bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Ownership Trust and Succession Paralysis in the Family Business
Authors: McCollom Marion
Published: April 2004

This article shows the key role of the ownership system in the healthy development of the family business. Specifically, the analysis focuses on a case in which the ownership of a family business is held in trust. The paralyzing impact of this ownership arrangement on the business and family systems is described, revealing dysfunction in authority relations in general and succession processes in particular. An interpretation is offered to suggest that the trust has allowed the founder, long dead, to effectively retain control. The resulting diagnosis yields several implications for the development of family business theory and practice.
Chinese Family Firms in the San Francisco Bay Area
Authors: Wong Bernard , McReynolds Becky S. , Wong Wynnie
Published: April 2004

This study examines the role of ethnicity and kinship in the economic adaptation of Chinese family firms in the San Francisco Bay Area. The development and operation of these Chinese firms are the result of a complex interactive process involving ethnic resources–such as traditional values, kinship relations, and information networks–as well as structural opportunities and constraints. Throughout their history in the Bay Area, Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs have creatively adapted to their social, economic, and political environments with resources from the family.
Differences in Familial Influence Among Women-Owned Businesses
Authors: Gundry Lisa K , Welsch Harold P.
Published: April 2004

This study identifies groups of women entrepreneurs who were subject to varying degrees of family influence. The term family intensity was derived to characterize those firms that had family investors and family members employed in the business. Eight hundred thirty-two women business owners were sampled, representing a wide variety of industrial sectors. The findings suggest that family intensity plays a significant role in strategic planning and degree of involvement in the business. Family-intense firms were more likely to engage in growth and expansion planning and to report greater sales performance. Furthermore, the results suggest that family intensity affects careerism and ownership issues confronting the woman entrepreneur.
Implications of Gender Bias in the Family Business
Authors: Galiano Alanna M. , Vinturella John B.
Published: April 2004

The prevalence of biases toward females and some underlying perceptions in regard to gender within the context of the family business are explored in this article. The implications of gender bias for the well-being of family businesses are analyzed, with particular reference to the issue of succession planning. Women's changing professional and family roles are also examined.
Using the Process/Content Framework: Guidelines for the Content Expert
Authors: Hilburt-Davis Jane , Senturia Peg
Published: April 2004

Family business consultants, whatever their profession of origin, can make use of the distinction between what people say (content) and how they say it (process). This article summarizes some key concepts that process experts draw from family systems, organization development, and conflict resolution/negotiation theories to formulate a process/content framework. We suggest guidelines, illustrated with case examples, that can help family business consultants who are content experts move more thoughtfully and effectively between these two ways of viewing a family business. These guidelines can also help family businesses choose between the process or content experts they may need in different situations.
Chiefdoms and Family Firm Regimes: Variations on the Same Anthropological Themes
Authors: Rogers Elizabeth D. , Carsrud Alan L. , Krueger Norris F.
Published: April 2004

Family owned and managed firms exhibit remarkable parallels to pre-industrial chiefdoms because the typical economic environment in which they exist limits them to a size and scale equivalent to that of a chiefdom. Using anthropological research this study inventories all known procedures of accommodating multiple heirs to the paramountcy of pre-industrial chiefdoms. It uses this exhaustive inventory to characterize the succession process in modern family owned and managed firms. The major theoretical concept adopted from anthropology is that of polity, defined as an autonomous system of institutional finance and organizational support (resource control and governance). Using terms such as polity helps us to recognize the universality of succession processes. Succession processes in family firms are less idiosyncratic than we once thought. Thus, we can fruitfully explore structural similarities between pre-industrial organizations and modern family firms using the considerable body of field research literature on chiefdoms (Goody, 1958; Barrett, 1965) which finds that every scheme to accommodate multiple successors falls into one of two categories: (a) personnel strategies and (b) asset strategies. A second critical concept is that while it is possible to inventory all possible outcomes (here, succession strategies) in any dynamic system, no single outcome can be accurately predicted in advance. The purpose of this paper is to provide an exhaustive inventory of possible outcomes of the succession process, rather than trying to predict the strategy chosen in a given case. The anthropological perspective provides a much-needed, empirically based, comprehensive model of succession processes in family firms and permits a more nomothetic approach to family firm research.
Important Factors in Family Business Internationalization
Authors: Gallo Miguel Angel , Garcia Pont Carlos
Published: April 2004

This article presents the results of research carried out in the area of the internationalization of family businesses. The study analyzes the influence of several factors relevant to any internationalization processes, and differentiates between those factors that aid internationalization and those that hinder such a process. The study also combines these factors with special characteristics inherent in family business, and discusses how such characteristics affect internationalization processes in family business.
Influences of Work-Family Conflict on Job Satisfaction, Life Satisfaction and Quitting Intentions Among Business Owners: The Case of Family-Operated Businesses
Authors: Boles James S.
Published: April 2004

This study examines the effect of inter-role conflict between the family and business domains among operators of small businesses and family-owned businesses. Findings indicate that work-family conflict can significantly affect both job and life satisfaction of owners as well as their propensity to seek a new line of work. Results vary among owners depending on whether or not they work with other members of their immediate family. Owners that employ other family members experience significantly higher levels of work-family conflict.
Research Note: Effective Successors in Family-Owned Businesses: Significant Elements
Authors: Goldberg Steven D.
Published: April 2004

Sixty-three family business CEOs were surveyed and interviewed to better understand why some successors are able to grow revenues and profits for their respective family firms, and why some do not. This research uncovers significant elements that differentiate effective from less effective successors.
When the Family Business Is a Sickness
Authors: Kaye Kenneth
Published: April 2004

When a shared business retards the life-cycle development of both generations, it may not be possible for consultants to “restore” their system to health as a family business, because it is unhealthy for such families to be in business together at all. Fantasies of saving their family business, or “succeeding” in passing it to the next generation, are misguided at best. The author argues that when parents' ego development is inadequate, normal individuation makes them and their children so anxious that the business functions like an addiction. A primary role of the consultant is to recognize such cases, diagnose them carefully, and intervene in ways that encourage the next generation to explore a wider range of options.
Finance in Family Business
Authors: Gallo Miguel A. , Vilaseca Alvaro
Published: April 2004

This article is an exploratory investigation of the financial issues of family business, such as capital structure, behavior towards investments and risk, and dividend policy. We also analyze the relation between these dimensions and performance. The most important findings of this research are that family businesses have low debtqequity levels, especially those family businesses that have an important market-share positions in their industry. The family businesses that have leading market-share positions have lesser financial performance than the family businesses who are followers in market share.
Head-Disk Spacing Measurement Using Michelson Laser Interferometry as Observed Through Glass Disk
Authors: Mitsuya Yasunaga , Kawamoto Yasuhiro , Zhang Hedong , Oka Hiroyuki
Published: April 2004

A spacing measurement using Michelson laser interferometry was developed for measuring the head-disk spacing in a hard disk drive. This method utilizes the phase comparison of two kinds of interference fringe patterns formed respectively over the inner surface of a glass disk and the air bearing surface of a slider through the glass disk. To increase resolution and reproducibility, four principal techniques were newly introduced: an optical system on which a high-definition CCD (charge-coupled device) camera was mounted, external identification of the fringe interval by driving the reference mirror, a wobbling technique to freeze ridgelines at a prescribed position when capturing the fringe image, and a powerful method for extracting ridgelines from the fringe pattern. In this method, the phase shift generated by light reflection on the slider surface incurring multiple beam interference effects must be compensated. For this purpose, first the phase shift was quantified by simulating the multiple beam interferences over a stratified medium inclusive of the lubricating air film, the DLC (diamond-like-carbon) protective layer, the silicon underlayer and the substrate. Then, the shift was subtracted from the optical spacing to obtain the mechanical spacing. Finally, the repeatedly measured mechanical spacings were compared with the theoretically calculated spacings, showing a good accordance between them.
Animations for visualizing and teaching acoustic impulse scattering from spheres
Authors: Feuillade C.
Published: April 2004

The educational value of time–domain animations for visualizing acoustic impulse scattering from spheres, and the formation of scattered wave fronts, is demonstrated. Anderson’s fluid sphere theory [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 22, 426–431 (1950)] is used to demonstrate scattering for two cases: (a) a fixed rigid sphere; (b) a pressure release sphere. The backscattering regime is seen to be dominated by geometric reflections. In the forward scatter region, visualizations for both cases show that the incident and forward scattered fields combine to rapidly minimize amplitude and phase perturbations of the wave front, leading to “wave front healing.” Diffraction into the acoustic shadow behind the sphere is seen and, in the rigid case, leads to a clearly discernible circumferential wave that breaks off in the backward direction. Animations based upon the raypath scatter method depict how this technique represents geometrical reflections, while omitting diffraction effects, but appears to be a reasonable approximation for backscattering applications. The Hickling and Wang “movable” rigid sphere theory [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 39, 276–279 (1966)] is used to create an animation that illustrates the “rebound” response motion of a sphere of finite mass to the action of the incident field. The animations discussed are downloadable via the World Wide Web.
Development of f2/f1 ratio functions in humans
Authors: Vento Barbara A. , Durrant John D. , Sabo Diane L. , Boston J. Robert
Published: April 2004

Otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) presumably represent active processes within the cochlea fundamental to frequency-selectivity in peripheral auditory function. Maturation of the cochlear amplifier, vis̀-a-vis̀ frequency encoding or selectivity, has yet to be fully characterized in humans. The purpose of this study was to further investigate the maturation of features of the f2/f1 frequency ratio (Distortion Product OAE amplitude X f2/f1 ratio) presumed to reflect cochlear frequency selectivity. A cross-sectional, multivariate study was completed comparing three age groups: pre-term infants, term infants and young adult subjects. Frequency ratio functions were analyzed at three f2 frequencies—2000, 4000 and 6000 Hz. An analysis included an estimation of the optimal ratio (OR) and a bandwidth-like measure (Q3). Analysis revealed significant interactions of age x frequency x gender for optimal ratio and a significant interaction of age x frequency for Q3. Consistent and statistically significant differences for both OR and Q3 were found in female subjects and when f2=2 or 6 kHz. This supports research by others [Abdala, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 114, 3239–3250 (2003)] suggesting that the development of cochlear active mechanisms may still be somewhat in flux at least through term birth Furthermore, OAEs appear to demonstrate gender differences in the course of such maturational changes.
Numerical and experimental analysis of second-order effects and loss mechanisms in axisymmetrical cavities
Authors: Campos-Pozuelo Cleofé , Elvira-Segura Luis , Dubus Bertrand
Published: April 2004

This paper deals with the analysis of finite amplitude acoustic waves in three-dimensional resonant cavities. A specific finite element model is proposed which includes: (i) the pressure field nonlinearity using a perturbative method; (ii) the loss mechanisms using an experimentally determined effective bulk attenuation or modeling viscous and thermal losses at the walls and acoustic radiation through the aperture with complex impedances. An axisymmetrical cavity with transversal dimension larger than the wavelength has been experimentally studied. The acoustic field is generated by a high-power flexurally vibrating transducer which generates high pressures. Measurements are performed for the fundamental and second-order pressure components for several cavity resonance modes. An important standard deviation is observed. Experimental data are compared to predicted pressure field distributions. Numerical models describe the pressure distribution correctly but overestimate the amplitude.
Surface acoustic wave modulation on a partially closed fatigue crack
Authors: Kim J.-Y. , Yakovlev V. A. , Rokhlin S. I.
Published: April 2004

A quantitative study of the low-frequency parametric modulation of a pulsed surface acoustic wave (SAW) by a partially closed fatigue crack is described. In situ ultrasonic measurements were performed during a fatigue test for different crack lengths and static opening loads. The crack is initiated in the plastic-yielding zone induced by a surface cavity, and clamped due to the constraint of the surrounding elastic medium. Small periodic loading, superimposed on a static crack-opening load, changes the open crack segment length and/or the crack interfacial condition producing nonlinear modulation of the reflected ultrasonic pulses. The modulation spectrum is related quantitatively to the crack length and to the crack opening–closure behavior. It is demonstrated that the application of a small static crack-opening load with the modulation load could considerably enhance crack detectability. The increase of the second modulation harmonic is pronounced when the crack is nearly closed and when it is nearly open. Also, it is observed that the maximum modulation occurs at different static opening loads depending on the crack length relative to the plastic-yielding zone size. A low-frequency scattering model is presented based on the mechanism of modulation of the open/close segment length of the partially opened crack. The modeling results compare favorably with experiment.
The influence of viscosity on the shear strain remotely induced by focused ultrasound in viscoelastic media
Authors: Barannik E. A. , Girnyk S. A. , Tovstiak V. V. , Marusenko A. I. , Volokhov V. A. , Sarvazyan A. P. , Emelianov S. Y.
Published: April 2004

Shear wave elasticity imaging (SWEI), an emerging acoustic technology for medical diagnostics, is based on remote generation of shear waves in tissue by radiation force in the focal region of an ultrasonic beam. In this study, the feasibility of Doppler ultrasonic technique to visualize the remotely induced shear waves was demonstrated. The generation of shear displacement in the focal region of a pulsed 1-MHz ultrasound beam with pulse duration of approximately about 2 ms and intensity levels on the order of 145 W/cm2, and consequent propagation of shear wave in tissue-mimicking and muscle tissue in vitro, were measured. The analysis of temporal behavior of shear displacement within the focal plane allowed estimation of shear wave velocities. The velocities were 4 and 7 m/s in hard phantom and tissue containing phantom, respectively. The measured shear displacements on the order of micrometers in gel-based phantoms are in reasonable agreement with theoretical estimates derived from an earlier developed model of shear wave generation by radiation force of focused ultrasound. The study revealed significant dependence of shear strain on the medium viscosity. The complex oscillatory character of shear strain relaxation in viscoelastic phantom and muscle tissue in vitro was observed.
Dispersive instability and its minimization in time-domain computation of steady-state responses of cochlear models
Authors: Xin Jack
Published: April 2004

Dispersive instability appears in time-domain solutions of classical cochlear models. In this letter, a derivation of optimal initial data is presented to minimize the effect of instability. A second-order accurate implicit boundary integral method is introduced. Numerical solutions of two-dimensional models show that the optimal initial conditions work successfully in time-domain steady-state computations for both the zero Neumann and zero Dirichlet fluid pressure boundary conditions at the helicotrema.
Passive amplification and directivity from air-coupled surface waves generated above a structured ground
Authors: Daigle Gilles A. , Stinson Michael R.
Published: April 2004

An outdoor experiment is reported in which air-coupled surface waves are generated in the frequency range between 63 and 130 Hz above a strip of structured ground of finite width. Since the sound pressure above the structured ground can be greater than if the ground was rigid, passive amplification can be obtained. The experimental results are compared to theoretical calculations that use a boundary element method. Both predict gains of up to 6 dB, relative to the pressure on a rigid plane when the strip width is of the order of one wavelength. Due to their finite width, the surface wave strips have a directional response. For a source at a large distance from the strip, the sound pressure level is up to 6 dB greater for sound arriving along the axis of the strip than transverse. For sources near the strip, as might arise in a near-field beamforming application, this difference can be as much as 25 dB.
STRING COSMOLOGY AND CHAOS
Authors: DAMOUR THIBAULT
Published: April 2004

We briefly review two aspects of string cosmology: (1) the presence of chaos in the generic cosmological solutions of the tree-level low-energy effective actions coming out of string theory, and (2) the remarkable link between the latter chaos and the Weyl groups of some hyperbolic Kac–Moody algebras.
MODIFIED TRIPLECTIC QUANTIZATION IN GENERAL COORDINATES
Authors: GEYER B. , LAVROV P. M.
Published: April 2004

We present an extension of the previous results1 on the quantization of general gauge theories within the BRST–antiBRST invariant Lagrangian scheme in general coordinates. Namely, we generalize Ref. 1 to the case when the base manifold of fields and antifields is a supermanifold described in terms of both bosonic and fermionic coordinates.
SEARCHES FOR NEW PHENOMENA AT COLLIDERS
Authors: PEREZ E.
Published: April 2004

An overview of recent experimental results on searches for new phenomena at the LEP, HERA and Tevatron high energy colliders is presented, including in particular new results obtained from the analysis of the Run II data at the Tevatron. No significant evidence for physics beyond the Standard Model has been found and limits at the 95% confidence level have been set on the mass and couplings of several new particles. The complementarity between the different experiments is discussed, as well as future prospects for ongoing and future experiments.
RARE KAON DECAY PHYSICS
Authors: CECCUCCI A.
Published: April 2004

Recent progress in the field of rare kaon decays will be described. A brief summary of future experimental activities will also be given. Among the highlights, the improved upper limit on KL→π0e+e-, and the first observation of the KS→π0e+e- are presented. A precise measurement of KS→γγ and high statistics studies of the Dalitz kaon decays have recently been reported and will be briefly described.
REVIEW OF SOLAR NEUTRINO EXPERIMENTS
Authors: BELLERIVE A.
Published: April 2004

This paper reviews the constraints on the solar neutrino mixing parameters with data collected by the Homestake, SAGE, GALLEX, Kamiokande, SuperKamiokande, and SNO experiments. An emphasis will be given to the global solar neutrino analyses in terms of matter-enhanced oscillation of two active flavors. The results to-date, including both solar model dependent and independent measurements, indicate that electron neutrinos are changing to other active types on route to the Earth from the Sun. The total flux of solar neutrinos is found to be in very good agreement with solar model calculations. Future measurements will focus on greater accuracy for mixing parameters and on better sensitivity to low neutrino energies.
NEUTRINO PHYSICS: OPEN THEORETICAL QUESTIONS
Authors: SMIRNOV A. Y.
Published: April 2004

We know that neutrino mass and mixing provide a window to physics beyond the Standard Model. Now this window is open, at least partly. And the questions are: what do we see, which kind of new physics, and how far "beyond"? I summarize the present knowledge of neutrino mass and mixing, and then formulate the main open questions. Following the bottom-up approach, properties of the neutrino mass matrix are considered. Then different possible ways to uncover the underlying physics are discussed. Some results along the line of seesaw, GUT and SUSY GUT are reviewed.
Three absolute photonic gaps from 2d square compound lattices
Authors: Yuntuan Fang , Tinggen Shen
Published: April 2004

The photonic band structures of two‐dimensional square compound lattices are calculated by the plane‐wave method. Four air hole cylinders drilled in a square dielectric cylinder which locate at each square lattice site are embedded in a background of air. Three absolute photonic band gaps common to E and H polarized waves are created when given proper structure parameters. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Investigation of carrier scattering mechanisms in TlInS2 single crystals by Hall effect measurements
Authors: Qasrawi A. F. , Gasanly N. M.
Published: April 2004

TlInS2 single crystals are studied through the conductivity and Hall effect measurements in the temperature regions of 100‐400 and 170‐400 K, respectively. An anomalous behavior of Hall voltage, which changes sign below 315 K, is interpreted through the existence of deep donor impurity levels that behave as acceptor levels when are empty. The hole and electron mobility are limited by the hole‐ and electron‐phonon short range interactions scattering above and below 315 K, respectively. An energy level of 35 meV and a set of donor energy levels located at 360, 280, 220 and 170/152 meV are determined from the temperature dependencies of the carrier concentration and conductivity. A hole, electron, hole‐electron pair effective masses of 0.24 mo, 0.14 mo and 0.09 mo and hole‐ and electron‐phonon coupling constants of 0.50 and 0.64, respectively, are obtained from the Hall effect measurements. The theoretical fit of the Hall coefficient reveals a hole to electron mobility ratio of 0.8. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
A Kalman estimator using two directions of angular velocity
Authors: Kawamoto Daisuke , Hashirao Masataka , Kawase Tetsuya , Satoh Reiji , Sasase Iwao
Published: April 2004

A Kalman filter that can estimate equal velocity and equal angular velocity by means of angular velocities in two directions is proposed. In the proposed tracking filter, the angular velocity is calculated in two directions from the difference of the two velocity vectors obtained from the observation values of the past three samples. By making use of the fact that the speed of rotation of the velocity vector coincides with the angular velocity in constant‐speed circular motion, the variation of the velocity is expressed without using an acceleration term. Since the calculation of the rotating acceleration is not needed, the error due to shift of the estimated center and the estimated radius in Ref. 10 can be made zero and the tracking accuracy can be improved. The effectiveness of the proposed tracking filter is demonstrated with regard to the tracking accuracy and computational load by computer simulation. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn Pt 1, 87(10): 67–80, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecja.10160
Chemical composition of the essential oils of Anthemis altissima L. grown in Iran
Authors: Javidnia K. , Miri R. , Kamalinejad M. , Sarkarzadeh H. , Jamalian A.
Published: April 2004

The essential oils of the ﬂowers, leaves and stems of Anthemis altissima growing wild in Iran were separately obtained by hydrodistillation and analysed by GC–MS. A total of 123 components were identiﬁed in the essential oils of the investigated organs. The main components of the ﬂower and leaf essential oils were β‐caryophyllene (25.3% and 17.2%), caryophyllene‐oxide (6.5% and 9.6%) and spathulenol (5.4% and 17.4%), respectively. Non‐terpenic compounds were the main components of the stem oil. Palmitic acid (39.6%) and linoleic acid (36.2%) constituted the main compounds of the stem oil. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Environmental decisions and electronic democracy
Authors: Geldermann Jutta , Rentz Otto
Published: April 2004

This paper gives a brief overview on new tendencies in environmental policy regarding electronic democracy, with two examples of environmental directives. The European Commission proposed Internet technology for the first time for the dissemination of the Solvent Directive (1999/13/EC), in order to display available information for the numerous affected sectors. Moreover, the possibility of an information exchange between the Commission, the Member States and approximately 400 000 companies concerned by the Directive was created.

Another major topic of European Environmental Policy is the IPPC‐Directive (96/61/EC), which requires an information exchange on and determination of the best available techniques for most industrial sectors in Europe. The decision making process is described in this paper, with special emphasis on the possibilities of electronic democracy.

Based on these considerations, aspects of decision‐making behaviour, in the context of integrated decision support for complex issues in the environmental domain, are analysed and put forth for discussion. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
e‐democracy and participatory decision processes: lessons from e‐negotiation experiments
Authors: Kersten Gregory E.
Published: April 2004

e‐Democracy takes place at different levels, ranging from local to regional to state governments. It also takes different forms: voting, consultation and the participation in the construction of the alternative course of actions. This paper is concerned with the use of information and communication technologies in participative e‐democracy at community and local government levels. It postulates that to design participating systems the needs of the potential users must be determined and models of decision‐making and conflict resolution that can be used by lay people need to be constructed. A general framework for the design of systems for participatory decision‐making is presented. The experiences with the design and deployment of the Inspire e‐negotiation support system, its use by a large number of people from many countries, and the results of studies of the users and the use of Inspire are presented. Based on these experiences, an example of the implementation of the general framework is given. The paper also stresses the need for the development of aids and materials for lay people who wish to educate themselves in participating in e‐democratic processes. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Chinese medicine Banxia‐houpu decoction regulates c‐fos expression in the brain regions in chronic mild stress model in rats
Authors: Zhang Weiyun , Li Jianmei , Zhu Jixiao , Shi Zhenqiu , Wang Yong , Kong Lingdong
Published: April 2004

Banxia‐houpu decoction is a safe and effective traditional Chinese medicinal formula used in the treatment of mild and manic‐depressive disorders for centuries. There has been increasing interest in its therapeutic application in depression. However, the mechanisms behind behavioural changes are still poorly understood. Chronic mild stress (CMS)‐induced preference behaviour change has been used as a model to predict the clinical efﬁcacy of many types of antidepressant treatment. Both EtOH and water extracts (AE and WE) of Banxia‐houpu decoction exhibited a signiﬁcantly increased sucrose intake in the CMS model in rats, but there was no effect in unstressed animals. In the present study, it was found that the c‐fos expression in cerebral cortex, hippocampus and striatum corpora were very high in the CMS model in rats. WE and AE at a dose of 130 mg/kg exhibited a signiﬁcantly decreased c‐fos expression in the cerebral regions in CMS model in rats, respectively. The former was more potent than the latter. However, no signiﬁcant changes in the c‐fos expression were observed in unstressed rats treated with the decoction. Fluoxetine not only signiﬁcantly reduced c‐fos expression in all regions in the CMS model in rats, but only showed a marked decrease in c‐fos expression in the hippocampus in unstressed animals. A different molecular mechanism of Banxia‐houpu decoction and ﬂuoxetine may be implied. The cerebral cortex, hippocampus and striatum conpora might be important structural substrates in the central nervous system mediating the section of the Banxia‐houpu decoction on preference behaviour in CMS‐induced rats, and fos protein might be the common substrate of the signal transduction process of the decoction. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Agreeing access policy in a general medical practice: a case study using QPID
Authors: Liddell W. G. , Powell J. H.
Published: April 2004

The UK National Health Service (NHS) Plan has focused attention on the need to improve patient access to general practice. In trying to achieve the targets set for access, general practitioners (GPs) encounter a number of managerial dilemmas. For example, consultation times need to be limited, but the needs of individual patients for immediate care are unpredictable; continuity of care is highly valued, but GPs must be released for administration, training and other duties; delegation of tasks to other healthworkers can improve access, but dictates the need for training and the deﬁnition of legal and ethical responsibility. The management of access in general practice involves a number of constituencies including doctors, nurses, reception staff and, not least, patients themselves. Access to general practice constitutes a hybrid system, having some components that can be objectively viewed and quantiﬁed and others that remain qualitative, either because they are subjective by nature (e.g., morale and professionalism) or because data on that facet of the operation is simply not available. Hybrid management problems are amenable to treatment by qualitative systems methods and this paper describes an ex ante, real‐life intervention using a qualitative system dynamics approach known as QPID (Qualitative Politicised Inﬂuence Diagrams). The method ascribes agents and actors to the connections in an inﬂuence diagram of the system under consideration. This process structures thinking about the appropriate actions (aimed at these agents and actors) for managing the system behaviour. The method is applied to the process of developing patient access policies for a large NHS practice in the South of England. It demonstrates the use of QPID to derive practical action plans for the management of this challenging aspect of general practice. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Palliation of Metastatic Gastric Cancer: Impact of Preoperative Symptoms and the Type of Operation on Survival and Quality of Life
Authors: Kahlke Volker , Bestmann Beate , Schmid Andreas , Doniec Julius Marek , Küchler Thomas , Kremer Bernd
Published: April 2004

Patients with advanced, incurable gastric cancer may present with mild symptoms or require immediate therapeutic intervention. The influence of the intensity of preoperative symptoms on postoperative survival and quality of life (QoL) was evaluated in a palliative setting. In a historical cohort analysis of 492 patients with gastric cancer treated between 1992 and 2001, a total of 169 (34.4%) patients had incurable disease (i.e., pTxNxM1). Patients were classified as having major symptoms if they presented with upper gastrointestinal bleeding (i.e., hematemesis or bloody stools), gastric inlet or outlet obstruction (i.e., symptomatic and endoscopically proven stenosis), or perforation caused by the tumor. All other patients were defined as having minor symptoms. QoL was assessed prospectively using the EORTC questionnaire. The questionnaire was given to the patients before operation, before discharge, and 3 months after operation; and it was analyzed by the Mann‐Whitney U‐test. Survival, demographic data, and histopathologic characteristics were assessed and analyzed by the log‐rank test and the χ2 test, respectively. Of the 169 patients, 75 (44.3%) presented with major symptoms and 94 (55.7%) with minor symptoms. The distribution of patients undergoing resection or exploration was comparable for the two groups [major: 61 (81.5%)/14 (18.5%); minor: 77 (81.9%)/17 (18.1%)]. Despite comparable demographic and histopathologic characteristics with equal hospital mortality and morbidity (14.6% vs. 8.5%/49.3% vs. 40.4%), the median survival rates in two groups were 4 and 6 months, respectively (p < 0.05). This was not influenced by the type of operation. QoL was not different in patients with major or minor symptoms before operation or 3 months thereafter. However, preoperative symptoms such as nausea/vomiting and melena were rated significantly higher in patients with major symptoms. In patients with incurable gastric cancer the preoperative intensity of symptoms has a significant impact on survival and QoL, which is not influenced by the operation. The necessity of surgery in patients with minor symptoms requires careful consideration.
Diverticular Disease: Electrophysiologic Study and a New Concept of Pathogenesis
Authors: Shafik Ahmed , Ahmed Ismail , Shafik Ali A. , El Sibai Olfat
Published: April 2004

The cause of diverticular disease (DD) is not exactly known, although colonic motor disorder has been proposed as a factor in the pathogenesis of the condition. We investigated the hypothesis that disordered colonic electrical activity is responsible for the colonic motor dysfunction and the development of DD. The electromyographic (EMG) activity and pressure of the sigmoid colon (SC) were recorded in 36 patients [16 early cases, 20 advanced cases; age (mean ± SD) 53.3 ± 5.6 years; 19 women, 17 men] and 22 healthy volunteers. The percutaneous route was used for recording the SC EMG. The healthy volunteers exhibited SC slow waves with a regular rhythm and the same frequency, amplitude, and conduction velocity from the three electrodes in the same subject. The SC basal pressure (7.9 cm H2O) was interrupted by bouts of high pressure (26.8 cm H2O). The early‐DD cases showed slow waves with an irregular rhythm and significantly higher variables (p < 0.05) than the volunteers. Action potentials followed randomly or were superimposed on the slow waves. The SC basal pressure was significantly higher than that of the volunteers (21.4 cm H2O, p < 0.01). Bouts of pressure (58.6 cm H2O) coupled with action potentials were recorded. No waves were recorded from 15 of 20 of the advanced‐DD patients. In 5 patients, slow waves with an irregular rhythm and lower variables (p < 0.05) than those of the volunteers were recorded. The basal SC pressure was significantly above normal. Three electrical activity patterns could be identified in DD patients: “tachyrhythmic” in the early‐DD patients and “bradyrhythmic” or “silent” in the late‐DD patients. These dysrhythmias may result from a disordered colonic pacemaker. The similarity between early DD and the irritable bowel syndrome suggests that DD is an advanced stage of the irritable bowel syndrome; studies are required to investigate this hypothesis further.
Nuclear spin relaxation of mesogenic fluids in spherical microcavities
Authors: Vilfan Marija , Vuk Martin
Published: April 2004

We discuss the nuclear spin relaxation resulting from molecular translational diffusion of a liquid crystal in the isotropic phase confined to spherical microcavities. The relaxation is induced by the time modulation of spin interactions as molecules diffuse between the ordered surface layer into the isotropic interior volume and back. The calculated spin-lattice relaxation rate T1−1 shows three distinct dispersion regimes: a plateau at the lowest frequencies, practically independent of the size of the cavity, an intermediate power-law dispersion regime with an exponent between −0.7 and −1, depending on the spatial profile of the order parameter and cavity radius, and at frequencies above 1 MHz a strong dispersion tending toward the quadratic dependence of the relaxation rate on the Larmor frequency in the high-frequency limit. The pretransitional increase in T1−1 depends drastically on the Larmor frequency. The frequency and temperature dependences of T1−1 yield not only information on the magnitude of the surface order parameter, but also on its spatial profile, revealing the type of liquid-crystal–substrate interactions. Apart from thermotropic liquid crystals in the isotropic phase, this analysis can be also applied to other fluids in porous media.
Complex dynamics in a periodically perturbed electro-chemical system
Authors: Jiang Yu , Dong Shi-Hai , Lozada-Cassou M.
Published: April 2004

Dynamical response of a passivation model subjected to parametric periodic and stochastic perturbations is studied numerically. In response to weak periodic modulation, the system exhibits a rich variety of resonance behavior and induced dynamics, including periodically induced oscillation, birhythmicity, switching between two bistable states, selection of one of the bistable states, mixed-mode and chaotic oscillations. These phenomena are discussed in terms of the stability of saddle focus and an incomplete homoclinic connection. Our numerical results are relevant for a wide class of electro-chemical oscillatory systems, where the re-injection of unstable trajectory on the neighborhood of a saddle focus is a typical feature in the phase space.
The Jahn–Teller effect in the lower electronic states of benzene cation. III. The ground-state vibrations of C6H6+ and C6D6+
Authors: Burrill Andrew B. , Chung You K. , Mann Heather A. , Johnson Philip M.
Published: April 2004

New mass analyzed threshold ionization (MATI) spectra of the molecules C6H6+ and C6D6+ have been collected using tunable vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) single photon excitation from the neutral ground state and also using two-photon excitation through the 61 vibration of the B2u1 S1 state. Emphasis was placed on obtaining accurate relative intensities of the vibrational lines in order to use this information in the vibronic analysis. The MATI spectra collected from VUV (S0 originating state), triplet (T1), and resonant two photon (S1) excitation schemes were compared with Jahn–Teller calculations employing the classical model of Longuet–Higgins and Moffitt to obtain the Jahn–Teller coupling parameters of 3 of the 4 linearly active modes (e2g modes 6–9 in Wilson’s notation). Franck–Condon factors, including the effects of geometry changes, were calculated from the vibronic wave functions and used to identify the lines in the various spectra. It is found that most of the lines with substantial intensity can be understood using only the modes 1, 6, 8, and 9. Weaker peaks are due to various non-e2g modes, but these do not derive intensity through Jahn–Teller coupling. When the effects of geometry change were included, simulations of the spectra from the calculated vibrational energies and intensities were close to the experimental spectra. This verifies the applicability of the model to the understanding of the vibrational structure of this type of molecule, but some variations indicate directions for further improvement of the model.
Heuristic overlap-exchange model of noble gas chemical shifts
Authors: Adrian Frank J.
Published: April 2004

It is now generally recognized that overlap-exchange interactions are the primary cause of the medium-dependent magnetic shielding (chemical shift) in all noble gases except helium, although the attractive electrostatic-dispersion (van der Waals) interactions play an indirect role in determining the penetration of the interacting species into the repulsive overlap-exchange region. The short-range nature of these overlap-exchange interactions, combined with the fact that they often can be approximated by simple functions of the overlap of the wave functions of the interacting species, suggests a useful semiempirical model of these chemical shifts. In it the total shielding is the sum of shieldings due to pairwise interactions of the noble gas atom with the individual atoms of the medium, with the “atomic” shielding terms either estimated by simple functions of the atomic overlap integrals averaged over their Boltzmann-weighted separations, or determined by fits to experimental data in systems whose complexity makes the former procedure impractical. Results for Xe129 chemical shifts in the noble gases and in a variety of molecular and condensed systems, including families of n-alkanes, straight-chain alcohols, and the endohedral compounds Xe@C60 and Xe@C70 are encouraging for the applicability of the model to systems of technical and biomedical interest.
Molecular structure–dynamics relationships in glassy poly(isophthalamide)s as revealed by wide angle x-ray scattering, dielectric loss spectroscopy, and molecular modelling
Authors: Álvarez C. , Lozano A. E. , de Abajo J. , de la Campa J. G. , Capitán M. J. , Ezquerra T. A.
Published: April 2004

The effect of molecular structure on the γ relaxation dynamics has been studied in a set of aromatic poly(isophthalamide)s. This polymer family differ in the bridge group between phenylene rings [hexafluoroisopropylidene (C(CF3)2) or ether] and also in the presence of t-butyl groups (C(CH3)3) as pendant substituent on the five position of isophthalic ring. The results obtained from wide angle x-ray scattering in the glassy state indicated that both (C(CF3)2) and (C(CH3)3) groups favor the separation between chains, which is reflected on different interchain average distances. Dielectric experiments showed that both bulky groups favor the mobility in the glassy state. Molecular modelling methods were used to know the kind of molecular motions associated to the dielectric relaxation observed below the glass transition temperature.
Finite-size scaling for critical conditions for stable quadrupole-bound anions
Authors: Ferrón Alejandro , Serra Pablo , Kais Sabre
Published: April 2004

We present finite-size scaling calculations of the critical parameters for binding an electron to a finite linear quadrupole field. This approach gives very accurate results for the critical parameters by using a systematic expansion in a finite basis set. The model Hamiltonian consists of a charge Q located at the origin of the coordinates and k charges −Q/k located at distances R⃗i, i=1,…,k. After proper scaling of distances and energies, the rescaled Hamiltonian depends only on one free parameter q=QR. Two different linear charge configurations with q>0 and q<0 are studied using basis sets in both spherical and prolate spheroidal coordinates. For the case with q>0, the finite size scaling calculations give an extrapolated critical value of qc=1.469 70±0.000 05 a.u. by using a basis set with prolate spheroidal coordinates. For the quadrupole case with q<0, we obtained an extrapolated critical value of |qc|=3.982 51±0.000 01 a.u. for stable quadrupole bound anions. The corresponding critical exponent for the ground state energy α=1.9964±0.0005, with E∼(q−qc)α.
An investigation of a sol-gel/melt transition: The poly(ethylene oxide)/methanol/LiClO4 system
Authors: Peng Shufu , Selser J. C. , Bogoslovov R. , Piet G.
Published: April 2004

The crossover behavior of 50 000 molar mass poly(ethylene oxide)/methanol solutions from dilute solution to the melt/gel was examined. At first this behavior was investigated without LiClO4 and then reexamined with LiClO4. To better understand this behavior, the dependencies of dynamic light scattering (specifically, photon correlation spectroscopy) measurement results on polymer concentration, on the scattering wave vector and on temperature, and the dependence of static light scattering results on the scattering wave vector were studied. This study produced interesting and important results about network structure and behavior in poly(ethylene oxide) solutions and melts generally and about the effects of LiClO4 on this structure and behavior more particularly.
Relative importance of local and collective effects in the distortivity of one-dimensional chains
Authors: Robert Vincent , Malrieu Jean-Paul
Published: April 2004

On the basis of an original coupled-cluster type formalism developed previously [J.-P. Malrieu and V. Robert, J. Chem. Phys. 120, 7374 (2004)], the cohesive energies and the occurrence of Peierls instability are investigated in half-filled one-dimensional systems. Starting from various parametrizations of the Hückel Hamiltonian, this approach allows one to evaluate the relative contribution of local and collective interactions by comparison to exact tight-binding crystal calculations. For an alternating (AA′)n chain, quantitative agreement with the exact solution is obtained starting from either an atom-centered or a bond-centered reference function. The distortion takes place beyond a critical value of the electron-phonon/elastic strength ratio which is correctly predicted. Its amplitude and the corresponding stabilization energy are also accurately reproduced, suggesting that the driving force of the second-order Peierls distortion is essentially local. For homogeneous (A)n systems and the first-order Peierls distortion traditionally presented as resulting from a band gap opening (i.e., collective effects), our localized approaches are deficient only in the domain of weak electron-phonon/elastic ratio where the distortion amplitude is almost negligible. These results confirm that the short-range delocalization effects are the leading phenomenon responsible for the bond alternation in conjugated hydrocarbons.