bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Supply Chain with a Service Requirement for Each Market Signal
Authors: Sethi Suresh P. , Yan Houmin , Zhang Hanqin , Zhou Jing
Published: August 2010

We study a single‐period two‐stage service‐constrained supply chain with an information update. The buyer has two procurement opportunities with the second one after observing a market signal, which updates the demand forecast. He also commits to a service level after observing the market signal. We derive his optimal ordering decisions and show that the critical market signal, the optimal first‐stage order quantity, and the optimal expected profit are monotone with respect to the target service level. We also discuss the impact of the forecast quality on the optimal decisions. We show that the optimal first‐stage order quantity may not be monotone with respect to information accuracy, as is in the case without the service constraint. In addition, we extend our analysis to the situation when an order cancellation is allowed upon the observation of the market signal. We also compare the results obtained for the problems with and without an order cancelation. Finally, we discuss the supply chain coordination issue and find that a buyback contract can also coordinate the supply chain in the presence of the service constraint.
The Effect of Timing on Jump Bidding in Ascending Auctions
Authors: Kwasnica Anthony M. , Katok Elena
Published: August 2010

We investigate the role of timing in ascending auctions under the premise that time is a valuable resource. Traditional models of the English auction ignore timing issues by assuming that the auction occurs instantaneously. However, when auctions are slow, as Internet auctions used for procurement often are, there are significant opportunity or monitoring costs to bidders, and the choice of the size of the jump bid becomes a strategic decision. We study the choice in the experimental laboratory by systematically varying the opportunity costs associated with fast bidding. When time is more valuable bidders respond by choosing larger jump bids. Surprisingly, the economic performance of the auction is not significantly affected. We develop a simple model of ascending auctions with impatient bidders that provides insights into the effect jump bids have on auction performance.
Performance Impacts of Strategy, Information Technology Applications, and Business Process Outsourcing in U.S. Manufacturing Plants
Authors: Bardhan Indranil , Mithas Sunil , Lin Shu
Published: August 2010

This paper develops a conceptual model to study the role of outsourcing strategies and plant‐level information technology (IT) application infrastructure in the outsourcing of production and support business processes, as well as their subsequent impact on overall plant performance. We validate this model empirically using cross‐sectional survey data from U.S. manufacturing plants. We find that some IT applications are more effective at enabling the outsourcing of business processes than others. For example, the implementation of enterprise management systems is associated with the outsourcing of both production and support processes, whereas operations management systems are not associated with the outsourcing of plant processes. Plants with a low‐cost outsourcing strategy are more likely to outsource support processes than plants with a competency‐focused outsourcing strategy. However, both cost‐ and competency‐based strategies have a positive and similar impact on the outsourcing of production processes. In terms of implications for plant performance, our findings indicate that the outsourcing of production and support processes is associated with higher gross margins. Although plant IT infrastructure is positively associated with favorable on‐time delivery rates, there is no positive association between the incidence of plant outsourcing and on‐time delivery rates. These results have implications for crafting plant‐level outsourcing strategies and for investments in IT systems to facilitate the outsourcing of business processes for enhanced plant performance.
The Linkage between Immigration and Internal Migration in Large Metropolitan Areas in the United States*
Authors: Wright Richard A. , Ellis Mark , Reibel Michael
Published: August 2010

Abstract: This paper investigates the relationship between the internal migration of native‐born workers and flows of immigrants to the United States using the 1980 and 1990 U.S. Census Bureau microsamples. A growing body of research asserts that places like New York, Los Angeles, and Miami suffer net losses of native‐born workers, particularly the unskilled, because of immigration. We contend that large metropolitan areas suffer net losses of internal migrants for reasons other than the flow of immigrants to these localities. Based on the estimation of three sets of regression models for five overlapping samples of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States and five mutually exclusive segments of the labor force, this analysis shows that the finding of a significant linkage between internal migration and immigration depends critically on the empirical experiment used. In direct opposition to previous published research, we conclude that net migration of the native born for metropolitan areas is either positively related or unrelated to immigration. Our models show that the net migration loss of unskilled native workers from metropolitan areas is probably a function of those cities' population size rather than immigrant flow to them. We conclude that the net migration loss of native‐born workers from large metropolitan areas is more likely the result of industrial restructuring than of competition with immigrants.
Assessing the Regulationist View of History: An Analysis of Employment Change in America, 1940–1989*
Authors: Knudsen Daniel C. , Koh Taekyung , Boggs Jeffrey S.
Published: August 2010

Abstract:This research empirically investigates the pattern of employment change within the United States between 1940 and 1989 using an analysis of variance model to partition employment change into that accounted for by (1) national trends in employment, (2) place‐independent, sector‐specific restructuring of employment, (3) place‐specific, sector‐independent shifts of employment, and (4) local employment conditions. Because we are concerned with a national system of capitalism, we use regulation theory to inform our research. According to regulation theory, capitalism is marked by periodic shifts in the regime of accumulation, or periods of crisis, interspersed with periods of relative stability. Our expectation is that periods of economic crisis will be marked by high levels of sector‐specific restructuring in employment, whereas spatial shifts in employment induced by diffusion and everyday competition among capitalists occur on a continuous basis. Results of the analysis indicate that, not surprisingly, significant restructuring in employment has taken place. In particular, there has been a continual increase in restructuring from the 1940s to the 1980s. A series of annual change models reveals that within this gradual increase, individual years in the 1940s and 1980s appear to play particularly important roles.
Remittances and Circulation Behavior in the Livelihood Process: Transmigrant Families in South Sumatra, Indonesia*
Authors: Leinbach Thomas R. , Watkins John F.
Published: August 2010

Abstract: Studies of remittances and remittance behavior have been dominated by emphases on relatively long‐distance and long‐term migration and on the urban‐to‐rural flow of capital and goods. Remittance impacts have also been explored, primarily in terms of local and regional development and family well‐being. This paper expands our knowledge of remittances by extending the mobility component with a focus on fairly short‐distance and short‐term circulation in the context of the Indonesian transmigration program. The research takes a qualitative approach, with data derived from semistructured, open‐ended interviews of 21 households and several village leaders in the transmigration scheme of Cinta Karya, South Sumatra. Findings are used to develop a schematic model of the peasant livelihood process, which demonstrates the complex decision‐making pathways that emerge and evolve as families monitor and continually reallocate their resources to ensure basic survival and, if possible, enhanced well‐being through capital accumulation and investments. Our findings illustrate that remittance behavior is spatially controlled and temporally variable, as families balance their labor and capital resources among farm production, local industry and investments, and the often unpredictable nature of circulation employment and remittances. We emphasize the linked and recursive nature of elements in the livelihood process and the related importance of temporal family dynamics in decision‐making strategies.
Bridging the Gap between Class and Space: U.S. Worker Solidarity with Guatemala
Authors: Johns Rebecca A.
Published: August 2010

Abstract: In recent decades organized labor in the United States has responded to restructuring of the global economy by increasing its commitment to international solidarity, providing moral and material support for the organizing efforts of workers abroad. The international labor solidarity strategy appears to be designed to lessen the competition among places over investment, plant location, and jobs by uniting workers in different countries on the basis of their shared class interests. Yet international solidarity programs may serve to benefit one geographically distinct group of workers over another without challenging capitalism's allocative mechanisms. I develop criteria for differentiating between the latter kind of solidarity campaigns, which I call accommodationist, and transformatory solidarity, which attempts to prevent capital from using space to weaken workers' organizations, thereby altering the labor‐capital relationship in fundamental ways. I then examine the work of an organization of union members and workers in the United States committed to forming relationships of solidarity with workers in Guatemala. I look at the history, philosophy, and activities of the U.S./Guatemala Labor Education Project (US/GLEP), which provides an informative case study of the opportunities and dangers of international solidarity. The limitations of international solidarity campaigns are identified, and I suggest ways to overcome these barriers.

spatial relations,
A Livelihood Perspective on Natural Resource Management and Environmental Change in Semiarid Tanzania*
Authors: Birch‐Thomsen Torben , Frederiksen Pia , Sano Hans‐Otto
Published: August 2010

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to explore how social relations influence land use and natural resource management at the local level. Through empirical analysis that tracks changes in land use and environment over 40 years, we present evidence of a process of agrarianization based on commercialization of crops and expansion of cultivated land. With the concept of livelihood strategies as an analytical framework, subcommunity processes are analyzed for their impact on intensification and degradation. Accumulating strategies are linked to expansion, commercial crop production, and selective intensification through high‐value inputs, while at the other end of the scale, peasant‐labor households endure exhausted or marginal potential land resources combined with lack of flexibility in input consumption. The article shows how degradation and intensification occur simultaneously and how incomes may increase even during processes of land degradation. We argue that a livelihood approach can be useful in uncovering and explaining these processes.
Crossing Cultures, Learning to Export: Making Houses in British Columbia for Consumption in Japan*
Authors: Reiffenstein Tim , Hayter Roger , Edgington David W.
Published: August 2010

Abstract: In this article, trade is conceptualized as a cultural as well as an economic and political process. In this view, exporting connects market intelligence with production intelligence on either side of national, typically cultural, borders. These connections frequently imply alternative, mutually influencing, forms of communication and learning that have various implications for local development. A model of relational market intelligence is outlined as a way of understanding this dimension of exporting. The model integrates production and market intelligence while emphasizing alternative pathways of learning and communication. It is applied to the newly emergent trade that features the export of houses from British Columbia to Japan. Within an extended case‐study research design framework, information is based on interviews with manufacturing firms and related organizations in British Columbia. Implications for local development in British Columbia are noted.
Moving Beyond Postdevelopment: Facilitating Indigenous Alternatives for “Development”
Authors: Curry George N.
Published: August 2010

Using the example of smallholder oil‐palm production in Papua New Guinea, this article illustrates how elements of a market economy and modernity become enmeshed and partly transformed by local place‐based nonmarket practices. The persistence, even efflorescence, of indigenous gift exchange, in tandem with greater participation in the market economy, challenges conventional notions about the structures and meanings of development. The introduced market economy can be inflected to serve indigenous sociocultural and economic goals by place‐based processes that transform market relations and practices into nonmarket social relationships. These kinds of inflections of the market economy are common and widespread and therefore worthy of consideration for their theoretical insights into processes of social and economic change and the meanings of development. The article concludes by outlining some preliminary thoughts on how development practice could be modified to provide more scope for this process of inflection, so that development strategies accord better with indigenous sociocultural meanings of development.
Upgrading in the Global Clothing Industry: Mavi Jeans and the Transformation of a Turkish Firm from Full‐Package to Brand‐Name Manufacturing and Retailing
Authors: Tokatli Nebahat , K1z1lgün Ömür
Published: August 2010

Abstract:Since 1984, Erak Clothing, a Turkish contractor, has manufactured jeans as a full‐package producer for international brands, such as Calvin Klein, Guess, and Esprit. Following the creation of its own brand, Mavi Jeans, in 1991, the firm has been transforming itself into an original brand‐name manufacturer and retailer. Mavi Jeans are now sold worldwide at more than 3,000 sales points, including Nordstrom, Macy's, and Bloomingdale's department stores, and five directly owned and operated flagship stores in Vancouver, New York, Frankfurt, Berlin, and Montreal. In this article, the authors tell the exceptional story of the firm's transformation from a full‐package manufacturer into an original brand‐name manufacturer and retailer. They discuss how a peripheral manufacturing firm has managed to achieve a high value‐added competitive advantage by gaining access to global networks of production, consumption, and information in the clothing industry: a buyer‐driven industry in which the world's largest retailers, branded marketers, and manufacturers without factories are the dominant players with asymmetrical influence and power. The case study supports the theoretical position that individual firms have some room for autonomous action and that power relationships have some fragility that can be exploited by firms with strategic intent.
Regional Income Inequality and International Trade
Authors: Silva Julie A. , Leichenko Robin M.
Published: August 2010

Abstract: This study investigates the effects of trade on income inequality across regions in the United States. Using both structural and price‐based measures of regional trade involvement, we evaluate the effects of trade on inequality within and across states, the metropolitan and nonmetropolitan portions of the states, and the major census regions. Across all states and metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas, we found that trade affects inequality primarily via import and export prices. In contrast to our expectations, however, a weaker dollar—more expensive imports and cheaper exports—is associated with the worsening of a state's position relative to other states and greater inequality within the state. Across the census regions, both our price and orientation measures had significant effects, but the direction of these effects varied by region. Whereas many regions benefited from cheaper imports, states in regions that are traditionally home to low‐wage sectors, including the Southeast and South Central regions, were made relatively worse off by lower import prices and by greater orientation toward import‐competing goods. Our findings reinforce notions about the uneven impacts of globalization and suggest that policy measures are needed to ensure that both the benefits and costs of involvement in international trade are shared across regions.
Geography of Production Linkages in the Irish and Scottish Microcomputer Industry: The Role of Logistics
Authors: van Egeraat Chris , Jacobson David
Published: August 2010

Abstract: The economic crisis of the mid‐1970s marked the transition from the traditional Fordist mode of industrial organization to one of time‐based competition (TBC). It has been postulated that the rise of TBC will lead to an increase in local and regional production linkages. Part of the argument is that the associated search for logistical efficiency and the adoption of the just‐in‐time (JIT) principles will lead to closer buyer‐supplier proximity. In this article, we test the relevance of this idea in a case study of the microcomputer hardware industry in Ireland and Scotland. Most of the data were collected during multiple interviews with subsidiaries of all global microcomputer assemblers with operations in one of the two countries. The study shows that rather than sourcing locally or regionally, the assemblers import the vast majority of their material inputs from regions outside Ireland and Britain, notably from the Far East, and that the inbound logistics pipelines of most components involve inventories, often hubbed in local warehouses. Such supply systems have been interpreted as pseudo‐JIT, suboptimal inbound logistics systems that are organized on traditional Fordist principles. We argue that the logistics systems and the geography of the supply linkages should not be interpreted this way. Inbound inventories were tightly managed, leading to modest target buffer levels and high shipment frequencies. Even under JIT supply, the geographic configuration of production linkages and the details of logistics systems remain highly dependent on a range of contextual conditions and component characteristics. The findings of this study suggest that a strategy of building integrated vertical production clusters around subsidiaries of multinational enterprises is no longer suitable for Ireland and Scotland, at least not in the context of the microcomputer industry.
Geography and the Immigrant Division of Labor
Authors: Ellis Mark , Wright Richard , Parks Virginia
Published: August 2010

Abstract: Immigrants concentrate in particular lines of work. Most investigations of such employment niching have accented either the demand for labor in a limited set of mostly low‐wage industries or the efficiency of immigrant networks in supplying that labor; space has taken a backseat or has been ignored. In contrast, this article's account of immigrant employment niching modulates insights built on social network theories with understandings derived from relative location. We do so by altering the thinking about employment niches as being metropolitan wide to considering them as local phenomena. Specifically, the analysis examines the intraurban variation in niching by Mexican, Salvadoran, Chinese, and Vietnamese men and women in four industries in Los Angeles. Niching is uneven; in some parts of the metropolitan area, these groups niche at high rates in these industries, whereas in others, there is no unusual concentration. We show how a group's propensity to niche in an industry is generally higher when the industry is located close to the group's residential neighborhoods and demonstrate the ways in which the proximity of competing groups dampens this geographic advantage. The study speaks to debates on immigrant niching and connects with research on minority access to employment and accounts of the agglomeration of firms. More generally, it links the geographies of home and work in a new way, relating patterns of immigrant residential segregation to those of immigrant employment niches.
Principles and Practices of Knowledge Creation: On the Organization of “Buzz” and “Pipelines” in Life Science Communities
Authors: Moodysson Jerker
Published: August 2010

abstract

This article links up with the debate in economic geography on “local buzz” and “global pipelines” as two distinct forms of interactive knowledge creation among firms and related actors and argues for a rethinking of the way social scientists should approach interactive knowledge creation. It highlights the importance of combining the insights from studies of clusters and innovation systems with an activity‐oriented approach in which more attention is paid to the specific characteristics of the innovation processes and the conditions underpinning their organization. To illustrate the applicability and added value of such an alternative approach, the notion of embeddedness is linked with some basic ideas adopted from the literature on knowledge communities. The framework is then applied to a study of innovation activities conducted by firms and academic research groups working with biotechnology‐related applications in the Swedish part of the Medicon Valley life science region. The findings reveal that local buzz is largely absent in these types of activities. Most interactive knowledge creation, which appears to be spontaneous and unregulated, is, on closer examination, found safely embedded in globally configured professional knowledge communities and attainable only by those who qualify.
Participation in Export Markets and Productivity of Plants in Los Angeles, 1987–1997
Authors: Breau Sébastien , Rigby David
Published: August 2010

This article investigates the relationship between the productivity of plants and participation in export markets in the greater Los Angeles area using unpublished plant‐level data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Longitudinal Research Database. Two key questions are examined: (1) do plants that export learn in foreign markets and become more efficient, or (2) do more efficient plants self‐select into export markets? The results support previous claims that more productive plants tend to self‐select into export markets. Little support is found for the learning‐by‐exporting argument. The policy implications of these findings are discussed.
Economic Geographies of Financialization
Authors: Pike Andy , Pollard Jane
Published: August 2010

abstract

This article argues that financialization—shorthand for the growing influence of capital markets, their intermediaries, and processes in contemporary economic and political life—generates an analytical opportunity and political economic imperative to move finance into the heart of economic geographic analysis. Drawing upon long‐standing concerns about the relatively marginal location of finance in economic geography, we emphasize the integral role of finance in connecting the entangled geographies of the economic to the social, the cultural, and the political. In the wake of various “turns” in the discipline, we develop this integrationist approach to finance in ways that retain political economies of states, markets, and social power in our interpretations of geographically uneven development. In this article, we discuss the plural nature of emergent work on financialization and develop three analytical themes to shape our discussion of financialization. Next, we elaborate our analytical approach by warning against functional, political, and spatial disconnections traced in the literature on the geographies of money. We then explore how financialization is broadening and deepening the array of agents, relations, and sites that require consideration in economic geography and is generating tensions between territorial and relational spatialities of geographic differentiation. Finally, we address the relative dearth of empirical work by examining the financialization of brands that have shaped the evolution of the brewing business and the development of new derivative instruments to hedge against weather risks. We conclude by arguing that our analysis of financialization demonstrates how finance occupies an integral position within economic geographies and reveals some of the sociospatial relations, constructions, and reach of existing and new actors, relations, and sites in shaping the uneven development of financialized contemporary capitalism.
A review of the characteristics and treatment of methicillin‐resistantStaphylococcus aureus(MRSA) in the horse and a case series of MRSA infection in four horses
Authors: Maddox T. W. , Scantlebury C. E. , Clegg P. D. , Dawson S. , Pinchbeck G. L. , Williams N. J.
Published: August 2010

Methicillin‐resistantStaphylococcus aureus(MRSA) is an emerging cause of serious bacterial infection in the horse, with an increasing number of cases reported over the last decade. MRSA, along with other commensal staphylococcal species, can reside on the mucosa of several sites in the horse, particularly the nose. Nasal carriage of MRSA appears rare amongst horses in the community, although a higher prevalence has been found in hospitalised horses. MRSA infections can involve a variety of body sites, but most commonly encountered are soft tissue infections of either traumatic or surgical wounds. MRSA strain types isolated from horses are typically multidrug‐resistant and usually differ from those recovered from humans and other small animal species. Treatment of infection can be prolonged and is dependent on timely, accurate diagnosis and on appropriate therapy; often guided by antimicrobial susceptibility testing. The purpose of this review is to provide clinically relevant information for the equine practitioner and, for illustration, the diagnosis, treatment and outcome of 4 clinical cases of MRSA infection in horses is discussed.
Ultrasonographic examination of the caudal structures of the distal antebrachium in the horse
Authors: Jorgensen J. S. , Stewart A. A. , Stewart M. C. , Genovese R. L.
Published: August 2010

Evaluation of the caudal distal antebrachium using ultrasound is a very useful diagnostic procedure for identification of soft tissue abnormalities in flexor structures of the equine limb. In this article we describe how ultrasonographic imaging may be used to complement radiography of the carpus in evaluating horses that present with peri‐carpal swelling and/or lameness localised to the carpal region.

Ultrasonographic examination assists with the identification or exclusion of significant injuries to muscular, tendonous and ligamentous structures within the distal antebrachium and enables practitioners to proceed with appropriate therapeutic and rehabilitation plans for the immediate benefit for their patients while also recognising pathology that could progress to cause long‐term, chronic lameness issues without aggressive and effective intervention.
Minimally invasive desmotomy of the accessory ligament of the deep digital flexor tendon in horses
Authors: Tnibar A. , Christophersen M. T. , Lindegaard C.
Published: August 2010

This retrospective study describes ultrasound guided desmotomy of the accessory ligament of the deep digital flexor tendon in 35 cases, and a modification of this procedure using an adapted surgical instrument. The procedure was successful in 97% of cases. Wound healing was excellent in all except 4 cases. Corrective shoeing prior to surgery contributes to success. The procedure can be performed on the standing horse and offers the advantages of minimally invasive surgery which include: reduced incision length, reduced morbidity and improved cosmetic outcome. The adapted surgical instrument can be an alternative to isolate the ligament under ultrasound guidance.
An Improved Model for Force Transients in Turning
Authors: Danai K. , Nair R. , Malkin S.
Published: August 2010

An improved model for force transients in turning is introduced to incorporate the geometry of the cut, as well as plowing at the cutting edge and rubbing of the flank wear land against the workpiece surface. This model is compared experimentally with the existing force models and is shown to provide an accurate representation of the force transients.
Analysis of Fluid Flow through the Grinding Zone
Authors: Guo C. , Malkin S.
Published: August 2010

A theoretical model of fluid flow in grinding has been developed by an analysis of fluid flow through a porous medium. Fluid tangential velocity, radial velocity, depth of penetration into the wheel, and the useful flow rate through the grinding zone are predicted by using this model. The analysis indicates that the nozzle position, nozzle velocity (or flow rate), and the effective wheel porosity are the three main factors which most significantly influence the useful flow rate through the grinding zone. A dimensionless effective wheel porosity parameter is introduced which is the ratio of the effective wheel porosity to its bulk porosity. By fitting the theoretical analysis to available experimental results, creep feed wheels were found to have much bigger dimensionless effective porosities than conventional wheels, which enhances their ability to more effectively pump fluid through the grinding zone.
The Effect of Particle Feed Rate on the Plastic Media Blast Jet
Authors: McIntosh M. J.
Published: August 2010

Paint removal from military aircraft is often done by plastic media blasting (PMB): the use of plastic grit in a conventional blast jet. However, there is some concern that PMB will cause damage. To help in evaluating this possibility, a “time of flight” meter is used to measure particle velocity in the jet, as a function of air pressure, distance from the nozzle, and particle feed rate, F. Using the data and a momentum balance, a semi-empirical model relating these variables is developed and used for analysis of the effect of F on the intensity of kinetic energy delivery, E, to a work piece. The analysis shows that F has several important effects on E. These methods and results will be useful for damage studies and in production work.
Finite Element Simulation of Welding of Large Structures
Authors: Brown S. , Song H.
Published: August 2010

Current simulations of welding distortion and residual stress have considered only the local weld zone. A large elastic structure surrounding a weld, however, can couple with the welding operation to produce a final weld state much different from that resulting when a smaller structure is welded. The effect of this coupling between structure and weld has the potential of dominating the final weld distortion and residual stress state. This paper employs both two-and three-dimensional finite element models of a circular cylinder and stiffening ring structure to investigate the interaction of a large structure on weld parameters such as weld gap clearance (fitup) and fixturing. The finite element simulation considers the full thermo-mechanical problem, uncoupling the thermal from the mechanical analysis. The thermal analysis uses temperature-dependent material properties, including latent heat and nonlinear heat convection and radiation boundary conditions. The mechanical analysis uses a thermal-elastic-plastic constitutive model and an element “birth” procedure to simulate the deposition of weld material. The effect of variations of weld gap clearance, fixture positions, and fixture types on residual stress states and distortion are examined. The results of these analyses indicate that this coupling effect with the surrounding structure should be included in numerical simulations of welding processes, and that full three-dimensional models are essential in predicting welding distortion. Elastic coupling with the surrounding structure, weld fitup, and fixturing are found to control residual stresses, creating substantial variations in highest principal and hydrostatic stresses in the weld region. The position and type of fixture are shown to be primary determinants of weld distortion.
Optimization of Multistage Machining Systems, Part 2: The Algorithm and Applications
Authors: Agapiou J. S.
Published: August 2010

In Part 1 of this paper [1], the basic form of a novel, optimization approach to utilize balance delay (idle) times within stations in a multistage machining system was introduced. In Part 2 the computational algorithm based on the mathematical analysis has been developed. Unlike most alternative techniques, the proposed approach is capable of effectively calculating the optimum cutting conditions (speed and feed) with zero idle time. Its performance is finally evaluated via numerical examples and its sensitivity discussed.
Bacteria-Induced Gap Junctions in Tumors Favor Antigen Cross-Presentation and Antitumor Immunity
Authors: Saccheri Fabiana , Pozzi Chiara , Avogadri Francesca , Barozzi Sara , Faretta Mario , Fusi Paola , Rescigno Maria
Published: August 2010

Bacterial infection induces extra gap junctions in tumors, through which tumor antigens travel to antigen-presenting cells, triggering an effective antitumor immune response.
Coexistence of Different Genotypes in the Same Bat and Serological Characterization of
Rousettus
Bat Coronavirus HKU9 Belonging to a Novel
Betacoronavirus
Subgroup
Authors: Lau Susanna K. P. , Poon Rosana W. S. , Wong Beatrice H. L. , Wang Ming , Huang Yi , Xu Huifang , Guo Rongtong , Li Kenneth S. M. , Gao Kai , Chan Kwok-Hung , Zheng Bo-Jian , Woo Patrick C. Y. , Yuen Kwok-Yung
Published: August 2010

Rousettus
bat coronavirus HKU9 (Ro-BatCoV HKU9), a recently identified coronavirus of novel
Betacoronavirus
subgroup D, from Leschenault's rousette, was previously found to display marked sequence polymorphism among genomes of four strains. Among 10 bats with complete RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), spike (S), and nucleocapsid (N) genes sequenced, three and two sequence clades for all three genes were codetected in two and five bats, respectively, suggesting the coexistence of two or three distinct genotypes of Ro-BatCoV HKU9 in the same bat. Complete genome sequencing of the distinct genotypes from two bats, using degenerate/genome-specific primers with overlapping sequences confirmed by specific PCR, supported the coexistence of at least two distinct genomes in each bat. Recombination analysis using eight Ro-BatCoV HKU9 genomes showed possible recombination events between strains from different bat individuals, which may have allowed for the generation of different genotypes. Western blot assays using recombinant N proteins of Ro-BatCoV HKU9,
Betacoronavirus
subgroup A (HCoV-HKU1), subgroup B (SARSr-Rh-BatCoV), and subgroup C (Ty-BatCoV HKU4 and Pi-BatCoV HKU5) coronaviruses were subgroup specific, supporting their classification as separate subgroups under
Betacoronavirus
. Antibodies were detected in 75 (43%) of 175 and 224 (64%) of 350 tested serum samples from Leschenault's rousette bats by Ro-BatCoV HKU9 N-protein-based Western blot and enzyme immunoassays, respectively. This is the first report describing coinfection of different coronavirus genotypes in bats and coronavirus genotypes of diverse nucleotide variation in the same host. Such unique phenomena, and the unusual instability of ORF7a, are likely due to recombination which may have been facilitated by the dense roosting behavior and long foraging range of Leschenault's rousette.
Time to re-evaluate gender segregation in athletics?
Authors: Foddy Bennett , Savulescu Julian
Published: August 2010

The case of Caster Semenya provides a vivid illustration of the ways in which natural genetic variation can generate large differences in athletic performance. But since we normally segregate athletic sports along the lines of this particular variation—gender—her case also highlights problems with the current approach to justice in sporting competition. Female athletes seem to have a valid complaint when they are made to compete against athletes who are, in one sense or another, male. But once we recognise that gender is not a binary quantity, sex segregation in competitive sport must be seen as an inconsistent and unjust policy, no matter what stance we take on the goals of sport or on the regulation of doping.
Age-dependent prognostic effects of EGFR/p53 alterations in glioblastoma: study on a prospective cohort of 140 uniformly treated adult patients
Authors: Srividya M R , Thota Balaram , Arivazhagan A , Thennarasu K , Balasubramaniam A , Chandramouli B A , Hegde A S , Santosh V
Published: August 2010

Aims

To assess the prognostic influence of EGFR amplification/overexpression, p53 immunoreactivity and their age-dependent prognostic effects in a large prospective cohort of uniformly treated adult patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma.

Methods

Tumours from a uniformly treated prospective cohort of adult patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma (n=140) were examined for EGFR amplification by fluorescence in situ hybridisation and EGFR/p53 expression by immunohistochemistry. Statistical methods were employed to assess the degree of association between EGFR amplification/overexpression and p53 immunopositivity. Survival analyses were performed by employing Cox proportional hazard models to assess the independent prognostic value of EGFR/p53 alterations and test the propensity for risk with age by assessing their interaction with patient age.

Results

A strong positive correlation between EGFR amplification and EGFR overexpression (ρ=0.5157; p<0.0001; CI 0.3783 to 0.6309) and a negative association of EGFR amplification (ρ=−0.3417; p<0.0001; CI −0.4842 to −0.1816) and EGFR overexpression (ρ=−0.3095; p<0.001; CI −0.4561 to −0.1465) with p53 immunopositivity was observed. Only patient age (HR: 1.029; p=0.004; CI 1.009 to 1.049) was associated with shorter survival by univariate Cox regression analysis. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models revealed a statistically significant interaction between EGFR overexpression and age to be associated with shorter survival (HR: 1.001; p<0.0001; CI 1.000 to 1.002), thus predicting a higher hazard with increasing age. No age interaction of EGFR amplification status (HR: 1.001; p=0.642; CI 0.995 to 1.008) and p53 immunopositivity (HR: 1.000; p=0.841; CI 0.999 to 1.001) was noted in this cohort.

Conclusions

The prognostic value of EGFR overexpression is age-dependent, and there is a propensity for a higher hazard with increasing patient age. Identifying such groups of patients with more aggressive disease becomes mandatory, since they would benefit from intense therapeutic protocols targeting EGFR.
PENROSE TRANSFORM FOR INDEFINITE GRASSMANN MANIFOLDS
Authors: SEKIGUCHI HIDEKO
Published: August 2010

We construct the Radon–Penrose transform as an intertwining operator of the indefinite unitary group U(p,q), from the Dolbeault cohomology group on the indefinite Grassmann manifold consisting of positive k-planes to the space of holomorphic functions over the bounded symmetric domain. We prove that the Penrose transform is injective, and that its image is exactly the space of global holomorphic solutions to the system of partial differential equations of determinant type of size k + 1.
TENSILE BEHAVIOR OF A TWISTED CARBON NANOTUBE YARN
Authors: ALLAOUI AÏSSA , BAI SHUO , BAI JINBO
Published: August 2010

Carbon nanotube (CNT) yarns were drawn from the web found on the CVD furnace wall. The yarns were twisted and their tensile behavior was investigated through in-situ SEM and regular tensile tests. The mechanisms involved in the CNT yarn deformation were identified. The twisted CNT yarns were found to have a good ability to stretch and deform and featured a diameter-dependent strength.
POSITION DEPENDENT EFFECTIVE MASSES FOR DONOR BINDING ENERGIES IN QUANTUM CONFINED SYSTEMS IN AN ELECTRIC FIELD
Authors: RAJASHABALA S. , RAMAN KANNAN
Published: August 2010

In our earlier works, the effective mass theory (EMT) was critically examined for a hydrogenic donor in a quantum well (QW) and in a quantum dot (QD) after introducing position dependent effective masses (PDEMs). Our results showed that the use of constant effective mass was justified for all well dimensions a*, the effective Bohr radius which is 100 Å in GaAs. Here the validity of EMT in the presence of an electric field is examined. The electric field dependent donor ionization energies in both the systems with finite and infinite barriers for different well dimensions have been calculated. It is shown that the electric field affects donor binding energies appreciably, the variation being larger in the case of finite barrier systems when PDEM is used. The donor polarizability has also been estimated in both the systems and the results are compared with other works in the literature. The use of EMT is justified if constant effective mass is used in general, even though large variation in the ionization energies occur in the finite barrier cases when position dependent mass is included correctly.
Finite differencing of logical formulas for static analysis
Authors: Reps Thomas , Sagiv Mooly , Loginov Alexey
Published: August 2010

This article concerns mechanisms for maintaining the value of an instrumentation relation (also known as a
derived relation
or
view
), defined via a logical formula over core relations, in response to changes in the values of the core relations. It presents an algorithm for transforming the instrumentation relation's defining formula into a
relation-maintenance formula
that captures what the instrumentation relation's new value should be. The algorithm runs in time linear in the size of the defining formula.

The technique applies to program analysis problems in which the semantics of statements is expressed using logical formulas that describe changes to core relation values. It provides a way to obtain values of the instrumentation relations that reflect the changes in core relation values produced by executing a given statement.

We present experimental evidence that our technique is an effective one: for a variety of benchmarks, the relation-maintenance formulas produced automatically using our approach yield the same precision as the best available hand-crafted ones.
Integrated control-path design and error recovery in the synthesis of digital microfluidic lab-on-chip
Authors: Zhao Yang , Xu Tao , Chakrabarty Krishnendu
Published: August 2010

Recent advances in digital microfluidics have led to tremendous interest in miniaturized lab-on-chip devices for biochemical analysis. Synthesis tools have also emerged for the automated design of lab-on-chip from the specifications of laboratory protocols. However, none of these tools consider control flow or address the problem of recovering from fluidic errors that can occur during on-chip bioassay execution. We present a synthesis method that incorporates control paths and an error-recovery mechanism in the design of a digital microfluidic lab-on-chip. Based on error-propagation estimates, we determine the best locations for fluidic checkpoints during biochip synthesis. A microcontroller coordinates the implementation of the control-flow-based bioassay by intercepting the synthesis results that are mapped to the software programs. Real-life bioassay applications are used as case studies to evaluate the proposed design method. For a representative protein assay, compared to a baseline chip design, the biochip with a control path can reduce the completion time by 30% when errors occur during the implementation of the bioassay.
A decade later
Authors: North Matthew
Published: August 2010

In the September 2000 edition of Computers and Society, Drs. Jean Camp and Y. T. Chien, of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, published a paper titled "The Internet as Public Space: Concepts, Issues and Implications in Public Policy." Now, ten years later, the Internet landscape has changed dramatically.
The Consumption Response to Income Changes
Authors: Jappelli Tullio , Pistaferri Luigi
Published: August 2010

We review different empirical approaches that researchers have taken to estimate how consumption responds to income changes. We critically evaluate the empirical evidence on the sensitivity of consumption to predicted income changes, distinguishing between the traditional excess sensitivity tests and the effect of predicted income increases and income declines. We also review studies that attempt to estimate the marginal propensity to consume out of income shocks, distinguishing between three different approaches: identifying episodes in which income changes unexpectedly, relying on the covariance restrictions that the theory imposes on the joint behavior of consumption and income growth, and combining realizations and expectations of income or consumption in surveys in which data on subjective expectations are available.
Inside Organizations: Pricing, Politics, and Path Dependence
Authors: Gibbons Robert
Published: August 2010

When economists have considered organizations, much attention has focused on the boundary of the firm, rather than its internal structures and processes. In contrast, this review sketches three approaches to the economic theory of internal organization—one substantially developed, another rapidly emerging, and a third on the horizon. The first approach (pricing) applies Pigou's prescription: If markets get prices wrong, then the economist's job is to fix the prices. The second approach (politics) considers environments where important actions inside organizations simply cannot be priced, so power and control become central. Finally, the third approach (path dependence) complements the first two by shifting attention from the between variance to the within. That is, rather than asking how organizations confronting different circumstances should choose different structures and processes, the focus here is on how path dependence can cause persistent performance differences among seemingly similar enterprises.
Social Interactions
Authors: Durlauf Steven N. , Ioannides Yannis M.
Published: August 2010

The study of social interactions has enriched both the domain of inquiry of economists and the way economists conceptualize individual decision making. The review aims to introduce the classes of models that accommodate estimation of social interactions and to examine the key areas where significant advances have been made in the identification of social effects. It surveys linear and nonlinear models and their applications, including results regarding partial identification. The review also examines conceptual and methodological links with the spatial econometrics and the social networks literatures. It considers empirical applications in the context of our methodological overview.