bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
To err is rational: A theory of excess demand for tickets
Authors: Deserpa Allan C.
Published: May 2007

This paper examines the relationship between chronic excess demand for sporting events, a robust ticket resale market and the market for seasons tickets. The main argument focuses on property rights associated with the purchase of season tickets. Given the impossibility of pricing games individually, season‐ticket holders act as brokers. The ‘broker's fees’ are paid in the form of priorities for playoff tickets and premium seats in future years. Since a pure monopoly price would render season‐ticket property rights worthless, a profit‐maximizing strategy requires apparent underpricing.
Executive stock option compensation: The corporate reporting decision
Authors: Lewellen Wilbur , Park Taewoo , Ro Byung
Published: May 2007

New regulations instituted in 1992 by the SEC require that estimates of the values of executive stock option grants now be included in proxy statement reports on senior executive compensation. We examine the character of firms' reporting choices under the new rules, from a large sample of the first round of proxy statements issued. We find that the majority of firms have elected a reporting approach that provides little additional information to investors, and appear at least in part to have done so because the alternative approach would have caused them to report above‐average stock option compensation amounts for their executives.
Alterations in inorganic phosphate in mouse hindlimb muscles during limb disuse
Authors: Pathare Neeti , Vandenborne Krista , Liu Min , Stevens Jennifer E. , Li Ye , Frimel Tiffany N. , Walter Glenn A.
Published: May 2007

Muscle disuse induces a wide array of structural, biochemical, and neural adaptations in skeletal muscle, which can affect its function. We recently demonstrated in patients with an orthopedic injury that cast immobilization alters the resting Pi content of skeletal muscle, which may contribute to loss of specific force. The goal of this study was to determine the direct effect of disuse on the basal phosphate content in skeletal muscle in an animal model, avoiding the confounding effects of injury/surgery. 31P and 1H MRS data were acquired from the gastrocnemius muscle of young adult mice (C57BL6 female, n = 8), at rest and during a reversible ischemia experiment, before and after 2 weeks of cast immobilization. Cast immobilization resulted in an increase in resting Pi content (75%; p < 0.001) and the Pi to phosphocreatine (PCr) ratio (Pi/PCr; 80%, p < 0.001). The resting concentrations of ATP, PCr and total creatine (PCr + creatine) and the intracellular pH were not significantly different after immobilization. During ischemia (30 min), PCr concentrations decreased to 54 ± 2% and 52 ± 6% of the resting values in pre‐immobilized and immobilized muscles, respectively, but there were no detectable differences in the rates of Pi increase or PCr depletion (0.55 ± 0.01 mM min−1 and 0.52 ± 0.03 mM min−1 before and after immobilization, respectively; p = 0.78). At the end of ischemia, immobilized muscles had a twofold higher phosphorylation potential ([ADP][Pi]/[ATP]) and intracellular buffering capacity (3.38 ± 0.54 slykes vs 6.18 ± 0.57 slykes). However, the rate of PCr resynthesis (kPCr) after ischemia, a measure of in vivo mitochondrial function, was significantly lower in the immobilized muscles (0.31 ± 0.04 min−1) than in pre‐immobilized muscles (0.43 ± 0.04 min−1). In conclusion, our findings indicate that 2 weeks of cast immobilization, independent of injury‐related alterations, leads to a significant increase in the resting Pi content of mouse skeletal muscle. The increase in Pi with muscle disuse has a significant effect on the cytosolic phosphorylation potential during transient ischemia and increases the intracellular buffering capacity of skeletal muscle. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An assessment of appraisal, anxiety, coping, and procrastination during an examination period
Authors: Lay Clarry H. , Edwards Jean M. , Parker James D. A. , Endler Norman S.
Published: May 2007

High School students responded to an inventory which included dispositional measures of procrastination and social evaluation trait anxiety. Subsequently, and 7 days prior to their first examination (Stage 1), each of the 40 female and 23 male students completed measures of state anxiety, perception of the stressor situation, and ways of coping, all with regard to their approaching exam period. These judgments were repeated 1 day prior to their first examination (Stage 2), and again 5 days after their last examination (Stage 3). Correlational analyses indicated that threat and harm perceptions were highly positively related to state anxiety, whereas challenge and gain were moderately and negatively related. State anxiety was linked to emotion‐focused coping, but was independent of problem‐focused coping. In an analysis of variance, high procrastination, high trait anxious subjects felt the least challenged at Stage 1. In a ‘maverick’, post hoc analysis, high procrastinators were more likely than low procrastinators at each stage to promise themselves ‘that things will be different next time’. Discussion included an assessment of the need for specificity when using the Ways of Coping (Folkman and Lazarus, 1985) scale.
A cross‐cultural comparison using the act frequency approach (AFA) in West Germany and the United States
Authors: Angleitner Alois , Buss David M. , Demtröder Andrea I.
Published: May 2007

Two studies were conducted in West Germany and the United States to investigate cultural similarities and differences on features of personality assessed through act frequency methods. The first study analysed the acts considered to be central and peripheral to each of six dispositional categories: dominance, quarrelsomeness, gregariousness, submissiveness, agreeableness, and aloofness. The results indicated moderate to strong similarity between the cultures in the prototypicality structure for all categories except agreeableness, which showed little concordance. The second study examined the manifested structure of act performance as assessed through retrospective act reports. The results indicated greater similarity of act endorsements between the two sexes within each culture than between cultures within each sex. Generally, the Americans showed higher base rates than the Germans. Furthermore, over all samples, females showed lower base rates than males. The correlations between relative base rates within each of the six different categories were moderately strong between the cultures (0.56, p < 0.001). Analyses of the relations between the prototypicality structure and the manifested structure yielded a complex picture that was highly dependent on dispositional category. For quarrelsome acts, for example, the more central acts were reported to be performed less frequently in both cultures, while other categories showed positive correlations between base rates and prototypicality. The limitations of these studies are described, and future research directions regarding expanding the range of act frequency methods and the number of nations in the search for personality functioning across cultures are suggested.
The implicit theories approach to the self‐monitoring controversy
Authors: Larkin Judith E.
Published: May 2007

In the face of uncertainty and disagreement about the meaning and measurement of the self‐monitoring construct, the author proposes an implicit theories approach to shed light on what self‐monitoring scales may be tapping. The first study explored people's notions of what high and low self‐monitors are like, based on the statements in the 18‐item Self‐Monitoring Scale (Gangestad and Snyder, 1985). The second study compared that measure with Lennox and Wolfe's (1984) Revised Self‐Monitoring Scale and examined defensive motivation within the scales. The third study consisted of two experiments to determine whether subjects perceived the items of Gangestad and Snyder's Self‐Monitoring Scale as reflecting a unitary latent entity or separate, contradictory variables. It was concluded that the implicit theories approach appears to be a useful complement to traditional factor analytic studies, providing new ways of looking at a personality construct, clarifying some theoretical issues, and generating hypotheses for future research.
Beyond stability: Predicting inter‐individual differences in intra‐individual change
Authors: Asendorpf Jens B.
Published: May 2007

Demonstration of a high longitudinal stability of inter‐individual diferences in behaviour has been one traditional goal of personality psychology. In recent years, impressively high longitudinal correlations have been reported for self‐and other‐ratings of behaviour in adulthood, indicating a high overall stability of personality differences in that period of development. However, even 5‐year correlations around 0.70 do not exclude major deviations of some of the subjects from this overall stability (i.e. differential stability in the sample). Furthermore, the younger a sample is, the lower will be the longitudinal stability observed, and the less suficient is the explanation of inter‐individual diferences by static traits. This article goes beyond the notion of stability at the sample level by asking from a developmental perspective (a) whether systematic inter‐individual differences in intra‐individual change exist, (b) how they can be assessed, and (c) whether these inter‐individual differences can be explained by characteristics of the person or of the environment.
Life‐styles in personality development
Authors: Pulkkinen Lea
Published: May 2007

The concept of life‐style was introduced as an integrative concept for the individual's personality characteristics, life attitudes, and everyday activities. Antisocial (AL) and socially adaptable (SAL) life‐styles were analysed based on the Jyväskylä Longitudinal data. The original sample consisted of 196 boys and 173 girls aged 8 years; 87 percent of them were followed up to the age of 26. Male life‐styles defined at age 26 by illicit behaviour and career orientation were compared and their developmental prerequisites at ages 8 and 14 were examined. The results showed that (1) dispositional, cognitive, and behavioural approaches to personality could be linked for the analysis of individual life‐styles; (2) individuals with AL compared with SAL were higher in neuroticism, more pessimistic, and more often problem drinkers and consumers of popular culture; (3) adult life‐styles were predictable on the basis of coping behaviour in childhood; (4) upbringing was related to adult life‐styles; and (5) adult life‐styles were rooted in distinctive patterns of adjustment in childhood and adolescence.
Contributions of longitudinal research to a cognitive theory of adjustment to aging
Authors: Thomae Hans
Published: May 2007

In agreement with Costa and McCrae (1992), the principle of ‘multiple uses’ of longitudinal studies is stressed based on a comparative review of the history of the Berkeley longitudinal studies and their different uses, and of those of the Bonn Longitudinal Study on Aging (BOLSA). Of the many uses of BOLSA, its contribution to the testing of a cognitive theory of aging is discussed. A selection of the findings of BOLSA and other studies of the Bonn Department of Psychology and the Institute of Gerontology, University of Heidelberg, is reported. These findings support three postulates of this theory: ( 1 ) the perceived rather than the objective situation directs behaviour; (2) perceptions of situations are related to dominant concerns of the person; and (3) adjustment to aging is achieved when a balance between the cognitive and motivational systems of the person has been attained.
Openness to Experience: Expanding the boundaries of Factor V
Authors: McCrae Robert R.
Published: May 2007

The fifth factor in lexical studies of trait adjectives is commonly interpreted as Intellect, whereas the corresponding factor derived from questionnaire studies is typically identified as Openness to Experience. Intellect as a construct is problematic because it erroneously suggests an equivalence of Factor V with intelligence, describes aspects of Factor III (Conscientiousness) as well as of Factor V, and fails to suggest the diverse psychological correlates that Factor V is known to have. By contrast, Openness to Experience is a broader construct that implies both receptivity to many varieties of experience and a fluid and permeable structure of consciousness. Data from analyses of adjectives, established personality questionnaires, and Hartmann's (1991) new Boundary Questionnaire support these interpretations. The construct of Openness can be transported across geographical and cultural boundaries to function as a universal dimension of personality structure.
Clarification of Factor Five with the help of the AB5C Model
Authors: Johnson John A.
Published: May 2007

The Abridged Big Five‐Dimensional Circumplex (AB5C) Model of Hofstee, De Raad and Goldberg (1992) represents trait terms as blends of factors. Analyses suggest that different scales for measuring Factor V (Mentality) may reflect blends of this factor with either Factor 111 (Constraint) or Factor I (Extraversion/Surgency). Measures saturated primarily by Factor V alone (V+V+ in the AB5C terms of Hofstee et al.) represent Creative Mentality. Measures that blend Factor V with the positive pole of Factor III represent Constrained Mentality (V+III+ ), with the negative pole, Unconstrained Mentality (V+III–). Measures that blend Factors V and I represent Surgent Mentality (V+I+). While all of these variants are perfectly valid forms of Factor V, Creative Mentality seems to be the central core of Factor V and is represented by the Openness to Ideas and Openness to Aesthetics Scales of Costa and McCrae (1992) and by the Generates Ideas and Culture Scales of Hogan and Hogan (1992).
Prediction of mood and risk appraisals from trait measures: Two studies of simulated driving
Authors: Dorn Lisa , Matthews Gerald
Published: May 2007

Two contrasting hypotheses concerning the relationship between personality and mood are distinguished. First, broad traits may relate to emotional temperament, and so predict mood across situations. Second, the interactionist approach to personality implies that narrow, context specific traits may sometimes be the most powerful predictors of mood within situations. This article reports correlations between mood and broad and narrow trait measures, the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI; Eysenck and Eysenck, 1964) and the Driving Behaviour Inventory (DBI; Gulian, Matthews, Glendon, Davies and Debney, 1989), within the context of vehicle driving. Mood was measured with the UWIST Mood Adjective Checklist (UMACL; Matthews, Jones and Chamberlain, 1990), in two samples before and after a simulated drive. One sample (N = 73) performed a ‘passive’ drive, in which little interaction with other traffic was required. The second sample (N = 93) performed an ‘active’ driving task, in which subjects had to decide when to overtake other vehicles. Results showed that the DBI traits were more strongly related to mood than EPI traits, particularly following the active drive. The DBI Dislike of Driving scale was the strongest single predictor of post‐drive mood. Prior to the drive, subjects also rated accident risk, driving skill, and judgement, for themselves and for a ‘peer’ driver of similar age and sex. Analysis of these data in the combined sample (N = 166) showed that the DBI was the more consistent predictor of self‐ratings of risk and driving competence, although some relationships between ratings and the EPI were found. Again, the DBI Dislike of Driving scale was the strongest single predictor of self‐ratings. Drivers scoring high on this scale seem immune to drivers' general bias towards rating themselves as safer and more competent than their peers. It is concluded that narrow traits are more predictive than broad traits within the driving context. Data are consistent with the transactional model of driver stress, which proposes that dislike of driving is derived from negative secondary appraisals.
Coping with war captivity: The role of sensation seeking
Authors: Solomon Zahava , Ginzburg Karni , Neria Yuval , Ohry Abraham
Published: May 2007

This study examines the implication of both sensation seeking and the subjective appraisal of captivity in the long‐term adjustment of ex‐prisoners of war (ex‐POWs). 164 Israeli ex‐POWs and 184 comparable controls were studied, 18 years after their participation in the Yom Kippur War. The findings indicate that high‐sensation seekers adjusted better than low‐sensation seekers to the stresses of captivity. Low‐sensation‐seeking ex‐POWs reported more PTSD symptoms, more severe psychiatric symptomatology, and more intense intrusive and avoidance tendencies. High‐ and low‐sensation‐seeking POWs differed also in feelings when taken prisoner, subjective assessment of suffering in prison, ways of coping with prison, and emotional states during captivity. The present study supports the postulation that sensation seeking is an important stress‐buffering personal resource. The role of coping styles in long‐term adjustment following war captivity is discussed.
The psycholexical approach to the structure of interpersonal traits
Authors: de Raad Boele
Published: May 2007

In this study the structure of interpersonal behaviour is investigated following the principles of the so‐called psycholexical approach. The interpersonal trait descriptors are selected from a comprehensive set of 1203 trait descriptive adjectives, constructed by Brokken (1978). Self‐ratings and peer ratings (N = 400) on the subset of 454 interpersonal trait adjectives were subjected to Principal Components analysis. The main results centre around a two‐factor solution, approximately reflecting the axis of the traditional interpersonal circumplex, Dominance and Nurturance. The relationship of the two interpersonal factors with the Big Five is discussed, as well as the relationship with the set of traits judged non‐interpersonal.
Personality, situation, and positive–negative asymmetry in socially desirable responding
Authors: Lindeman Marjaana , Verkasalo Markku
Published: May 2007

Based on previous research on socially desirable responding and positive—negative asymmetry, we hypothesized that (i) impression management is higher in public than in private settings, (ii) personal ideals linked to exemplification, ingratiation, and intimidation are related to an impression management tendency, (iii) negatively keyed social desirability items receive more extreme responses than positively keyed items, and (iv) self‐esteem is correlated higher with negatively than with positively keyed self‐deception items. Based on Jones and Pittman's (1982) model, exemplification, ingratiation, and intimidation are defined as impression management strategies that aim at presenting oneself as worthy, likable, or dangerous, respectively. Principally, the results obtained in a public setting (N=177) and a private setting (N= 165) support these hypotheses. The overall pattern of findings suggests that both context and personal ideals exert an influence on impression management scores, and that the keying direction of an item may be an important psychological determinant of a test response.
Trait explanations in personality psychology
Authors: McCrae Robert R. , Costa Paul T.
Published: May 2007

Recent debates on the status of contemporary trait psychology (Pervin, 1994) have revived old questions about the role of traits in the explanation of behavior: are traits mere descriptions of behavior, or do they offer one legitimate and useful form of explanation? We review the logic of trait explanation and present a general model of the person in which personality traits are hypothetical constructs regarded as basic dispositions. In interaction with external influences—notably shared meaning systems—traits contribute causally to the development of habits, attitudes, skills, and other characteristic adaptations. In this model, action and experience can be explained directly or proximally in terms of the interaction of the immediate situation with the individual's characteristic adaptations, and indirectly or distally in terms of underlying personality traits.
A confirmatory factor analysis of the structure of schizotypy
Authors: Mason Oliver
Published: May 2007

Recent research into schizotypal traits has been concerned with the number and nature of these personality dimensions. Earlier exploratory factor analytic work using a wide variety of scales (the CSTQ) has generated a four‐factor solution but other solutions have been provided by other investigators. This study uses confirmatory factor analysis on a large sample to compare several plausible models of the relationships between scales. These models include a two‐factor model separating ‘positive’ from ‘negative’ schizotypal features, a three‐factor model including features of cognitive disorganization, and the four‐factor model generated previously by exploratory factor analysis. Results offer support for the four‐factor solution as the only structure meeting multiple criteria for goodness of fit. The relevance of Eysenck's dimensions, and the P scale in particular, to the results is discussed. Attention is drawn to the possibility that the factors describe predispositions of risk of psychotic disorders beyond that of schizophrenia.
Tracing the Big Five in parents' free descriptions of their children
Authors: Kohnstamm Geldolph A. , Mervielde Ivan , Besevegis Elias , Halverson Charles F.
Published: May 2007

Because of the impressive replicability of the Five‐Factor Model (FFM) in adult personality psychology, developmental psychologists have recently begun a search for the antecedents of these five adult dimensions in childhood. The FFM originates in rating scales applied to ‘personality words’, notably adjectives, selected from dictionaries. To test the explanatory power of the FFM as a model for individual differences in childhood, we used a different source for the lexicon of personality. Parents of children aged 3, 6, 9, and 12 years were asked simply ‘to describe your child’. The audiotaped interviews were transcribed literally and then coded using an elaborate coding scheme. We here describe data from three of the countries involved in this cross‐cultural project (Holland, Belgium, and Greece). The data are the results of coding free descriptions for a total of 186 3‐year‐olds and 229 9‐year‐olds. These data represent the first phase of a four‐phase project that includes researchers from The Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Poland, Germany, the USA, and China. Results from this first phase were very similar over the participating countries although there were some interesting culture‐specific differences. In the second phase, questionnaire items based on the free descriptors in each category of the coding scheme will be written by the research teams. Such items will be rated by new samples of parents. Factor analyses will reduce the item pool to about one hundred items. These will then be given to new samples of parents of children of the ages indicated above. In the last phase, the factor structures will be compared across cultures and be analysed for their resemblance to the FFM, as well as other models of the structure of temperament and personality in childhood.
Differential expression of both extracellular and intracellular proteins is involved in the lethal or nonlethal phenotypic variation of BrtlIV, a murine model for osteogenesis imperfecta
Authors: Forlino Antonella , Tani Chiara , Rossi Antonio , Lupi Anna , Campari Elena , Gualeni Benedetta , Bianchi Laura , Armini Alessandro , Cetta Giuseppe , Bini Luca , Marini Joan C.
Published: May 2007

This study used proteomic and transcriptomic techniques to understand the molecular basis of the phenotypic variability in the bone disorder osteogenesis imperfecta (OI). Calvarial bone mRNA expression was evaluated by microarray, real‐time, and comparative RT‐PCR and the bone proteome profile was analyzed by 2‐DE, MS, and immunoblotting in the OI murine model BrtlIV, which has either a moderate or a lethal OI outcome. Differential expression analysis showed significant changes for eight proteins. The expression of the ER stress‐related protein Gadd153 was increased in lethal mice, whereas expression of the chaperone αB crystallin was increased in nonlethal mice, suggesting that the intracellular machinery is involved in the modulation of the OI phenotype. Furthermore, in lethal BrtlIV, the increased expression of the cartilaginous proteins Prelp, Bmp6, and Bmp7 and the lower expression of the bone matrix proteins matrilin 4, microfibril‐associated glycoprotein 2, and thrombospondin 3 revealed that both a delay in skeletal development and an alteration in extracellular matrix composition influence OI outcomes. Differentially expressed proteins identified in this model offer a starting point for elucidating the molecular basis of phenotypic variability, a characteristic common to many genetic disorders. The first reference 2‐DE map for murine calvarial tissue is also reported.
Wastewater Treatment Using a Heterogeneous Magnetite (Fe3O4) Non‐Thermal Plasma Process
Authors: Lei Lecheng , Hao Xiaolong , Zhang Xingwang , Zhou Minghua
Published: May 2007

We propose here a new combination of aqueous pulsed discharge plasma (PDP) process with magnetic material (Fe3O4) nanoparticles for the efficient removal of p‐chlorophenol(4‐CP)‐contaminated wastewater. It was found that the magnetite particles could efficiently degrade the toxic, organic pollutant 4‐CP into more active species through the main surface Fenton's reactions and catalytic decomposition of dissolved ozone. Magnetite particles with a dose of 100 mg · L−1 in combination with bubbling oxygen were found to be suitable under any pH condition, and, as suggested by the analysis of Fe ions leaching rate and by the changes of XRD patterns before and after use, the catalytic activity of the magnetite particles was only slightly affected by the critical circumstances induced by PDP (e.g. supersonic condition, shock wave and supercritical water condition).

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Thick Film Ceramic Combinatorial Libraries: The Substrate Problem
Authors: Zhan Yong , Chen Lifeng , Yang Shoufeng , Evans Julian R. G.
Published: May 2007

Discrete, thick‐film, combinatorial libraries of ceramics are made by computer controlled mixing of well‐dispersed suspensions of commercially available powders followed by deposition of droplets on a substrate for drying and subsequent firing. The substrate influences the shape and size of the samples through spreading effects. Later, at the firing stage, interaction with the substrate can involve reactions that adulterate the composition or low adhesion that can result in sample loss during transport. We describe substrate pretreatment with a perfluorinated silane to provide control of droplet size and prevent spreading. Substrate compatibility during high temperature firing is more problematic and we discuss the limited material choices. One approach seeks a substrate that will support the library from beginning to end of the preparatory stage and during storage. An alternative method involves firing samples on low adhesion substrates followed by pneumatic transfer to a silver electroding paste and a low temperature firing. This method provides sufficiently strong adhesion to allow libraries of samples to be surface‐ground a give a flat parallel configuration on a common electrode together with robust construction for storage and transport.
Psychogenic hypertension
Authors: Friedman Richard , McCaughran James A.
Published: May 2007

There is a considerable experimental literature concerning the psychophysiology of high blood pressure, but many difficulties arise in extrapolating data derived from laboratory studies in animals to the human condition. Nevertheless, a familiarity with basic laboratory results should be a prerequisite for all clinically orientated mental health professionals interested in the relationship between psychological functioning and hypertension. Profound cardiovascular alterations can result from exposure to environmental situations which are perceived as stressful. In particular, the relationships between stress and acute elevations in blood pressure and heart rate have been well documented. It is, however, a much more difficult problem to establish the relationship between repeated and/or prolonged exposure to stress and the pathogenesis of chronic hypertension. It is the purpose of this article to illustrate this relationship with a series of fundamental experimental observations.
Incontinence in the elderly
Authors: Irvine R. E.
Published: May 2007

Incontinence is liable to breed a sense of frustration and hopelessness but there are now many aids for incontinent people. Several factors are involved such as bladder instability, neuropathic bladder, environment, psychological, iatrogenic and mechanical factors, and so on. Diagnosis should differentiate between stress incontinence, overflow incontinence and the atonic bladder.

Drugs are seldom effective by themselves but play a useful role as adjuvants in the general management of the patient. A number of drugs are useful, such as anticholinergics, oestrogens, and possibly indomethacin. The anticholinergics are most widely used, emepronium and flavoxate being the most effective.

Toilet training is most important and many advances have been made in the last few years to produce aids and appliances for the incontinent patient. Among these are male and female urinals, commodes, incontinence pants of several varieties, incontinence pads and absorbent bed sheets. Catheterization may be needed as a last resort.
Stress and the schoolteacher
Authors: Renvoize Edward B.
Published: May 2007

This paper examines the manifestations, effects, prevalence and origins of stress in schoolteachers. Evidence suggests that many teachers find their work stressful, that there is a correlation between perceived stress and the experience of psychological and physical symptoms, but that as a group teachers do not have an increased incidence of psychiatric or physical disorders. Possible coping strategies to reduce teacher stress are discussed.
Psychological and socioeconomic factors and cancer in rural Greece
Authors: Ioannidis Paul J. , Savvari Helen
Published: May 2007

In an attempt to test the effect of ‘psychosocial stress’ in carcinogenesis, cancer mortality for each district of Greece was assessed for its relationship with several demographic variables thought to reflect socioeconomic and psychological factors. In districts with more than 50 per cent rural population the associations between cancer mortality and mean annual infant mortality (representing poverty) and mean annual emigration rate (representing the impact of ‘loss‐depression’) for the previous decade were significantly positive. A significant negative association was observed between cancer mortality and migration to the country's capital. Similarly, a significant negative relationship was found between the ‘surplus’ of natality when losses through emigration and general mortality were subtracted from the mean natality of the previous decade. Intercorrelations among most of the studied dependent and independent variables were significant. These associations suggest that socioeconomic and psychological factors may act as an interdependent complex in the causation of cancer.
Policing the violent society: The American experience
Authors: Reese James T.
Published: May 2007

Contemporary law enforcement officers must function as counsellors, social workers, psychologists, negotiators and investigators, as well as traditional police officers. Their work alternates from dull and boring to moments of sheer panic, when life and death decisions have to be made in a matter of seconds. The combination of factors in police work–dealing with terrible situations and traumatized victims, and working under the threat of physical danger–results in overwhelming stress. It is this unusual amount of stress that makes explicable the fact that police officers in the United States have high rates of problem drinking, suicide and divorce. How exactly does stress cause attitude and behaviour changes, impair familiy and social relationships and develop cynicism, apathy and an unwillingness to seek help? This article explores these concerns and the early warning signs of poor adaptation to the stress created by policing violence. Some techniques to combat poor adaptation are also outlined.
Objective evaluation of laughing
Authors: Shimizu Akira , Kawasaki Tatsuhito , Kawasaki Miki , Azuma Tsukasa , Tanaka Michio , Sumitsuji Noboru
Published: May 2007

The method for an objective evaluation of laughing by using a polygraphic recording (EMG of the zygomatic muscle, GSR, plethysmogram, pneumogram, body movement and phonation) is demonstrated. ‘Laughing score’, which is an index for intensity and frequency of laughing calculated from polygraphic recordings, correlated well with the subjective rating of laughing by experimenters. It was also shown that laughing scores differed from person to person among normal subjects and that laughing reaction decreased over the age of 40.
Psychiatric patients and their response to experimental stress
Authors: Albus M. , Müller‐spahn F. , Ackenheil M. , Engel R. R.
Published: May 2007

Serum levels of Epinephrine (E), norepinephrine (NE), heart rate (HR), skin conductance reaction (SCR) and skin conductance level (SCL) were measured in schizophrenic, endogenous depressed and anxiety patients as well as in normal controls. Conditions were rest, noise and a mental arithmetic (MA) task. Schizophrenic and depressed patients had an attenuated HR response to MA. Moreover, Schizophrenic patients also had higher NE base level and the highest NE secretion during noise. Anxiety and depressed patients showed significantly lower phasic electrodermal activity (SCR) throughout the whole trial, exclusively anxiety patients had significantly higher tonic electrodermal activity (SCL). These findings indicate that autonomous reactions discriminate between patient groups and controls as well as between each other.
Hypnosis and sex
Authors: Metcalfe J. B.
Published: May 2007

Hypnosis is not a discipline to be thought of in isolation but is one of the techniques of psychotherapy, like abreaction, analysis, behaviour therapy, support and others, with which it may be combined. Hypnosis can often enhance the effect of other methods of treatment, and has no dangers apart from those inherent to psychotherapy. In the treatment of sexual dysfunction it is often, perhaps usually, necessary to interview and treat both partners, but this article is concerned with the role of hypnosis in this field; it will usually be employed with only one of the partners, and in some cases may be the only technique used. Hypnosis is useful in primary and secondary sexual dysfunction, and deserves wider recognition.
Sexual dysfunction and cardiovascular disease
Authors: Cooper A. J.
Published: May 2007

A number of cardiovascular disorders may be associated with male sexual problems. Both psychogenic and organic causes may be variably implicated and in the individual case the relative significance of each needs to be ascertained using appropriate clinical and laboratory assessments. Myocardial infarction may be followed by impotence, or with the avoidance of sexual opportunities even if libido has recovered. Fear of reinfarction (during coitus) may be a major impediment. Generalized penile arteriosclerosis (without evidence of disease elsewhere) may cause impotence directly. This can be established in a high percentage of cases using specialized techniques including doppler ultrasound, nocturnal penile tumescence measures (NPT) and retograde radiographic studies. Treatment, which must be tailored to the individual circumstances, consists of an optimum permutation of several ingredients including behavioural psychotherapy, education, cardiovascular and intracavemosal (IC) drugs.
The hidden victims of disaster: Helper stress
Authors: Shepherd Melanie , Hodgkinson Peter E.
Published: May 2007

The effects of disaster work on helpers, both of the emergency services type (rescue, recovery, and identification personnel) and those who offer psychological support, are reviewed. In terms of emotional, cognitive and behavioural effects, a significant number experience short‐term stress and a small percentage experience long‐term effects, which may be of the fluctuating nature. The extent and nature of the encounter with death, and organizational factors appear as particular stressors. Coping styles (eg hardiness), age, experience and social support have been identified as moderating factors. Positive, as well as negative effects are observed.
Cognitive anxiety in insomnia: An analogue test
Authors: Lichstein Kenneth L. , Fanning John
Published: May 2007

Two theories on the cause of insomnia have emerged, the somatic and the cognitive. To test the cognitive theory, 15 insomniac and 15 normal sleepers were invited into the sleep laboratory. In the last of three sessions ostensibly designed to measure normal presleep physiological processes, a polygraph malfunction was staged raising the possibility of accidental shock. The major outcome was that insomniacs showed a significant increase of skin conductance level during this session while normals relaxed even further. This probably reflected the presence of anxious ruminations for insomniacs and the absence of such for normals in response to the third night threat. Insomniacs' tonic level of frontalis muscle tension surpassed normals but was non‐reactive to the third night threat, suggesting a minor role for somatic arousal in insomnia. The present results support the primacy of cognitive arousal in insomnia and invite emphasis on cognitive control treatment strategies for this sleep disorder.
Is the state of leucocyte adhesiveness/aggregation an immune marker of stress in the olfactory bulbectomized rat?
Authors: Song C. , Kelly J. , Leonard B. E.
Published: May 2007

The state of leucocyte adhesiveness/aggregation (LAA) during stress was determined in 44 rats following sham operation or olfactory bulbectomy. The effects of chronic treatment with the antidepressant desipramine, and calf thymopeptides, on the LAA state and differential white cell count were also studied and compared. In the olfactory bulbectomized rats, LAA percentages and ratios were significantly increased compared with sham operated animals. In the white cell count, the percentage of neutrophils was markedly increased while the percentage of lymphocytes was decreased. Chronic desipramine treatment has no effect on lesioned changes in the LAA and the proportion of white cell. However, thymopeptides significantly reduced LAA percentage and normalized the lymphocyte and neutrophil count in the bulbectomized rats. Such findings further help to valid the olfactory bulbectomized rats as a model of depression and support the view that the state of LAA is a sensitive marker of stress.
Choice and determinism: A comment
Authors: Bedeian Arthur G.
Published: May 2007

This note comments on Lawless and Finch's (1989) empirical test of Hrebiniak and Joyce's (1985) framework of business‐environment relations. In doing so it extends Lawless and Finch's reasoning through the explicit incorporation of an interactionist perspective. A model is presented that amplifies the prevailing organizational adaptation logic by assigning a role to organizational learning and by suggesting how organizations act on environmental information vis‐à‐vis symbolic processes and environmental management strategies.
The performance impact of strategy ‐ manager coalignment: An empirical examination
Authors: Thomas Anisya S. , Litschert Robert J. , Ramaswamy Kannan
Published: May 2007

This paper develops a theoretical model that explains the impact of the fit between top executive characteristics and strategic orientation on organizational performance. Using the Miles and Snow typology as an integrative framework, the central propositions of the model were evaluated. The results of the empirical examination provided significant support for the administrative dimension, an aspect of the typology that has been largely overlooked thus far. Further, it was found that firms achieving a greater degree of alignment between their strategy and the profiles of top managers, generally realized superior performance outcomes.
Supplier relations and management: A survey of Japanese, Japanese‐transplant, and U.S. auto plants
Authors: Cusumano Michael A. , Takeishi Akira
Published: May 2007

This article presents the results of a questionnaire survey sent to a sample of automobile manufacturers in the United States and Japan (including Japanese‐managed plants in the United States) during the spring of 1990. The data support observations that Japanese and U.S. practices tend to differ in key areas and Japanese suppliers perform better in dimensions such as quality (defects) and prices (meeting targets, reducing prices over time); and that Japanese‐managed auto plants established in the United States have, in general, adopted Japanese practices and receive extremely high levels of quality from Japanese as well as U.S. suppliers. These findings provide evidence that Japanese practices and performance levels are transferable outside Japan and suggest that considerable improvements are possible for U.S. suppliers supplying U.S. auto plants. In addition, the survey indicates that U.S. firms have adopted at least some practices traditionally associated with Japanese firms, apparently reflecting some convergence toward Japanese practices and higher performance levels in supplier management.
Do changes in organizational status affect financial performance?
Authors: Parker David , Hartley Keith
Published: May 2007

In recent years there has been worldwide interest in ‘privatization’ and transferring government department functions to quasi‐autonomous agencies. This paper presents the results of a study of 10 organizations in the U.K. which underwent changes in their organizational status within government or which crossed the public‐private boundary. The focus of the study is the impact of these organizational status changes on financial performance measured using a set of standard financial ratios. These ratios did not provide a consistent set of statistically significant results. Organizational status changes in the direction of privatization do not appear to guarantee improved performance.
Structuring cooperative relationships between organizations
Authors: Ring Peter Smith , van de Ven Andrew H.
Published: May 2007

Alliances and similar cooperative efforts are receiving increased attention in the strategic management literature. These relationships differ in significant ways from those governed by markets or hierarchies, and pose very different issues for researchers and managers. In this paper we address alternative forms of governance in cases where multiple organizations repeatedly cooperate. We explore their characteristics and follow this with a discussion of criteria which we believe bear on the choice of governance: risk and reliance on trust. We offer propositions on relationships between these criteria and the choice of governance mechanisms. In the concluding section of the paper we explore the implications of our analysis for managers and scholars.
Comparing U.S. and Japanese corporate‐level operating performance using financial statement data
Authors: Brown Paul R. , Soybel Virginia E. , Stickney Clyde P.
Published: May 2007

This study uses financial statement data restated to a similar reporting basis to compare the operating performance of U.S. and Japanese companies, identifying possible strategic and environmental explanations for the differences observed. Comparisons are made for U.S. and Japanese samples as a whole, for groups of Japanese firms (keiretsu v. nonkeiretsu), and for 11 industries. The results show that neither country appears to generate systematically higher profit margins, but that U.S. firms turnover assets other than inventory more quickly and therefore have higher rates of return on assets. More intensive examination of these results suggests that environmental factors, such as cultural or structural differences, are the primary causes of the observed differences in the data analyzed.
Theorems of the Linear Elastostatic Cosserat Continuum for Exterior Domains
Authors: Hlaváček M. , Kopáčková M.
Published: May 2007

For the case of exterior domains the reciprocal theorem and the uniqueness theorem of Cosserat elastostatic continuum are proved. If the displacement vector and the rotation vector are twice continuously differentiable in an open region, then they are analytic.
Integraloperatoren für die Helmholtz‐Gleichung
Authors: Kracht M. W.
Published: May 2007

Aus der Riemannschen Darstellungsformel für die Lösung des charakteristischen Anfangswertproblems für die Helmholtzgleichung leiten wir entsprechende Darstellungen von J. Le Roux, S. Bergman, E. Picard und M. Eichler her und bestimmen hierbei die zugeordneten Funktionen so, daß die durch die obigen Integraloperatoren erzeugten Lösungen jeweils übereinstimmen.
Charakterisierung und Eindeutigkeit bei Simultanapproximationen
Authors: Bredendiek E.
Published: May 2007

Die Approximationsprobleme aus den Anwendungen sind häufig Simultanapproximationen. Bei vorgegebenem Operator A (oft ein Differentialoperator) und bei einer fest gewählten Funktionenklasse W ist dann eine Funktion f durch w ε W und gleichzeitig A f durch A w möglichst gut zu approximieren. Dieses Approximationsproblem wird in beliebigen linearen normierten Räumen betrachtet, und es werden Einschließungen der Minimalabweichung und Charakterisierungen und Eindeutigkeitskriterien für die Minimallösung angegeben. Die Theorie wird auf Randwertaufgaben bei partiellen Differentialgleichungen angewandt.
Wärmespannungen in einem Plattenstreifen aus elastisch‐kompressiblem Material bei endlichen Formänderungen
Authors: Celep Z. , Hartung C.
Published: May 2007

Ein in einer Richtung behinderter Plattenstreifen (ebener Formänderungszustand) aus elastisch‐kompressiblem Werkstoff verkrümmt sich unter dem Einfluß eines stationären Temperaturfeldes. Dabei soll der Plattenstreifen im Ausgangszustand unverkrümmt und spannungslos sein. Für den Fall eindimensionaler Temperaturfelder und unter der Annahme einer Kompressibilität, die nur von der Temperatur abhängt, lassen sich auch unter Berücksichtigung endlicher Verzerrungen für die Wärmespannungen geschlossene Lösungen finden. Anhand zweier Beispiele werden der Verlauf der Eigenspanungen und numerische Ergebnisse mitgeteilt. In einem weiteren Beispiel wird das spannungslose Temperaturfeld angegeben.
Transient Thermal Stresses in a Semi‐infinite Body Heated Axi‐symmetrically
Authors: Koizumi Takashi
Published: May 2007

Many investigators have reported on thermoelastic problems of a semi‐infinite body whose surface is heated. In these studies the boundary conditions are mostly defined by the use of the surface temperature. On such bodies as dice employed in casting or forging work, however, it seems appropriate that the thermoelastic problems are considered under the heat‐flow condition.

In the present paper, when a semi‐infinite body, initially undisturbed, is axi‐symmetrically and partially heated by a step‐functional heat‐flow through the surface, the author analyses the temperature field on the basis of the Fourier's heat conduction equation, supposing that the physical properties are constant. After this the thermal stresses in the body are also analysed by using the equilibrium equations in the absence of inertia terms. It is assumed herein that elastic moduli and the coefficient of linear thermal expansion are independent of temperature. Some numerical examples are also revealed.