bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Defective Mitochondrial Biogenesis
Authors: Nisoli Enzo , Clementi Emilio , Carruba Michele O. , Moncada Salvador
Published: March 2007

The metabolic syndrome is a group of risk factors of metabolic origin that are accompanied by increased risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease. These risk factors include atherogenic dyslipidemia, elevated blood pressure and plasma glucose, and a prothrombotic and proinflammatory state. The condition is progressive and is exacerbated by physical inactivity, advancing age, hormonal imbalance, and genetic predisposition. The metabolic syndrome is a particularly challenging clinical condition because its complex molecular basis is still largely undefined. Impaired cell metabolism has, however, been suggested as a relevant pathophysiological process underlying several clinical features of the syndrome. In particular, defective oxidative metabolism seems to be involved in visceral fat gain and in the development of insulin resistance in skeletal muscle. This suggests that mitochondrial function may be impaired in the metabolic syndrome and, thus, in the consequent cardiovascular disease. We have recently found that mitochondrial biogenesis and function are enhanced by nitric oxide in various cell types and tissues, including cardiac muscle. Increasing evidence suggests that this mediator acts as a metabolic sensor in cardiomyocytes. This implies that a defective production of nitric oxide might be linked to dysfunction of the cardiomyocyte metabolism. Here we summarize some recent findings and propose a hypothesis for the high cardiovascular risk linked to the metabolic syndrome.
Offending Heaven and Earth: Sin and Expiation in Islamic Homicide Law
Authors: Powers Paul
Published: March 2007

The Qur'ān clearly condemns homicide and assigns the freeing of a slave to any who kill accidentally. Classical fiqh manuals, however, display a remarkable range of responses to and disagreements about this dictate. Many jurists hold that freeing a slave here is an instance of kaffāra (expiation), understood as an antidote to sin. Yet accidental homicide is widely deemed non-sinful, so kaffāra is assigned for a non-sin. Further, many say the sin of intentional homicide cannot be expiated. Hanafīs often add the idiosyncratic assertion that freeing a slave is not kaffāra but rather an instance of "thanking the benefactor," an altogether different kind of act. I conclude that freeing a slave in response to homicide is not consistently treated as the expiation of sin. Further, the jurists' treatment of kaffāra forces a reconsideration of the commonplace assertion that Islamic law treats murder as more tort than crime.
Critical Rigor vs. Juridical Pragmatism: How Legal Theorists and Hadīth Scholars Approached the Backgrowth of Isnāds in the Genre of 'Ilal al-Hadīth
Authors: Brown Jonathan
Published: March 2007

Modern scholarship has accepted the 'backgrowth of isnāds' in the early hadīth tradition, but this phenomenon did not occur without controversy among classical Muslim scholars. Hadīth critics were aware that material was being pushed back to the Prophet, a phenomenon they approached through the lens of ziyāda (addition). By examining works devoted to criticizing hadīth narrations ('ilal) from the 3rd/9th to the 8th/14th centuries, we will see that the original non-Prophetic versions of many hadīths survived alongside their Prophetic counterparts well into the 5th/11th century. More importantly, certain hadīth scholars from the 3rd/9th to the 7th/13th centuries believed that Prophetic reports in the canonical hadīth collections were actually statements of other early Muslims. The position of these critics, however, was marginalized in the 5th/11th century, when mainstream Sunni jurists chose to accept the Prophetic versions categorically. Although the jurists' position became dominant in Sunni Islam, criticism of the backgrowth of isnāds has continued in the work of select hadīth scholars until today.
The Book of the Young Master of Accountancy: An Ancient Chinese Economics Text
Authors: Milburn Olivia
Published: March 2007

In ancient China, economic theory developed from the Warring States period onwards. Many philosophers included economic ideas in their works. A number of important theories were first articulated in an extremely obscure text, the Jinizi, a book was associated with the preunification state of Yue. The Jinizi is the earliest known text to include the concept of economic cycles, and it stresses the role of investment and savings in economic development, and price stabilisation. These ideas subsequently formed the cornerstone of ancient Chinese economic theory. This paper includes the first translation of the Jinizi into English. En Chine ancienne, la théorie économique se développa à partir de la période des Royaumes Combattants. Plusieurs philosophes inclurent des concepts économiques dans leurs travaux. Un nombre de théories importantes furent articulées dans un texte extrêmement obscure, le Jinizi, un livre associé avec l'état de Yue avant l'unification de la Chine. Le Jinizi est le premier texte à avoir inclu le concept des cycles économiques, et il appuie le rôle de l'investissement et de l'épargne dans le développement économique, et de la stabilisation des prix. Ces idées formèrent par la suite le point clé de la théorie économique en Chine ancienne. Cet article comprend la première traduction du Jinizi en Anglais.
Descartes on Time and Duration
Authors: Gorham Geoffrey
Published: March 2007

Descartes' account of the material world relies heavily on time. Most importantly, time is a component of speed, which figures in his fundamental conservation principle and laws. However, in his most systematic discussion of the concept, time is treated as some-how reducible both to thought and to motion. Such reductionistic views, while common among Descartes' late scholastic contemporaries, are very ill-suited to Cartesian physics. I show that, in spite of the apparent identifications with thought and motion, Cartesian time retains—in the form of what I will call 'successive duration'—precisely the intrinsic structure necessary to serve as an independent parameter of quantitative physics. As is often the case with Descartes, he gives the impression of embracing traditional doctrines while in fact radically transforming the underlying concepts to serve his scientific agenda. His theory of time, though formulated in Aristotelian terms, anticipates Newton in important respects.
Scotus as the Father of Modernity. The Natural Philosophy of the English Franciscan Christopher Davenport in 1652
Authors: Davenport Anne
Published: March 2007

This article examines the philosophical teaching of a colorful Oxford alumnus and Roman Catholic convert, Christopher Davenport, also known as Franciscus à Sancta Clara or Francis Coventry. At the peak of Puritan power during the English Interregnum and after five of his Franciscan confrères had perished for their missionary work, our author tried boldly to claim modern cosmology and atomism as the unrecognized fruits of medieval Scotism. His hope was to revive English pride in the golden age of medieval Oxford and to defend English Franciscans as more legitimately patriotic and scientifically progressive than Puritan millenarians.
`That is my job'
Authors: Parker Sharon K.
Published: March 2007

Findings from two field studies support the proposition that the way individuals define their role, or their role orientation, is a powerful influence on their behaviour, resulting in more or less effective job performance. The first study showed that, within a relatively self-managing context, flexible role orientation predicted supervisory assessments of overall job performance, as well as a change in job performance. The second study showed flexible role orientation predicted job performance in high autonomy jobs but not low autonomy jobs. In both studies, role orientation predicted performance more strongly than other work attitudes, including job satisfaction, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and job aspiration. Collectively, the findings suggest that the development of a more flexible role orientation represents a relatively unexplored avenue for enhancing employee performance, particularly in self-managing contexts. As such, further research on the process of shaping and promoting employees' role orientation is recommended.
The Kurt Lewin–Goodwin Watson FBI/CIA files
Authors: Cooke Bill
Published: March 2007

FBI files on Kurt Lewin, founder of this journal, and his close colleague Goodwin Watson, reveal inter alia the investigation of Lewin postmortem by the FBI/CIA, and FBI surveillance of Watson while he was a proponent of corporate T-groups, a precursor to present day team development. Sixty years on from Human Relations' launch, and Lewin's premature death, the files enrich understandings of Lewin's, and Watson's, lives and work. The socio-political structures-in-process they evidence also support the idea of the T-group as a knowing political tactic, apparently emancipatory, yet immunized from (proto-)Cold War inquisition by its very focus on the here-and-now.
It's `give and take'
Authors: Buzzanell Patrice , Liu Meina
Published: March 2007

To examine maternity leave as a gendered conflict management process, we analyzed a sample of interviews (from a larger data set of 102 interviews) with 26 women who reported feeling discouraged ( n = 15) or encouraged ( n = 11) about their employment status and career opportunities at the times of their leaves. Whereas these two groups of women converged on perceptions of a) incompatible (individual and organizational) goals and b) increased stress, they diverged on perceptions of a) interdependence, and b) use of negotiation strategies. Although this study is exploratory, findings indicate the need for additional research on perspective taking and influence tactics as ways of handling potential gendered conflict interactions for female workers and their bosses.
`Ethics' as a discursive resource for identity work
Authors: Kornberger Martin , Brown Andrew D.
Published: March 2007

This article analyses how participants in a not-for-profit service organization (the `Incubator') drew on understandings of 'ethics' in order to make sense of their individual and collective selves. Identities are theorized as being constituted within discursive regimes, and notions of ethics are conceived as discursive resources on which individuals and groups may draw in their attempts to author versions of their self and organizational narratives. We show how conceptions of ethics were a rich vein on which organizational members drew to elaborate narratives that legitimated particular modes of working and which cohered an otherwise quite disparate community of individuals. The research contribution of this article is twofold. First, we discuss how a discourse focused on ethics may be a strategic resource for identity work. Second, we analyse how talk and writing about issues of ethics are implicated in relations of power and ongoing struggles for control over organizations conceived as discursive spaces. In so doing, this article advances our understanding of ethics as discursively complex constructions, which require the micro-analysis of language practices in situated contexts for action.
Prospect Theory and Coercive Bargaining
Authors: Butler Christopher K.
Published: March 2007

Despite many applications of prospect theory's concepts to explain political and strategic phenomena, formal analyses of strategic problems using prospect theory are rare. Using Fearon's model of bargaining, Tversky and Kahneman's value function, and an existing probability weighting function, I construct a model that demonstrates the differences between expected value and prospect theory when applied to strategic interaction. Critically important to this demonstration is an examination of different types of reference points that make sense for bargaining problems. Four types of reference points are discussed and analyzed: power-based, equity, variants of the status quo, and extreme ``I-want-it-all'' reference points. Each of these types of reference points produce different bargaining behavior at the individual level and in combination with the type of reference point of the other actor. Additionally, I demonstrate that bargaining failure is possible for this model under complete and perfect information using prospect-theoretic logic.
Time Horizons, Discounting, and Intertemporal Choice
Authors: Streich Philip , Levy Jack S.
Published: March 2007

Although many decisions involve a stream of payoffs over time, political scientists have given little attention to how actors make the required tradeoffs between present and future payoffs, other than applying the standard exponential discounting model from economics. After summarizing the basic discounting model, we identify some of its leading behavioral anomalies—declining discount rates; preference reversals; higher discount rates for smaller payoffs than for larger payoffs and for gains than for losses; framing effects based on expectations; and a preference for ascending rather than descending sequences. We examine the leading alternative models of discounting and then apply a quasi-hyperbolic discount model to the problem of cooperation in iterated Prisoner's Dilemma games. We demonstrate that if actors display the widely observed tendency to highly discount the immediate future, then cooperation in an iterated Prisoner's Dilemma game is more difficult than Axelrod suggests.
What Leads Some Ordinary Arab Men and Women to Approve of Terrorist Acts Against the United States?
Authors: Tessler Mark , Robbins Michael D. H.
Published: March 2007

Findings from representative national surveys in Algeria and Jordan show that neither religious orientations, judgments about Western culture, nor economic circumstances account for variance in approval of terrorist acts against U.S. targets. Alternatively, in both countries, approval of terrorism against the United States is disproportionately likely among men and women with negative judgments about their own government and about U.S. foreign policy. Taken together, these findings suggest that approval of terrorism is fostered by negative attitudes toward actors considered responsible for the political and economic status quo. Given that Algeria and Jordan have had different experiences with respect to terrorism and also differ in demographic, political, and economic structure, identical findings from these dissimilar countries suggest that the observed relationships are not country specific and may apply more generally.
Does Democracy Matter?
Authors: Wade Sara Jackson , Reiter Dan
Published: March 2007

This article conducts quantitative tests on the relationship between regime type and suicide terrorism for 1980 to 2003. We present the recently popularized argument that democracies are more likely to experience suicide terrorism and a new hypothesis that mixed regimes are especially likely to experience suicide terrorism. We offer several improvements in research design, including using more controls, the nation-year as the unit of analysis, and more appropriate statistical techniques. Using both Freedom House and Polity data, we find that in general, regime type is uncorrelated with suicide terrorism. We do find that there is a statistically significant interaction between regime type and the number of religiously distinct minorities at risk (MARs) with suicide terrorism, but the statistical significance of this finding is limited, and its substantive impact is marginal. We also find that national size, Islam, national experience with suicide terrorism, and global experience with suicide terrorism affect the likelihood of suicide terrorism.
Lockout Law in Australia
Authors: Briggs Chris
Published: March 2007

Should Australian lockout law be reformed? Lockouts in Australia are legally the formal equal of strikes and the legal treatment of lockouts is the most `de-regulated' in the OECD. The notion that strikes and lockouts should be treated equally is intuitively appealing. However, other OECD nations have rejected an equal right to strike and lockout, reserving lockouts for exceptional circumstances where employers suffer from an imbalance of bargaining power so as to reconcile lockouts with other legal principles such as freedom of association and the right to strike. Australian employers, it will be argued, have been given too much freedom by policy makers at federal level to use lockouts that should legally be reserved as a weapon of genuine `last resort'. However, instead of repositioning Australian lockout law back towards the international mainstream, WorkChoices will produce a legal framework that, uniquely, positively discriminates in favour of employer lockouts against strikes.
Organizers' Roles Transformed? Australian Union Organizers and Changing Union Strategy
Authors: Peetz David , Pocock Barbara , Houghton Chris
Published: March 2007

A survey of organizers in 13 Australian unions indicates that, while progress appears to have been made towards more `organizing' approaches to their work, much remains to be done. Few resources are devoted to `growth' and organizers still spend a relatively large amount of their time on grievance resolution and a relatively small amount of their time on developing delegate infrastructure. They encounter a variety of obstacles. However, there are some advantages in recruiting former community or student activists. A key role is shown for union leadership in assisting organizers to undertake their demanding work in a changing context.
Trade Unions, Institutional Mediation and Industrial Safety
Authors: Nichols Theo , Walters David , Tasiran Ali C.
Published: March 2007

Results of studies that examine the relation between trade union presence and injury rates are often indeterminate and trade unions are sometimes apparently associated with danger not safety. The British WIRS data set has provided a unique resource whereby researchers may examine the relation between trade unions and injury rates as mediated through particular arrangements for health and safety. Yet here, too, most investigations have failed to find a negative relation. It is in this context that this article returns to the original data. Utilizing improved statistical techniques, it concludes that cases where trade unions have an input into health and safety committees and where there are representatives are to be preferred to those where there is no such trade union input or no representatives. It argues that considerable strengthening of regulatory provision is required on employee representation and consultation if health and safety is to be improved.
Determinants of Collective Bargaining Centralization
Authors: Zagelmeyer Stefan
Published: March 2007

Various factors influence the development of collective bargaining structures. Based on cross-sectional and pooled cross-sectional data from the British Workplace Employment Relations Survey series, this article discusses and empirically analyses the establishment-level determinants of collective bargaining centralization, i.e. whether an establishment is covered by single-employer collective bargaining or multi-employer collective bargaining. It argues that the employers' and trade unions' preferences for a particular bargaining structure depend on the outcome of cost—benefit analyses of different available institutional alternatives. The actual choice of a collective bargaining structure then reflects the interaction of the actors' preferences, moderated by an institutionally determined decision-making process. Estimation of a probit model with pooled cross-sectional data shows that the number of unions present at the establishment, membership of an employers' association, and public sector affiliation are positively associated with collective bargaining centralization. In contrast to this, establishment size, trade union density, foreign ownership and control, and international product markets are negatively associated with centralization. Neither establishment age nor foreign ownership appeared to be significant.
The Consequences of Underemployment for the Underemployed
Authors: Wilkins Roger
Published: March 2007

Underemployment is generally conceived as excess labour supply associated with employed persons — that is, as a situation where employed persons would like to work more hours at prevailing wage rates. Using information collected by the 2001 Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey, this study examines the effects of underemployment on outcomes such as income, welfare dependence and subjective well-being. Results obtained imply that, while unemployment clearly has greater adverse consequences, underemployment is nonetheless associated with significant detrimental effects on the outcomes examined. Negative effects are found for both part-time employed and full-time employed workers who would prefer to work more hours, but effects are greater for underemployed part-time workers, and are particularly large for part-time workers who would like to work full-time. Indeed, for part-time workers seeking full-time employment, adverse effects attributable to underemployment are, for some outcomes, not far short of those attributable to unemployment.
The Relationship between the `Psychological Contract' and `Employment Relations'
Authors: Latornell Jamie
Published: March 2007

Great importance is being attached to the concept of the psychological contract. However, the concept does not sit easily within the `traditional' perspective on employment relations with its primarily institutional-level focus. Nevertheless, the concept, depending on how it is defined, has great potential to fill an emerging gap in employment relations: that of individual-level analysis. This gap becomes apparent when a broader, more `contemporary' perspective on employment relations is considered. This `contemporary' perspective moves beyond an institutional-level focus to consider all the behaviours, outcomes, practices, and institutions that relate to the employment relationship. In order to integrate the concept of the psychological contract into `contemporary' employment relations thinking, additional research is required in the following areas: (1) the relationship between employment institutions and individual employees; (2) how employment institutions influence the psychological contract between individuals and their employer; and, (3) the relationship between the legal context and the psychological contract.
Vegetation in dryland river channels and its interaction with fluvial processes
Authors: Sandercock P.J. , Hooke J.M. , Mant J.M.
Published: March 2007

Vegetation forms a major component of the channel environment of dryland rivers in Mediterranean Europe yet the interactions between vegetation and fluvial processes in dryland river channels have received relatively little attention. Characteristic of dryland channels is a degree of complexity and irregularity in morphology coupled with abrupt changes in patterns of riparian vegetation along their course. This is in contrast to more temperate and humid channels, which show strong downstream trends in morphology and a regularity in the distribution of vegetation across the valley floor. The general effect of vegetation in these channels appears to be to enhance the processes of sedimentation and increase resistance to erosion. However, at high stress levels vegetation may be removed. The limited work that has been undertaken indicates that there is considerable variability in the effect that vegetation has on channel processes, depending on both the magnitude of the flow and characteristics of the vegetation, such as their distribution and positioning within the channel and factors such as plant flexibility, cross-sectional area (blockage ratio), number of stems. Studies of sediment connectivity are beginning to yield new insights into the dynamics of dryland rivers, and in particular the role of vegetation in reducing the connectivity of sediment transfers downstream. Detailed surveying at monitored sites such as is being carried out within the EU-funded project RECONDES is required to study the interactions between vegetation, sediment and flow in dryland rivers of the Mediterranean region.
Progress in soil organic matter research
Authors: Yadav Vineet , Malanson George
Published: March 2007

Retention and sequestration of soil organic matter is extremely important for the maintenance of soil structure, agricultural productivity and carbon sequestration. Research in soil organic matter has advanced on many fronts in the last half century. During this time understanding of the factors governing plant litter decomposition has increased considerably resulting in the formulation of process and organism-based models. Remote sensing has been shown to be useful for quickly monitoring stocks of soil organic carbon in the topsoil although much remains to be done to establish its efficacy. Fluxes of soil organic matter in the changing climatic scenarios have been studied though outcomes remain debatable. In this paper an attempt is made to present these various aspects of soil organic matter cohesively. The focus is mainly on litter decomposition, models and monitoring methods, role of soil aggregates and erosion, impact of climate change on long-term dynamics of soil organic matter and impending research themes needing further attention.
HRSC-A data: a new high-resolution data set with multipurpose applications in physical geography
Authors: Otto J.-C. , Kleinod K. , König O. , Krautblatter M. , Nyenhuis M. , Roer I. , Schneider M. , Schreiner B. , Dikau R.
Published: March 2007

The analysis and interpretation of remote sensing data facilitates investigation of land surface complexity on large spatial scales. We introduce here a geometrically high-resolution data set provided by the airborne High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC-A). The sensor records digital multispectral and panchromatic stereo bands from which a very high-resolution ground elevation model can be produced. After introducing the basic principles of the HRSC technique and data, applications of HRSC data within the multidisciplinary Research Training Group 437 are presented. Applications include geomorphologic mapping, geomorphometric analysis, mapping of surficial grain-size distribution, rock glacier kinematic analysis, vegetation monitoring and three-dimensional landform visualization. A final evaluation of the HRSC data based on three years of multipurpose usage concludes this presentation. A combination of image and elevation data opens up various possibilities for visualization and three-dimensional analysis of the land surface, especially in geomorphology. Additionally, the multispectral imagery of the HRSC data has potential for land cover mapping and vegetation monitoring. We consider HRSC data a valuable source of high-resolution terrain information with high applicability in physical geography and earth system science.
The sediment delivery problem revisited
Authors: de Vente Joris , Poesen Jean , Arabkhedri Mahmood , Verstraeten Gert
Published: March 2007

Understanding the sediment delivery process at the drainage basin scale remains a challenge in erosion and sedimentation research. In the absence of reliable spatially distributed process-based models for the prediction of sediment transport at the drainage basin scale, area-specific sediment yield (SSY; t km—2 y—1) is often assumed to decrease with increasing drainage basin area (A). As the measurement of A is relatively simple, this assumption is frequently used for prediction of SSY in ungauged basins. However, over the last two decades several studies reported a positive or non-linear relation between A and SSY. Various authors have suggested diverse explanations for these opposing trends. This paper provides an overview of the different observed trends and summarizes the explanations for each trend. Furthermore, three typical trends are identified to conceptualize the main driving forces of the relation between A and SSY. First of all, it is emphasized that erosion and sediment deposition processes are scale dependent, and going from small (km2) erosion rates generally decrease and deposition in sediment sinks increases due to decreasing slope gradients, and so SSY decreases with increasing A. Next, land-cover conditions and human impact determine if hillslope erosion is dominant over channel erosion or vice versa. In the first case, SSY is expected to decrease with increasing A, while in the latter case SSY will show a continuous positive relation with A. Only for very large areas (A > ~104 km2) a decrease in SSY is observed when drainage density decreases or channel banks are stabilized. Finally, spatial patterns in lithology, land cover, climate or topography can cause SSY to increase or decrease at any basin area and can therefore result in non-linear relations with A. Altogether, with increasing A often first a rise and then a decrease in SSY is observed. The decrease can be absent or can be postponed within a region due to local factors of which lithology, land cover, climate and topography are the most important ones. The large regional, local and even temporal variability in the trend between A and SSY implies that prediction of SSY based on A alone is troublesome and preferably spatially distributed information on land use, climate, lithology, topography and dominant erosion processes is required.
Migrants as Homo Economicus
Authors: Shao Sijun , Nielsen Ingrid , Nyland Chris , Smyth Russell , Mingqiong Zhang  , Zhu Cherrie Jiuhua
Published: March 2007

The problem of a shortage of migrant labor is a new development in China's coastal provinces. We discuss the reasons for this emerging phenomenon using a conceptual framework that extends the traditional Lewis dualistic labor market model to incorporate a migrant labor market. We emphasize that migrant labor shortage in China not only reflects a declining wage gap between what peasants receive and what migrants can earn in the cities, but also the institutional legacies of the planning era such as the hukou (household registration) system which discriminates against migrants vis-a-vis urban residents in terms of access to social insurance and other social services. We proceed to draw on a unique survey of migrants and urban residents collected in Jiangsu to show that migrants receive lower incomes, and they have poorer access to social insurance than those with an urban registration in China's cities. Our findings have important implications for the alleviation of the migrant labor shortage problem.
Temple Construction and the Revival of Popular Religion in Jinhua
Authors: Chan Selina Ching , Lang Graeme S.
Published: March 2007

This article examines a case of temple construction that was initiated by officials and cadres rather than by locals. The temple construction and religious revival are analyzed in the light of complex dynamics between the cadres at the United Front, provincial office, municipal government, township office, and religious bureau, as well as between these cadres and the locals—the intellectuals, village elders, religious specialists, and villagers. For the cadres and officials, the temple was intended as local heritage to attract tourists and ultimately to boost the local economy. However, the temple did not draw sufficient visitors as planned, whether foreign or local. On the other hand, the popularity of the deity associated with the temple took off. We suggest that whether the villagers identify culturally with the temple and lend it their support is crucial in determining its success. The fate of the temple will hence depend ultimately on the ability of the management committee to mobilize and involve local networks in the temple's activities.
Enforcing Wildlife Protection in China
Authors: Li Peter J.
Published: March 2007

Since China enacted the Wildlife Protection Law in 1988, its wildlife has been threatened with the most serious survival crisis. In the prereform era, wildlife was a neglected policy area. Serving the objective of reform, the Wildlife Protection Law upholds the “protection, domestication, and utilization” norm inherited from past policies. It establishes rules for wildlife management and protection. This law provides for penalties against violations. Yet, its ambiguous objectives, limited protection scope, and decentralized responsibilities have made its enforcement difficult. Political factors such as institutional constraints, national obsession with economic growth, shortage of funding, and local protectionism have made the Wildlife Protection Law enforcement an uphill struggle. This study calls for a revision in the Wildlife Protection Law to drop the “protection for human use” objective, expand protection scope, introduce anticruelty provisions, and nationalize protection responsibilities. Understanding that the current one-party state will continue in the foreseeable future, this article calls for moves to open up China's policymaking to advocacy groups. China's wildlife crisis requires both short-term legislative and long-term political solutions.
High Technology Entrepreneurs versus Small Business Owners in Israel
Authors: Schwartz Dafna , Malach-Pines Ayala
Published: March 2007

In recent years there has been growing interest in the psychology of managers and entrepreneurs. Yet, few studies have compared the two, and the literature often treats them interchangeably. This exploratory study focused on two types of entrepreneurs: high technology entrepreneurs (HTEs) and small business owners (SBOs) who were assumed to be more similar to managers. An attempt to identify psychological similarities and differences between them was made. Twenty-five HTEs and fifty SBOs were interviewed with respect to their family and professional backgrounds, self-perception and work attitudes. Results revealed a number of similarities (high involvement, optimism, energy, independence and initiative) as well as differences (HTEs' higher level of education, higher military rank and greater leadership experience as compared to the SBOs' greater realism, greater love of management and greater likelihood of having a father who was also an entrepreneur). These differences were interpreted within a psychoanalytic framework that focuses attention on SBOs' positive identification with both parents as compared to the HTEs' negative identification with father and greater identification with work. Practical implications of these differences for the management of HTEs' and SBOs' organisations or businesses and for public policy were drawn.
Effects of Opportunity Discovery Strategies of Entrepreneurs on Performance of New Ventures
Authors: Puhakka Vesa
Published: March 2007

Opportunity discovery process is one of the main topics of interest in entrepreneurship research. However, the effects of opportunity discovery strategies of entrepreneurs on performance of new ventures have been neglected. The reason for this appears to be the claim that opportunity discovery as behaviour of entrepreneurs takes place before the venture is established and, thus, should not be connected to the later phases of the entrepreneurial process. This is not an established consideration as it inherently holds the idea that research should study how entrepreneurs create value which should not be connected to the value they have created. The present study examined how opportunity discovery strategies of entrepreneurs affect performance of the ventures established. The results illustrate that the performance of new ventures is strongly influenced by opportunity discovery strategies used by entrepreneurs. More specifically, growth of new ventures showed significant increase by proactive opportunity discovery strategy. In addition, the opportunity discovery strategies of proactive searching, competitive scanning and collective action increased the newness value of the ventures. These results suggest that the strategies entrepreneurs use to discover opportunities have much impact on creating high performance levels of new ventures.
Knowledge Processes in Small Manufacturing
Authors: Roy Anjan , Gupta Rajen K.
Published: March 2007

While firms devote much to innovations and application of knowledge, their potential for creation of new knowledge has not been so much acknowledged. Consequently, studies on generation of new ideas and the inventive behaviour of firms have been less than meagre. Nonaka and Takeuchis' SECI model (1995) is one of the most advanced models describing knowledge creation processes in business organisations. The model, however, owing to the particularity of its cultural setting needs to be re-examined for relevance in other contexts and situations. This article reports the findings from a study of product development in a small manufacturing foundry in India, where significant differences in the nature of the knowledge processes, from the description of the SECI model, have been observed.
Does Priming Improve Performance?—An Evaluation Based on a Simulation Game
Authors: Chlosta Simone , Johann Tobias , Klandt Heinz
Published: March 2007

This study focuses on the priming effect on performance in a simulation game. It took place during the regular course programme at the European Business School (Germany). Two groups of students were chosen randomly to play a business game (Szyperski & Klandt, 1988) that simulated the start-up and early development phase of a software company including a large variety of decisions.

By means of the study design the amount of cognitive involvement before the game was varied. Thus, one of the groups received a strategy questionnaire while the other did not. It contained questions about production, supply, personnel, advertising, etc. The intention was to prime the students towards the use of strategies. According to former experiments by Higgins, Rholes and Jones (1977) priming influences cognition and memory and leads to a faster retrieval of information. This should be transferred to the performance in a simulation game.
The Absent Image
Authors: Shapiro Gary
Published: March 2007

Ekphrasis, the verbal description of a visual work, is a crucial site for understanding what Foucault calls the `infinite relation' between seeing and saying. This article sketches a selective history of the genre, from Homer through Derrida and Lyotard, oriented to the question of this gap, and focused on the structural necessity of the absence of the image. This reading shows that Derrida and some other recent French thinkers have been mischaracterized as linguistic reductionists.
Adaptation, Translation, Critique
Authors: Venuti Lawrence
Published: March 2007

Translation theory advances thinking about film adaptation by enabling a more rigorous critical methodology. The relation between such second-order creations and their source materials is not communicative but hermeneutic, depending on the translator's or filmmaker's application of an interpretant. The hermeneutic relation can be seen not only as interpretive, fixing the form and meaning of the source materials, but as interrogative, exposing the cultural and social conditions of those materials and of the translation or adaptation that has processed them. The critic in turn applies an interpretant, whether a critical methodology or specific interpretation, to formulate the hermeneutic relation and its interrogative effects.
Translating the Essay into Film and Installation
Authors: Alter Nora M.
Published: March 2007

This article investigates whether or not it is possible to translate the philosophical essay into a two- and later three-dimensional audiovisual form known as the `essay film'. This genre is increasingly gaining recognition as a distinct branch of international cinema. This text traces the essay film's origins back to early silent cinema and the abstract, experimental films of artists and then follows its development and the forking of paths into non-fiction `art cinema' and non-fiction film, concluding with recent experiments that blur the distinction between art and film and which seek to transform the essay into a sculptural installation.
Retrotranslations of Post-Transsexuality, Notions of Regret
Authors: Jacques Jillian St.
Published: March 2007

From the time Harry Benjamin's Transsexual Phenomenon appeared in 1966, psychiatrists and legislators have used clinical studies of the recipients of Sexual Reassignment Surgery to strengthen their franchise on the legitimate translation of sex. Within these translations, the speaking positions of post-transsexuals — those who no longer identify as transsexual, but who resist a return to an a priori sexual designation — have become shrouded in notions of regret. Drawing on the work of Judith Butler, Homi K. Bhabha and Michel Foucault, this article analyzes several legal, clinical and theoretical mistranslations of the post-transsexual enterprise, and the notion that post-transsexuals can only translate forward by going back.
A subpopulation of human peripheral blood NK cells that lacks inhibitory receptors for self-MHC is developmentally immature
Authors: Cooley Sarah , Xiao Feng , Pitt Michelle , Gleason Michelle , McCullar Valarie , Bergemann Tracy L. , McQueen Karina L. , Guethlein Lisbeth A. , Parham Peter , Miller Jeffrey S.
Published: March 2007

How receptor acquisition correlates with the functional maturation of natural killer (NK) cells is poorly understood. We used quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays to compare NKG2 and killer immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) gene expression in NK cells from allogeneic transplant recipients and their donors. Marked differences were observed in the NK subsets of recipients who had 8-fold more CD56bright cells, diminished KIR expression (except 2DL4), and increased NKG2A. In normal blood not all CD56dim cells express KIR, and a novel subpopulation of cells committed to the NK-cell lineage was defined. These cells, which comprise 19.4% ± 2.8% of the CD56dim NK population in healthy donors, express the activating NKG2D and NKG2E receptors but no KIR or NKG2A. Although the CD56dim NKG2A− KIR− NK cells lack “at least one” inhibitory receptor for autologous MHC class I, they are not fully responsive, but rather functionally immature cells with poor cytotoxicity and IFN-γ production. Upon culture with IL-15 and a stromal cell line, CD56dim and CD56bright KIR− NK cells proliferate, express KIR, and develop cytotoxicity and cytokine-producing potential. These findings have implications for the function of NK cells reconstituting after transplantation and support a model for in vivo development in which CD56bright cells precede CD56dim cells.
Inhibition of heat shock protein 90 prolongs survival of mice with BCR-ABL-T315I–induced leukemia and suppresses leukemic stem cells
Authors: Peng Cong , Brain Julia , Hu Yiguo , Goodrich Ami , Kong Linghong , Grayzel David , Pak Roger , Read Margaret , Li Shaoguang
Published: March 2007

Development of kinase domain mutations is a major drug-resistance mechanism for tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in cancer therapy. A particularly challenging example is found in Philadelphia chromosome–positive chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) where all available kinase inhibitors in clinic are ineffective against the BCR-ABL mutant, T315I. As an alternative approach to kinase inhibition, an orally administered heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) inhibitor, IPI-504, was evaluated in a murine model of CML. Treatment with IPI-504 resulted in BCR-ABL protein degradation, decreased numbers of leukemia stem cells, and prolonged survival of leukemic mice bearing the T315I mutation. Hsp90 inhibition more potently suppressed T315I-expressing leukemia clones relative to the wild-type (WT) clones in mice. Combination treatment with IPI-504 and imatinib was more effective than either treatment alone in prolonging survival of mice simultaneously bearing both WT and T315I leukemic cells. These results provide a rationale for use of an Hsp90 inhibitor as a first-line treatment in CML by inhibiting leukemia stem cells and preventing the emergence of imatinib-resistant clones in patients. Rather than inhibiting kinase activity, elimination of mutant kinases provides a new therapeutic strategy for treating BCR-ABL–induced leukemia as well as other cancers resistant to treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors.
Prognostic significance of circulating tumor cells in bone marrow or peripheral blood as detected by qualitative and quantitative PCR in pediatric NPM-ALK–positive anaplastic large-cell lymphoma
Authors: Damm-Welk Christine , Busch Kerstin , Burkhardt Birgit , Schieferstein Jutta , Viehmann Susanne , Oschlies Ilske , Klapper Wolfram , Zimmermann Martin , Harbott Jochen , Reiter Alfred , Woessmann Willi
Published: March 2007

Clinical and histopathological characteristics have limited prognostic value for children with anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (ALCL). We evaluated the presence, extent, and prognostic impact of circulating tumor cells in bone marrow (BM) and peripheral blood (PB) of children and adolescents with NPM-ALK–positive ALCL at diagnosis using qualitative and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for NPM-ALK. Numbers of NPM-ALK transcripts were normalized to 104 copies ABL (NCNs). BM was analyzed from 80 patients and PB from 52. BM was positive for NPM-ALK in 47.5% of patients, and positivity was significantly correlated with clinical stage, mediastinal or visceral involvement, microscopic BM involvement, and histologic subtype. Qualitative and quantitative PCR results in BM and PB strongly correlated. BM PCR was associated with the cumulative incidence of relapses (CI-Rs): CI-R was 50% ± 10% for 38 PCR-positive and 15% ± 7% for 42 PCR-negative patients (P < .001). Sixteen patients with more than 10 NCNs NPM-ALK in BM had a CI-R of 71% ± 14% compared with a CI-R of 18% ± 6% for 59 patients with 10 or fewer NCNs (P < .001). PB PCR results led to a similar grouping. Thus, quantitative PCR in BM or PB allows identification of 20% of patients experiencing 60% of all relapses with an event-free survival of 20%.
Keratinocyte growth factor improves alterations of lung permeability and bronchial epithelium in allergic rats
Authors: Tillie-Leblond I. , Gosset P. , Le Berre R. , Janin A. , Prangère T. , Tonnel A. B. , Guery B. P. H.
Published: March 2007

Chronic allergic asthma is associated with marked inflammatory reaction, microvascular leakage and epithelium injury. As previously shown in a rat model of chronic asthma, these alterations increase lung permeability and distal airway fluid clearance. Keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) has been shown to induce epithelial cell proliferation and to protect from acute lung injuries. Therefore, the current authors evaluated the potential role of KGF treatment on lung permeability and airway inflammation in rats with chronic asthma.

KGF (1 mg·kg−1) was administered intravenously before the last ovalbumin (OVA) challenge in sensitised rats. Permeability was assessed by the leak of radiolabelled albumin from the alveolar and systemic compartments. Histopathological analysis was also performed.

Treatment with KGF decreased the leak of both markers and decreased the level of extravascular lung water in sensitised rats challenged with OVA. KGF treatment also reduced the inflammatory cell number in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid but not in bronchial mucosa. KGF markedly limited the allergen-induced alterations in epithelium integrity and the expression of the intercellular junction proteins β-catenin and zonula occludens protein-1.

In conclusion, keratinocyte growth factor administration markedly limits lung permeability and airway inflammation, an effect associated with a decrease in epithelium alterations during chronic allergic asthma. These data open new prospects in the therapeutic strategy of asthma.