bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Exploring the partnership between line managers and HRM in Greece
Authors: Papalexandris Nancy , Panayotopoulou Leda
Published: June 2005

Purpose

This article seeks to discuss the role that line managers take up concerning human resource management issues among Greek firms and to propose ways for enhancing the synergistic relationship between human resource (HR) and line managers.

Design/methodology/approach

It presents the trends of line management involvement in Greek firms, from 1993‐2003, based on the CRANET survey. The survey results are enhanced by qualitative data from focus groups.

Findings

Findings show that during the past ten years there has been an increasing tendency for collaboration, with the main responsibility increasingly falling on the HR department. Moreover, the main obstacles to this collaboration are presented.

Research limitations/implications

The main research limitation is the limited data that the CRANET questionnaire provides on the issue of HR – line management partnership. However, the focus groups enrich the survey data with qualitative results. Implications for practice derive from the qualitative results.

Originality/value

The value of this paper is mainly to line managers that are involved in human resource management activities, since the difficulties that occur from this partnership are discussed.
The service quality dimensions and patient satisfaction relationships in South Korea: comparisons across gender, age and types of service
Authors: Choi Kui‐Son , Lee Hanjoon , Kim Chankon , Lee Sunhee
Published: June 2005

Purpose

Aims to investigate the structural relationships between out‐patient satisfaction and service quality dimensions under a South Korea health care system where patients have substantial freedom in choosing their medical service providers and to further study the causal relationship between service quality and satisfaction between out‐patient subgroups obtained on the basis of gender, age and types of services received.

Design/methodology/approach

After assessing the construct validity of the service quality dimensions based on confirmatory factor analysis, a path model specifying the relationships between service quality dimensions and patient satisfaction was estimated. The next analysis was a series of multi‐sample analyses. A multigroup LISREL analysis was used to test the invariance of structural paths between service quality dimensions and patient satisfaction.

Findings

Results indicated that the general causal relationship between service quality and patient satisfaction was well supported in the South Korean health‐care delivery system. An examination of the estimated path coefficients showed that the pattern of relationships between service quality and patient satisfaction was similar across the gender, age, and service type subgroups. Results also revealed that the level of satisfaction, on the other hand, was not the same for subgroups when divided by age and the types of services received.

Originality/value

Since the majority of the past studies have been geographically concentrated in the countries in North America and Western Europe, the findings of this study expand understanding of the relationships between service quality and patient satisfaction.
Individualistic orientation and consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence
Authors: Mourali Mehdi , Laroche Michel , Pons Frank
Published: June 2005

Purpose

Interpersonal influences play a major role in shaping consumer choice decisions. This is particularly evident in the case of services, where intangibility and variability add to the decision difficulty. While all consumers are susceptible to interpersonal influence, people differ in the extent of their susceptibility to interpersonal influence, with some individuals being chronically more susceptible to social influence than others. Seeks to speculate in this paper that, in addition to individual differences, susceptibility to interpersonal influence also varies systematically across cultures with varying degrees of individualism‐collectivism.

Design/methodolog/approach

Hypothesis is tested by investigating and comparing the structure, properties, and mean levels of the susceptibility to interpersonal influence scale across samples of French and English Canadian consumers.

Findings

It is found that: French Canadians are significantly more susceptible to normative influence than English Canadians; French Canadians score significantly lower than English Canadians on measures of individualism; and individualism has a significant negative effect on consumer susceptibility to normative influence.

Originality/value

By showing that French Canadians were indeed less individualistic than English Canadians, and that individualistic orientation had a significant negative effect on both the utilitarian and the value‐expressive dimensions of consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence, hopefully it has been demonstrated that differences in susceptibility to normative influence between French and English Canadians are partly driven by cultural differences in individualistic orientation.
Turkish school principals’ earthquake experiences and reactions
Authors: Akbaba‐Altun Sadegul
Published: June 2005

Purpose

The main aim of this paper is to explore the elementary school principles’ experiences and reactions toward two earthquakes, which hit the north‐west region of Turkey on August 17 and November 12, 1999.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative methodology was used since the goal of the researcher was to delineate the experiences and reactions of school principals in such an unexpected natural disaster. Data included interview and official documents and was analyzed through content analysis.

Findings

The findings indicated that school principals considered earthquakes to be an unexpected phenomenon. Second, while school principals considered earthquakes as a negative experience in the short term, they considered it a positive experience in the long term. Third, they felt the earlier regulations prepared by the Board of Education for natural disasters, such as for earthquakes, were not adequate. Finally, school principals lived through mixed emotions between their professional careers and their families.

Research limitations/implications

School principals’ experience may inform future policy, practice and research about school leaders.

Originality/value

The lessons learned from this article should be helpful, not only to schools and other educational departments, but also to other organisations in Turkey.
Managing “challenging” teachers
Authors: Yariv Eliezer , Coleman Marianne
Published: June 2005

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the ways in which elementary school principals in Israel deal with teachers who are “challenging” in their behaviour, that is those who are perceived as under‐performing. This is an important and under‐researched area of educational management.

Design/methodology/approach

Interviews were carried out with 40 elementary school principals, every fourth school being sampled in the northern district of Haifa. They were asked to recall a particularly difficult teacher and their shortcomings and then asked about the measures they took, in chronological order, to solve the problem.

Findings

The findings indicated that the principals preferred supportive measures or making changes to the organization rather than confronting the teachers. More than half the principals had started by ignoring the difficulties. In the end most did discuss the situation with the teacher and that sometimes involved direct criticism. In half of the cases the teacher left the school by the end of the year.

Research implications/limitations

The research findings are limited as they only relate to the views of the principals, leading to the possibility of researcher empathy with the principals. Further research might investigate the teachers perspective.

Practical implications

From a practical point‐of‐view, the current findings indicate that elementary school principals need to be better equipped with knowledge, managerial skills and sources of assistance to solve personnel difficulties.

Originality/value

This paper adds to the limited literature on the subject of under‐performing teachers and reveals the resulting personnel difficulties faced by principals.
Temporal coordination through communication: using genres in a virtual start‐up organization
Authors: Im Hyun‐Gyung , Yates JoAnne , Orlikowski Wanda
Published: June 2005

Purpose

To explain how genres structure temporal coordination in virtual teams over time.

Design/methodology/approach

The first year e‐mail archive of a small distributed software development start‐up was coded and analyzed and these primary data were complemented with interviews of the key participants and examination of notes from the weekly phone meetings.

Findings

In this paper, it is found that members of a small start‐up organization temporally coordinated their dispersed activities through everyday communicative practices, thus accomplishing both the distributed development of a software system and the creation of a robust virtual team. In particular, the LC members used three specific genres – status reports, bug/error notifications, and update notifications – and one genre system – phone meeting management – to coordinate their distributed software development over time.

Research limitations/implications

The study confirms the various suggestions from prior virtual team research that structuring communication and work process is an important mechanism for the temporal coordination of dispersed activities. In particular, an attempt has been made to show that the notions of genre and genre system are particularly useful to make sense of and analyze how such structuring actually occurs over time.

Originality/value

In this paper, the research focus is shifted from how a given set of temporal coordination mechanisms affect team performance to how coordination mechanisms emerge, are stabilized, and adapted over time. It is also shown how the notion of genre may be used to shed light on the practices through which temporal coordination is accomplished in geographically distributed teams.
Digital genres: a challenge to traditional genre theory
Authors: Askehave Inger , Ellerup Nielsen Anne
Published: June 2005

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to account for the genre characteristics of non‐linear, multi‐modal, web‐mediated documents. It involves a two‐dimensional view on genres that allows one to account for the fact that digital genres act not only as text but also as medium.

Design/methodology/approach

The theoretical framework of the article is the Swalesian genre theory used in academic settings all over the world to investigate the relationship between discourse and social practice and to teach genre conventions to students of language and communication. Up till now most genre research has focused on the characteristics of “printed” texts, whereas less has been done to apply the genre theory to digital genres.

Findings

The article discusses the characteristics of digital genres, notably the media constraints that have a significant effect on the production and reception of digital genres and suggests an extension of the Swalesian genre model that takes the digital characteristics into account.

Research limitations/implications

The suggestion for a revised genre model is not based on an extensive empirical study of various types of web sites. The observation is restricted to a limited number of commercial web sites.

Originality/value

The article proposes new insights into the concept of genre adapting traditional models of genre theory to web‐mediated texts. A revised two‐dimensional genre model incorporating media elements into the concept of genre thus takes account of the particular characteristics of the navigation and reading elements of web‐mediated genres.
Weblogs as a bridging genre
Authors: Herring Susan C. , Scheidt Lois Ann , Wright Elijah , Bonus Sabrina
Published: June 2005

Purpose

Aims to describe systematically the characteristics of weblogs (blogs) – frequently modified web pages in which dated entries are listed in reverse chronological sequence and which are the latest genre of internet communication to attain widespread popularity.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents the results of a quantitative content analysis of 203 randomly selected blogs, comparing the empirically observable features of the corpus with popular claims about the nature of blogs, and finding them to differ in a number of respects.

Findings

Notably, blog authors, journalists and scholars alike exaggerate the extent to which blogs are interlinked, interactive, and oriented towards external events, and underestimate the importance of blogs as individualistic, intimate forms of self‐expression.

Originality/value

Based on the profile generated by the empirical analysis, considers the likely antecedents of the blog genre, situates it with respect to the dominant forms of digital communication on the internet today, and suggests possible developments of the use of blogs over time in response to changes in user behavior, technology, and the broader ecology of internet genres.
Reinventing the wheel: can librarians help?
Authors: Stringer‐Hye Suellen
Published: June 2005

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to encourage librarians to become involved in the development of emerging technology standards.

Design/methodology/approach

Large amounts of data are accumulating, both in corporations and on the web. New methods of structured information retrieval are under development to help manage and access this information. Librarians, preoccupied with changes internal to the institution of the library, have not been active participants in this process, although they have much needed expertise in this area. Several important standards bodies are profiled.

Findings

While the web continues to be a public information space, its guardians will need to concern themselves with some of the same issues with which libraries and librarians always have been concerned. If librarians want to have a say in how the web develops, they will need to learn to speak the same language as those who currently determine the policy and direction of the web.

Originality/value

It will be useful for understanding current trends in structured information. Several pointers to continued research are indicated.
Psychology of virtual architecture
Authors: Fox Robert
Published: June 2005

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide some ideas concerning the design and implementation of the library virtual architecture and its relation to the psychology of information‐seeking behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is purely theoretical and speculative. No systematic design was involved.

Findings

The renovation of a library's “virtual space” can be as important as the renewal of the physical space. Many libraries are taking advantage of user‐centric design principles as they renew the physical layout and service orientation of their libraries from an architectural standpoint. These same principles can be applied to virtual architecture in order to provide a positive and successful user experience on web sites.

Practical implications

This paper may assist librarians in being more comprehensive in the planning of virtual architecture on web sites and in the creation of electronic finding aids.

Originalityvalue

Should be interesting to those librarians who focus in their daily work on issues of information architecture and web site usability. It may also be useful to those who work in some reference capacity or regularly assist patrons in finding information.
Influencing: a critical skill for managing digital library project teams
Authors: Cervone H. Frank
Published: June 2005

Purpose

To develop an understanding of the role successful influencing plays in managing a digital library project team.

Design/methodology/approach

Building on a prior article that discussed methodologies for coming to decisions within a group, the question remains of how to deal with situations where the team leader needs to influence people in order to accomplish the work of the project. This article outlines a methodology for practising effective influencing in a project team environment.

Findings

Project managers can be more successful in influencing if they are attentive to the differing needs of team members and how they can best meet those differing needs. Different influencing styles interact with different personality types, so no one influencing style is universally appropriate and project managers need to be comfortable using several styles.

Originality/value

All people are influenced, one way or another, by other people. This paper fills a gap in the digital project management literature by helping project managers understand how influencing can be used to make project teams more effective.
Benchmarking in the non‐profit sector in Australia
Authors: Conley Tyler Melissa
Published: June 2005

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the use of benchmarking as a management technique in the Australian non‐profit sector. Benchmarking has great potential benefit for the non‐profit sector, particularly given the reliance of non‐profit enterprises on effectively utilizing human capital; thus it might be expected that they would be enthusiastic about techniques such as benchmarking that can assist them in improving their performance. The non‐profit sector is a large and important part of the economy in the developed world.

Design/methodology/approach

To determine the use of benchmarking in the Australian non‐profit sector, the following methods were used: a review of published industry surveys and case studies; interviews with 15 non‐profit sector experts; and a review of more than 50 works on non‐profit management.

Findings

Research showed that benchmarking has been little used by non‐profit organizations in Australia to date. This seems to mirror the experience of non‐profits in other countries.

Research limitations/implications

The paper argues that the limited use of benchmarking in the non‐profit sector can be explained by: non‐profit management culture; lack of industry and funder pressure; and a lack of targeted information on benchmarking for the non‐profit sector. Any efforts to increase the use of benchmarking in the sector would need to ensure that these issues are overcome.

Practical implications

A plan of action is suggested for promoting benchmarking to non‐profit organizations.

Originality/value

The paper assesses the use of a standard management technique in the emerging area of non‐profit management. It should be of interest to those researching or managing in the Australian non‐profit sector. The paper may also be of interest to the non‐profit sector or human capital sector in other countries.
Critical success factors in developing teleworking programs
Authors: Berube Kowalski Kellyann , Swanson Jennifer Ann
Published: June 2005

Purpose

To provide a framework of critical success factors for practioners and employers looking to develop new or enhance existing telework programs.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper focuses on benchmarking the remote work arrangement of telecommuting. The issues of teleworking, including the benefits and challenges of such arrangements, are presented and reviewed. Based on a review of the teleworking literature, the authors have developed a framework that specifies the critical success factors that are instrumental in implementing or improving a teleworking program.

Findings

The authors put forward a framework of the critical success factors including support, communication, and trust that are instrumental in developing telework programs. In order to address both macro and micro levels of analysis, the framework outlines critical success factors at the organizational, managerial, and employee level.

Practical implications

In the information age, with rapid advances in technology and telecommunication systems, a teleworking program is not only a possibility, but also a smart strategic business decision. This paper provides a useful framework for organizations to employ when developing new or enhancing existing telework arrangements.

Originality/value

By focusing on benchmarking the teleworking process, this paper provides a new and structured approach in the development of telework programs.
Effects of Sun‐style Tai Chi exercise on physical fitness and fall prevention in fall‐prone older adults
Authors: Choi Jung Hyun , Moon Jung‐Soon , Song Rhayun
Published: June 2005

Aim.  This paper reports a study to determine changes in the physical fitness (knee and ankle muscle strength, balance, flexibility, and mobility), fall avoidance efficacy, and fall episodes of institutionalized older adults after participating in a 12‐week Sun‐style Tai Chi exercise programme.

Background.  Fall prevention has a high priority in health promotion for older people because a fall is associated with serious morbidity in this population. Regular exercise is effective in fall prevention for older adults because of improvements in strength and balance. Tai Chi exercise is considered to offer great potential for health promotion and rehabilitation, particularly in the maintenance of good mental and physical condition in older people.

Methods.  A quasi‐experimental design with a non‐equivalent control group was used. Data were collected from September 2001 to January 2002. A total of 68 fall‐prone older adults with a mean age of 77·8 years participated in the study, and 29 people in the Tai Chi group and 30 controls completed the post‐test measures. The Tai Chi exercise programme was provided three times a week for 12 weeks in the experimental group. Data were analysed for group differences using t‐tests.

Results.  At post‐test, the experimental group showed significantly improved muscle strength in knee and ankle flexors (P < 0·001) and extensors (P < 0·01), and improved flexibility (P < 0·01) and mobility (P < 0·001) compared with the control group. There was no significant group difference in fall episodes, but the relative risk ratio for the Tai Chi exercise group compared with the control group was 0·62. The experimental group reported significantly more confidence in fall avoidance than did the control group.

Conclusion.  The findings reveal that Tai Chi exercise programmes can safely improve physical strength and reduce fall risk for fall‐prone older adults in residential care facilities.
A description of radical nephrectomy practice and outcomes in England: 1995–2002
Authors: Nuttall Martin , Cathcart Paul , Van Der Meulen Jan , Gillatt David , McIntosh Gregor , Emberton Mark
Published: June 2005

OBJECTIVES

To describe national trends in the practice of radical nephrectomy (RN) in England between 1995 and 2002.

METHODS

Data were extracted from the Hospital Episode Statistics database of the Department of Health in England between 1995/1996 and 2001/2002. Patients were included in the study if an International Classification of Diseases diagnosis code (ICD‐10) for malignant neoplasm of the kidney, renal pelvis or ureter, and an operative procedure code (OPCS‐4) describing total or partial excision of the kidney by either a laparoscopic or open approach, were present in any of the diagnosis or operative procedure fields. Overall, 17 308 patients were included.

RESULTS

Patient age and the proportion who were men did not change over the study period. The proportion of patients admitted as an emergency decreased from 14.0% to 7.5% over this period (P < 0.001). The mean waiting duration increased by almost 6 days (P < 0.001) and length of stay by ≈ 1 day, from 11.7 days in 1995 to 10.8 days in 2001 (P < 0.001). In‐hospital mortality decreased from 2% to 1.5% (P = 0.134). In‐hospital mortality and length of stay were higher in older patients and in those admitted as an emergency. Women had a longer stay than men (11.5 vs 11.1 days), but in‐hospital mortality was higher in men (2.3% vs 1.6%). The national number of RNs per year increased by ≈ 20%, from 2254 in 1995 to 2671 in 2001. Over the same period the mean annual hospital volume of RN increased by ≈ 40%, from 17 in 1995 to 24 in 2001. The annual number of laparoscopic RNs nationally increased from seven in 1995 to 84 in 2002.

CONCLUSIONS

The annual number of RNs in England increased by almost a fifth and this was accompanied by an increase in annual hospital volume of about two‐fifths. There was a large proportional increase in the number of laparoscopic RNs. Emergency admission rates and length of stay decreased but this was not accompanied by a significant change in in‐hospital mortality rate.
Vitamin E therapy prevents hyperoxaluria‐induced calcium oxalate crystal deposition in the kidney by improving renal tissue antioxidant status
Authors: Thamilselvan Sivagnanam , Menon Mani
Published: June 2005

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether vitamin E prevents hyperoxaluria‐induced stone formation, using a new animal model of calcium oxalate stone disease, as our previous in‐ vitro and in‐vivo studies showed that oxalate and hyperoxaluria induce free‐radical generation, which results in peroxidative injury to renal tubular cells.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Ethylene glycol (EG) was administered at 150 mg/day by gavage for 3 weeks to rats fed on diets with adequate (group 1), excess (group 2) or deficient (group 3) vitamin E. Several indicators of peroxidation, free radicals and enzymatic activity were then assessed.

RESULTS

EG treatment in group 1 lead to increased lipid peroxidation, protein thiol, excretion of urinary enzymes, oxalate and decreases in urinary calcium, antioxidant enzymes and altered glutathione redox balance. Although renal function was not altered, there was increased water intake, urine volume and lowered urinary pH in these rats. These changes were more intense, with extensive calcium‐oxalate crystal deposition, in rats in group 3, and prevented in rats in group 2, except for urinary oxalate levels, which remained high. Histopathological examination showed that there was no deposition of calcium oxalate crystals in rats in group 2.

CONCLUSION

This is the first study to demonstrate in‐vivo evidence that hyperoxaluria‐induced peroxidative injury induces individual calcium oxalate crystal attachment in the renal tubules. In addition, excess vitamin E completely prevented calcium oxalate deposition, by preventing peroxidative injury and restoring renal tissue antioxidants and glutathione redox balance. Therefore, vitamin E therapy might provide protection against the deposition of calcium oxalate stones in the kidney of humans.
USE OF COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY AND RADIOLABELED LEUKOCYTES IN A CAT WITH PANCREATITIS
Authors: Head Laurie L. , Daniel Gregory B. , Becker Timothy J. , Lidbetter David A.
Published: June 2005

The normal feline pancreas has been evaluated using radiolabeled leukocytes (99mTc‐HMPAO) and computed tomography. The purpose of this report is to describe a clinical case where both modalities were utilized to assess the inflamed feline pancreas. A nine year old female cat presented with anorexia, depression and some vomiting. Blood values were unremarkable. Radiographs and ultrasound were suggestive of pancreatitis. The cat's leukocytes were separated and labeled according to an established protocol. Whole body images were acquired immediately, at 5 and 30 min, and at 1, 2, 4, and 17 hours post injection. Approximately 48 h later, the animal was anesthetized and computed tomography of the abdomen was preformed both pre and post contrast. Surgical biopsies were taken. The distribution of the WBCs was similar to that documented in normal animals, however, at 2 h there was faint uptake seen in the region of the pancreas. This uptake became more intense at 4 h and persisted at 17 h. Computed tomography showed irregular margination of the pancreas, it was larger than normal and inhomogeneous. Contrast enhancement was inhomogeneous and its peak enhancement was not reached until 10 min post injection; normal feline pancreas enhances homogeneously and peaks immediately. Histopathology confirmed pancreatitis with lymphocytic, plasmacytic, neutrophilic and eosinophilic inflammation and fibrosis. Radiolabeled leukocytes can be used to document pancreatic inflammation and this is best seen 4 h after injection. Computed tomography allows superior visualization of the pancreas. Both the appearance and contrast enhancement pattern of the inflamed pancreas differ from normal.
Wealth and health: the need for more strategic public health research
Authors: Baum Fran
Published: June 2005

This article argues that public health researchers have often ignored the analysis of wealth in the quest to understand the social determinants of health. Wealth concentration and the inequities in wealth between and within countries are increasing. Despite this scare accurate data are available to assist the analysis of the health impact of this trend. Improved data collection on wealth distribution should be encouraged. Epidemiologists and political economy of health researchers should pay more attention to understanding the dynamics of wealth and its consequences for population health. Policy research to underpin policies designed to reduce inequities in wealth distribution should be intensified.
FIVE-DIMENSIONAL COSMOLOGICAL SCALING SOLUTION
Authors: CHANG BAORONG , LIU HONGYA , LIU HUANYING , XU LIXIN
Published: June 2005

A five-dimensional Ricci-flat cosmological solution is studied by assuming that the induced 4D matter contains two components: the usual fluid for dark matter as well as baryons and a scalar field with an exponential potential for dark energy. With use of the phase-plane analysis it is shown that there exist two late-time attractors one of which corresponds to a universe dominated by the scalar field alone and the other is a scaling solution in which the energy density of the scalar field remains proportional to that of the dark matter. It is furthermore shown that for this 5D scaling solution the universe expands with the same rate as in the 4D FRW models and not relies on which 4D hypersurface the universe is located in the 5D manifold.
ON DISAGREEMENT ABOUT NONPERTURBATIVE CORRECTIONS IN TRIPLE-WELL POTENTIAL
Authors: SATO MASATOSHI , TANAKA TOSHIAKI
Published: June 2005

We examine in detail nonperturbative corrections for low lying energies of a symmetric triple-well potential with non-equivalent vacua, for which there have been disagreement about asymptotic formulas and controversy over the validity of the dilute gas approximation. We carry out investigations from various points of view, including not only a numerical comparison of the nonperturbative corrections with the exact values but also the prediction on the large order behavior of the perturbation series, consistency with the perturbative corrections, and comparison with the WKB approximation. We show that all the results support our formulas previously obtained from the valley method calculation beyond the dilute gas approximation.
SPECTRUM OF THE RELATIVISTIC PARTICLES IN VARIOUS POTENTIALS
Authors: KOÇ RAMAZAN , KOCA MEHMET
Published: June 2005

We extend the notion of Dirac oscillator in two dimensions, to construct a set of potentials. These potentials become exactly and quasi-exactly solvable potentials of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics when they are transformed into a Schrödinger-like equation. For the exactly solvable potentials, eigenvalues are calculated and eigenfunctions are given by confluent hypergeometric functions. It is shown that, our formulation also leads to the study of those potentials in the framework of the supersymmetric quantum mechanics.
CT-DUALITY AS A LOCAL PROPERTY OF THE WORLDSHEET
Authors: SAZDOVIĆ B.
Published: June 2005

In this present article, we study the local features of the worldsheet in the case when probe bosonic string moves in antisymmetric background field. We generalize the geometry of surfaces embedded in spacetime to the case when the torsion is present. We define the mean extrinsic curvature for spaces with Minkowski signature and introduce the concept of mean torsion. Its orthogonal projection defines the dual mean extrinsic curvature. In this language, the field equation is just the equality of mean extrinsic curvature and extrinsic mean torsion, which we call CT-duality. To the worldsheet described by this relation we will refer as CT-dual surface.
THE POLARIZED NUCLEON SEA IN THE MESON CLOUD MODEL
Authors: CAO F.-G. , SIGNAL A. I.
Published: June 2005

We report a study on the non-pertribative structure of the polarized nucleon sea using the meson cloud model. It is found that the SU (2) flavour symmetry and strange-antistrange symmetry in the polarized nucleon sea are broken. Our calculations are in agreement with the recent results from HERMES Collaboration.
DENSITY PROFILES OF A HARD GAUSSIAN OVERLAP FLUID BETWEEN HARD WALLS
Authors: MORADI M. , AVAZPOUR A.
Published: June 2005

The density profiles of a hard Gaussian overlap (HGO) fluid confined in between hard walls and in contact with a hard wall are studied using the density functional theory. The hyper-netted chain (HNC) approximation is used to find the coupled integral equations for the density profiles. The restricted orientation model (ROM) is used. The required homogeneous direct correlation function (DCF) is obtained by solving Ornstein–Zernike (OZ) integral equation numerically, using the Precus–Yevick (PY) approximation and the procedure mentioned by Letz and Latz [Phys. Rev.E60, 5865 (1999)]. We also obtained the DCF of hard ellipsoidal (HE) fluid by using the modified closest approach introduced by Rickayzen [Mol. Phys.68, 903 (1989)]. For both HGO and HE, we calculate the density profiles of molecules parallel and perpendicular to the walls and we compare the results. The calculations are performed for various values of packing fractions of the fluid and various molecular elongations. For moderate elongations, k≤3, the results for HGO and HE are almost the same, especially for the density profile of the molecules parallel to the walls but for k=5 there are some discrepancies between the results, in particular for the density profiles of the molecules perpendicular to the walls.
GRANULAR SEGREGATION IN A MULTI-BOTTLENECK CONTAINER: MOBILITY EFFECT
Authors: HU MAO-BIN , KONG XIANG-ZHAO , WU QING-SONG , WU YONG-HONG
Published: June 2005

We investigate experimentally and via computer simulations the segregation pattern of binary granular mixtures in a vibrated container with bottlenecks. During the vibration the granular motion is more violent at the bottlenecks than at the bellies. Particles with more mobility congregate to the necks, while those with less mobility congregate to the bellies. We use discrete element simulations to reproduce the main characteristics of the experimental observations.
QUANTUM FLUCTUATION IN THERMAL VACUUM STATE FOR MESOSCOPIC DISTRIBUTED PARAMETER CIRCUITS
Authors: JI YING-HUA , LUO HAI-MEI , WANG YI-FAN , WANG JIAN-MO
Published: June 2005

In this paper we consider a non-dissipative distributed parameter circuit at a finite temperature T. We find the unitary operator for diagonalizing the Hamiltonian of the uniform periodic transmission line. The unitary operator is expressed in a coordinate representation. Thermal field dynamic is used in our discussion. It is shown that distributing parameter circuits and quantum fluctuations, which also have distributing properties, are related to both the circuit parameters and the positions and the model of signals and temperature T. The higher the temperature, the more quantum noise the circuit exhibits. The research will be helpful to miniaturize intergreate circuits and electric components. It will be also significant for the futher study of the qualitities of mesoscopic system.
OPTIMAL CONTINGENT CLAIMS AND CONSUMPTION
Authors: PENG DAHENG , HAN MAOAN
Published: June 2005

In complete financial markets, given a particular market variable, which could be finite dimensional (e.g., a price vector of a collection of stocks) or infinite dimensional (e.g., a price trajectory of some security over some period of time), the unique optimal strategy of consumption and investment in European claims contingent on that variable is obtained from two kinds of preference structure. Several examples are given to illustrate the optimality of the strategy. Results obtained in this paper are an extension of Jankunas [4].
QUANTUM INFORMATION GEOMETRY AND NONCOMMUTATIVE Lp-SPACES
Authors: JENČOVÁ ANNA
Published: June 2005

Let M be a von Neumann algebra. We define the noncommutative extension of information geometry by embeddings of M into noncommutative Lp-spaces. Using the geometry of uniformly convex Banach spaces and duality of the Lpand Lqspaces for 1/p +1/q =1, we show that we can introduce the α-divergence, for α∈(-1, 1), in a similar manner as Amari in the classical case. If restricted to the positive cone, the α-divergence belongs to the class of quasi-entropies, defined by Petz.
MULTI-SCALE DYNAMICS IN STOCHASTIC DELAY DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS WITH MULTIPLICATIVE NOISE
Authors: KUSKE R.
Published: June 2005

We apply multi-scale analysis to stochastic delay-differential equations with multiplicative or parametric noise, deriving approximate stochastic equations for the amplitudes of oscillatory solutions near critical delays. Reduced equations for the envelope of the oscillations provides an efficient analysis of the dynamics by separating the influence of the noise from the intrinsic oscillations over long time scales. We show how this analysis can be used to compute Lyapunov exponents and extended to nonlinear models where the noise has additional resonances.
CONTROLLING STOCHASTIC OSCILLATIONS CLOSE TO A HOPF BIFURCATION BY TIME-DELAYED FEEDBACK
Authors: SCHÖLL E. , BALANOV A. G. , JANSON N. B. , NEIMAN A.
Published: June 2005

We study the effect of a time-delayed feedback upon a Van der Pol oscillator under the influence of white noise in the regime below the Hopf bifurcation where the deterministic system has a stable fixed point. We show that both the coherence and the frequency of the noise-induced oscillations can be controlled by varying the delay time and the strength of the control force. Approximate analytical expressions for the power spectral density and the coherence properties of the stochastic delay differential equation are developed, and are in good agreement with our numerical simulations. Our analytical results elucidate how the correlation time of the controlled stochastic oscillations can be maximized as a function of delay and feedback strength.
MULTISITE COORDINATED DELAYED FEEDBACK FOR AN EFFECTIVE DESYNCHRONIZATION OF NEURONAL NETWORKS
Authors: HAUPTMANN C. , POPOVYCH O. , TASS P. A.
Published: June 2005

We present a novel, particularly robust technique for effective desynchronization of neuronal populations in the presence of noise. For this, delayed feedback signals are administered in a spatially coordinated way via at least two stimulation sites using different delays for each stimulation site, respectively. For medical applications different variants of this approach are developed. These techniques are numerically tested in a physiologically realistic model. We propose our methods as novel, particularly mild and effective stimulation protocols for the therapy of patients suffering from Parkinson's disease, essential tremor or epilepsy.
ON DELAY ESTIMATION FOR STOCHASTIC DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
Authors: KUTOYANTS YURY A.
Published: June 2005

We present a review of some results concerning delay estimation by continuous time observations of solutions of stochastic differential equations in two asymptotics. The first one corresponds to small noise limit and the second to large samples limit. In both cases we describe the properties of the maximum likelihood estimator and Bayesian estimators with especial attention to asymptotic efficiency of the estimators. We show that the first asymptotic corresponds to regular problems of mathematical statistics and the second is close to non regular problems. In small noise asymptotics we give the next after the Gaussian term of asymptotic expansion of the maximum likelihood estimator.
ON THE STOCHASTIC 3D-LAGRANGIAN AVERAGED NAVIER–STOKES α-MODEL WITH FINITE DELAY
Authors: CARABALLO T. , MÁRQUEZ-DURÁN A. M. , REAL J.
Published: June 2005

Existence and uniqueness of solutions for a stochastic version of the 3D-Lagrangian averaged Navier–Stokes (LANS-α) equation in a bounded domain and containing some hereditary characteristics are proved.
Alteration of intracellular histamine H2receptor cycling precedes antagonist-induced upregulation
Authors: Osawa Satoshi , Kajimura Masayoshi , Yamamoto Seiji , Ikuma Mutsuhiro , Mochizuki Chihiro , Iwasaki Hirohiko , Hishida Akira , Terakawa Susumu
Published: June 2005

Long-term administration of a histamine H2receptor (H2R) antagonist (inverse agonist) induces upregulation of H2R in parietal cells, which may be relevant to the rebound hypersecretion of gastric acid that occurs after withdrawal of treatment. The mechanisms underlying this effect are unknown. We hypothesized that the H2R upregulation could be related to receptor trafficking and used H2R-green fluorescent protein (H2R-GFP) to test the hypothesis. Human H2R-GFP was generated and functionally expressed in HEK-293 cells. Binding of the H2R antagonist [3H]tiotidine was performed to quantify H2R expression, and H2R-GFP was imaged in living cells by confocal and evanescent wave microscopy. The binding affinity of [3H]tiotidine was not significantly different between H2R-GFP- and wild-type H2R-expressing HEK-293 cells, both of which had constitutive activity of adenylate cyclase. Visualization of H2R-GFP revealed that the agonist-induced H2R internalization and the antagonist-induced recycling of the internalized H2R from the recycling endosome within 2 h. Long exposure to the antagonist increased GFP fluorescence in the plasma membrane and also induced upregulation of H2R-GFP estimated by the binding assay, whereas long exposure to the agonist enhanced degradative trafficking of H2R-GFP. We examined whether the upregulation reflected an increase in receptor synthesis. Treatment with antagonist did not augment H2R mRNA, and subsequent inhibition of protein synthesis by cycloheximide had no effect on H2R upregulation. These findings suggested that upon exposure to an antagonist (inverse agonist), the equilibrium between receptor endocytosis and recycling is altered before H2R upregulation, probably via suppressing H2R degradation.
Lack of age-related decreases in basal whole leg blood flow in resistance-trained men
Authors: Miyachi Motohiko , Tanaka Hirofumi , Kawano Hiroshi , Okajima Mayumi , Tabata Izumi
Published: June 2005

Reductions in basal leg blood flow have been implicated in the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome and functional impairment in humans. We tested the hypothesis that reductions in basal whole leg blood flow with age are either absent or attenuated in those who perform regular strength training. A total of 104 normotensive men aged 20–34 yr (young) and 35–65 yr (middle aged), who were either sedentary or resistance trained, were studied. Mean and diastolic blood pressures were higher ( P < 0.05–0.001) in the middle-aged compared with the young men, but there were no significant differences between the sedentary and resistance-trained groups. In the sedentary group, basal whole leg blood flow (duplex Doppler ultrasound) and vascular conductance were lower (∼30 and ∼38%, respectively; P < 0.01) in the middle-aged compared with the young men. There were no such age-related differences in the resistance-trained group. In the young men, basal whole leg blood flow and vascular conductance were not different between the two activity groups, but, in the middle-aged men, they were higher (∼35 and ∼36%, respectively; P < 0.01) in the resistance-trained men than in the sedentary men. When blood flow and vascular conductance were expressed relative to the leg muscle mass, the results were essentially the same. We concluded that the age-related reduction in basal whole leg blood flow is absent in resistance-trained men. These results suggest that resistance training may favorably influence leg perfusion in aging humans, independent of its impact on leg muscle mass.
Effects of dietary phytoestrogens on cardiac remodeling secondary to chronic volume overload in female rats
Authors: Gardner Jason D. , Brower Gregory L. , Janicki Joseph S.
Published: June 2005

Previously, we demonstrated that intact female rats fed a standard rodent diet containing soybean products exhibit essentially no adverse left ventricular (LV) remodeling in response to aortocaval fistula-induced chronic volume overload. We hypothesized that phytoestrogenic compounds in the diet contributed to the female cardioprotection. To test this hypothesis, four groups of female rats were studied: sham-operated (Sham) and fistula (Fist) rats fed a diet with [P(+)] or without [P(−)] phytoestrogens. Eight weeks postfistula, systolic and diastolic cardiac function was assessed by using a blood-perfused, isolated heart preparation. High-phytoestrogen diet had no effect on body, heart, and lung weights, or cardiac function in Sham rats. Fistula groups developed LV hypertrophy, which was not reduced by dietary phytoestrogens [1,184 ± 229 mg Fist-P(−) and 1,079 ± 199 mg Fist-P(+) vs. 620 ± 47 mg for combined Sham groups, P < 0.05]. Unstressed LV volume increased in Fist-P(−) rats (428 ± 16 vs. 300 ± 14 μl Sham, P < 0.0001), but it was not different from Sham for Fist-P(+) animals (286 ± 17 μl). Fist-P(−) rats developed increased ventricular compliance (5.3 ± 0.8 vs. 2.3 ± 0.3 μl/mmHg Sham, P < 0.01), whereas Fist-P(+) rats had no change in compliance (2.8 ± 0.4 μl/mmHg). Intrinsic ventricular contractility was maintained in the Fist-P(+) rats, but it was reduced ( P < 0.001) in the Fist-P(−) rats [systolic pressure-volume slope: 1.04 ± 0.03, 0.60 ± 0.06, and 0.99 ± 0.08 mmHg/μl, for Fist-P(+), Fist-P(−), and Sham, respectively]. These data indicate that dietary phytoestrogens contribute significantly to female cardioprotection against volume overload-induced adverse ventricular remodeling and that studies evaluating gender differences in cardiovascular remodeling must consider the influence of dietary phytoestrogens.
A physiogenomic approach to study the regulation of blood pressure
Authors: Westhoff Timm H. , Scheid Stefanie , Tölle Markus , Kaynak Bogac , Schmidt Sven , Zidek Walter , Sperling Silke , van der Giet Markus
Published: June 2005

Several vasoregulatory systems including the renin-angiotensin system, sympathetic vasoregulation, and cytokine release have been studied extensively. The aim of the present study was to establish a physiogenomic screening model for differentially expressed genes in the regulation of blood pressure that might give a hint as to new vasoregulatory mechanisms. We induced acute hypotension in normotensive rats, assuming that vasoregulatory systems will counteract hypotension. Microarray transcriptome analysis was performed from kidneys 6 h after the induction of acute hypotension. The results were confirmed by real-time PCR. Six functionally known genes ( Igfbp1, Xdh, Sult1a1, Mawbp, Por, and Gstm1) and two expressed sequence tages ( BI277460 and AI411345) were significantly upregulated. Four of these genes ( Igfbp1, Xdh, Por, and Gstm1) have well-characterized functions in the cardiovascular system. The proteins corresponding to Xdh, Por, and Gstm1 are involved in the metabolism of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Because ROS can mediate endothelial dysfunction, we measured the aortic dilatory capacity in thoracic aortic rings. Indeed, vasodilator potency to acetylcholine was largely diminished in hypotensive animals, whereas sodium nitroprusside induced equivalent vasodilations in normotensive and hypotensive animals. The vasodilator potency of the endothelium was partially restored by the superoxide scavenger tiron. Hence, acute hypotension induces a diminished vasodilator potency of the endothelium due to an accelerated degradation of nitric oxide by ROS. The present physiogenomic approach is capable of detecting vasoregulatory mechanisms and may provide deeper insight into the genetics and physiology of blood pressure regulation.