bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The SEC's Ban on Upward Asset Revaluations and the Disclosure of Current Values
Authors: WALKER R. G.
Published: July 2005

Prior to 1930, the upward revaluation of fixed assets was common in the United States. By 1940 the practice was virtually extinct, and for decades thereafter U.S. corporations which were registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have been constrained both from making upward asset revaluations, and from presenting supplementary information about the ‘current values’ of fixed assets. These changes were effected without the publication of any rules or guidelines by either the SEC or the U.S. accounting profession.

This paper traces the early history of SEC activities and policies in relation to ‘write‐ups’, using primary source materials which include minutes of SEC meetings, internal memoranda prepared by SEC staff, and reports of SEC decisions in stop‐order proceedings. These documents show that, initially, SEC staff actively ‘discouraged’ write‐ups through the exercise of administrative discretion in the course of assessing whether documents filed with the Commission were adequate to support the registration of prospectuses or securities. Later, formal decisions to reject the use of ‘appraisals’ were based on findings that estimates of current values had been arrived at arbitrarily or capriciously. Over a twenty‐five‐year period no decisions were located which formally rejected write‐ups or the disclosure of current values when they were based on defensible estimates of current market prices. However, subsequently these decisions were cited as precedents for the rejection of the use of both ‘appraisals’ and estimates of market prices as the basis for valuing assets in all financial reports lodged with the SEC. By the 1940s, the SEC was using its registration powers to ‘censor'financial statements which referred to estimates of current values, regardless of the evidence used to arrive at those estimates. By the 1950s, the SEC had extended its policy of censorship to prevent any disclosure of estimates of ‘current values’— even when those disclosures were only made in ‘supplementary’ notes in takeover documents.
Asset Revaluations and the Mitigation of Underinvestment
Authors: WHITTRED GREG , CHAN YOKE KAI
Published: July 2005

Asset write‐ups or revaluations are a common feature of Australian accounting and reporting practice. This paper adopts the perspective that efficiency rather than opportunism is the reason for revaluations. It argues asset revaluations are a low‐cost mechanism for mitigating underinvestment problems induced by the presence of risky debt and exacerbated by the manner in which conventional borrowing limitations are written. It is hypothesized that revaluation should be positively related to the presence of growth opportunities, financial leverage and the presence of borrowing limitations; and negatively related to a firm's ability to finance growth internally. The empirical results generally support the hypothesized relationships.
The Case Against Asset Revaluations
Authors: HENDERSON SCOTT , GOODWIN JENNY
Published: July 2005

The upward revaluation of non‐current assets is a common feature of contemporary accounting in Australia. This paper presents a case against the practice. The effects of revaluations are examined and possible reasons why firms revalue are considered. It is argued that asset revaluation is theoretically unsound, being inconsistent with the accounting structure within which it occurs. It is concluded that there are significant costs but few obvious benefits associated with revaluation.
Emerging Evidence of Early Indian Accounting
Authors: SCORGIE MICHAEL E. , NANDY SOMENDRA CHANDRA
Published: July 2005

The paper examines the extant late‐eighteenth‐century accounting record books of Kantababu, a Bengali property owner and silk trader. These annual records, in part destroyed by white ants and other insects, do not make up a complete set for more than any two Bengali solar years. Yet from the available evidence it is possible to make a case that some elements of the accounting systems used by Kantababu and his clerks have similarities to medieval and later European methods and to eleventh‐century methods used by Cairo merchants as evidenced by documents stored in the Genizah of the Old Cairo synagogue.
A Field Study of the Review Process: Research Note
Authors: ROEBUCK PETER , TROTMAN KEN T.
Published: July 2005

Despite the stated importance of the audit review process in auditing standards and textbooks, research on the process itself is limited. This study provides evidence on the nature and purpose of the review process by examining the actual review notes prepared by managers of a Big‐6 accounting firm. A sample of twenty‐eight audit engagements resulting in 3,008 separate review notes was examined. The results suggest that quality control aspects appear to be the main focus of the review process. Review notes sometimes indicated the need to gather further information and/or undertake additional testing, and provided direct as well as indirect advice on the audit approach to subordinates. Few surprises resulted from the review process, and the review notes and approaches varied among managers.
Positive Accounting Theory and the PA Cult
Authors: CHAMBERS R. J.
Published: July 2005

Positive accounting theory is claimed to be explanatory of accounting practice; a scientific, empirical, economics‐based theory. These claims are examined severally, and in significant respects are found to be untenable. Vast tracts of accounting practice remain unexplained, even unnoticed. That scientific enterprise is directed to the development of technical norms or prescriptions is set aside. The association between the ideas of economics and accounting extends, at the hands of the theory's exponents, not to the corpus of well‐established economic notions, but only to tangential elements of economics. While purporting to shun prescription, the exponents of the theory, both actively and by implication, endorse conventional accounting which is heavily dependent on normative propositions. The‘theory’is marred by oversights, inconsistencies and paradoxes. The implicit hope that the methodology followed‘will provide a useful positive accounting theory’(Watts and Zimmerman, 1986, p. 362) entails that its proponents have offered no such theory.
Flexible Budgets for Cellular Manufacturing Systems
Authors: DHAVALE DILEEP G. , SOUNDERPANDIAN JAYAVEL
Published: July 2005

A flexible budgeting method based on relationships amongst the products manufactured in a cellular manufacturing system and the stochastic nature of expenditures is developed. Differential penalty costs for budget variances specified by the user determine an optimal ratio which is used in developing the flexible budget. The budget uses direct materials cost as the base, and is particularly well‐suited for just‐in‐time operation in manufacturing.
Historical Interpretation: The Worthington Commentary
Authors: PREVITS GARY JOHN , PARKER LEE D. , COFFMAN EDWARD N.
Published: July 2005

The authors of ‘Accounting History: Definition and Relevance’ (1990) address the comments of Scorgie (1991) to achieve the appropriate perspective from which to interpret the ‘Worthington commentary’.
An Analysis of Comment Integration Involving SAS 54
Authors: McENROE JOHN E.
Published: July 2005

The process by which auditing standards are established in the United States was criticized by the late Senator Metcalf (1977) and more recently by the Treadway Commission (1987). Their allegations involving the Auditing Standards Board (ASB) encompass many perceived deficiencies, ranging from the charge that the large accounting firms dominate the standard‐setting process, to the notion that the auditing standards currently promulgated do not address emerging policy issues on a timely basis. However, despite these criticisms, there is a paucity of empirical research involving the actual formulation of auditing standards in the United States. Accordingly, this research investigates certain behavioural facets involving the evolution of Statement on Auditing Standards No. 54, Illegal Acts by Clients, along certain dimensions, including audit‐firm size. Specifically, the paper examines reactions to the exposure draft of SAS 54 and the extent to which written suggestions were incorporated into the final standard. The results do not support the proposition that either audit firm size or an employee's membership on the ASB has a significant impact on achieving the integration of a respondent's comments into the final audit statement.
Liability Valuation and Debt Defeasance: A Cash‐Flow Exit‐Price (CaFE) Approach
Authors: WEARING ROBERT T.
Published: July 2005

This paper reviews the arguments of Chambers with respect to liability measurement in his continuously contemporary accounting (CoCoA) system and the views of his critics are summarized and discussed. The paper then examines the issue of laibility valuation and in‐substance debt defeasance in the context of historic‐cost accounting. A specific illustration is provided showing how an in‐substance debt‐defeasance arrangement would be reported under a CaFE system. It is concluded that stating debt at its exit price would provide useful information and could reduce the incentives for firms to enter into in‐substance debt‐defeasance arrangements.
Making Profession and State, 1907 to 1914: The ACPA's First Charter Attempt
Authors: POULLAOS CHRIS
Published: July 2005

The Australasian Corporation of Public Accountants (ACPA) was founded in 1907, the first Australian national association of public accountants and their clerks. From 1907 to 1914 it endeavoured, against the opposition of both Australian and British associations, to obtain a royal charter. The ACPA's charter attempt brought into focus struggles within the emergent accountancy‘profession’both in Australia and Britain. It also became implicated in the process of state formation during a formative period in Australia's political history. Using hitherto unexplored archival material, this study shows that the ACPA's charter attempt: (a) was a serious attempt to drive a wedge between the‘public’and‘commercial’accountant; and (b) raised issues about the legislative and executive domains of Australian state and Federal governments both inter se and in relation to Britain. The study suggests that the failure of the attempt can be ascribed to the interaction of (a) and (b). It also suggests that one of the outcomes of the attempt, namely, the (re‐)assertion of authority of Australian state governments over accountancy matters, helped to diminish the hegemony of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, eventually formed in 1928, over public accountancy in Australia.
Related Party Transactions: A Case Study of Inter‐Organizational Conflict Over the‘Development’ of Disclosure Rules
Authors: WALKER R. G. , ROBINSON S. P.
Published: July 2005

Regulatory arrangements adopted in most Western countries involve the participation of both private‐sector (professional) bodies and public‐sector agencies in the formulation and administration of accounting rules. The political processes associated with the efforts of interest groups to secure favoured outcomes may involve disputes over regulatory arrangements as well as the content of specific rules.

This case study reviews inter‐organizational conflict during the 1980s between government regulatory bodies and the accounting profession as they handled proposals for the introduction of disclosure rules concerning related party transactions (RPTs).

The case study illustrates how debates about the content and drafting of rules on RPTs took place in a complex organizational setting; how the activities of the profession's standard‐setting bodies were hardly consistent with the pluralist ideal; but that when considered in the context of complex interactions between different agencies, the notion of ‘pluralism’ is of limited value when describing the underlying political processes involved in the development of accounting rules; and how simple models of‘corporatism’ failed to describe the dynamics of political processes surrounding particular issues. It is suggested that identifying the ‘domains’ of major participants in the standard‐setting process, and analysing threats to these domains, may provide richer descriptions of regulatory processes than have been presented previously.
A Statistical Paradox in Auditing
Authors: JOHNSTONE D. J.
Published: July 2005

The decision rule in a standard form of hypothesis testing in auditing is to reject the null hypothesis (and thus the auditee's account balance) if the 100(1‐β)% confidence interval estimate of the population average error lies even partly outside the null (immaterial) interval. The effect of this rule is to fix the minimum power of the test (i.e., the minimum probability of rejecting a materially incorrect balance) at 1‐β/2 (assuming a two‐sided test). An unseen theoretical deficiency of the stated decision rule is that, from a Bayesian (evidential) rather than long‐run error‐frequency standpoint, marginal rejection of the null hypothesis supports that hypothesis. Indeed if the sample size is large enough, an account balance which is marginally rejected by the auditor, using a conventional test, has an‘objective’ (independent‐of‐prior) posterior probability arbitrarily close to one. In these circumstances, any call by the auditor for adjustment of the stated account balance, or additional sampling, would be seen as‘over‐servicing’ and rightfully resisted.
Allocations and Common Costs in Long‐Run Investing and Pricing Decisions: An Historical Analysis
Authors: BURROWS G. H.
Published: July 2005

The extent to which allocated common costs should influence business decisions remains controversial in management accounting. In the finance and investment literature this issue is generally ignored or dismissed by appeals to the‘incremental’ principle. This article presents an historical analysis of allocations in long‐run investing and pricing decisions. It is demonstrated that seminal figures in the development of both investment and price theory were conscious of the need for firms to cover common costs and generally favoured some form of allocation. The anti‐allocationist position is shown to be of relatively recent origin and to have caused an inconsistency in the management accounting literature in the treatment of common costs. European costing theory is shown to have been consistently allocationist. Evidence of a return in the recent U.S. literature to the older Anglo‐American, and continuing European, allocations tradition is presented.
The Information Content of Segment Disclosures: Australian Evidence
Authors: AITKEN MICHAEL J. , CZERNKOWSKI ROBERT M. , HOOPER CAMERON G.
Published: July 2005

This paper investigates whether the voluntary decomposition of consolidated earnings disclosures into industry segments has information content in the sense that such disclosures better enable investors to predict earnings. The broad rationale underlying the experimental design is that if segment disclosure does enable investors to better predict earnings then residual abnormal returns (after controlling for unexpected earnings) surrounding the earnings announcements of firms providing segment disclosures should on average be significantly lower than a matched’ group of firms that do not provide this type of disclosure. Using a short event window design, our results support this view.
Public Choice and Accounting Standard Setting in New Zealand: An Exploratory Study
Authors: RAHMAN ASHEQ R. , NG LAY WEE , TOWER GREGORY D.
Published: July 2005

Recent studies in accounting regulation have used either the capture argument or the pluralistic notion to describe the enactment of accounting regulations. This paper explores the nature of the impact of public choice in accounting standard setting in New Zealand using the pluralistic notion. To provide an insight into the standard‐setting process, this paper involves an examination of the establishment, withdrawal and re‐establishment of New Zealand's most controversial standard after current cost accounting — the standard on investment property accounting (SSAP 17). The investigation considers the nature of public choice in the agenda entrance, demand and supply factors influencing standard setting in New Zealand. The results indicate that the New Zealand accounting standard‐setting process is pluralistic in a limited way. Like most other English‐speaking countries, the scope of participation for certain groups has been institutionalized on the supply side by way of membership of standard‐setting committees of the New Zealand Society of Accountants. On the demand side, however, consumers of accounting have been provided with only limited scope for participating in the formal process of standard setting. Nevertheless, other means (i.e., exogenous and informal ones) may be used to influence the process. Overall, from both the demand and supply perspectives of regulation, the Big‐8 accounting firms (as they were previously known) followed by the preparers of financial statements, seem to have greater participatory capacity in the New Zealand standard‐setting process.
Competing Regulatory Agencies With Conflicting Agendas: Setting Standards For Cash Flow Reporting In Australia
Authors: WALKER R. G. , ROBINSON S. P.
Published: July 2005

Financial accounting regulatory arrangements adopted in most Western countries often involve the participation of (and interactions between) public‐sector and private‐sector regulatory agencies. The political process associated with the development of accounting rules not only involves the efforts of interested parties seeking to secure the content of rules favourable to their interests but also the behaviours of regulatory agencies as they compete to influence or control the regulatory ‘agenda’.

Regulatory agencies develop their own agendas, in light of their own perceived priorities and the regulatory initiatives of other agencies. The placing of an accounting issue on the agenda of one agency may be warmly supported by other agencies or, alternatively, be viewed as a threat to the regulatory ambitions of those other agencies.

This case study reviews the emergence and eventual resolution of an accounting issue that was initially promoted by a government agency in April 1984 but then ultimately developed as a professional accounting standard in December 1991. The study describes the activities of public and private‐sector agencies during this eight‐year period as they responded to proposals for the introduction of disclosure rules concerning cash flows. Evidence was obtained from public records, documents provided by interest groups, and structured and semi‐structured interviews with key participants in the events described.

The analysis is underscored by our understanding of competitive regulatory interactions and formal models for analysing agenda entrance (Cobb et al. 1976). This analysis shows how the profession's standard‐setting body was unable to control the global agenda for accounting rule‐making as a consequence of the intervention of another body, the Australian Stock Exchange.
The Significance of the Profit and Loss Account in Nineteenth‐Century Britain: A Reassessment
Authors: JONES STEWART , AIKEN MAX
Published: July 2005

This article presents a reassessment of the development of regulated financial disclosure in nineteenth‐century British companies legislation. Most accounting historians have emphasized the importance of the balance sheet under the disclosure requirements of various Acts. The relative importance of the profit and loss account has been largely neglected by historians. This paper contends that the profit and loss account was a considerably more important document in the financial regulation of companies than previously contemplated. In fact, the profit and loss account was required in the disclosure regulations of numerous Acts, including the Joint Stock Banks Act (1844), the Regulation of Railways Act (1868), the Life Assurance Companies Act (1870) and the Building and Friendly Societies Act (1874).
Market Value Accounting in the Financial Services Sector
Authors: HOGAN WARREN P.
Published: July 2005

The past decade witnessed a deregulatory programme in Australia's financial sector. Market valuation of assets and liabilities has been required as a complement to historical costs in some cases, in others market values substitute for them. Interest in issues arising with market values has been heightened by the exposure draft on financial investments issued by the Australian Accounting Research Foundation in 1993. This article argues that the market valuation proposals offered in Exposure Draft 59 have not been argued effectively and explained sufficiently to secure their implementation.
Asset Revaluations and Assessment of Borrowing Capacity
Authors: COTTER JULIE , ZIMMER IAN
Published: July 2005

Prior research has found support for contracting, political cost and information asymmetry explanations for managements’ decision to revalue non‐current assets. This study proposes that asset revaluations occur to signal available borrowing capacity via an increase in collateral values at the time of increases in secured debt and that the economic benefits associated with an asset revaluation will be greatest for firms when they are experiencing times of declining cash flows from operations. Results imply that firms that have undertaken an asset revaluation are more likely to be experiencing declining cash flows from operations than firms that have not revalued. This study also investigates whether the incidence of valuations coincides with increases in levels of secured borrowings due to lenders’ demands for current values of assets offered as collateral. The evidence indicates that firms are more likely to record an asset revaluation if they have increased their secured borrowings, and that most non‐year‐end revaluations emanate directly from contracting with lenders.
Long‐Term Concentration in the Dutch Audit Market: The Use of Auditor Association Membership Lists in Historical Research
Authors: MAIJOOR STEVEN , BUIJINK WILLEM , VAN WITTELOOSTUIJN ARJEN , ZINKEN MAURICE
Published: July 2005

This article provides an empirical description of the complete Dutch audit market from its inception, in the late nineteenth century, to the present day. Specifically, it documents the development of the structure of the Dutch audit industry in terms of the number of audit firms and the audit firm size distribution. The audit firm size measure used is the number of auditors affiliated with an audit firm. Central in the collection of the audit firm data are the membership lists of Dutch auditor associations. These, with additional information from Dutch financial directories, permit the calculation, with two‐year intervals, of the size of each existing audit firm with the number of auditors as firm‐size measure. The data so obtained give the opportunity to extend existing research on audit market concentration. The level of concentration in the Dutch audit market is determined over a long period, at a large number of points in time. The results show concentration levels that are low and stable for a long period. Only in the past two decades have these levels increased substantially. Potential explanations for this pattern are: (a) increasing regulation of the demand side of the Dutch audit market, (b) increasing technological complexity of the audit process, (c) increasing (international) client concentration, and (d) mergers of the international affiliates of the Dutch audit firms. The article concludes that auditor association membership lists provide a rich data set and create other opportunities for further historical audit (market) research.
The Impact of Financial Accounting Practices on the Measurement of Profit and Equity: Australia Versus the United States
Authors: NORTON JULIE
Published: July 2005

The purpose of this paper is to make a quantitative comparative analysis of differences between Australian financial reporting practices and U.S. GAAP. The empirical data consist of Form 20‐F filings for thirteen Australian incorporated companies for the period 1985–93. Based on prior research, there is a test of the hypothesis that U.S. GAAP is more conservative than Australian financial reporting practice. The results of the empirical analysis offer little support for this hypothesis in the context of the reporting of profit. However, the hypothesis is supported for the reporting of shareholders’ equity. The most frequent and material differences in profits relate to asset measurement, equity consolidation and accounting for intangible assets. Generalizations relating to differences in shareholders’ equity are more difficult to make.
The role of meal replacements in obesity treatment
Authors: Keogh J. B. , Clifton P. M.
Published: July 2005

Effective weight loss strategies are needed to help overweight and obese people lose weight and maintain weight loss in the long term. Meal replacements for weight loss are available in the community; however, their efficacy in the longer term is not clear. This review summarizes recent evidence on the use of meal replacements as a weight loss strategy.
Prevalence of obesity in Iran
Authors: Rashidi A. , Mohammadpour‐Ahranjani B. , Vafa M. R. , Karandish M.
Published: July 2005

Recent descriptive studies suggest that Iran has geared in the nutrition and epidemiological transition processes. Therefore, while the problems of undernutrition (e.g. growth retardation and micronutrient deficiencies) still exist, the burden of overweight/obesity and diet‐related chronic diseases is increasing. The prevalence of overweight (body mass index ≥ 85th reference percentiles) among urban 15–39 and 40–69 year olds is estimated at about 22% and 40% respectively. Corresponding values in rural areas are 16% and 26%. The transition seems faster among female population at national level. There are however, great differences between different provinces. Urgent preventive strategies are needed to simultaneously tackle both forms of malnutrition in the country.
Prevalence of obesity in Canada
Authors: Bélanger‐Ducharme F. , Tremblay A.
Published: July 2005

Excess weight represents a critical and common health problem in Canada. The last survey of a national representative sample based on measured anthropometrics has been conducted in 1992. According to surveys using measured data, the prevalence of obesity (body mass index, BMI = 30.0 kg m−2) between 1970 and 1992 for those aged 20–69 years increased from 8% to 13% in men and 13% to 15% in women. The proportion of Canadians displaying a BMI ≥25.0 kg m−2 increased from 47% to 58% in men and from 34% to 41% in women in the same period. The most recent prevalence estimates from self‐reported data in a national representative sample indicated that 15% of the adult population (≥18 years) was affected by obesity, while an additional 33% was classified in the overweight category (BMI 25.0–29.9 kg m−2) in 2003. However, it has been suggested that self‐reported height and weight underestimate the prevalence of obesity by approximately 10%. Canadian children, aboriginal populations, and immigrants are some of the vulnerable groups particularly at risk of excess weight or for which the increase in the recent decades has been greater than the national increase. The increases in overweight and obesity over the past 30 years among Canadians have been dramatic. It will be possible to precisely analyse the current situation and its evolution in the last 10 years when data based on measured height and weight will be released, that is, in 2005 and after.
Prevalence of obesity in Australia
Authors: Thorburn A. W.
Published: July 2005

Australia is a large country approximately equal in area to mainland United States. The relatively small population of around 20 million are composed primarily of Caucasians. Extensive immigration from many different countries has made Australia one of the most culturally diverse populations in the world. Indigenous Australians make up only 2.4% of the total population. Australia has a prosperous Western‐style capitalist economy, and spends approximately $830 million on the direct health care costs of obesity. For Australians, it is now more common to have a weight problem, with overweight affecting 48% of men and 30% of women and obesity affecting a further 19% of men and 22% of women. This paper reports on recent epidemiological studies documenting the extent of overweight and obesity in adults and children in Australia.
Ethnic comparisons of obesity in the Asia‐Pacific region: protocol for a collaborative overview of cross‐sectional studies
Authors:   Obesity in Asia Collaboration (OAC)
Published: July 2005

The prevalence of overweight and obesity has been rapidly increasing within countries of the Asia‐Pacific region, with adverse consequences for health. The Obesity in Asia Collaboration (OAC) was initiated to provide reliable evidence concerning  the  relationships  between  anthropometrical  markers  of  adiposity with cardiovascular risk factors within, and across, ethnic groups. This is to be achieved through the collection of cross‐sectional studies from the Asia‐Pacific region. These data will be used to examine the ethnic‐specific associations of different anthropometric measures of adiposity (such as body mass index, waist circumference, waist‐hip ratio and waist‐height ratio) with cardiovascular risk factors (fasting blood glucose and blood pressure). Estimates of the relative risks for type 2 diabetes and hypertension with increased adiposity will be obtained using data from contributing studies in conjunction with those from the previously established Asia Pacific Cohort Studies Collaboration. To date, 12 countries and regions from the Asia‐Pacific region with information on nearly 300 000 individuals, are participants in the OAC. Data from other eligible studies are sought. The findings from the OAC will provide reliable evidence concerning the association of adiposity with cardiovascular risk factors across ethnic groups. It will also provide a strong evidence base upon which to define ethnic‐specific cut‐points for overweight and obesity.
Evidence of a possible link between obesogenic food advertising and child overweight
Authors: Lobstein T. , Dibb S.
Published: July 2005

A recent review of the literature concluded that advertising of foods on television may influence children's food choices and encourage unhealthy diets, but the review acknowledged there was a lack of clear evidence in coming to this conclusion. The present paper examines ecological evidence for a link between advertising to children and the risk of overweight using data from surveys of advertising on children's television and estimates of the prevalence of overweight among children, in the USA, Australia and eight European countries. A significant association was found between the proportion of children overweight and the numbers of advertisements per hour on children's television, especially those advertisements that encourage the consumption of energy‐dense, micronutrient‐poor foods (r = 0.81, P < 0.005). A weaker, negative association was found between the proportion of children overweight and the number of advertisements encouraging healthier diets (r = −0.56, P < 0.10). The quantity of advertising on children's television appears to be related to the prevalence of excess body weight among children. Furthermore, the content of the advertising appears to have a specific effect. The findings justify the need for taking precautionary measures to reduce children's exposure to obesogenic marketing practices.
Fuel sensing and the central nervous system (CNS): implications for the regulation of energy balance and the treatment for obesity
Authors: Seeley R. J. , York D. A.
Published: July 2005

This review describes the product of the 3‐day International Association for the Study of Obesity (IASO) Stock Conference held in March 2004 and sponsored by Abbott Laboratories. The conference was focused on how the mechanisms by which individual cells sense their own fuel status might influence the energy balance of the entire organism. Whether you are a single‐celled organism or a sophisticated mammal with a large cerebral cortex, it is critical that cellular activity be matched to the available fuel necessary for that activity. Rapid progress has been made in the last decade in our understanding of the critical metabolic events that cells monitor to accomplish this critical task. More recent developments have begun to apply this understanding to how critical populations of neurones may monitor similar events to control both food intake and energy expenditure. The picture that emerges is that numerous peripheral fuel sensors communicate to the central nervous system (CNS) via neural and humoral routes. Moreover, it has been known for decades that specific populations of neurones sense changes in ambient glucose levels and adjust their firing rate in response and changes in neuronal glucose metabolism can influence energy balance. The CNS, however, does not just sense glucose but rather appears to be sensitive to a wide range of metabolic perturbations associated with fuel availability. This information is used to adjust both caloric intake and the disposition of fuels in the periphery. Increased understanding of these CNS fuel‐sensing mechanisms may lead to novel therapeutic targets for obesity.
Development of sensory innervation in rat tibia: co‐localization of CGRP and substance P with growth‐associated protein 43 (GAP‐43)
Authors: Gajda Mariusz , Litwin Jan A. , Cichocki Tadeusz , Timmermans Jean‐Pierre , Adriaensen Dirk
Published: July 2005

The development of sensory innervation in long bones was investigated in rat tibia in fetuses on gestational days (GD) 16–21 and in neonates and juvenile individuals on postnatal days (PD) 1–28. A double immunostaining method was applied to study the co‐localization of the neuronal growth marker growth‐associated protein 43 (GAP‐43) and the pan‐neuronal marker protein gene product 9.5 (PGP 9.5) as well as that of two sensory fibre‐associated neuropeptides, calcitonin gene‐related peptide (CGRP) and substance P (SP). The earliest, not yet chemically coded, nerve fibres were observed on GD17 in the perichondrium of the proximal epiphysis. Further development of the innervation was characterized by the successive appearance of nerve fibres in the perichondrium/periosteum of the shaft (GD19), the bone marrow cavity and intercondylar eminence (GD21), the metaphyses (PD1), the cartilage canals penetrating into the epiphyses (PD7), and finally in the secondary ossification centres (PD10) and epiphyseal bone marrow (PD14). Maturation of the fibres, manifested by their immunoreactivity for CGRP and SP, was visible on GD21 in the epiphyseal perichondrium, the periosteum of the shaft and the bone marrow, on PD1 in the intercondylar eminence and the metaphyses, on PD7 in the cartilage canals, on PD10 in the secondary ossification centres and on PD14 in the epiphyseal bone marrow. The temporal and topographic pattern of nerve fibre appearance corresponds with the development of regions characterized by active mineralization and bone remodelling, suggesting a possible involvement of the sensory innervation in these processes.
Morphogenesis of the fibrous sheath in the marsupial spermatozoon
Authors: Ricci M. , Breed W. G.
Published: July 2005

The spermatozoon fibrous sheath contains longitudinal columns and circumferential ribs. It surrounds the axoneme of the principal piece of the mammalian sperm tail, and may be important in sperm stability and motility. Here we describe its assembly during spermiogenesis in a marsupial, the brush‐tail possum, and compare its structural organization with that of eutherian mammals, birds and reptiles. Transmission electron microscopy showed that possum fibrous sheath assembly is a multistep process extending in a distal‐to‐proximal direction along the axoneme from steps 4 to 14 of spermiogenesis. For the most part, assembly of the longitudinal columns occurs before that of the circumferential ribs. Immunohistochemical and immunogold labelling showed that fibrous sheath proteins are first present in the spermatid cytoplasm; at least some of the proteins of the sheath precursors differ from those in the mature fibrous sheath. That immunoreactivity develops after initiation of chromatin condensation suggests that fibrous sheath proteins, or their mRNAs, are stored within the spermatid cytoplasmic lobule prior to their assembly along the axoneme. These findings are similar to those in laboratory rats, and thus suggests that the mode of fibrous sheath assembly evolved in a common ancestor over 125 million years ago, prior to the divergence of marsupial and eutherian lineages.
Gap junctions of the medial collateral ligament: structure, distribution, associations and function
Authors: Chi Simon S. , Rattner J. B. , Sciore Paul , Boorman Richard , Lo Ian K. Y.
Published: July 2005

Ligaments are composed of two major components: cells and extracellular matrix. The cells express gap junction proteins and are arranged into a series of rows that traverse the tissue, suggesting that all the cells of the tissue are functionally interconnected. The results of our study demonstrate that medial collateral ligament (MCL) cells do not have a uniform fusiform morphology or placement along a row of cells as previously suggested, but rather display a complex placement and form that weaves within the collagen matrix in a manner that is far more extensive and complex than previously appreciated. Within this morphological context, we find that MCL cells in vivo contain functional gap junctions (verified using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching) that are localized to sites of close cell–cell contact, and this pattern imparts or reflects a bipolarity inherent to each cell. When we studied ligament cells in conventional tissue culture we found that this bipolarity is lost, and the placement of gap junctions and their related proteins, as well as general cell morphology, is also altered. Finally, our study demonstrates, for the first time, that in addition to gap junctions, adherens junctions and desmosomes are also expressed by MCL cells both in vivo and in vitro and map to sites of cell–cell contact.
Estimation of number of follicles, volume of colloid and inner follicular surface area in the thyroid gland of rats
Authors: Hartoft‐Nielsen M. L. , Rasmussen Å. K. , Feldt‐Rasmussen U. , Buschard K. , Bock T.
Published: July 2005

Volume is an important variable in assessing the growth and involution of the thyroid gland. The functional unit in the thyroid is the follicle, which consists of thyrocytes surrounding colloid. The size of a follicle depends on the number of cells and the amount of colloid. These are interchangeable and vary according to biological activity. Direct measurements of these variables provide information on structures involved in thyroid hormone synthesis, storage and secretion, and also on changes at the morphological and functional levels. Stereological methods are developed to obtain information on three‐dimensional structures from two‐dimensional sections and to achieve information on an entire organ by examining a minor part of it. Full‐grown male Sprague–Dawley rats were used to develop a set of methods relying on unbiased stereological principles to determine the number of follicles, the total volume of colloid and the inner follicular surface area in the thyroid gland. The total volume of colloid was positively correlated (P < 0.021) with the number of follicles and the inner follicular surface area (P < 0.002) but not to the mean volume of colloid in each follicle. Thus under physiological conditions an increase in the total volume of colloid is associated with an increased number of follicles with a constant size distribution rather than a larger volume of colloid in each follicle. This implies that under physiological conditions there is equilibrium in the size distribution of the volume of colloid in each follicle.
Protecting Family and Race
Authors: Leonard Thomas C.
Published: July 2005

Abstract American economics came of age during the Progressive Era, a time when biological approaches to economic reform were at their high‐water mark. Reform‐minded economists argued that the labor force should be rid of unfit workers—whom they labeled “unemployables,”“parasites,” and the “industrial residuum”—so as to uplift superior, deserving workers. Women were also frequently classified as unemployable. Leading progressives, including women at the forefront of labor reform, justified exclusionary labor legislation for women on grounds that it would (1) protect the biologically weaker sex from the hazards of market work; (2) protect working women from the temptation of prostitution; (3) protect male heads of household from the economic competition of women; and (4) ensure that women could better carry out their eugenic duties as “mothers of the race.” What united these heterogeneous rationales was the reformers’ aim of discouraging women's labor‐force participation.
“Breed Out the Unfit and Breed In the Fit”
Authors: Cot Annie L.
Published: July 2005

Abstract Fisher's virulent positions on such themes as “race degeneration”, the necessity of sterilization measures for certain categories of the American population, and his urgent call for the control of the genetic quality of new immigrants are hardly consistent with the opalescent subtlety of academic disputes over the nature of capital and interest. Although Fisher repeats it often: in his work, this question of the nature of capital and interest is directly linked to eugenic assumptions and analysis. This second body of Fisherian work illuminates the strong epistemological and theoretical references in Fisher's work as an economist. This paper addresses this question through three major themes: the constant denunciation of a «racial decay» of the American population and its corollary: the project of setting up a «scientific humaniculture»; the plea against the eugenic effects of World War I, and the then haunting question of the closing of the «Golden Door».
Comments on Four Papers on Economics and Human Heterogeneity
Authors: Rutherford Malcolm
Published: July 2005

Abstract.  These comments focus on some issues raised in the papers by Dimand, Peart and Levy, Cot, and Leonard. These papers are fascinating, but not without weaknesses. It is argued that Dimand's presentation of what he calls the “general principle” of classical economics is misconceived. There is a confusion in this paper between the classical view of equal capacity and the much newer concept of equally rational actual performance. Peart and Levy discuss the idea of unequal capacity for pleasure in Edgeworth, but do not draw a link back to the idea in J. S. Mill of different qualities of pleasure. Cot and Leonard provide informative accounts of the American eugenic movement and its links to progressivism, but with an insufficient degree of distinction between the various positions and agendas that were concerned.
How to be a Value‐Free Advocate of Laissez Faire
Authors: Gunning J. Patrick
Published: July 2005

Abstract.  Ludwig von Mises is often regarded as a “champion” of laissez faire. This characterization seems to contradict Mises's clear statement that economics is value free. The aim of this paper is to resolve this apparent contradiction. We accomplish this by distinguishing, as Mises did, between the advocacy of specific laissez‐faire policies and the advocacy of a laissez‐faire ideology vis‐à‐vis the alternative ideologies of socialism and interventionism. Mises argued that the logic of a value‐free economics could be used to show that socialist and interventionist policies would not achieve a goal that the socialists and interventionists implicitly or explicitly aim to achieve, that of progress in terms of material wealth for the members of society. Thus, Mises resolved the contradiction by shifting the debate from the welfare analysis of particular policies to a logical analysis of the ends of a particular ideology and the means available to achieve those ends.

In a seminal paper in neo‐Austrian economics, Murray Rothbard criticized Mises. We analyze Rothbard's argument partly as a means of elucidating Mises's views and argue that Rothbard misinterpreted Mises and quoted him out of context. Rothbard failed to adequately support his claim that Mises held the beliefs that Rothbard attributed to him. Moreover, Rothbard's paper undermined the value freedom that Mises regarded as a crucial characteristic of economics.
A Combined Cluster and Interaction Model: The Hierarchical Assignment Problem
Authors: Horner Mark W. , O'Kelly Morton E.
Published: July 2005

This article presents a new spatial modeling approach that deals with interactions between individual geographic entities. The developed model represents a generalization of the transportation problem and the classical assignment problem and is termed the hierarchical assignment problem (HAP). The HAP optimizes the spatial flow pattern between individual origin and destination locations, given that some grouping, or aggregation of individual origins and destinations is permitted to occur. The level of aggregation is user specified, and the aggregation step is endogenous to the model itself. This allows for the direct accounting of aggregation costs in pursuit of optimal problem solutions. The HAP is formulated and solved with several sample data sets using commercial optimization software. Trials illustrate how HAP solutions respond to changes in levels of aggregation, as well as reveal the diverse network designs and allocation schemes obtainable with the HAP. Connections between the HAP and the literature on the p‐median problem, cluster analysis, and hub‐and‐spoke networks are discussed and suggestions for future research are made.
An Analytical Model to Assess the Visibility of Landmarks
Authors: Ohsawa Yoshiaki , Kobayashi Takafumi
Published: July 2005

Landmarks in urban areas, such as castles, churches, bell towers, tall buildings, large hills, and tall trees, are common points of geographical reference in landscapes. However, modern construction methods have pushed buildings higher, so the visibility of these landmarks has been reduced. This article develops a simple analytical model for use in an urban setting to estimate how building height and density affect the area from where a landmark is visible. The probability of visibility from observation points will be derived by the use of a stochastic process. Three relationships between the visibility of a landmark and its setting are mathematically derived and illustrated using a monocentric city.
Multiple Principals, Multiple Signals: A Signaling Approach to Principal‐Agent Relations
Authors: Worsham Jeff , Gatrell Jay
Published: July 2005

This study suggests a key element of the principal‐agent relationship involves communication between potential principals and their agents. We suggest communications often resemble a signaling process in which potential principals indicate their interest in policy matters through multiple venues. This study models changes in the levels of rulemaking activity by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as a function of increased salience in public, congressional and executive venues.
Nearby, but Not Wanted? The Bypassing of Rural Hospitals and Policy Implications for Rural Health Care Systems
Authors: Roh Chul‐Young , Moon M. Jae
Published: July 2005

This study examines the underutilization of rural hospitals. The authors study hospital and patient characteristics to determine why and how rural patients bypass local rural hospitals despite the availability of comparable medical services. The general conditional logit analysis of data on patients and hospitals suggests that hospital characteristics (size, ownership, and distance) and patient characteristics (payment source, medical condition, age, and race) influence rural patients’ decisions to bypass local rural hospitals. The study offers two suggestions (policy implications) to better utilize rural health care institutions: a market‐centered approach, and more effective government intervention for horizontal and vertical hospital integration.