bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
International System And Foreign Policy Approaches: Implications for Conflict Modelling and Management
Authors: Tanter Raymond
Published: July 2006

The quotations from Charles A. McClelland and Graham T. Allison represent two distinct approaches to the study of international relations: (i) international system analysis; and (2) foreign policy analysis. Essentially, international system analysts seek to explain interactions between nations by phenomena such as their prior interactions and the structure of the system. Foreign policy analysts, on the other hand, seek to explain foreign policy behavior as the output of subnational organizations following standard operating procedures or engaging in a problem-solving search. Given the international system and foreign policy approaches as contrasting points of departure, the goals of the present study are:
The Scholar and the Policy-Maker
Authors: Whiting Allen S.
Published: July 2006

Ever since Plato advocated his ideal of a philosopher-king, the intellectual has sought to guide the destinies of state. Sometimes he has been openly explicit in articulating advice, as with Machiavelli. More often, however, the intellectual has abjured so crass a role. Instead, he has sought to influence through private persuasion or has rendered counsel indirectly through scholarly essays. Only in China did the dichotomy between scholar and statesman disappear some two thousand years ago with emergence of a political system that monopolized bureaucratic control in the hands of the literati, that infinitesimally small proportion of the population that could master the classical adages which comprised the examinations for entrance into government. Elsewhere the sword proved to be mightier than the pen, at least in determining affairs of state.
Third-World Conflict in Soviet Military Thought: Does the “New Thinking” Grow Prematurely Grey?
Authors: Wallander Celeste A.
Published: July 2006

“New thinking” in Soviet foreign policy may change Soviet understanding of the nature of conflict in the third world, Soviet interests in those conflicts, and therefore Soviet conflict behavior. While these shifts are widespread and significant, they are being resisted by military analysts, which indicates that Soviet policy may not be so easily or directly altered. Many military writers accept that escalation risks are extreme and threaten Soviet security, and others discuss local, nonclass, and intractable features of third-world conflicts. However, military analysts do not accept revisionist, class-transcendent definitions of Soviet internationalist duty. It is on this point that new thinking is most likely to founder in Gorbachev's attempts to change Soviet third-world policy and behavior. With the changes in Soviet domestic politics, military participation in security and foreign policy debates may be effective in restraining the more radical innovations implied in civilian analyses.
Exit, Voice, and the Fate of the German Democratic Republic: An Essay in Conceptual History
Authors: Hirschman Albert O.
Published: July 2006

The revolutionary events of 1989 in Eastern Europe took a special shape in the German Democratic Republic: large-scale flights of citizens to the Federal Republic of Germany combined with increasingly powerful mass demonstrations in the major cities to bring down the communist regime. This conjunction of private emigration and public protest contrasts with the way these distinct responses to discontent had been previously experienced, primarily as alternatives. The forty-year history of the German Democratic Republic thus represents a particularly rich theater of operation for the concepts of “exit” and “voice,” which the author had introduced in his book Exit, Voice, and Loyalty (1970). The events of 1989 are scrutinized in some detail as they trace a more complex pattern of interaction than had been found to prevail in most previous studies.
Ideas, Institutions, and the Gorbachev Foreign Policy Revolution
Authors: Checkel Jeff
Published: July 2006

This article explores the influence of cognitive and institutional factors in shaping state behavior. In particular, the author examines their role in the Gorbachev foreign policy revolution, developing an analytic framework that integrates domestic and international sources of state behavior. While it is dear that a new ideology of international affairs—one developed and conveyed by Soviet specialists—played a critical role in shaping Gorbachev's “new thinking,” its ability to influence policy was at different times constrained or magnified by institutional and political variables. Moreover, the relevance of this new ideology to policy debates, particularly during the early years of the Gorbachev era, depended crucially upon the efforts of individual “policy entrepreneurs” and open policy windows. How wide these windows opened was, in turn, partly a function of the USSR's international environment.
The Obsolescence of Capital Controls?: Economic Management in an Age of Global Markets
Authors: Goodman John B. , Pauly Louis W.
Published: July 2006

Between the late 1970s and the early 1990s, after decades of trying to limit short-term international capital movements, advanced industrial states moved decisively in the direction of decontrol. What has driven this remarkable policy convergence? The answer lies not in ideological change or shifts in relative political power, but in the prior development of international financial markets and in the increasing globalization of business. In a policy environment fundamentally reshaped by these factors, financial institutions and multinational firms were able to threaten or implement strategies of evasion and exit. Thus, the usefulness of controls declined as their effective costs rose sharply. In this light, the cases of Japan, Germany, Italy, and France are examined. The analysis points to the tightening link between short-term capital movements and foreign direct investment, issues that have long been treated as conceptually distinct. It also underlines the intricate connection between national policies governing capital movements and those aimed at managing international financial markets.
Irrational Workers: The Moral Economy of Labor Protest in Egypt
Authors: Posusney Marsha Pripstein
Published: July 2006

After comparing the predictions of Marxist, moral economy, and rational-choice theories concerning collective actions by workers in Egypt in the period since the 1952 Free Officers coup, this article concludes that a moral economy perspective is best able to explain the nature and frequency of these protests. The supporting evidence is the correlation between labor protest and violations of workers' feelings of entitlement, as manifest in declining real wages or disruptions to established patterns of wage differentials. The targeting of state institutions, combined with the fact that workers have eschewed actual production stoppages in favor of symbolic protests, indicates a view of reciprocal rights and obligations between themselves and the state. The latter reinforces the moral economy by combining significant concessions with its repressive response to labor protests. Marxism proves unable to explain the largely defensive and reactive nature of labor protest, while rational-choice theory is reduced to efforts to quantify workers' reactions to this repression.
“Less Filling, Tastes Great”: The Realist-Neoliberal Debate
Authors: S. Niou Emerson M. , Ordeshook Peter C.
Published: July 2006

This essay examines and reformulates the realist-neoliberal debate. It focuses initially on the issue of the attribution of instrumental goals to states—the goals they pursue as a function of the environment they confront—and argues not only that such goals are epiphenomena of other things but also that their specification constitutes a mere redescription of the alternative equilibria that states can achieve in anarchic systems. The world orders that realists and neoliberals envision are but alternative equilibria to a more general game. In that game cooperation, regardless of its form, must be endogenously enforced, and a debate over instrumental goals (whether it is best to model states as relative or absolute resource maximizers) is not central to the development of a theory that explains and predicts world orders.

Instead, the realist-neoliberal debate should be recast. The central research agenda should be to develop models that illuminate the following: how the equilibrium to a game in which states structure international affairs influences the types of issue-specific subgames states play, how countries coordinate to equilibria of different types; how the coordination problems associated with different equilibria can be characterized; how institutions emerge endogenously to sustain different equilibria; how states can enhance the attractiveness of an equilibrium; and how states can signal commitments to the strategies that are part of that equilibrium.
Authoritarianism and its Adversaries in the Arab World
Authors: Crystal Jill
Published: July 2006

While scholars outside the Arab world often link authoritarianism there to some dark cultural template involving religious doctrine or family structure, scholars of the region ground their explanations in political economy, in the historical evolution of the state, in patterns of state-society interactions, and in ideological appeals. To understand authoritarian outcomes, they draw attention to economic transformations, to social actors and the importance of organized social groups, to the role of state efforts to contain them in shaping political outcomes, to the repressive institutions that sometimes arise from this process, and to weaknesses of state ideologies that arise to justify authoritarian outcomes. Their work allows us to unpack the phenomenon of authoritarianism by reorganizing it into three different sets of forces: those that precipitate authoritarianism, those that sustain it, and those that resist it. The result is a clearer and more nuanced understanding of the range of factors that affect the likelihood of any state resorting to violence.
Do Bureaucratic Politics Matter? Some Disconfirming Findings from the Case of the U.S. Navy
Authors: Rhodes Edward
Published: July 2006

Allison's Model III (governmental or bureaucratic politics) suggests that state policies reflect the parochial concerns of intragovernmental “players in positions” and the relative power of these players. This article offers a critical test. It examines a policy area—U.S. decisions on the composition of naval forces—in which we would, a priori, expect bureaucratic politics to have a maximum effect and which participants, observers, and scholars have routinely described as critically influenced by bureaucratic politics. This article employs statistical methods to assess whether outcomes have indeed been affected by the parochial priorities and perceptions of individuals who, because of their relative power and the rules of the game, have dominated the relevant bureaucratic action-channels. Contrary to the expectations of the bureaucratic politics literature—indeed, contrary to the reports of firsthand observers and the actors involved—bureaucratic politics do not seem to have mattered: knowledge of bureaucratic interests and power does not permit us to predict outcomes. The article then proceeds to suggest an alternative model of state behavior thatdoesprovide significant explanatory power: the article demonstrates that shifts in force posture can be modeled as a function ofideasandimagesrather than ofinterests. This gives rise to speculation that in explaining American foreign and security policy the name of the game is not, as Allison suggests, politics, but the competition of ideas for intellectual hegemony.
Information, Bureaucracy, and Economic Reforms in China and the Soviet Union
Authors: Huang Yasheng
Published: July 2006

The argument in this essay can be reduced to the following form: the better a planning system is in terms of central planning techniques, the less likely it is to depart from central planning. The author proposes an information approach to explain why China launched economic reforms at a relatively earlier stage of development than did the Soviet Union. The claim is twofold regarding the connections between initiation of reform and information flows in China and in the Soviet Union. First, all else being equal, a bureaucracy better informed about economic conditions is more likely to pursue realistic economic objectives and its policies are less likely to induce macroeconomic instability. To the extent that macroeconomic instability activates a search for alternatives to the status quo, including reforms, a bureaucracy with better information-collection capabilities is less likely to initiate such a search and therefore less likely to initiate reforms.

Second, policymakers choose between reforms and the strengthening of central planning as alternative solutions to the status quo. The choice of one solution over another depends on their relative costs. Again, all else being equal, the higher the costs of strengthening central planning (or reform), the more likely is reform (or strengthening of central planning) to be chosen. This essay focuses on one aspect of these costs—the costs of information provision.
On the Third Wave of Democratization: A Synthesis and Evaluation of Recent Theory and Research
Authors: Shin Doh Chull
Published: July 2006

This article synthesizes significant findings of theoretical and empirical research on the third wave of democratization. It addresses a number of central questions. What changes have been taking place in the study of democracy and democratization over the past two decades? How have the concepts of democracy and democratization been redefined for a new generation of scholars oriented to action and advice? What developments in the measurement of the two concepts have been stimulated by the quickening pace of democratization? What has been learned about the dynamics of democratization itself? What mixes of democratic institutions and rules offer the “best” prospect for democratic consolidation? What kinds of strategies and tactics have been prescribed for encouraging democratic reforms in those countries that remain nondemocratic? What are the prospects for the third wave of democratization?
Congruence between Citizens and Policymakers in Two Visions of Liberal Democracy
Authors: Huber John D. , Powell G. Bingham
Published: July 2006

This paper explores two quite different visions of the democratic processes that can create congruence between citizen preferences and public policies. In theMajority Control vision, electoral competition and citizen choices result in the direct election of governments committed to policies corresponding to the preferences of the median voter. In theProportionate Influence vision, election outcomes result in legislatures that reflect the preferences of all citizens; legislative bargaining results in policies linked to the position of the median voter. The authors give more explicit theoretical form to those visions and link them empirically to specific types of modern democracies. They then attempt to test the success of each vision in bringing about congruence between citizen self-placements and the estimated positions of governments and policymaker coalitions on the left-right scale in twelve nations in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Although the analysis reveals weaknesses in each approach, it suggests a consistent advantage for the Proportionate Influence vision.
Organizational Politics and Change in Soviet Military Policy
Authors: Kaufman Stuart J.
Published: July 2006

This article uses two puzzles from the Brezhnev period to test competing models of Soviet military policy and of innovation in military “doctrine.” An organizational model of Soviet military policy offers the best explanation of both cases: why the Soviet Union's Brezhnevera military strategy contradicted the Politburo's priorities (to prevent any war from escalating to nuclear use) and why the Soviet Union agreed to the ABM treaty. The ABM case shows that civilian leaders can force change in military “doctrine” when they have a policy handle–a way of redefining the issue to remove it from the military's exclusive area of competence. When civilians lack a policy handle, as in the military strategy case, they are unable to force innovation if the military is unwilling.

The Russian government now faces the task of finding effective policy handles that will institutionalize civilian control of military policy. The fate of Russia's reforms may depend on it.
Power and the Control of Capital
Authors: Winters Jeffrey A.
Published: July 2006

This essay reviews three recent books on the political economy of finance in postcolonial Asia and Latin America and suggests a framework for examining the relationship between political power and varying patterns of control over investment resources. The stress is on the constraints different controllers of capital can impose on state leaders, the conditions under which policymakers can subvert these constraints, and how conflicts within the state over the trajectory of policy are mediated by who (or what) supplies critical investment resources and the institutional channels through which the resources flow.
When Effect Becomes Cause: Policy Feedback and Political Change
Authors: Pierson Paul
Published: July 2006

As governmental activity has expanded, scholars have been increasingly inclined to suggest that the structure of public policies has an important influence on patterns of political change. Yet research on policy feedback is mostly anecdotal, and there has so far been little attempt to develop more general hypotheses about the conditions under which policies produce politics. Drawing on recent research, this article suggests that feedback occurs through two main mechanisms. Policies generate resources and incentives for political actors, and they provide those actors with information and cues that encourage particular interpretations of the political world. These mechanisms operate in a variety of ways, but have significant effects on government elites, interest groups, and mass publics. By investigating how policies influence different actors through these distinctive mechanisms, the article outlines a research agenda for moving from the current focus on illustrative case studies to the investigation of broader propositions about how and when policies are likely to be politically consequential.
Neopatrimonial Regimes and Political Transitions in Africa
Authors: Bratton Michael , van de Walle Nicolas
Published: July 2006

This article proposes revisions to the theory of political transitions by analyzing patterns of recent popular challenges to neopatrimonial rule in Africa. The approach is explicitly comparative, based on contrasts between Africa and the rest of the world and among regimes within Africa itself. Arguing against the prevalent view that transitions unfold unpredictably according to the contingent interplay of key political actors, the authors contend that the structure of the preexisting regime shapes the dynamics and sometimes even the outcomes of political transitions. They find that in contrast to transitions from corporatist regimes, transitions from neopatrimonial rule are likely to be driven by social protest, marked by struggles over patronage, and backed by emerging middle classes. Following Dahl, the authors compare African regimes on the basis of the degree of formal political participation and competition allowed. They find that regime variants—personal dictatorship, military oligarchy, plebiscitary one-party regime, and competitive one-party regime—are associated with distinctive transition dynamics. Whereas transitions from military oligarchies are typically managed from the top down and are relatively orderly, transitions from plebiscitary systems often occur discordantly through confrontational national conferences. A consolidated democracy is least likely to result from the abrupt collapse of a personal dictatorship and is most likely, though never guaranteed, from a graduated transition from a competitive one-party regime. In general, getting to democracy is problematic from all regimes that lack institutional traditions of political competition.
Learning, Realism, and Alliances: The Weight of the Shadow of the Past
Authors: Reiter Dan
Published: July 2006

This article presents and tests a theory of learning in international politics. Drawing primarily from social psychology and organization theory, the learning theory proposes that lessons tend to be drawn only from high-impact events in world politics, such as large wars and economic depressions. Lessons drawn tend to be simple and are oriented around the question of which policies are likely to be successful and which policies are likely to fail. This learning theory is tested on the alliance choices of small powers in the twentieth century. The predictions of two learning hypotheses are compared with those of a leading realist explanation of alliance choices, balance of threat theory. Quantitative analysis of small powers' alliance choices reveals that a small power's experience in the previous world war is a very powerful explanation of its peacetime alliance choices after that war, whereas the level of threat in the international environment has only marginal effects on the small power's alliance choices. Further, these threat effects may be in the opposite direction of that predicted by balance of threat theory.
Small States in Big Trouble: State Reorganization in Australia, Denmark, New Zealand, and Sweden in the 1980s
Authors: Schwartz Herman
Published: July 2006

In Australia, Denmark, New Zealand, and Sweden in the 1980s, coalitions of politicians, fiscal bureaucrats, and capital and labor in sectors exposed to international competition allied to transform the largest single nontradables sector in their society: the state, particularly the welfare state. They exposed state personnel and agencies to market pressures and competition to reduce the cost of welfare and other state services. The impetus for change came from rising foreign public and private debt. Rising public debt levels and expensive welfare states interacted to create a tax wedge between employers' wage costs and workers' received wages. This undercut international competitiveness, worsening current account deficits and leading to more foreign debt accumulation. Two factors explain variation in the degree of reorganization in each country: differences in their electoral and constitutional regimes; and the willingness of left parties to risk splitting their core constituencies. Introduction of market pressures is an effort to go beyond the liberalization of the economy common in industrial countries during the 1980s, and both to institutionalize limits to welfare spending and to change the nature of statesociety relations, away from corporatist forms of interest intermediation. In short, not just less state, but a different state.
Why Innovate? Founding the Bank for International Settlements
Authors: Simmons Beth A.
Published: July 2006

One of the concerns of international political economy in the past several years has been to theorize about the conditions conducive to the development of international cooperation and institutionalization. This article explores the usefulness of economic theories of dynamic contracting, which are essentially functionalist in nature, to understand international financial innovation in the 1920s. It interprets the founding of the Bank for International Settlements as an important effort to overcome the problems of contract enforcement and information asymmetries in international lending that had contributed to capital market inefficiencies as the 1920s drew to a close. Dynamic contracting theories suggest reasons why borrowers and lenders have a strong interest in developing cooperative international institutions that help establish a borrower's credibility. This approach is supplemented with a multilateral bargaining model between debtor, private lenders, and creditor governments to explain international financial innovation during the interwar years. The evidence suggests that the BIS was created primarily to enhance Germany's incentives to repay its debts and that it was part of a deal between private creditors and creditor governments to reduce and commercialize German reparations. By looking not only at interstate bargaining but also at public'private bargaining, it is possible to understand the paradox of cooperative international institutional development in a period otherwise marked by conflict.
After Regime Change: Authoritarian Legacies, Political Representation, and the Democratic Future of South America
Authors: Hagopian Frances
Published: July 2006

This article focuses on the legacies of the authoritarian regimes of South America for the contemporary consolidation of democracy. In particular, it considers their lasting effects on the region's informal networks and formal institutions of political representation. It questions several assumptions made by the literature on regime transition and democratic consolidation in South America about political culture, institutional reform, and electoral realignment: taken together, these assumptions are misleading about how much and what kind of political change has occurred in Latin America as a result of authoritarian rule. To understand how the challenges of democratic consolidation have been shaped, the article proposes instead to examine how the economic policies and political strategies pursued by military regimes preserved, altered, or destroyed the clientelistic and corporatist networks of mediation between state and society prevailing at the onset of authoritarianism, as well as those constructed upon the representative base of programmatic political parties.
High Speed PVD Thermal Barrier Coatings
Authors: Beele W. , Eschendorff G.
Published: July 2006

The high speed PVD process (HS‐PVD) combines gas phase coating synthesis with high deposition rates. The process has been demonstrated for high purity YSZ deposited as a chemically bonded top thermal barrier with columnar structure of EB‐PVD features. The process can manufacture EB‐PVD like coatings that match in regards to their TGO‐formation and columnar structure. Coatings with a columnar structure formed by individual columns of 1/4 of the diameter of a classical EB‐PVD type TBC have been deposited. These coatings have the potential to prove a significant reduction in thermal conductivity and in erosion performance.
Structural Evolution and Mechanical Properties Modification of MELTPRO (in SituRemelted) Processed Thermal Barrier Coatings during Thermal Shocks
Authors: Antou G. , Montavon G. , Hlawka F. , Coddet C. , Cornet A.
Published: July 2006

Thermal Barrier Coatings (TBCs) are used extensively to protect components of gas turbines or diesel engines against deterioration at high temperatures, oxidation and corrosion attack by reactive species, especially sulfurs. A TBC can be manufactured by implementing atmospheric plasma spraying (APS). The existence of interconnected porosity and segmented cracks not only influences their thermal and mechanical properties, but also deteriorates the oxidation and corrosion resistance of the component. In this work, the porous structure of a TBC manufactured by APS and a hybrid plasma spray process was studied.
Residual Stress Generation during Laser Cladding of Steel with a Particulate Metal Matrix Composite
Authors: Plati A. , Tan J. C. , Golosnoy I. O. , Persoons R. , van Acker K. , Clyne T. W.
Published: July 2006

Laser cladding is used to coat and repair the surface of various components. A significant issue relating to optimisation of the process is the generation of residual stresses. These are affected by the high thermal gradients inherent in the process, and associated differential thermal contraction. These stresses can lead to various types of distortion. A customised 3‐D finite element model has been developed, incorporating these effects, based on simulation of conductive, convective and radiative heat transfer, and assuming elastic‐perfectly plastic deformation behaviour. Creep effects have been neglected and the cladding (particulate metal matrix composite) has been treated as a continuum. Comparisons are presented between measured and simulated thermal fields and specimen deflection histories. The results indicate that the main features of residual stress generation in this type of system have been captured in the model. Implications for process optimization and control are briefly discussed.
A new class of coherent risk measures based on p‐norms and their applications
Authors: Chen Zhiping , Wang Yi
Published: July 2006

To exercise better control on the lower tail of the loss distribution and to easily describe the investor's risk attitude, a new class of coherent risk measures is proposed in this paper by taking the minimization of p‐norms of lower losses with respect to some reference point. We demonstrate that the new risk measure has satisfactory mathematical properties such as convexity, continuity with respect to parameters included in its definition, the relations between two new risk measures are also examined. The application of the new risk measures for optimal portfolio selection is illustrated by using trade data from the Chinese stock markets. Empirical results not only support our theoretical conclusions, but also show the practicability of the portfolio selection model with our new risk measures. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Carbohydrates for fermentation
Authors: Peters Dietmar
Published: July 2006

Biomass accumulated by the photosynthetic fixation of carbon dioxide is the only renewable carbon source, and hence, the only renewable raw material for the chemical industry. Carbohydrates are the main constituents of biomass and occur as cell wall and storage carbohydrates, transportation carbohydrates and glycoconjugates. Cellulose, hemicelluloses and starch in particular as well as pectin, inulin and saccharose to a smaller extent are the most abundant carbohydrates. Glucose is the most important monosaccharide and monomer of polysaccharides in natural carbohydrates. Thus, it is the most abundant organic compound on earth. Production of pulp from wood cellulose, applications of starch for paper making as well as uses of glucose and saccharose for fermentation are the most important chemical and technical uses of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates used as fermentation feedstock are essential for the chemical industry. Their importance is steadily growing due to the increasing implementation of biotechnological processes.
Conversion from laparoscopic to open cholecystectomy
Authors: Gouma D J
Published: July 2006

The timing of surgery is important
Colorectal stenting
Authors: Parker M C
Published: July 2006

Increasing in popularity
Topping up or watering down? Sustainable development in the privatized UK water industry
Authors: Cashman Adrian , Lewis Linda
Published: July 2006

Increasingly in the UK regulators and industries are taking on duties towards sustainable development. Governance procedures, which include regulation, are evolving to accommodate this in a manner that is reflexive of existing institutional structures. Governance provides an organizing framework for ordered rule and collective action, not reliant on coercive sanction. It is characterized by a web of actors from across government, industry and civil society with both intentions and outcomes being negotiated and reinterpreted. With respect to sustainable development this can be seen at work within the regulation of the water sector. This paper, based on a series of interviews situated from within the water industry, investigates whether the formal regulation of the industry helps or hinders the adoption and implementation of sustainable practices. The regulatory structure encourages an approach that mediates relationships through the redefinition of sustainability in econocentric terms, thus losing the richness of the concept. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Corporate environmentalism strategy in the Spanish consumer product sector: a typology of firms
Authors: Buil‐Carrasco Isabel , Fraj‐Andrés Elena , Matute‐Vallejo Jorge
Published: July 2006

In recent years, the protection of the environment has gained a growing importance. Accordingly, small and large firms have become aware of their responsibility and begun to develop environmental strategies as an enterprising challenge. In such a situation, this study describes firms' environmental orientation and its impact on the design of corporate and marketing strategies in the Spanish consumer product sector. The purpose of this paper is to identify different groups of firms according to their environmental behaviour.

The information was obtained through 81 personal interviews with firms in the final consumer product sector. With the data obtained we have conducted several exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and a cluster analysis. Findings have proved that there is a specific firm type characterized by certain variables: influence of external forces; environmental orientation; corporative and marketing strategies; size; macro‐sector and, if existing, the environment department. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Real or blarney? A cross‐cultural investigation of the perceived authenticity of Irish pubs
Authors: Muñoz Caroline L. , Wood Natalie T. , Solomon Michael R.
Published: July 2006

In recent years, themed Irish pubs have grown in popularity. Marketers often strive to create the perception of authenticity when creating these themed environments. This study seeks to understand the importance of authenticity, tangible and intangible elements that constitute authenticity, and consumers' ability to delineate the ‘real’ from simulacra. We employed an online cross‐cultural methodology that compared perceptions of Irish pubs among respondents in Australia, Ireland, and the United States. The results of this study support our contention that perceived authenticity is a construct that is dependent on both marketers and consumers. Findings revealed, among other things, that the role of patrons and employees was deemed an equal, if not more important, atmospheric component than tangible interior design elements in the creation of a ‘true’ Irish pub experience. Marketing and research implications of this study are provided.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Direct Evaluation of a Kinetic Model for RecA‐Mediated DNA‐strand exchange: The Importance of Nucleic Acid Dynamics and Entropy During Homologous Genetic Recombination
Authors: Xiao Jie , Lee Andrew M. , Singleton Scott F.
Published: July 2006

The Escherichia coli RecA protein is the prototype of a class of proteins that play central roles in genomic repair and recombination in all organisms. The unresolved mechanistic strategy by which RecA aligns a single strand of DNA with a duplex DNA and mediates a DNA strand switch is central to understanding homologous recombination. We explored the mechanism of RecA‐mediated DNA‐strand exchange using oligonucleotide substrates with the intrinsic fluorophore 6‐methylisoxanthopterin. Pre‐steady‐state spectrofluorometric analysis elucidated the earliest transient intermediates formed during recombination and delineated the mechanistic strategy by which RecA facilitates this process. The structural features of the first detectable intermediate and the energetic characteristics of its formation were consistent with interactions between a few bases of the single‐stranded DNA and the minor groove of a locally melted or stretched duplex DNA. Further analysis revealed RecA to be an unusual enzyme in that entropic rather than enthalpic contributions dominate its catalytic function, and no unambiguously active role for the protein was detected in the earliest molecular events of recombination. The data best support the conclusion that the mechanistic strategy of RecA likely relies on intrinsic DNA dynamics.
Cover Picture: Amide‐Based Molecular Knots as Platforms for Fluorescent Switches (Chem. Eur. J. 22/2006)
Authors: Passaniti Paolo , Ceroni Paola , Balzani Vincenzo , Lukin Oleg , Yoneva Albena , Vögtle Fritz
Published: July 2006

The selectively functionalized nanometric knotane platform can be compared with a metal ion capable of coordinating three ligands. In their Full Paper on page 5685 ff., V. Balzani, F. Vögtle, O. Lukin et al. describe this concept with respect to an amideknotane substituted with fluorescent dansyl and/or pyrenesulfonyl moieties. UV/Vis absorption spectra, emission spectra, and the emission lifetimes of the fluorescent knotanes were investigated.
The influence of increasing age on the deliverability and toxicity of fludarabine‐based combination chemotherapy regimens in patients with indolent lymphoproliferative disorders
Authors: Polizzotto Mark N. , Tam Constantine S. , Milner Alvin , Januszewicz E. Henry , Prince H. Miles , Westerman David , Wolf Max M. , Seymour John F.
Published: July 2006

BACKGROUND.

Fludarabine‐based combination chemotherapy regimens are highly effective in the treatment of patients with indolent lymphoproliferative disorders. Despite the prevalence of such disorders in older patients, the effect of increasing age on the deliverability of these regimes has not been assessed.

METHODS.

The authors analyzed the effect of increasing age on the deliverability and toxicity of 3 fludarabine‐based regimens, all using fludarabine 25 mg/m2 per day for 3 days intravenously every 28 days, in 180 patients who were stratified into 2 age groups (age <60 years and age ≥60 years), with multivariate analysis to control for other differences between groups. The authors also explored the impact of age ≥70 years within the older cohort.

RESULTS.

Older patients were more likely to experience an episode of nonsevere hematologic or infectious toxicity, but there was no difference in the rate of severe toxicity. Toxicity rates per cycle did not differ between age groups. The rates of neutropenia (absolute neutrophil count [ANC], <1.0 × 109/L) and severe neutropenia (ANC, 0.5 × 109/L) were 22% and 13%, respectively, in older patients versus 20% and 11%, respectively, in younger patients (P>.1 for both). The rates of thrombocytopenia (platelet count, <100 × 109/L) and severe thrombocytopenia (platelet count, <50 × 109/L) were 21% and 5%, respectively, in older patients and 16% and 5%, respectively, in younger patients (each P value >.1). The rate of infection was 18% per cycle in older patients and 15% per cycle in younger patients (P = .2), with no difference noted in severity. Other organ toxicities were uncommon and showed no difference between age groups. The treatment‐related mortality rate was <1% in both cohorts (P>.5). In multivariate analysis, increasing age and performance status influenced the incidence of hematologic toxicity, whereas only performance status influenced the rate of infection and severe infection.

CONCLUSIONS.

Fludarabine‐based combination chemotherapy regimens were well tolerated and can be delivered safely to older patients who have a good performance status with modestly increased myelosuppression but no increase in severe infectious complications or treatment‐related mortality. Cancer 2006. © 2006 American Cancer Society.
Advances and surgical decision‐making for breast reconstruction
Authors: Kronowitz Steven J. , Kuerer Henry M.
Published: July 2006

In patients who undergo breast reconstruction after mastectomy, choosing the appropriate timing and the best method of reconstruction are essential to optimize outcomes and to minimize the potential for postoperative complications. At The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, the clinicopathologic factors that are used in the surgical decision‐making for breast reconstruction after mastectomy include the breast cancer stage, status of axillary sentinel lymph node, smoking status, body habitus, preexisting scars, prior radiation therapy, and planned or previous chemotherapy. Immediate breast reconstruction after mastectomy is preferable for patients who have a low risk of requiring postmastectomy radiation therapy (PMRT) (Stage I breast cancer). Delayed reconstruction may be preferable in patients who are deemed preoperatively to require PMRT (Stage III breast cancer) to avoid difficulties associated with radiation delivery after an immediate breast reconstruction. In patients who are deemed preoperatively to be at an increased risk of requiring PMRT (Stage II breast cancer), delayed‐immediate breast reconstruction may provide an additional option. The approach to breast reconstruction will need to be adapted to maintain an appropriate balance between minimizing the risk of recurrence and providing the best possible aesthetic outcomes as the indications for PMRT and other treatment modalities continue to change. Cancer 2006. © 2006 American cancer Society.
Should we screen for bladder cancer in a high‐risk population?
Authors: Lotan Yair , Svatek Robert S. , Sagalowsky Arthur I.
Published: July 2006

BACKGROUND.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved screening high‐risk patients for bladder cancer using urine‐based markers. The cost and life‐years saved associated with bladder cancer screening were evaluated.

METHODS.

A Markov model was created to estimate cumulative cancer‐related costs and efficacy of screening (vs. no screening) of a high‐risk population for bladder cancer using a urine‐based tumor marker over a 5‐year period. Assumptions were based on literature review of survival and progression rates for patients with bladder cancer and costs associated with different bladder cancer disease states.

RESULTS.

Screening for bladder cancer in a population with a 4% incidence of bladder cancer resulted in a gain of 3.0 life years per 1000 subjects at a cost savings of $101,000 for the population, assuming a 50% downstaging in the screened population from muscle‐invasive to nonmuscle‐invasive disease. One‐way sensitivity analyses found that screening is the most cost‐effective strategy if cancer incidence is >1.6%, tumor marker costs <$126, marker sensitivity is >26%, marker specificity is >54%, downstaging with screening is >20%, and office cystoscopy costs <$694. Varying costs of cystectomy, transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT), chemotherapy, end‐of‐life care, costs of metastatic disease, and a computed tomography scan over a wide range did not affect the superiority of screening.

CONCLUSIONS.

The model found that urine‐based markers are cost‐effective in a high‐risk population. Prospective randomized trials in a completely asymptomatic high‐risk cohort are indicated before bladder cancer screening can be recommended. Cancer 2006. © 2006 American Cancer Society.
Secondary chromosomal abnormalities predict outcome in pediatric and adult high‐stage Burkitt lymphoma
Authors: Onciu Mihaela , Schlette Ellen , Zhou Yinmei , Raimondi Susana C. , Giles Francis J. , Kantarjian Hagop M. , Medeiros L. Jeffrey , Ribeiro Raul C. , Pui Ching‐Hon , Sandlund John T.
Published: July 2006

BACKGROUND.

Karyotypic abnormalities in sporadic Burkitt lymphoma (BL) have been described extensively. However, to the authors' knowledge, very limited studies have focused on the secondary chromosomal abnormalities in pediatric BL as compared with those of adult BL and on their prognostic impact.

METHODS.

A retrospective analysis was performed in all pediatric and adult patients at 2 institutions, with a morphologic diagnosis of BL, pretherapy tumor karyotype available, and t(8;14), t(8;22), or t(2;8) present.

RESULTS.

There were 33 children and 37 adults. The majority of the patients (95%) had Stage III/IV disease. There were no statistically significant differences noted in karyotype complexity and the nature of the chromosomal abnormalities between these 2 groups. Abnormalities of chromosomes 13 (13q) and 22 (22q) had a negative impact on prognosis in children. In adults, abnormalities of chromosome 17 appeared to have a negative impact.

CONCLUSIONS.

The current findings suggest that karyotypic information can be used for refining risk stratification in patients with BL. Cancer 2006. © 2006 American Cancer Society.
The effect of immunoglobulin VH gene mutation status and other prognostic factors on the incidence of major infections in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia
Authors: Francis Sebastian , Karanth Mamatha , Pratt Guy , Starczynski Jane , Hooper Laura , Fegan Chris , Pepper Chris , Valcarcel David , Milligan Donald W. , Delgado Julio
Published: July 2006

BACKGROUND.

Infections are a major factor in the clinical course of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and account for 30% to 50% of all deaths. The pathogenesis of infections in CLL is related to hypo‐γ‐globulinemia, T‐cell immune dysfunction, and the immunosuppressive effect of treatment.

METHODS.

The authors retrospectively assessed the correlations between new prognostic markers and types of infections encountered, the time taken to develop these infections, and infection‐related mortality in 280 unselected patients with CLL.

RESULTS.

One hundred patients (36%) had at least 1 major infection (median, 2 major infections; range, 1–8 major infections) over a median follow‐up of 67 months. Infections were the most common cause of death, accounting for 51% of all fatalities. Older age (P = .007), clinical Stage B or C disease (P < .001), unmutated immunoglobulin (Ig)VH gene status (P < .001), genetic abnormalities (P < .001), positive CD38 status (P < .001), and type of initial therapy were associated with a significantly shorter time to first infection. Equally, patient age (P < .001), disease stage (P < .001), CD38 expression (P < .001), IgVH mutation status (P < .001), and genetic abnormalities (P = .003) had a significant impact on infection‐related mortality.

CONCLUSIONS.

Clinical stage at diagnosis, IgVH mutation status, and initial therapy were possible predictors of severe infections in patients with CLL. The current results may help to identify which patients with CLL are at particularly high risk of developing serious infections and, thus, should be considered for Ig or antibiotic prophylaxis. Cancer 2006. © 2006 American Cancer Society.
Ultrafast Photoisomerization of Photoactive Yellow Protein Chromophore Analogues in Solution: Influence of the Protonation State
Authors: Espagne Agathe , Paik Daniel H. , Changenet‐Barret Pascale , Martin Monique M. , Zewail Ahmed H.
Published: July 2006

We investigate solvent viscosity and polarity effects on the photoisomerization of the protonated and deprotonated forms of two analogues of the photoactive yellow protein (PYP) chromophore. These are trans‐p‐hydroxybenzylidene acetone and trans‐p‐hydroxyphenyl cinnamate, studied in solutions of different polarity and viscosity at room temperature, by means of femtosecond fluorescence up‐conversion. The fluorescence lifetimes of the protonated forms are found to be barely sensitive to solvent viscosity, and to increase with increasing solvent polarity. In contrast, the fluorescence decays of the deprotonated forms are significantly slowed down in viscous media and accelerated in polar solvents. These results elucidate the dramatic influence of the protonation state of the PYP chromophore analogues on their photoinduced dynamics. The viscosity and polarity effects are, respectively, interpreted in terms of different isomerization coordinates and charge redistribution in S1. A trans‐to‐cis isomerization mechanism involving mainly the ethylenic double‐bond torsion and/or solvation is proposed for the anionic forms, whereas “concerted” intramolecular motions are proposed for the neutral forms.