bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mass customization through training at Lutron Electronics
Authors: Spira Joel S.
Published: February 2008

Lutron Electronics Company adopted a strategy of mass customization and became the leading producer of lighting controls in the United States. But only under duress.
Making mass customization happen: Strategies for the new competitive realities
Authors: Pine B. Joseph
Published: February 2008

For better or worse, the business world of today is vastly different than it was a decade ago or even just a few years ago. The amount of uncertainty, instability, and lack of control that firms have in their business environments—the market turbulence—has increased dramatically for companies in almost every industry. So much so, in fact, that the old ways of competing simply do not work any more.
Strategic management of costs
Authors: Hosking George
Published: February 2008

Cost is often the most mysterious area of business. Rather than viewing cost as an existing monolith, management must instead see it as a consciously chosen investment selected to achieve a specific revenue stream. In addition to redefining cost in a way that makes proactive management possible, it is important to make a distinction between efficiency and effectiveness. Efficiency involves doing things quickly and well, while effectiveness involves doing the things that optimize the results of an organization's overall activities.
Political risk analysis: Mexico along‐term pro‐investment forecast
Authors: Coplin William D. , O'Leary Michael K.
Published: February 2008

The most promising aspect of Mexico's long‐term business outlook is for a stable, improving relationship with international investors. Here's a guide to the rough spots in the road for the next five years.
Building business capabilities is the key to strategic execution
Authors: Hendrickson James C.
Published: February 2008

Super Bakery's competitive success stemmed from its ability to identify and build organizational capabilities—a combination of people and how they operate—that best supported its strategy. The result was a virtually flawless execution of its market entry, and the achievement of a substantial competitive advantage by a newcomer in a mature, fragmented market.
SPX adopts a strategy, quality, value model
Authors: Johnson Dale , Smith Dennis , Smith Ron
Published: February 2008

To provide a framework for corporate and divisional planning and operation decisions, SPX Corporation, a Fortune 500 manufacturing company, has developed an elegantly simple paradigm: Correct strategy, linked to and implemented through dedication to total quality, will create value for all stakeholders.
Scenario‐based planning: Decision model for the learning organization
Authors: Mason David H.
Published: February 2008

Scenarios are being used by corporate strategists as tools that adjust managers' mental models to reflect looming changes in their competitive environment. The rules for competing in the market are changing so rapidly that a past‐oriented mental model will lead to wrong decisions. A critical success factor is how fast the whole company—not simply individuals—can learn.
Scanning the present to discover the future
Authors: Belasco James A.
Published: February 2008

This chemical company was caught unprepared when a competitor introduced an inexpensive substitute and snatched away a major customer. To prevent such surprises in the future, this CEO enlisted all employees in a simple scanning and monitoring system. Then the firm learned to make strategic decisions based on the intelligence its new system produced.
Four scenarios of State Government services and regulation in the year 2010
Authors: Bonnett Thomas W. , Olson Robert L.
Published: February 2008

Imagine that someone working for your company in the year 2010 sent you a postcard that arrived in 1994. Instead of technology news or stock tips, the message described changes in state or federal governments. How can you use the information to prepare your business? Managers should take the following four scenarios of governments of the future very seriously. One reason is that authorities are betting that all of these scenarios will come true — in at least some of the fifty states. Another reason is that the state governments can exert a powerful impact on corporate prospects.
The new strategic leadership: Driving change. getting results!
Authors: Reimann Bernard C.
Published: February 2008

The provocative theme of this year's Planning Forum conference was: “The New Strategic Leadership: Driving Change, Getting Results!” Leadership may be the only management concept that has received more attention lately — by business writers, as well as practitioners — than strategy. But there's little consensus on what strategic leadership is and how it should best be facilitated.
Managing the management tools
Authors: Rigby Darrell K.
Published: February 2008

Hoping to find a potent formula for performance improvement, executives have invested heavily in new management tools and techniques in recent years. But there has been no objective evidence on whether increased tool usage is good or bad for companies, or which tools have produced what results over what period of time.
Driving change at Bell Atlantic
Authors: Smith Raymond W.
Published: February 2008

Bell Atlantic has been virtually a laboratory for the development of business strategies and new approaches to cultural change since it became independent of AT&T. Today, there's more change in a month in my business than in any five‐year period in the early days of my career with AT&T. When I joined the telephone business in the early 1960s, there were certain articles of faith that every new AT&T manager learned by heart: Monopolies are forever; employment is for life; and telephones are black.
Building a learning organization at Coopers & Lybrand
Authors: Rosenblum Judith , Keller Reed A.
Published: February 2008

C&L took on the mission of building a learning organization as the result of a strategic process that we went through about two and a half years ago. We identified learning as a strategic competency of our firm—we saw it as a basis for the evolution of our business.
Gary Hamel: How to compete for the future
Authors: Reimann Bernard C.
Published: February 2008

More of Professor Gary Hamel's thought‐provoking analysis appears in his long‐awaited book written with Professor C. K. Prahalad, Competing for the Future: Breakthrough Strategies for Seizing Control of Your Industry and Creating the Markets of Tomorrow (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1994). Our diligent conference reporter, Bernard C. Reimann, Professor of Management at Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio, is the author of Managing for Value: A Guide for Value Based Strategic Management, published by Basil Blackwell and The Planning Forum.
Reengineering challenge: The leader as detective
Authors: Henry Craig D.
Published: February 2008

Executives leading reengineering efforts should consider novel role models—such as that of detective. The author suggests that CEOs could take lessons from Raymond Chandler's famous fictional private eye, Philip Marlowe.
Marketing's core role in strategic reengineering
Authors: Leemon Daniel O.
Published: February 2008

Leading edge corporations in a variety of industries are discovering the advantages of using their strategic marketing initiatives to direct their reengineering efforts. When all the functions of an organization are willing to accept new marketing opportunities as common goals, then reengineering—usually a painful process can become a legitimate means of attaining them.
A new marketing paradigm: Share of customer, not market share
Authors: Peppers Don , Rogers Martha
Published: February 2008

A new marketing paradigm called “one‐to‐one marketing,” or “relationship marketing,” shows promise as an innovative alternative to mass marketing. This one‐to‐one approach uses advanced information technology to give an enterprise the ability to develop relationships with individual customers.
Adaptive enterprise design: The sense‐and‐respond model
Authors: Haeckel Stephen H.
Published: February 2008

The sense‐and‐respond model of adaptive enterprise design offers corporations a new management tool for achieving competitive advantage in times of constant unpredictable change. To implement the model corporations must adopt a radically different form of governance, institutionalize new norms of adaptive behavior; and translate their business and what it does into information symbols. This IBM senior manager has put together a set of principles of adaptive enterprise design based on his work with corporations that are learning the new governance concept of “context and coordination.”
What's new in financial strategy?
Authors: Thackray John
Published: February 2008

What's happening in the field of financial strategy? Have Chief Financial Officers forsworn synergy in favor of the holding company model? Have planning teams adopted most of the best ideas of finance—such as shareholder value analysis—as their own? Do the finance and strategy functions compete or cooperate to steer their corporate ship?
Catching the ninth wave: Information, technology, and strategic change
Authors: Siegel Ira T.
Published: February 2008

Sailors long ago believed that one day a wave would come along that was far greater than any that had preceded it. They called it the ninth wave—the most powerful result of the cumulative effects of sea, wind, and temperature. To ride the ninth wave required special skills: first, the ability to anticipate it, and second, the timing to mount it cleanly at its peak.
Creating the boundaryless organization: The radical reconstruction of organization capabilities
Authors: Kerr Steven , Ulrich David
Published: February 2008

Steven Kerr, Vice President of Leadership Development at General Electric and David Ulrich, Professor of Business Administration at the University of Michigan's School of Business, discussed their various processes for organizational renewal in a dual keynote presentation. First, Dave Ulrich describes the drivers of organizational change and his process for responding to the new demands. Steve Kerr follows with some insights from his work within GE. These presenters have co‐authored a book, The Boundaryless Organization: Breaking the Chains of Organization Structure (Jossey‐Bass) due out in September.
The knowledge advantage
Authors: Prusak Laurence
Published: February 2008

What gives any organization a competitive advantage? Many people and organizations have built reputations and fortunes by suggesting that the answers are information technology, total quality management, quality of strategy or management, or selected niche strategies. In several presentations, Richard Pasquale has compiled and presented a list of about 70 proposed “answers” to the perennial questions about sustainable competitiveness. However, organizational knowledge is rarely, if ever, offered up among these strategic nostrums.
Achieving strategic agility through Economies of Knowledge
Authors: Roth Aleda V.
Published: February 2008

Manufacturers are in the midst of one of the most significant transformations in history. The kaleidoscopic nature of the global economy has created an environment of unprecedented hyper‐complexity and dynamic change. So much so that the rules of the competitive game are shifting faster than managers can react to them. Moreover, these dynamics bode continuous sea changes in work and sources of value‐added. Looking to past solutions for rationing resources and controlling costs is not an option. The drivers of change indicate one point: Successful manufacturers tomorrow will not look much like those of today.
Virtual Organizations: The future is now
Authors: Voss Hanswerner
Published: February 2008

About two years ago, a working group of MIT faculty developed two coherent scenarios for desirable organizations of the future. These scenarios were preliminary “seeds” to be used as foundations for building in‐depth research. “Small Companies, Large Networks,” as shown in the accompanying box, is one of the scenarios. This hypothetical view proposes that virtual organizations will be part of our organizational future.
Release the entrepreneurial hostages from your corporate hierarchy
Authors: Bartlett Christopher A. , Goshal Sumantra
Published: February 2008

As competitive pressures increase, top‐level managers in many companies have recognized the need to rebuild initiative, creativity, and drive in the front‐line units of their organizations. Under the banner of “inverting the pyramid,” they delayered and destaffed, and invested significant amounts of money and management time to cascade the message of empowerment throughout their companies. Yet, in most instances, after the dust settled, they found that how the company functioned did not change because the behaviors of its people did not change.
Leadership for growth
Authors: Frank Ronald , Gertz Dwight , Porter John
Published: February 2008

Leadership is the energizing and directing force that must enable the four key elements of growth: strategic assessment, opportunity identification, development, and execution.
Trends, symbols and brand power in global markets: The business anthropology approach
Authors: Binstock van Rij Jeanne
Published: February 2008

Brand image is no longer a marginal dimension of business, but the very core of business identity and strategy. With a world culture evolving, customers everywhere respond to images, myths, and metaphors that help them define their personal and national identities and relationships within a global context of world culture and product benefits.
People‐first strategies get implemented
Authors: Wainwright Arthur D.
Published: February 2008

“People are our most important asset.” That phrase has become a virtual management mantra in recent years. In truth, however, most organizations still treat employees as an expense to be controlled instead of an asset to be developed and protected.
A four‐cycle approach to strategy development and implementation
Authors: Finnie William C.
Published: February 2008

Effective strategy development and planning is an organization's most powerful means of controlling its destiny. Strategy is simply the management of change—the intelligent adaptation to external circumstances and the conscious creation of a desired future. Without a systematic, formal strategy development process, the quality of strategy is likely to be hit or miss. Only with a good long‐term strategy—and consistent implementation—will a company be able to beat competitors in meeting customer wants and needs.
The realities of web‐based electronic commerce
Authors: Frank Malcolm
Published: February 2008

Today, it is impossible not to be overwhelmed by the continual waves of hyperbole that come from the computer industry with each new technological innovation. For decades, senior managers have been told about, and have been invariably disappointed by, the strategic impact of new technology. Their experiences have led these managers to view the term “strategic computing” as an oxymoron and to greet any new technology with a heavy dose of skepticism.
Putting the “Custom” in customer with database marketing
Authors: Stern Steven , Barton Douglas
Published: February 2008

What is a customer? By simple definition, a customer is one who purchases goods from another, but it stems from the word “custom” where an individual habitually patronizes a particular business. As companies achieve success, many neglect this concept and forget to keep the idea of “custom” in customer.
Transforming the legacy of Sears
Authors: Martinez Arthur C.
Published: February 2008

Across all sectors, we are witnessing a tremendous resurgence in American business. Bold new thinking, a willingness to embrace change, and a renewed emphasis on quality and customer service are the common factors underlying this resurgence. We at Sears have taken the first few steps on what we know will prove to be a very long journey
The second curve: Managing the velocity of change
Authors: Ian Morrison J.
Published: February 2008

Many corporations in America today are facing a dilemma. They are moving along on their first curve of growth, but they have a sneaking suspicion that what they're doing today is going to be superseded by the second curve—a radically new way of doing business. All their current profit is coming from the first curve, but their future growth will be on the second curve. (See the sidebar, Comparing the Curves, on page 9.)
Ethical business intelligence is NOT Mission Impossible
Authors: Fiora Bill
Published: February 2008

Business intelligence is one of the fastest growing disciplines in corporate America. To many, however, the words conjure up images of trench coats and meetings in back alleys. Unfortunately, recent events only serve to reinforce these fears. Earlier this year, for example, Volkswagen agreed to pay $100 million to General Motors after the U.S. firm alleged that VW used documents pilfered by an ex‐GM executive to its competitive advantage. More recently, Johnson & Johnson and Boehringer Mannheim settled out of court after trading accusations of improper activities, including infiltrating company meetings and taking confidential documents. Even more unsettling to some may be the passage of the Economic Espionage Act in 1996.
Measurement is free
Authors: Threat Holly
Published: February 2008

Since it began operations 25 years ago, FedEx has excelled in both strategic and operational performance. While there are measures developed and used internally for both, this discussion will focus on operational performance measures. For FedEx, those measures are free, fast, and practical. They are created by technology that is imbedded in the service‐delivery process.
Transforming uncertainty into success: The Strategic Leadership Forum 1999
Authors: Grant Robert M.
Published: February 2008

In this summary of the key speakers at the Strategic Leadership Forum's 1999 Conference, the author poses answers to a number of questions:What does the year 2000 mean for business enterprises? Is it a turning point in any sense beyond a calendar? What are the key uncertainties facing business leaders at this historical juncture? What are the central issues for business strategy that arise from these uncertainties? And what concepts and tools can help companies manage the transition to a new era?
Implementation: Key to organizational change
Authors: Smith Martin E. , Mourier Pierre
Published: February 2008

Large‐scale change efforts are most likely to fail during the implementation phase. Implementation refers to the activities that take a design and make it operational. This article describes ten planning and management practices to prevent failures and, second, ten tactics for reviving stalled implementation efforts.
Corporate Planning and Libraries—Where Are We Now?
Authors: Drake Jacqueline
Published: February 2008

“Corporate planning” is the term which, perhaps more than any other, epitomises the adoption of business management techniques by the public sector. In Britain, with massive local government reorganisation in 1974, many librarians were forced to come to terms with such techniques whether they liked it or not. Of course, in its purest sense corporate planning applies to the combined operation of an entire organisation be it local authority, university, government department or industrial firm. However, in this paper I do not intend discussing “the grand design” whereby the library is merely a component part of a greater body. Rather, it is my intention to view the library as the corporate body. It is a perfectly possible and very useful exercise to apply the principles of corporate planning, and the management techniques involved, to the running of a library or group of libraries. Indeed, many librarians have already done this either independently or as their part in the corporate plan of their parent organisation.
Industrial Information Systems
Authors: Leslie Anderson S.
Published: February 2008

“A Canadian company required information on a process in Switzerland. Since data were too complicated to obtain by mail a vice‐president of the company was assigned to make a trip. The company librarian hearing of this situation accidentally made a search and produced the information from the company's own files.”
Making Library Research Results Pay
Authors: Gilbert John , Fjällbrant Nancy
Published: February 2008

In the finding and using of research results, the enquirer is always well advised to have an overview of the audience for and intention of, a document before becoming immersed in as contents. This for “Making Library Research Results Pay”. We have a varied audience in mind. Firstly, we are concerned to meet the needs of the person beginning research work, secondly, to help those involved in development and application work, and thirdly, to assist those professionally involved in the dissemination of research results.
A System Specification for the REAL Library World
Authors: Ainsworth Bill , Hayes David
Published: February 2008

Currently all organisations are being urged to become “information conscious”. Technology is being rapidly developed to aid and support such an approach and tremendous attention and publicity is being directed towards how businesses will operate in the future — the 21st century.
The Information Worker in Isolation: Problems and Achievements
Authors: Shuter Janet
Published: February 2008

Whether they can legitimately be described as virtuosi or one man (sic) bands, information professionals working in isolation have become something of a cause célèbre recently. This study looks first at their contribution to the collection, analysis, synthesis and dissemination of information in a single field — that of employment studies. Then, using the test of relative job satisfaction as a function of effectiveness, the characteristics, problems and satisfactions of the workers themselves are examined. The present work is based on two reports of a survey undertaken on behalf of the British Library Research and Development Department in 1983.
7. Women in Libraries: Status and Orientation to Work
Authors: Ritchie Sheila
Published: February 2008

This article draws on research completed in Autumn 1984, and funded by the British Library Research and Development Department.
8. The Power of Women in Libraries
Authors: Rolph Avril V.
Published: February 2008

“At 7p.m. on Thursday 18th September there will be an open meeting for any women interested in helping to organise a ‘Feminism and Library Work’ conference…” began the advertisement which started it all off, in the Autumn of 1980.
2. Information for Forecasting
Authors: McCafferty Ian
Published: February 2008

Any manager or entrepreneur who aims to survive for a considerable period needs information not only on what is going on now, and what happened several months ago, but also what is likely to happen in the future. As none of us has perfect vision in this area, we are going to rely on a certain amount of intuition — playing hunches — and on the information that can be gained from forecasting.
10. Full Text Databases: Their Implications for Librarians
Authors: Berrington Michael
Published: February 2008

Full‐text databases, the subject of this article, are worthy of consideration for a number of reasons. They are unique in allowing online access to primary textual information. The amount and scope of that information is expanding rapidly. The impact they will have on searching techniques and document delivery is considerable. In fact, it seems they will become central to information provision within only a few more years. Before examining these points in detail, it is helpful to outline their development and, in particular, their relationship to bibliographic databases.
Downloading and Upload in Online Information Retrieval
Authors: Jameson Alison
Published: February 2008

Downloading and uploading offer labour‐saving advantages and are now accepted as useful options in online searching. All aspects are here considered, from recent technical advances, applications and legal attitudes. There is also a review of current software for downloading. Recent developments mean a trend to higher internal memory and storage capacity, and greater transmission speeds. Packages now offer access to more than one host, give maximum assistance to the user without being menu‐driven and incorporate the latest developments in artificial intelligence. Disadvantages are in the length of time involved in the process and the fact that the legal issue of copyright has not yet been finalised. Database producers have turned to licensing under contract law, but there is still need to rely on user ethics, and the need for a standard permissions form is highlighted.
1. Aims and Functions of National Library Services
Authors: Meijer J.G.
Published: February 2008

This article follows on an investigation conducted by the Unit for Library and Information Research of the Human Sciences Research Council in 1981 for the Department of National Education. The article is limited to a consideration of the aim and functions of national library services. Matters such as the organisation and management of these services, the pros and cons of centralisation and decentralisation in particular circumstances, bringing services into line with modern demands, problem areas in existing services, the raison d'être of national library and information advisory councils alongside the management councils of national library services, legislation of these services, etc. have been excluded from the discussion.
Knowledge Management
Authors: Hannabuss Stuart
Published: February 2008

It is contended that knowledge management is directed towards finding out how and why information users think, what they know about what they know, the knowledge and attitudes they have and the decisions they make when they interact with others. At the heart lies the mutation of information into knowledge, a process best understood through seeing, knowing and information retrieval as features common to cognitive psychology and information management. The knowledge we have of knowledge, and changes to knowledge, can be monitored in negotiations like knowledge interviews for trainees. Such knowledge and belief systems can also be translated into managerial strategies, both qualitative, as when we emphasise value and benefit in the marketing approach to information, and quantitative, as when we devise ways of assessing probabilities with which desired outcomes will occur. Knowledge management is as much the management of meaning as management of entities and people, for in meaning lies the key to our understanding of what we decide to do as information managers. It is a multi‐disciplinary field offering a semantics and pragmatics for the evaluating and self‐evaluating manager.
Training and Education of Technicians and Assistants in Library Work
Authors: Baker David
Published: February 2008

Library assistants were originally considered to be professional librarians in the making, and were trained accordingly. With the expansion of libraries and librarianship, Britain's “apprenticeship” system of qualification gave way to formal library school education, and a new category of “non‐professional staff” was created, of people who were unwilling or unable to proceed to graduate‐level qualification. The development of non‐professional certificates of competence in the UK is described against parallel developments in the US, Canada and Australia; the COMLA training modules are also examined. The theoretical and practical issues surrounding training are discussed, training schemes and qualifications in the four countries analysed, and the relative merits of in‐house training and external certificate programmes argued.
COLLECTIVE ADMINISTRATION OF LITERARY WORKS: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE: THE BRITISH EXPERIENCE
Authors: Clark Charles , Hadley Colin
Published: February 2008

Let us start with one moment of recorded (even perhaps of illicitly reproduced) history:
COPYRIGHT LICENSING — THE INTERNATIONAL SCENE
Authors: Shuter Janet
Published: February 2008

IFRRO is the central forum for information exchange and mutual action for organisations concerned with reproduction rights for copyright materials. More than 45 national and international organisations from 19 countries participate.
Negotiating Meaning
Authors: Hannabuss Stuart
Published: February 2008

The meaning of management is partly the management of meaning. Management is an activity in which people collaborate not just over what they do but also how they mean: how concepts like “effective” are defined and made actual through work, and how knowledge can properly be applied to management situations. Such knowledge is not merely intellectual; it takes in values and belief systems and the intentionalities of discourse. Management is also an area in which over‐arching paradigms of what is best to know and do demonstrate pluralistic and collaborative features. What is known, and what is best to know, therefore, are built up through negotiation and reformulation. This occurs in settings characterised by organisational cultures and authority structures like line management, and in these we find meanings being negotiated for many complex cognitive, ideological and interpersonal reasons (such as to avoid “loss of face”). In professional information training, it is important to develop knowledge of, and skills in, the management of meaning, using negotiative strategies and tactics.
Instruments to Plague Us? — Human Factors in the Management of Library Automation
Authors: Bergen Ceris
Published: February 2008

The manager must take into account various human factors when introducing computers into the library. A survey of literature reveals the key fears of employees involved in library automation — to be concerned with job security, job satisfaction and health and safety. These findings are compared with data collected from a questionnaire administered to staff in four libraries, all in the process of automating various tasks. The effects of computerisation of the library service on users is also examined, with an analysis of literature and a questionnaire sent to 30 students in the College for the Distributive Trades. The author discusses ways in which the manager can interest and motivate staff by eliminating causes of dissatisfaction and by taking positive steps in appealing to employees' self‐interest in the possibilities of career advancement and the challenge of mastering something new. Staff selection procedures need to be amended to acquire the necessary skills, and training should be ongoing. The response of users to library automation is often enthusiastic but real benefits can be difficult to measure. The onus is ultimately on librarians to demonstrate that they still have a key role to play in the provision of information.
'88 Has twice the impact of '44
Authors: Baker Edgar
Published: February 2008

Our regular educational contributor, a former Staff HMI in Business Studies, discusses four books which describe, sequentially, the wide‐ranging implications of the Education Reform Act 1988 which has undoubtedly provided — as it was no doubt intended to — the biggest academic shake‐up since the former Education Act 1944.
Wells Cathedral school press officers
Authors: Fogden Emma , Frain Ruth
Published: February 2008

One function as School Press Officers is to liaise between the pupils and the member of staff designated to handle the press. We were supplied with calendars from which we picked out events that we thought would make interesting reading in the papers, both local and national. These included achievements ranging from the school's chamber orchestra tour to the Far East, to continued success in the Young Enterprise Competition; from hockey tours abroad to finalists in the Young Musician of the Year Competition.
The effect of different intervention programmes on the self‐concept and motor proficiency of 7‐ to 9‐year‐old children with DCD
Authors: Peens A. , Pienaar A. E. , Nienaber A. W.
Published: February 2008

Background  The self‐concept of children is influenced by developmental co‐ordination disorder (DCD). The aim was to determine the most effective method in enhancing motor proficiency and self‐concept of 7‐ to 9‐year‐old children with DCD.

Methods  Teachers at nine different schools identified 201 possible DCD candidates. The Movement Assessment Battery for Children identified 58 with DCD (36 boys and 22 girls). Self‐concept and anxiety were determined by the Tennessee Self‐Concept Scale (Child Form) and Child Anxiety Scale respectively. The children were randomly grouped into four experimental groups [motor intervention (MI), self‐concept (SC) enhancing intervention, psycho‐motor intervention (P‐MI) and a control group (CG)]. A two‐way analysis of variance (anova) with a group factor and a repeated measures over time followed by a Bonferroni post hoc analysis and separate one‐way anovas followed by a Tukey post hoc analysis were conducted to determine between‐group and within‐group differences at the pre‐, post‐ and re‐tests. Effect sizes (d) were calculated to determine the practical significance of statistical differences (P < 0.05).

Results  After completion of the intervention programmes, no significant improvement in motor proficiency was found in the SC group, while the MI, P‐MI and CG groups improved significantly (P < 0.01). No further improvements were found after the retention period in all the groups. From the pre‐test to retest 2, the MI, P‐MI and CG improved (P < 0.01), while the SC showed lower (P > 0.05) motor proficiency. A tendency of lower anxiety (P > 0.05) was found in the SC, while the total self‐concept of the P‐MI showed the biggest improvement (P < 0.05).

Conclusion  Motor proficiency and self‐concept of children with DCD benefit from intervention, but both should be addressed for optimal benefits.
A new technique for the long‐term study of the physiology of plant fruit tissue slices
Authors: Parkin K. L.
Published: February 2008

Parkin, K. L. 1987. A new technique for the long‐term study of the physiology of plant fruit tissue slices.

A modified tissue culture medium, devoid of plant growth hormones, was evaluated as a means to allow long‐term study of the physiology of plant fruit tissue slices. Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill, cvs New Yorker and Caruso) tissue slices, prepared from mature green fruits, were mounted in this medium and examined for their capability to undergo ripening. Over a 30 day period the changes in color, firmness and respiratory activity for the slices appeared to be temporally associated as is the case for the intact fruit. A less distinct respiratory climacteric was noted for the incubated discs compared to the intact fruit. This new technique might be applicable to long‐term study of other plant tissues.
Periodicity of bud bursting in willow (Salix viminalis) as affected by growth regulators
Authors: Saunders Peter F. , Barros Raimundo S.
Published: February 2008

Saunders, P. F. and Barros, R. S. 1987. Periodicity of bud bursting in willow (Salix viminalis) as affected by growth regulators.

Lateral vegetative buds of willow (Salix viminalis L.) were only innately dormant for 3–5 weeks in October; during this time their apices were correlatively inhibited by the bud leaflets. Exogenous gibberellins stimulated the opening of cultured buds when the plants were dormant or entering dormancy. As dormancy was being released, however, cultured buds became more responsive to exogenous cytokinins. Thus the demand for gibberellins and cytokinins for bud opening seemed to be sequential rather than simultaneous. Dormant buds cultured in the presence of abscisic acid remained unopened, but they opened after a chilling treatment. Subsequent growth of such buds as measured by dry matter accumulation, was observed only if a cytokinin was added to the medium.
Excessive bronchoconstriction induced by histamine and effects of volume history in patients with bronchial asthma
Authors: LIM TK , ANG SM
Published: February 2008

Abstract
The aim of this study was to examine the inter‐relationships between the different effects of deep breaths and histamine provocation on airway function in patients with bronchial asthma. Group 1 consisted of 38 consecutive out‐patients with newly diagnosed mild asthma, group 2 consisted of 20 patients with bronchial asthma of varying severity who were studied during clinical remission. We measured bronchial responsiveness (BR) to histamine inhalation as the dose of histamine which provoked a 20% fall in FEV1 (PD20). The fall in forced vital capacity (FVC) after inhaling the highest dose of histamine during each BR test was calculated and expressed as percentage of the value measured at baseline (δFVC in percentage). We studied the effects of deep breaths on airway caliber in group 2 patients by comparing isovolumic flow rates on partial (P) and maximal (M) forced expiratory flow volumes curves expressed as the M/P ratio. The changes in residual volume (RV) after deep breaths (δRV) were expressed as a percentage of the largest VC measured on the composite M and P curves. The patients in group 1 had significantly higher PD20 and lower δFVC than patients in group 2. There was, however, no significant correlation between PD20 and δFVC measurements in individual patients (r<0.1, P>0.05). The M/P ratio was significantly related to δFVC (r=−0.6, P<0.006). There was also a significant positive relation between the magnitude of increase in residual volume following deep breaths (δRV) and the degree of fall in FVC following histamine inhalation (δFVC) (r= 0.65, P= 0.001). This significant relationship between the degree of airway closure after a deep breath and airway closure after histamine challenge is a new finding. In patients with bronchial asthma, the effects of a deep breath on airway function may be indicative of the tendency for airway closure during BR testing.
Surgical results of 40 patients with malignant tracheobronchial lesions
Authors: WU Ming‐Ho , TSENG Yau‐Lin , LIN Mu‐Yen , LAI Wo‐Wei
Published: February 2008

Abstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate the results of tracheobronchoplasty performed on a variety of malignant diseases which involved the tracheobronchus. Between July 1988 and March 1996 tracheobronchial surgery was performed on 40 patients who had a variety of malignant diseases. The primary diseases were bronchogenic carcinoma (n= 26), tracheobronchial tumour (n= 5), thyroid cancer (n= 6), and oesophageal cancer (n= 3). Operative procedures that were performed on the tracheobronchus were sleeve lobectomy (n= 22) or bilobectomies (n= 5), sleeve pneumonectomy (n= 3), sleeve resection of trachea (n= 7) and bronchus (n= 3). There was one postoperative death with a mortality rate of 2.5%. However, there were no significant postoperative complications apart from the one postoperative death; one patient developed a bronchopleural fistula and empyema. In lung cancer patients, the 2 year survival rate was 47.3%, and one (3.8%) local tumour recurrence. Four of five patients who had tracheobronchial tumours were alive and free from disease during 2–6 year follow‐up period. One patient who had malignant fibrous histiocytoma died of brain metastasis 6 months after the operation. Among six patients whose thyroid cancer involved the trachea, one patient survived for 7 years, the other five patients were still alive and free from disease 2–5 years after the operation. Of the three patients whose oesophageal carcinoma involved the tracheobronchus, there was one operative death and the others died of tumour recurrence 1 and 2 years, respectively. We suggest that tracheobronchoplasty is a safe procedure with low morbidity and mortality rates in carefully selected patients with malignant diseases.
Two cases of eosinophilic gastroenteritis associated with analgesic‐induced bronchial asthma
Authors: NAKAHAMA Hajime , NAKAMURA Hitoshi , KURIBAYASHI Kohzo , IHAKU Daizo , IKEDA Isamu , NISHIOKA Yasuhiro , KITADA Osamu , SUGITA Minoru
Published: February 2008

Abstract
Two patients (one male and one female) with bronchial asthma were diagnosed as having eosinophilic gastroenteritis (EG). The condition was revealed by biopsies through fibrescopic endoscopy. According to the Klein classification, they had mucosal disease. The symptoms were abdominal pain and nausea. The symptoms subsided with corticosteroid administration in one patient and with palliative treatment in the other patient. It was suggested that fibrescopic endoscopy biopsy is needed to identify coexisting EG if a bronchial asthma patient complains of severe gastrointestinal symptoms.
Detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in bronchoalveolar lavage from patients with sputum smear‐negative pulmonary tuberculosis using a polymerase chain reaction assay
Authors: LIAM CK , CHEN YC , YAP SF , SRINIVAS P , POI PJH
Published: February 2008

Abstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate the utility of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay in detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) specimens of patients suspected of having active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) but who were sputum smear‐negative. Patients undergoing investigation for suspected pulmonary TB at the University Hospital, Kuala Lumpur, and who were sputum smear‐negative underwent fibreoptic bronchoscopy and BAL. One portion of each lavage specimen was submitted for smear examination for acid‐fast bacilli and mycobacterial culture and the other portion assayed by PCR for the presence of a 562‐base pair DNA segment belonging to the insertion sequence IS986, unique to the M. tuberculosis complex. As controls, lavage specimens from patients with other lung lesions were also similarly tested. The PCR assay gave a positivity rate of 80.9% (55 of 68) compared with 8.8% of smear examination and 7.4% of culture for detecting M. tuberculosis in BAL specimens. The assay was positive in two of 45 BAL specimens from 35 control subjects. The PCR assay was more sensitive than smear and culture in detecting M. tuberculosis in BAL specimens of patients with sputum smear‐negative pulmonary TB.
Non‐surgical therapy for the patients with advanced non‐small cell lung cancer
Authors: LEE Choon‐Taek
Published: February 2008

Abstract
Radiation therapy (RT) and chemotherapy have been the two main treatment modalities for advanced non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). New techniques in RT, including hyperfractination and 3‐dimensional conformal RT (3‐DCRT), have changed conventional RT, which has been regarded as standard modality for locally advanced NSCLC. Introduction of cisplatin into chemotherapeutic regimens for NSCLC has changed the status of chemotherapy to standard therapy for patients with stage IV or stage IIIb with effusion. Radiation therapy or chemotherapy alone have already showed their limitations, even although they could improve the survival of NSCLC patients. Combined treatments with these two have become powerful alternatives for patients with unresectable and locally advanced NSCLC. Sequential or concurrent chemoradiotherapy could improve the response rate and survival rate without a remarkable increase in toxicities. Gene therapy is a novel therapeutic approach based on molecular oncology and tumour immunology. The practical contribution of gene therapy to clinical oncology is still minimal. From the research data, gene therapy has shown its potential to become a new treatment modality or to lead us to as yet undiscovered novel approaches to the treatment of lung cancer.
Benefit of in‐phase chest wall vibration on the pulmonary hemodynamics in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Authors: NAKAYAMA Hideaki , SHIBUYA Masato , KANEKO Norihiro , YAMADA Minehiko , SUZUKI Hajime , ARAKAWA Masaaki , HOMMA Ikuo
Published: February 2008

Objective:

Chest wall vibration of contracting intercostal muscles (in‐phase vibration, (IPV)) improves O2 saturation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of IPV on the pulmonary hemodynamics in patients with COPD.

Methodology:

Twelve patients with COPD (FEV,%, 43.7 + 14.4%) underwent pulmonary artery catheterization in the supine position; hemodynamic variables as well as arterial and mixed venous gas tension were measured at baseline and after 15 min of IPV with IPV continued during the measurement.

Results:

Mean pulmonary arterial pressure (Ppa, 21.3 ± 5.0–19.1 ±4.8mmHg and pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR, 294.6 + 196.0–228.5 + 101.7 dyne.sec.cm‐5) decreased significantly, but there was no change in heart rate, cardiac index or systemic blood pressure. PaO2 increased (66.5 ± 10.3–70.0 ± 9.7 Torr) and PaCO2 decreased (46.6 ± 8.9–45.0 ± 10.1 Torr) significantly. Minute ventilation and tidal volume increased significantly in five out of the eight patients in whom ventilation was monitored throughout the study.

Conclusion:

IPV improves gas exchange and pulmonary circulation without affecting systemic circulation.
Benign prostatic hyperplasia: Clinical benefits on Three‐Dimensional ultrasound eXtended Imaging (3D‐XI)
Authors: Elwagdy Salah , Samy Elhakim , Sayed Moussa , Gamal A‐Hassan
Published: February 2008

Objectives:  To prospectively evaluate whether trans‐rectal Three‐Dimensional eXtended Imaging (3D XI) allows characterization of the prostate gland in cases of isolated benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) so as to elucidate the motive for discrepancy of postvoiding residual urine.

Methods:  The study was conducted according to the standards of the local ethics committee. Patients gave informed consent. Disclosing the 3D XI display of the prostatic urethra and prostatic gland zones was a preliminary essential. The study included 113 men with a clinical diagnosis of BPH in whom transurethral resection of the prostate was planned. Patients aged from 52 to 75 years (mean 63). Other causes of infravesical obstructive uropathy and prostate neoplastic involvement were excluded. All patients were evaluated by three‐dimensional Trans‐Rectal Ultrasound using 3D XI methods. Patients were grouped according to the postvoiding residual urine volume into three groups, less and more than 100 mL and urine retention.

Results:  3D XI provided excellent resolution and diagnostic authority of prostate gland anatomy and for the appraisal of BPH morphology. The balance and type of nodular eruption proved responsible for the severity of symptoms aspires by extra‐axial nodular effect upon the prostate urethra. The 3D XI analysis regarding the nodular stromal to glandular ratio compared to the histopathological results proved effectual in 98.3% of stromal‐dominant, 100% in glandular‐dominant and 93.3% in mixed type hyperplasia.

Conclusions:  The severity of symptoms among men with BPH showed an association with the nodular credence, highlighted by 3D XI as a supportive tool in characterizing BPH.