Chinese science journals
Authors: Yu Guang , Li Yi-Jun
Published: February 2006

Based on the second order plus time delay transfer function model of the journal publication delay process, we establish a mathematical model of information loss caused by publication delays. Then we collect elementary data on publication delays from over 3000 articles in 18 Chinese journals in four subjects and respectively assess information loss caused by publication delays using the model; thus the validity of the model is demonstrated. The information loss caused by publication delays in Chinese science journals is serious, especially in mathematics. Final statistical and analytical results indicate that delays in publication of some Western journals are also noticeable.
U.S. Public Diplomacy in the Middle East
Authors: Dutta-Bergman Mohan J.
Published: February 2006

A growing body of literature in the field of public relations has delved into the topic of public diplomacy; this growing interest in public diplomacy is juxtaposed in the backdrop of the recent increase in U.S. public diplomacy efforts in the Middle East. Based on a critical analysis of U.S. pubic diplomacy strategies in the Middle East, the author argues that the traditional models of public diplomacy continue to circulate in current public diplomacy efforts. Drawing on a ritual model of communication and building on the theory of communicative action, the author articulates the need to apply a culture-centered approach in conducting international public diplomacy.
The Duty of Care to Refugees, Christian Cosmopolitanism, and the Hallowing of Bare Life
Authors: Bretherton Luke
Published: February 2006

There is a surprising absence of systematic theological reflection on what the church’s response to refugees should be and how its response relates to wider debates on the duty of care to refugees. This article situates theological concerns within wider philosophical debate on what the duty of care to refugees consists of. The first section critically reviews the debate on how liberal democracies should respond to refugees. The second section, following Georgio Agamben’s characterisation of refugees as ‘bare life’, argues that refugees unveil a deep contradiction in contemporary patterns of political sovereignty. It closes by arguing that while a theological account of political authority points to some roads beyond the crisis, the first task of the church is to properly order its own duty of care to refugees. The last section consists of an exegesis of the second clause of the Lord’s Prayer as a way of giving an account of what such care involves.
Education for World Citizens in the Face of Dependency, Insecurity and Loss of Control
Authors: Heimbach-Steins Marianne
Published: February 2006

The main question on which this essay focuses is: What expectations should a Christian social ethics form concerning a constructive education strategy which can adequately respond to social needs within a globalised world? In order to do so, the first task is to identify the signs of the times: What are the impacts challenging education? What is essentially needed to help secure the necessary requirements for people to live together in a humane and peaceful way under conditions of socio-economic and socio-cultural differences, manifold experiences of alienation, and the potentials for conflict that these bring about? If education as a major means of social participation ought to contribute to this, it must first of all be concerned with the personal identity of young people. The crucial point of education for ‘the citizens of the world’ will be to connect experiences that form identity with the capability to transcend one’s own horizon without fearing the loss of one’s identity.
The interface of race and accounting: the case of Hawaiian sugar plantations, 1835-1920
Authors: Fleischman Richard K. , Tyson Thomas N.
Published: February 2006

This paper explores the interface of race and accounting on Hawaiian sugar plantations during the 1835-1920 period. The data examined at the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association (HSPA) archives indicate that Caucasian and ethnically Hawaiian workers were paid significantly higher wages and held a disproportionately larger number of managerial positions than Asian counterparts. In addition, workers from different ethnic groups were imported at various times to stem an existing group's solidarity and demands for higher wages and better conditions. We review the accounting techniques used on the plantations and provide examples showing how the HSPA employed racist policies, controlled labour, and instituted productivity and cost control measures. The archives examined contain an extensive amount of data on worker attendance and field productivity; however, they include no records on the performance of individual workers. The absence of these data suggests that race rather than efficiency served as the primary measuring calculus of plantation work.
The legal status of account books in colonial America
Authors: Wootton Charles W. , Moore Mary Virginia
Published: February 2006

From the first English settlement in colonial America to the beginning of the Revolution, the legal status of account books evolved. During this period, there was a scarcity of hard currency which made commercial transactions largely dependent upon a credit based, barter based economic system. Business transactions often were represented by book debt. As merchants brought legal actions over book debt disputes, American colonial courts and legislatures began to examine the English common law rules that placed several restrictions on the introduction of account books into evidence. Responding to economic and social necessity, colonial America developed a legal system that was more flexible and pragmatic than was the English system in regard to admitting account books into evidence. Thus, American colonial courts and legislatures met the commercial needs of the new world, and in so doing, provided the impetus for examining accounting standards, fiduciary duty and financial statements in today's American legal system.
The development of management accounting at the Hudsonís Bay Company, 1670-1820
Authors: Spraakman Gary , Wilkie Alison
Published: February 2006

In their archival study, Roy and Spraakman (1996) found that the Hudson's Bay Company had developed extensive management accounting techniques by the 1820s. However, they did not concern themselves with the origins of the management accounting techniques employed in the 1820s. Based on the Company's archives for 1670 to 1820, it is clear that the basic components of the management accounting techniques were in place from the Company's beginnings or by 1700. These practices were changed significantly in 1810 as the Company grappled with declining profits and the need for new management accounting techniques that allowed for efficiency in inland trading. This trading had different requirements than trading from a few posts with easy ocean access to London. Although the successful techniques were put in place in 1810, it took until the 1820s and the efforts of Governor George Simpson for them to work effectively as a system. This paper also tests hypotheses developed from transaction cost economics and makes suggestions for a transaction cost economics theory of management accounting.
Rate of return reporting by Victorian Government public trading authorities: 1985 to 1992
Authors: Wines Graeme , Nicolson Alicia
Published: February 2006

During the period 1985 to 1992, the major Victorian State Government (Australia) public trading authorities were required to prepare Rate of Return Reporting (RoRR) accounts as supplementary statements to their annual historical cost financial statements. RoRR represents a version of current (replacement) cost accounting. This paper provides a background to the Victorian RoRR requirements and an examination of the financial statements, over a five year period, of three of the six authorities required to comply with the RoRR requirements. The paper investigates the differences between the historical cost and RoRR profit and loss statements and balance sheets, analysing the major reasons for the differences and the impacts of RoRR on the reported performance and financial position of the trading authorities.
The crisis of 1847-1848 and the regulation of company accounting in Spain
Authors: Lloréns Mercedes Bernal
Published: February 2006

The Spanish economic crisis of 1847-1848 brought about changes to the regulation of joint stock companies. Following their implication in the financial crisis, rules were introduced which required the inspection of the accounting records of companies and the disclosure of their financial statements. The intention of legislators was to reduce the number of limited companies and offer some protection to creditors and other parties who transacted with them. The new legislation was particularly significant in its effect on the confidentiality of company accounts. This paper explains how the Spanish government overestimated the role played by limited companies in the crisis and reacted by passing strict legislation which, for general companies, was a major break from the Commercial Code of 1829. The paper also explores aspects of the implementation of the statute passed in 1848.
Principals and agents in crisis: reforms of accounting and audit at Lloyd’s, 1982-1986
Authors: Gwilliam David , Macve Richard , Meeks Geoffrey
Published: February 2006

The 1970s and early 1980s saw significant structural change in the insurance market at Lloyd’s of London and it became increasingly difficult for providers of the collateral against which insurance was written to monitor the activities of those responsible for writing the insurance risks and determining the distribution of returns. Agency theory analyses the incentives for principals and agents to develop more formal and rigorous arrangements for accounting and audit when agents become more remote from principals. However, when we examine the historical evidence, we find little sign of such development at Lloyd’s during this period. We explore a number of institutional characteristics of the Lloyd’s market which acted to constrain adaptation until external regulatory pressure was brought to bear. Conclusions are drawn on the limited role of agency theory in guiding policymakers and regulators in financial markets.
Auditors versus third parties and others: the unusual case of the Spanish audit liability “crisis”
Authors: Barbadillo Emiliano Ruiz , Humphrey Christopher , Benau María Antonia García
Published: February 2006

This paper challenges the increasingly accepted position that, internationally, the audit profession is facing a major liability crisis. Its analysis of auditing developments in Spain since the late 1980s reveals an audit liability “crisis” which is more the result of the profession’s campaign to align itself with legal regimes abroad rather than a direct consequence of major legal settlements in favour of third parties. The Spanish experience is made particularly interesting by the dramatic change in the auditing profession’s stance - clearly rejecting responsibilities and legal traditions that it had willingly accepted just over a decade ago (when auditing was established in statute). A major implication of the paper is the need for notions of “international” and “crisis” to be used with great care in the audit arena and for their mobilising power to be recognised, especially given the limited availability of detailed studies of different national auditing contexts.
On the social history of accounting: The Bank Audit by Bruce Marshall
Authors: West Brian P.
Published: February 2006

The processes of social negotiation which sanction the elevated occupational authority of professions remain understudied. However, the conventionally ascribed complexity of professional services suggests the importance of more discursive mediums rather than objective evaluations of occupational competence. Thus, what might previously have been dismissed as mere professional ephemera may actually function as key signifiers in the development of image and status. It is within this context that Bruce Marshall's 1958 book The Bank Audit is reviewed. Authored by an accountant, this book is significant as a rare example of an “accounting novel” and for its often distinctive portrayal of accountants and their work. A call is made for accounting historians to enliven development of the social history of accounting by searching for and studying the expansive and eclectic range of texts and other sources which elucidate the often intriguing interface between this occupation and the broader society in which it is constituted.
The transfer of accounting technology: a study of the Commonwealth of Australia government factories, 1910-1916
Authors: Foreman Peter
Published: February 2006

The establishment of government factories by the Commonwealth of Australia, 1910-1916, required, inter alia, the development of an accounting system to suit the commercial activities carried on by government. All these factories were suppliers to the defence forces. Their primary aim was not profit generation, but the maintenance of facilities that could be expanded rapidly in time of need. Some of these factories were in direct competition with private industry and it was important that their costs and prices compared favourably with the nongovernment sector. The Australian government introduced a system of accounting that was developed by John Jensen, a Defence Department public servant. Jensen espoused scientific management techniques observed during a visit to the USA and Canada in 1910. This study explores the origins of, and influences on, the accounting system as established by Jensen. It does so through the use of the technology transfer construct advanced by Jeremy (1991). The conclusion reached is that Taylorist precepts were significantly modified to meet the particular control requirements and the environmental factors faced by Australian governments.
An historical framework for the Federal taxation of dividend and interest payments in the US
Authors: Walsh Robert J.
Published: February 2006

This paper presents an historical analysis of the deductibility of interest expense and the nondeductibility of dividend payments by corporations in the US over three distinct periods of tax policy. Many in government, industry and academia have debated the disparate tax treatment between interest and dividends. Given the nature of this debate, this paper seeks to identify the origins of the difference in tax treatment of corporate interest and dividend payments. This study aims to inform policy deliberations by examining events during three periods, namely the Civil War era, the implementation of the Revenue Act 1909 through to 1939, a “watershed year” in US taxation, and the period from 1939 to the present day.
Accounting history and accounting progress
Authors: Napier Christopher J.
Published: February 2006

The “new” accounting historians that emerged from the mid-1980s characterised their predecessors as relying heavily on a view of accounting as progressive and accounting change as evolutionary. From a social science perspective, progress is a problematic concept, as it implies not just change but also improvement, and thus seems to imply the making of a value judgement. As accounting has become an object of study less as a technical and more as a social phenomenon, consensus as to what constitutes an improvement becomes harder to secure. However, from a perspective grounded in historiography, this paper reviews the use of a concept of progress in the writing of history from the eighteenth century, and analyses its use, together with that of a concept of evolution, in “traditional” accounting history. Appealing to recent developments in the understanding of the role of narrative in history, the paper suggests that the use of narratives of accounting progress should not be ruled out on a priori grounds.
In praise of the “other” William Armstrong: a nineteenth century British engineer and early management consultant
Authors: Pitts Marianne V.
Published: February 2006

This paper is a tribute to an unsung accountant, economist and engineer, who had a clear understanding of modern concepts in accounting and finance, such as discounted cash flows, risk-adjusted discount rates and net present value (NPV), which are usually considered to be twentieth century developments. He applied these in practice from 1850 but, until now, he has not been publicly acknowledged as a pioneer of modern financial planning. The paper also raises the question of why these methods had to be reintroduced a century later.
Cost accounting in eighteenth century Spain: the Royal Textile Factory of Ezcaray
Authors: Prieto-Moreno Maria Begoña , Larrinaga-González Carlos
Published: February 2006

According to a growing body of literature, sophisticated costing techniques were used in the early stages of the Industrial Revolution (Fleischman & Parker, 1991; 1997), or before that period (Carmona et al., 1997). The investigation of cost accounting practices in medium Spanish factories that did not operate as monopolies should provide more insights into the development of cost accounting in the eighteenth century and into the use that was made of it. This paper reports on archival evidence of the use of cost accounting in the case of the Royal Textile Factory of Ezcaray between 1767 and 1785. It becomes apparent that a sophisticated knowledge of cost accounting existed in this company. Other findings reported are the important role of accountants in cost accounting, the likelihood of recurrent cost management, the lack of integration between cost and financial accounting and the use of cost accounting in a poorly managed company that, finally, went into bankruptcy.
A former management accountant reflects on his journey through the world of cost management
Authors: Johnson H. Thomas
Published: February 2006

As an accountant and economist I once believed it is natural to guide business operations with management accounting information. I held to that belief until about ten years ago when I began to doubt the efficacy of using targets, scorecards, and other forms of quantitative data to guide, assess, and control operating activities. In this paper I describe briefly the journey that led me to doubt that it is possible to achieve stable and satisfactory financial results in the long run by driving business operations with quantitative targets, financial or otherwise. I now believe that “managing by means” with a “pattern language” is an alternative approach to managing operations that generates more stable and more satisfactory long-term financial performance than companies have ever achieved with traditional management accounting tools.
The military origins of the French management accounting model: a return to the mechanisms of accounting change
Authors: Lemarchand Yannick
Published: February 2006

In 1927, the French employers' organisation, CÈgos, named Lieutenant-Colonel Rimailho as head of a committee charged with the design of a uniform-costing method for all industry sectors. This method (known as the homogeneous sections method) became widely diffused through education channels and its encouragement in the successive French Accounting Plan. Rimailho's testimony and investigations carried out in various military archives show that this system was directly inspired by the experiments undertaken within the military manufacturing plants since the beginning of the twentieth century. This filiation confirms the importance of the role of military engineers in management history. Moreover, this study also reveals two significant aspects of the mechanisms of accounting innovation. First, a certain logic for justifying and legitimising might explain, beside technical and economic determinism, the search for new accounting systems. Second, to be improved and more widely used, a management tool needs a strong support network.
Accounting for the estates of deceased travellers: an example of early Spanish double entry bookkeeping
Authors: Anes Rafael Donoso
Published: February 2006

In 1510 the second regulation for the Trading House of the Indies of Seville(Casa de la ContrataciÛn de Indias de Sevilla) established accounting regulations for the administration and control of the belongings of citizens who died in the Indies(Indias) or during the round trip journey. A book of charge and discharge(Libro de cargo y data), kept in the same way as the book used to account for the transactions in the Royal Treasury(Real Hacienda), was used in which the origins and destinations of goods were required to be registered. Subsequently, accounting for the goods belonging to the deceased developed in a similar way to accounting for the Royal Treasury. As early as 1550 the double-entry accounting system was used in the form of the “Cash and Journal Book”(Libro de Caxa y Manual). The implementation of this system was motivated by the need to maintain strict control over the debit balances of the accounts assigned to the owners of the goods accounted for. This paper presents an analysis of the development of this accounting system and the accounting practices associated with the implementation of the double-entry bookkeeping system.