bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Workplace learning and the metacognitive functions of routines
Authors: Munby Hugh , Versnel Joan , Hutchinson Nancy L. , Chin Peter , Berg Derek H.
Published: May 2003

In the face of research that shows that workplace knowledge and learning are highly contextual, calls for the teaching of generalizable skills for the workplace have been widespread. While the authors reject the usefulness of teaching generalizable skills, they believe that there are commonalities in workplace knowledge that can be taught. These commonalities are related to metacognition rather than simple cognition, and the approach in this paper is to explore the potential of metacognitive instruction for workplace learning. Specifically, the concept of routines is used to develop an instructional theory derived from the inherent metacognitive functions of routines themselves. The paper draws upon contemporary cognitive theory and on recent research on workplace learning, and it builds on studies the authors have conducted on learning in the workplace and on the observation of routines at work.
Efficient contracting and accounting
Authors: Emanuel David , Wong Jilnaught , Wong Norman
Published: May 2003

This paper examines the role of accounting in an efficient contracting perspective of the firm. The firm is an alternative to the market when the costs of using the market become excessive. When a firm replaces the market, authority substitutes for the price mechanism in determining how decisions are made. This paper examines accounting's role in controlling the firm to ensure resources are put to their highest‐value use. Accounting, together with employment contracts, compensation arrangements, debt contracts, internal and external auditors, and the board of directors including its audit and compensation committees comprise a package of mechanisms that have evolved to govern the firm. These institutional devices become the firm's efficient contracting technology. As accounting is part of that contracting technology, the accounting controls and systems that evolve and get implemented are efficient and the accounting methods that are used in calculating the numbers that form part of the firm's contractual arrangements are, likewise, efficient.
Accounting and Finance at forty: a retrospective evaluation
Authors: Otchere Isaac
Published: May 2003

Accounting and Finance has evolved from a news bulletin to a full‐grown refereed academic journal that has published papers written by authors from Australia, New Zealand, the United States of America, Canada, Europe and Asia. The Journal published its 41st volume in 2001 and that anniversary issue coincides with the beginning of the new millennium. As part of the celebration of this important milestone, this article reviews the Journal's evolution, the variety of papers published and the Journal's impact on accounting and finance research in the Asia Pacific region. Data for 394 papers published in the Journal by 570 authors are analysed. I find that the distribution of institutions and authors that have published in the Journal is highly skewed, with the top five (11) institutions accounting for 35 per cent (51 per cent) of the published papers in the Journal. Similarly, 8 per cent of the authors have published 26 per cent of the articles in the Journal. Analysis of the citation pattern indicates that Accounting and Finance does not have much impact on research published in the Asia Pacific region, with the Journal accounting for only 1.06 per cent of all citations in the selected Asia Pacific journals. Sub‐period analysis indicates that not even the establishment of the editorial board in the latter half of the 1990s has helped improve the impact of the Journal on research published in the Asia Pacific region. However, compared with other Asia‐Pacific journals, Accounting and Finance has the strongest impact on publications in the selected journals. The impact is even stronger in the latter half of the 1990s. Also, the impact of Accounting and Finance on the more recent journals in the Asia Pacific region is stronger than that of the other more established journals.
Capital structure and financing of SMEs: Australian evidence
Authors: Cassar Gavin , Holmes Scott
Published: May 2003

This paper investigates the determinants of capital structure and use of financing for small and medium sized enterprises. Hypotheses utilising static trade‐off and pecking order arguments are empirically examined using a series of firm characteristics including: size, asset structure, profitability, growth and risk. The hypotheses developed are tested using a large Australian nationwide panel survey. The results suggest that asset structure, profitability and growth are important determinants of capital structure and financing. For asset structure the direction of the influence is reliant upon the capital structure or financing measure employed. The results generally support static trade‐off and pecking order arguments proposed by theoretical models.
Green national accounting for welfare and sustainability:A Taxonomy Of Assumptions And Results
Authors: Asheim Geir B.
Published: June 2003

This paper summarizes assumptions made and results obtained in parts of the literature on welfare and sustainability accounting. I consider five different assumptions that can be imposed independently of each other, producing 32 different combinations. This taxonomy is used to organize results in welfare and sustainability accounting. The analysis illustrates how stronger results require stronger assumptions and thereby impose harder informational requirements.
A Paleoeconomic Theory of Co‐Evolution and Extinction of Domesticable Animals
Authors: Horan Richard D. , Shogren Jason F. , Bulte Erwin
Published: June 2003

One Pleistocene mystery is why early North Americans eradicated their large, potentially domesticable animals (e.g., horses), whereas early Europeans did not. A commonly‐held hypothesis is that European species were evasive due to co‐evolution with hominids, whereas North American animals were naïve and unable to adapt quickly enough when experienced human hunters arrived from Eurasia. We explore this hypothesis with a paleoeconomic model of co‐evolution that integrates human hunting investments and wildlife population responses. We find that investments in hunting ability, based on the relative scarcity of prey species, could have mattered more than wildlife ‘naivety’ in explaining the extinction.
Determination of Discrete Spectrum in a Random Field
Authors: Kundu Debasis , Nandi Swagata
Published: May 2003

We consider a two dimensional frequency model in a random field, which can be used to model textures and also has wide applications in Statistical Signal Processing. First we consider the usual least squares estimators and obtain the consistency and the asymptotic distribution of the least squares estimators. Next we consider an estimator, which can be obtained by maximizing the periodogram function. It is observed that the least squares estimators and the estimators obtained by maximizing the periodogram function are asymptotically equivalent. Some numerical experiments are performed to see how the results work for finite samples. We apply our results on simulated textures to observe how the different estimators perform in estimating the true textures from a noisy data.
Lax Pairs and Darboux Transformations for Euler Equations
Authors: (Charles) Li Yanguang , Yurov Artyom V.
Published: June 2003

In this article, we will report the recent developments on Lax pairs and Darboux transformations for Euler equations of inviscid fluids.
Consciousness and Self in Animals: Some Reflections
Authors: Bekoff Marc
Published: May 2003

In this essay I argue that many nonhuman animal beings are conscious and have some sense of self. Rather than ask whether they are conscious, I adopt an evolutionary perspective and ask why consciousness and a sense of self evolved—what are they good for? Comparative studies of animal cognition, ethological investigations that explore what it is like to be a certain animal, are useful for answering this question. Charles Darwin argued that the differences in cognitive abilities and emotions among animals are differences in degree rather than differences in kind, and his view cautions against the unyielding claim that humans, and perhaps other great apes and cetaceans, are the only species in which a sense of self‐awareness has evolved. I conclude that there are degrees of consciousness and self among animals and that it is likely that no animal has the same highly developed sense of self as that displayed by most humans. Many animals have a sense of “body‐ness” or “mine‐ness” but not a sense of “I‐ness.” Darwin's ideas about evolutionary continuity, together with empirical data (“science sense”) and common sense, will help us learn more about consciousness and self in animals. Answers to challenging questions about animal self‐awareness have wide‐ranging significance, because they are often used as the litmus test for determining and defending the sorts of treatments to which animals can be morally subjected.
Being Conscious of Marc Bekoff: Thinking of Animal Self‐Consciousness
Authors: Peterson Gregory R.
Published: May 2003

The preceding article by Marc Bekoff reveals much about our current understanding of animal self‐consciousness and its implications. It also reveals how much more there is to be said and considered. This response briefly examines animal self‐consciousness from scientific, moral, and theological perspectives. As Bekoff emphasizes, self‐consciousness is not one thing but many. Consequently, our moral relationship to animals is not simply one based on a graded hierarchy of abilities. Furthermore, the complexity of animal self‐awareness can serve as stimulus for thinking about issues of theodicy and soteriology in a broader sense.
Pluralism and Ambivalence in the Evolution of Morality
Authors: Peters Karl E.
Published: May 2003

Much good work has been done on the evolution of human morality by focusing on how “selfish genes” can give rise to altruistic human beings. A richer research program is needed, however, to take into account the ambivalence of naturally evolved biopsychological motivators and the historical pluralism of human morality in religious systems. Such a program is described here. A first step is to distinguish the ultimate cause of natural selection from proximate causes that are the results of natural selection. Next, some proximate causes are suggested as possible conditions of biological and emotional valuing as well as of customary social morality and individual rational ethical thought. Finally, different moral perspectives of Confucianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity are briefly presented in order to illustrate how one might inquire about the selection of a variety of biopsychological and cultural proximate causes that enable the evolution of a plurality of religious moral systems.
Review
Authors: Boggs Barry
Published: May 2003

Book Reviewed:

Michael Cavanaugh Biotheology: A New Synthesis of Science and Religion
The Band Pass Filter*
Authors: Christiano Lawrence J. , Fitzgerald Terry J.
Published: June 2003

We develop optimal finite‐sample approximations for the band pass filter. These approximations include one‐sided filters that can be used in real time. Optimal approximations depend upon the details of the time series representation that generates the data. Fortunately, for U.S. macroeconomic data, getting the details exactly right is not crucial. A simple approach, based on the generally false assumption that the data are generated by a random walk, is nearly optimal. We use the tools discussed here to document a new fact: There has been a significant shift in the money–inflation relationship before and after 1960.
Estimation of a Stratified Error‐Components Model*
Authors: Phillips Robert F.
Published: June 2003

This article shows that the presence of incidental parameters in Baltagi and Griffin's (International Economic Review 29 (1988), 745–53) generalized error‐components model implies there is no guarantee feasible and true GLS estimators have the same asymptotic distribution. The article then considers a related stratified error‐components model that has no incidental parameters. In this model, unobserved heterogeneity occurs through variances changing across strata. The article provides an EM algorithm for calculating estimates of the model's parameters without assuming observations can be classified into strata, derives a bootstrap test for identifying the number of strata, and applies the new methods in an example.
Borrow and Adjust: Fiscal Policy and Sectoral Adjustment in an Open Economy*
Authors: Steigum Erling , Thøgersen Øystein
Published: June 2003

Should the government run fiscal deficits in response to an adverse external shock that warrants transfer of resources from production of nontraded to traded goods? This article considers normative fiscal policy implications of sectoral adjustment costs in a two‐sector model with overlapping generations. Fiscal deficits benefit present generations by depleting foreign assets and slowing down the adjustment process. We show that despite no nominal rigidities, temporary fiscal deficits increase social welfare if adjustment costs prevent immediate sectoral reallocation of inputs. If there are no adjustment costs, the case for fiscal deficits vanishes.
From Malthus to Modern Growth: Can Epidemics Explain the Three Regimes?*
Authors: Lagerlöf Nils‐Petter
Published: June 2003

We model demographic and economic long‐run development in a setting where mortality is endogenous and subject to epidemic shocks. The model replicates the full transition from Malthusian stagnation to modern growth. Consistent with the historical facts, the economy also passes an intermediate post‐Malthusian phase where growth rates of both population and per capita income increase simultaneously, as mortality rates fall and become less volatile. The escape from the Malthusian trap is the result of a series of mild epidemic shocks, making it inevitable at some stage, but its timing random. Calibrations show that it can differ by thousands of generations, absent differences in exogenous parameters.
DNA–protein crosslinks and p53 protein expression in relation to occupational exposure to formaldehyde
Authors: Shaham J , Bomstein Y , Gurvich R , Rashkovsky M , Kaufman Z
Published: May 2003

Background:Formaldehyde (FA) is classified as a probable human carcinogen.

Aims:To examine DNA protein crosslinks (DPC) and p53, which are generally known to be involved in carcinogenesis, in peripheral blood lymphocytes of workers exposed to FA.

Methods:DPC and p53 (“wild type” and mutant) were examined in peripheral blood lymphocytes of 186 workers exposed to FA (mean years of exposure = 16) and 213 unexposed workers. Every worker completed a questionnaire on demographic data, occupational and medical history, smoking, and hygiene.

Results:The adjusted mean level of DPC in the exposed and the unexposed workers differed significantly. Adjustment was made for age, sex, years of education, smoking, and origin. Exposure to FA increased the risk of having a higher level of pantropic p53 above 150 pg/ml (OR 1.6, 95% CI 0.8 to 3.1). A significant positive correlation was found between the increase of pantropic p53 protein and mutant p53 protein, as well as between pantropic p53 >150 pg/ml and mutant p53 protein. In the exposed group a significantly higher proportion of p53 >150 pg/ml was found among workers with DPC >0.187 (55.7%) (0.187 = median level of DPC) than among workers with DPC ⩽0.187 (33.3%). The risk of having pantropic p53 protein >150 pg/ml was determined mainly by levels of DPC. Workers with DPC above the median level had a significantly higher risk of having pantropic p53 >150 pg/ml (adjusted OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.2 to 5.4).

Conclusions:Results suggest that DPC and mutation in p53 may represent steps in FA carcinogenesis and a possible causal relation between DPC and mutation in p53. These biomarkers can be applied in the assessment of the development of cancer due to FA exposure.
Lung cancer risk in workers exposed to poly(vinyl chloride) dust: a nested case-referent study
Authors: Mastrangelo G , Fedeli U , Fadda E , Milan G , Turato A , Pavanello S
Published: May 2003

Background:There have been few investigations of an association between poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) dust exposure and an increase in lung cancer incidence, and their conclusions have been inconsistent.

Aims:To determine whether PVC and/or vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) is the associated risk factor(s), by means of a nested case-referent study, in order to estimate lung cancer risk, avoiding selection, information, or confounding biases.

Methods:Thirty eight cases of histologically verified lung cancer and 224 control subjects without a history of cancer were selected from an Italian cohort of 1658 vinyl chloride workers. Information sources included clinical records (diagnosis, smoking habits) and plant records (occupational history). The risk of lung cancer was estimated by odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI), calculated using logistic regression models.

Results:In PVC baggers exposed to high levels of respirable PVC particles in the workplace, the lung cancer OR increases by 20% for each extra year of work (OR = 1.2003; 95% CI 1.0772 to 1.3469; p = 0.0010), when the influence of age and smoking habits is controlled. No relation was found between lung cancer and cumulative VCM exposure.

Conclusion:This nested case-control study showed, in the VCM/PVC industry, an increased risk of lung cancer associated with exposure to PVC dust; previous cohort studies failed to recognise such excess, probably because they used VCM exposure as the risk indicator.
Reducing long term sickness absence by an activating intervention in adjustment disorders: a cluster randomised controlled design
Authors: van der Klink J J L , Blonk R W B , Schene A H , van Dijk F J H
Published: May 2003

Aims:To compare an innovative activating intervention with “care as usual” (control group) for the guidance of employees on sickness leave because of an adjustment disorder. It was hypothesised that the intervention would be more effective than care as usual in lowering the intensity of symptoms, increasing psychological resources, and decreasing sickness leave duration.

Methods:A prospective, cluster randomised controlled trial was carried out with 192 patients on first sickness leave for an adjustment disorder. Symptom intensity, sickness duration, and return to work rates were measured at 3 months and 12 months. Analyses were performed on an intention to treat basis.

Results:At 3 months, significantly more patients in the intervention group had returned to work compared with the control group. At 12 months all patients had returned to work, but sickness leave was shorter in the intervention group than in the control group. The recurrence rate was lower in the intervention group. There were no differences between the two study groups with regard to the decrease of symptoms. At baseline, symptom intensity was higher in the patients than in a normal reference population, but decreased over time in a similar manner in both groups to approximately normal levels.

Conclusion:The experimental intervention for adjustment disorders was successful in shortening sick leave duration, mainly by decreasing long term absenteeism.
Upper airway inflammation in waste handlers exposed to bioaerosols
Authors: Heldal K K , Halstensen A S , Thorn J , Djupesland P , Wouters I , Eduard W , Halstensen T S
Published: May 2003

Aims:To examine work associated upper airway inflammation in 31 waste handlers, and to correlate these findings with personally monitored exposure to different bioaerosol components.

Methods:Cell differentials, interleukin 8 (IL-8), myeloperoxidase (MPO), and eosinophilic cationic protein (ECP) were examined in NAL (nasal lavage), and swelling of the nasal mucosa was determined by acoustic rhinometry before work start on Monday and the following Thursday. Bioaerosol exposure was determined by personal full shift exposure measurements on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and analysed for total bacteria, fungal spores, endotoxin, and β(1→3)-glucans.

Results:The increased percentage of neutrophils from Monday (28%) to Thursday (46%) correlated with increases in ECP (rS= 0.71, p < 0.001) and MPO (rS= 0.38, p < 0.05), and showed a close to significant correlation with nasal swelling (rS= −0.55, p = 0.07). The Thursday levels of neutrophils, MPO, and IL-8 were associated with the exposure to fungal spores (range 0–2.0 × 106/m3) and endotoxin (range 4–183 EU/m3) measured the day before, and the median exposure to β(1→3)-glucans (range 3–217 ng/m3), respectively (rS= 0.47–0.54, p < 0.01). Swelling of the nasal mucosa was associated with the fungal spore and β(1→3)-glucan exposure (rS= 0.58–0.59, p < 0.05).

Conclusion:These results are based on a relatively small population, and conclusions must be drawn with care. The results suggested that a moderate exposure to fungal spores, endotoxins, and β(1→3)-glucans during waste handling induced upper airway inflammation dominated by neutrophil infiltration and swelling of the nasal mucosa.
Youth preferences for cigar brands: rates of use and characteristics of users
Authors: Soldz S , Huyser D J , Dorsey E
Published: May 2003

Objective:Youth use of cigars has increased in the USA. Understanding brand preference among youth could help explain the attraction to cigars, and develop prevention strategies. This study reports on youth characteristics associated with preferences for cigar brands.

Design:Data are presented on 5006 students in grades 7–12 (ages 12–18 years) in classrooms administered the cigar use reasons evaluation (CURE), a questionnaire assessing alternative tobacco use (cigars, bidis, and kreteks).

Setting:Twelve middle and high schools across Massachusetts.

Main outcome measures:Preferred brands of cigars.

Results:Cigar smoking was reported by 16.4% of the sample. The brands preferred by over 5% of cigar users were Phillies (overall prevalence: 31.0%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 27.9% to 34.3%), Black & Mild (12.3%, 95% CI 9.8% to 15.4%), Garcia y Vega (11.4%, 95% CI 9.3% to 13.8%), Swisher Sweets (9.6%, 95% CI 7.6% to 12.2%), Backwoods (6.1%, 95% CI 4.6% to 8.1%), and non-listed brands (16.4%, 95% CI 14.0% to 19.0%). Male cigar smokers were significantly more likely than females to prefer five brands: Backwoods, Dutch Masters, Garcia y Vega, Phillies, and Swisher Sweets, while females were more likely to prefer Black & Mild and non-listed brands. Brand preferences were also distinguished by self, friends’ and siblings’ tobacco use, race/ethnicity, parents’ education and cigar use, GPA (grade point average), college plans, and community type. Urban students were more likely to prefer Black & Mild; students whose parents smoke cigars preferred non-listed brands.

Conclusions:Youth prefer certain brands, most notably Phillies. Particular brands are preferred by particular youth subgroups, raising the possibility of selective marketing toward these groups.
Improving the self reporting of tobacco use: results of a factorial experiment
Authors: Cowling D W , Johnson T P , Holbrook B C , Warnecke R B , Tang H
Published: May 2003

Objectives:To examine divergent estimates of smoking prevalence in two random digit dial surveys for the same population. Based upon internal and external reviews of survey procedures, differences in survey introductions (general health versus tobacco specific introduction) and/or differences in the use of filter questions were identified as the most likely explanations. This prompted an experiment designed to investigate these potential sources of measurement error.

Design:A randomised 2 × 2 factorial experiment.

Setting:A random digit dial telephone survey from July to September 2000.

Subjects:3996 adult Californian respondents.

Main outcome measures:A series of smoking prevalence questions in the context of a tobacco or general health survey.

Results:Logistic regression analyses suggest that, among females, prior knowledge (from the survey introduction) that a survey is concerned with tobacco use may decrease self reported smoking prevalence (approximately 4% absolute prevalence difference). Differences in the use of filter questions resulted in almost no misclassification of respondents.

Conclusions:The tobacco specific survey introduction is causing some smokers to deny their tobacco use. The data suggest that these smokers tend to be women that smoked occasionally. A desire by the participants to minimise their personal time costs or a growing social disapproval of tobacco use in the USA may be contributing to the creation of previously undetected survey artefacts in the measurement of tobacco related behaviours.
Preferences and practices among renters regarding smoking restrictions in apartment buildings
Authors: Hennrikus D , Pentel P R , Sandell S D
Published: May 2003

Objective:This study assessed renters’ preferences for official smoking policies in their buildings and their practices concerning restricting tobacco smoking in their apartments.

Design:Renters (n = 301) living in large apartment complexes in a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota, completed a mail survey.

Main outcome measures:The survey asked about the official smoking policies in place in their apartment buildings, their preferences for policies, whether they had smelled tobacco smoke coming into their apartments from without, and, if so, what they had done about it.

Results:The majority of non-smokers (79%) preferred that their building be smoke-free. When asked to identify the current smoking policy in their buildings, residents disagreed substantially. Most renters (60%) reported smoke-free policies in their own apartments and another significant proportion (23%) restricted smoking to certain areas or occasions or persons. 75% thought that enforcing a smoke-free policy for guests would not be difficult. 53% of those in non-smoking households had smelled tobacco smoke in their apartments; most of these reported being bothered by it. However, very few complained to the building owner or manager (15.5%) or to the smoker (6.9%).

Conclusions:The majority of non-smokers preferred that their buildings be smoke-free. A failure to report problems to apartment managers might be an impediment to instituting smoke-free policies in apartment buildings. The considerable disagreement among residents within apartment complexes about the current official smoking policy in their buildings suggests that policies are lacking or are not well communicated.
From adversary to target market: the ACT-UP boycott of Philip Morris
Authors: Offen N , Smith E A , Malone R E
Published: May 2003

Background:In 1990, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT-UP) sparked a year long boycott of Philip Morris’s Marlboro cigarettes and Miller beer. The boycott protested the company’s support of Senator Jesse Helms (R-North Carolina), a leading opponent of AIDS funding and civil rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. ACT-UP demanded that Philip Morris sever its ties with Helms and acknowledge its responsibility to the LGBT community and to people with AIDS.

Objective:To assess the impact of the boycott on the LGBT community, the tobacco industry, and the tobacco control movement; and to determine what lessons tobacco control advocates can extract from this case.

Data sources:Internal tobacco industry documents and newspaper archives.

Methods:Search of tobacco industry documents websites using “boycott”, “ACT-UP”, “gay”, and other terms.

Results:Philip Morris used the boycott to its own advantage. It exploited differences within the community and settled the boycott by pledging large donations to combat AIDS. Through corporate philanthropy, Philip Morris gained entrée to the LGBT market without appearing gay friendly. Many LGBT organisations, thirsty for recognition and funding from mainstream corporations, welcomed Philip Morris’s overtures without considering the health hazards of tobacco.

Conclusions:Unless the goal of a boycott is to convince the tobacco industry to abandon tobacco altogether, such actions invite the industry to expand its marketing under the guise of philanthropy. Tobacco control advocates should be clear about goals and acceptable settlement terms before participating in a boycott of a tobacco company.
Thinking the “unthinkable”: why Philip Morris considered quitting: Figure 1
Authors: Smith E A , Malone R E
Published: May 2003

Objective:To investigate the genesis and development of tobacco company Philip Morris’s recent image enhancement strategies and analyse their significance.

Data sources:Internal Philip Morris documents, made available by the terms of the Master Settlement Agreement between the tobacco companies and the attorneys general of 46 states, and secondary newspaper sources.

Study selection:Searches of the Philip Morris documents website (www.pmdocs.com) beginning with terms such as “image management” and “identity” and expanding as relevant new terms (consultant names, project names, and dates), were identified, using a “snowball” sampling strategy.

Findings and conclusions:In the early 1990s, Philip Morris, faced with increasing pressures generated both externally, from the non-smokers’ rights and public health communities, and internally, from the conflicts among its varied operating companies, seriously considered leaving the tobacco business. Discussions of this option, which occurred at the highest levels of management, focused on the changing social climate regarding tobacco and smoking that the tobacco control movement had effected. However, this option was rejected in favour of the image enhancement strategy that culminated with the recent “Altria” name change. This analysis suggests that advocacy efforts have the potential to significantly denormalise tobacco as a corporate enterprise.
STRONG SINGULARITY FOR SUBALGEBRAS OF FINITE FACTORS
Authors: ROBERTSON GUYAN , SINCLAIR ALLAN M. , SMITH ROGER R.
Published: May 2003

In this paper we develop the theory of strongly singular subalgebras of von Neumann algebras, begun in earlier work. We mainly examine the situation of type II1 factors arising from countable discrete groups. We give simple criteria for strong singularity, and use them to construct strongly singular subalgebras. We particularly focus on groups which act on geometric objects, where the underlying geometry leads to strong singularity.
VARIATION OF TORIC HYPERKÄHLER MANIFOLDS
Authors: KONNO HIROSHI
Published: May 2003

A toric hyperKähler manifold is defined to be a smooth hyperKähler quotient of the quaternionic vector space ℍN by a subtorus of TN. It has two parameters corresponding to the de Rham cohomology classes represented by the Kähler form and the complex symplectic form respectively. We study the variation of its complex structure according to these parameters. After the detailed analysis of the stability condition depending on the first parameter, we show that toric hyperKähler manifolds with the same second parameter are related by a sequence of Mukai's elementary transformations. We also give a complete description of its Kähler cone and discuss when certain rational curves exist.
RIGIDITY OF AFFINE HYPERSURFACES WITH RANK 1 SHAPE OPERATOR
Authors: VRANCKEN LUC
Published: May 2003

On a non-degenerate hypersurface it is well known how to induce an affine connection ∇ and a symmetric bilinear form, called the affine metric. Conversely, given a manifold M and an affine connection ∇ one can ask whether this connection is locally realizable as the induced affine connection on a nondegenerate affine hypersurface and to what extend this immersion is unique. In case that the image of the curvature tensor R of ∇ is 2-dimensional and M is at least 3-dimensional a rigidity theorem was obtained in [4]. In this paper, we discuss positive definite n-dimensional affine hypersurfaces with rank 1 shape operator (which is equivalent with 1-dimensional image of the curvature tensor) which are non-rigid. We show how to construct such affine hypersurfaces using solutions of (n - 1)-dimensional differential equations of Monge–Ampère type.
HARMONIC MORPHISMS FROM EINSTEIN 4-MANIFOLDS TO RIEMANN SURFACES
Authors: VILLE MARINA
Published: May 2003

If M and N are Riemannian manifolds, a harmonic morphism f : M → N is a map which pulls back local harmonic functions on N to local harmonic functions on M. If M is an Einstein 4-manifold and N is a Riemann surface, John Wood showed that such an f is holomorphic w.r.t. some integrable complex Hermitian structure defined on M away from the singular points of f. In this paper we extend this complex structure to the entire manifold M. It follows that there are no non-constant harmonic morphisms from [Formula: see text] or [Formula: see text] to a Riemann surface. The proof relies heavily on the real analyticity of the whole situation.

We conclude by an example of a non-constant harmonic morphism from [Formula: see text] to [Formula: see text].
EXISTENCE OF EXTREMAL METRICS ON ALMOST HOMOGENEOUS MANIFOLDS OF COHOMOGENEITY ONE — III
Authors: GUAN DANIEL
Published: May 2003

In this paper we prove that on certain manifolds Nn with nonnegative first Chern class the existence of extremal metric in a Kähler class is the same as the stability of the Kähler class. We also obtain many new Kähler classes with extremal metrics, in particular, the Kähler-Einstein metrics for Nn with n > 2. We also compare the problem of finding Calabi extremal metrics with the similar problem of finding Hermitian–Einstein metrics on the holomorphic vector bundles. We explain the geodesic stability and found that the stability for the manifold is much more complicated
THE REPRESENTATIONS AND ENDOMORPHISMS OF A SEPARABLE NUCLEAR C*-ALGEBRA
Authors: KISHIMOTO AKITAKA
Published: May 2003

It is shown that if A is a separable, non-type I, nuclear simple C*-algebra and π is an irreducible representation of A, then for any representation ρ on a separable Hilbert space of A there is an endomorphism α of A such that ρ is unitarily equivalent to πα.
PRIORITY AS DOMINANCE IN DERIVED MEASUREMENT: INVARIANCE OF THE PRINCIPAL EIGENVECTOR
Authors: SAATY THOMAS L. , OZDEMIR MUJGAN
Published: May 2003

Ranking is a process of prioritization. Priorities, as measurement rather than pure guessing, can be derived from paired comparison judgments that generalize on ratios of actual measurements. Paired comparisons involve the selection of the smaller of the two objects being compared as the unit and estimating how many multiples of that unit the larger object is with respect to an attribute they share. In this paper, it is shown how priorities are derived as the principal right eigenvector of a pairwise comparison matrix and several examples are given to illustrate how the process works.
AGENT-ORIENTED METASYNTHETIC ENGINEERING FOR DECISION MAKING
Authors: CAO L. B. , DAI R. W.
Published: May 2003

Decision making plays a more and more important role in present society, especially in dealing with open complex giant systems, such as macroeconomic decision making. A feasible and effective approach for dealing with the increasingly remarkable decision making problems, in particular open complex giant systems, is to construct a Hall for Workshop of Metasynthetic Engineering (HWME), which is essentially an open giant intelligent decision support system in itself. On the other hand, the emergent agent technology is proposed and popularized as a new computing paradigm for building complex software systems. In this paper, we first briefly introduce the principle of metasynthetic engineering and the HWME in terms of decision support, and propose the network-based hierarchical model of an HWME. Furthermore, we discusse the design idea of agent-oriented metasynthetic engineering for decision support systems. We discuss the design scheme, the framework and the working mechanism of an HWME based on intelligent agents in Java which took the macroeconomic decision making as an instance. In addition, we further examine the fundamental problem of designing agent-oriented open giant intelligent decision support systems. The suitability and challenges of the present agent-oriented abstractions for open giant intelligent systems are further analyzed. Then, we propose the concept of societal abstraction for agent-oriented open giant intelligent systems, which is based on the following hypothesis: a unified mechanism — societal interactions, organizational schemes and component patterns, and multi-agent society. Our preliminary study reveals that the agent-oriented metasynthetic engineering is valid and powerful for decision making of open complex giant systems.
REPRESENTING AND SOLVING ASYMMETRIC DECISION PROBLEMS
Authors: NIELSEN THOMAS D. , JENSEN FINN V.
Published: May 2003

This paper deals with the representation and solution of asymmetric Bayesian decision problems. We present a formal framework, termed asymmetric influence diagrams. The framework is based on the syntax and semantics of the traditional influence diagram, and allows an efficient representation of asymmetric decision problems. As opposed to existing frameworks, the asymmetric influence diagram primarily encodes asymmetry at the qualitative level and it can therefore be read directly from the model.

We give an algorithm for solving asymmetric influence diagrams. The algorithm initially decomposes the asymmetric decision problem into a structure of symmetric subproblems organized as a tree. A solution to the decision problem can then be found by propagating from the leaves towards the root using existing evaluation methods to solve the subproblems.
NEW EFFICIENT TIMED COMMITMENT SCHEMES
Authors: TAO WANG , YANG YI XIAN , NIU XIN XIN
Published: May 2003

A timed commitment is an extension to the standard commitment scheme in which there is a forced-open phase for the verifier to open the committed value even without the help of the committer. The first notion of timed commitment was from Boneh and Naor,2 based on the hardness of the best-known algorithm for computing g(2n) mod N. We use a different approach to design two new schemes. These two schemes are based upon ElGamal encryption and Pubic Verifiable Secret Sharing (PVSS) respectively. Unlike the original scheme, our schemes can be timed precisely, thus easy to be applied in some short-term schemes. We also discuss the implementation of our schemes in contract-signing schemes.
GLOBAL CONVERGENCE IN PARTIALLY FULLY CONNECTED NETWORKS (PFCN) WITH LIMITED RELAYS
Authors: AZADMANESH AZAD , KRINGS AXEL W. , GHAHRAMANI BAHADOR
Published: May 2003

In a distributed system, it is often necessary for nodes to agree on a particular event or to coordinate their activities. Applications of distributed agreement are many, such as Commit Protocols in distributed database systems, selection of a monitor node in a distributed system, detecting an intruder, or agreeing on the malicious behavior of a node.

Among many forms of Distributed Agreement, one form is called Approximate Agreement (AA), in which the nodes, by exchanging their local values with other nodes, need to agree on values which are approximately equal to each other. Research on AA for fully connected networks is relatively mature. In contrast, the study of AA in partially connected networks has been very limited. More specifically, no general solution to the AA problem exists for such networks. This research solves the AA problem for a specific, scalable, partially connected network with limited relays. The research considers the worst failure mode of nodes, called Byzantine, and hybrid failure modes. The results show low communication cost in comparison to fully connected networks. The network is designed to take advantage of the results available for fully connected networks. Thus, the analysis for obtaining the expressions for Convergence Rate and Fault Tolerance becomes relatively easy.
MOBILE E-COMMERCE OUTLOOK
Authors: YEO JULIA , HUANG WAYNE
Published: May 2003

The popularity of m-commerce devices, especially mobile phones among consumers highlighted a new source of revenue for businesses. A literature review in m-commerce found a variety of current business models, namely content services and localization marketing. This paper tries to identify and explore potential business models in the m-commerce industry using SWOT analysis and Porter's Five Forces Model.
DEMANDS ESTIMATION OF NEW TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES IN FUZZY ENVIRONMENT
Authors: LIN LONG-SHUH
Published: May 2003

With the uncertain influential factors of demands and the lack of required historical data, demand estimation for new telecommunication services have generally relied just on marketing survey and analysis. However, the data collected from marketing survey are usually expressed in human linguistic forms and hence are fuzzy in nature. That means the estimation method derived from traditional sampling theory cannot fully represent such fuzzy data and thus biased consequences caused often. Therefore, in this study, to completely capture the uncertainty of the surveyed data, we adopt a series of analytical methods based on fuzzy set theory to construct a fuzzy estimation model. Based on the proposed model, a solution procedure is developed to aid users to acquire the demands of new telecommunication services. Finally, the solution procedure is employed to estimate demands of mobile phone service within one year in Taiwan with satisfactory results.
BIAS CORRECTION AND STATISTICAL TEST FOR DEVELOPING CREDIT SCORING MODEL THROUGH LOGISTIC REGRESSION APPROACH
Authors: LEE TIMOTHY H. , ZHANG MING
Published: May 2003

A credit scoring model is a statistical model that uses empirical data to predict the creditworthiness of credit applicants. A simple but very powerful approach to developing a credit scoring model is to employ logistic regression. Due to the heterogeneity among the population, segmentation into reasonably homogeneous subpopulations is desirable to enhance model performances. However, one often needs to use unequal sampling ratios across the segments to extract the development sample. Hence, the models developed will be biased unevenly and needed to be adjusted to make score comparisons across different segments meaningful. In this paper, we focused on the topic of detection of uneven bias and its correction for segmented scoring models. A statistical test based on the large-sample theory is proposed for detecting the uneven bias along with its mathematical derivation and the simulation results of the test. When uneven bias over different segments has been detected, a formula to alleviate the effects of the uneven bias is suggested along with its heuristic derivation.
On a residue of complex functions in the three‐dimensionalEuclidean complex vector space
Authors: Sarić Branko
Published: May 2003

In the introductory part of this paper, a notion of absolute
integral sums of a complex function, which is more general with
respect to that of an integral and integral sums of ordinary
integral calculus, is defined. Throughout the main part of the
paper, an attempt has been made to generalize, on the basis of
redefining the notion of a complex function residue, some of the
fundamental results of Cauchy′s calculus of residues of analytic
functions. The foundation stone of the whole theory is the total
value of an improper integral of complex functions.
On a certain class of nonstationary sequences in Hilbert space
Authors: Bendoukha Berrabah
Published: May 2003

We study the functions of correlation K(n, m) = 〈X(n), X(m)〉 of certain sequences: X(n) = Tnx0, x0 ∈ H where T is a contraction in Hilbert space H. By using the spectral methods of the nonunitary operators we give the
general form of K(n, m) and its asymptotic behaviour limp→+∞ K(n + p, m + p).
Poisson structures on cotangent bundles
Authors: Mitric Gabriel
Published: May 2003

We make a study of Poisson structures of T∗M which are
graded structures when restricted to the fiberwise polynomial
algebra and we give examples. A class of more general graded
bivector fields which induce a given Poisson structure w on
the base manifold M is constructed. In particular, the
horizontal lifting of a Poisson structure from M to
T∗M via connections gives such bivector fields and we
discuss the conditions for these lifts to be Poisson bivector
fields and their compatibility with the canonical Poisson
structure on T∗M. Finally, for a 2‐form ω on a
Riemannian manifold, we study the conditions for some associated
2‐forms of ω on T∗M to define Poisson structures on cotangent bundles.
Contact problem for bonded nonhomogeneous materials under shear loading
Authors: Singh B. M. , Rokne J. , Dhaliwal R. S. , Vrbik J.
Published: May 2003

The present paper examines the contact problem related to shear
punch through a rigid strip bonded to a nonhomogeneous medium.
The nonhomogeneous medium is bonded to another nonhomogeneous
medium. The strip is perpendicular to the y‐axis and parallel
to the x‐axis. It is assumed that there is perfect bonding at
the common plane surface of two nonhomogeneous media. Using
Fourier cosine transforms, the solution of the problem is reduced
to dual integral equations involving trigonometric cosine
functions. Later on, the solution of the dual integral equations
is transformed into the solution of a system of two simultaneous
Fredholm integral equations of the second kind. Solving
numerically the Fredholm integral equations of the second kind,
the numerical results of resultant contact shear are obtained and
graphically displayed to demonstrate the effect of nonhomogeneity
of the elastic material.
About calculation of the Hankel transform using preliminarywavelet transform
Authors: Postnikov E. B.
Published: May 2003

The purpose of this paper is to present an algorithm for
evaluating Hankel transform of the null and the first kind. The
result is the exact analytical representation as the series of the
Bessel and Struve functions multiplied by the wavelet coefficients of the input function. Numerical evaluation of the test function with known analytical Hankel
transform illustrates the proposed algorithm.
Direct methods for matrix Sylvester and Lyapunov equations
Authors: Sorensen Danny C. , Zhou Yunkai
Published: May 2003

We revisit the two standard dense methods for matrix
Sylvester and Lyapunov equations: the Bartels‐Stewart method for
A1X + XA2 + D = 0 and Hammarling′s method for
AX + XAT + BBT = 0 with A stable. We construct three schemes for solving the unitarily reduced
quasitriangular systems. We also construct a new rank‐1 updating
scheme in Hammarling′s method. This new scheme is able to
accommodate a B with more columns than rows as well as the
usual case of a B with more rows than columns, while
Hammarling′s original scheme needs to separate these two cases.
We compared all of our schemes with the Matlab Sylvester and
Lyapunov solver lyap.m; the results show that our
schemes are much more efficient. We also compare our schemes with
the Lyapunov solver sllyap in the currently possibly the
most efficient control library package SLICOT; numerical results
show our scheme to be competitive.
Use of the multigrid methods for heat radiation problem
Authors: Qatanani Naji A.
Published: May 2003

We consider the integral equation arising as a result of heat
radiation exchange in both convex and nonconvex enclosures of
diffuse grey surfaces. For nonconvex geometries, the visibility
function must be taken into consideration. Therefore, a
geometrical algorithm has been developed to provide an efficient
detection of the shadow zones. For the numerical realization of
the Fredholm integral equation, a boundary element method based on
Galerkin‐Bubnov discretization scheme is implemented.
Consequently, multigrid iteration methods, which are closely
related to two‐grid methods, are used to solve the system of
linear equations. To demonstrate the high efficiency of these
iterations, we construct some numerical experiments for different
enclosure geometries.