bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evaluating the Role of Regression Methods in the Determination of Standard Spending Assessments
Authors: Thomas R W , Warren E S
Published: October 2006

A Standard Spending Assessment (SSA) is the amount which government considers appropriate for a local authority to set as its annual budget requirement. Each assessment is composed of revenues calculated for a discrete set of service blocks where the local unit costs of service provision are most often estimated by means of regression procedures that have been subject to regular scrutiny and review. Set against this context, in this paper the authors evaluate the performance of the regressions that contribute to the calculation of SSAs as equitable allocation devices. The general accounting framework for constructing SSAs is described and a statistical classification of the regression models is presented. In their analysis the authors examine a selection of models that are representative of each class and they include the regressions that comprise the Other District Services and Personal Social Services blocks. These appraisals follow a common sequence where a dummy variable is entered into the regression to test the consistency of the allocation made to a specified group of local authorities. When the dummy variable is statistically significant, revisions to the specification of the regression are either tested or suggested. Finally, the broader implications of these findings for the design of SSAs are examined.
Benefits and Costs of Regulating the Environment: Eight Case Studies
Authors: Bonus H , Niebaum H
Published: October 2006

Environmental regulation yields benefits as well as costs. Regulation is inefficient if the benefits do not match the costs. By referring to eight current case studies, the authors analyse the costs of inefficient environmental regulation in Germany. This is done partly in comparison with European Union solutions. The studies are taken from the consumer products, energy, and chemical industries.
The Determinants of Municipal Debt Policy: A Pooled Time-Series Analysis
Authors: Cropf R A , Wendel G D
Published: October 2006

Cities have started to rely more on debt in recent decades, in large part in response to changes occurring externally. In this paper the authors analyze the impact of important social, political, and economic factors on municipal debt behavior. They examine the 42 largest US cities from 1980 to 1990, using a pooled time-series regression model. It was found that, generally speaking, these factors had the effect of increasing cities' reliance on revenue debt, which is less accountable to the voters than full-faith and credit debt. It is difficult to say whether local officials have consciously pursued a policy of insulating municipal debt decisions from the voters. However, it is clear that these officials are responding to environmental cues that lead them to prefer revenue debt over general-obligation debt by a large margin. Recent research has shown that cities have historically pursued a ‘politics of circumvention’. With the demand for debt increasing as other means for financing local services are constrained the effects on the polity of these preferences warrant serious attention.
Business Link, Strong Ties, and the Walls of Silence: Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and External Business-Service Expertise
Authors: Bryson J R , Daniels P W
Published: October 2006

The operation both of private and of public sector organisations consists of a complex interplay between in-house and external expertise and knowledge. The authors use a unique survey of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in England to explore their use of external expertise and the location of external advisers. They also draw upon surveys both of private sector consultants and of personal business advisers (PBAs) employed by Business Link companies. Network analysis is used to identify the ways in which weak and strong ties either enable or constrain opportunities for SMEs to access the knowledge and expertise available both from private sector business-service companies and from state agencies. SME owner-managers have too many strong ties with their local business community. The paucity of weak tics with individuals located elsewhere in the United Kingdom restricts the ability of SMEs to search for business-service expertise outside their local area. An analysis of the Business Link initiative is undertaken which suggests that the spatial monopoly held by each Business Link company does not encourage them to participate in the development of a national knowledge-and-enterprise network. The analysis suggests that a dual information economy may be developing in the United Kingdom in which large firms arc able to access specialist external expertise irrespective of location, whereas SMEs are tied into local providers of more generalist expertise.
The Sulfur Dioxide Allowance-Trading Program in the USA: Recent Developments and Lessons to be Learned
Authors: Hansjürgens B
Published: October 2006

The US Allowance Trading Program, which is an emission-trading program for sulfur dioxide, was put into effect on 1 January 1995. It is the first comprehensive attempt in US air-quality policy to practice the idea of emission trading. More than two years after its implementation, the allowance market offers the unique opportunity of evaluating the efficiency of tradeable-permit markets on a practical basis, rather than a solely theoretical one. The author analyzes the recent developments in the allowance-trading market and alternative ‘explanations’ used in attempts to explain low trading activity and low allowance prices. The author concludes that the present allowance price will prove to be equal to the abatement costs; the allowance-trading program is not only ecologically effective but is also economically efficient; and it plays an important role in the development of future tradeable-permits markets.
Local Finance in Portugal: Recent Proposals and Consequences for Urban Management
Authors: Silva C N
Published: October 2006

Recent changes in the local finance system in Portugal are analysed as is the impact of present government proposals. A brief description of local finance in Portugal reveals a system structured into three main components, showing an increase in local taxes and a relative decrease in grants since 1979. Taxes on immovable property are dominant as are unconditional block grants in state budget transfers. Another characteristic is a clear geographical differentiation in most municipal revenue components. The importance of local government expenditure in relation to total government expenditure is one of the lowest in Europe. The reform in preparation will result in an increase in local government expenditure as a proportion of total public expenditure, the percentage being expected to double to 15%, representing an increase in the overall weight given to local taxes and a diversification of taxes. In the second part of the paper the author discusses the impact this will have on the financing of municipal planning and urbanisation, with the issue of equity a central point.
Gender-Neutral Automobile-Insurance Rates: Have They Made a Difference?
Authors: Stanislawski A J , Meier K J
Published: October 2006

The authors' objective was to assess the impact of gender-neutral automobile-insurance laws in four states, and to ask whether these laws have increased prices, increased market concentration, discouraged driving, or encouraged greater risk taking? A pooled time-series analysis for 21 years in four states was used to test the relationship between adopting a gender-neutral insurance law and risk-adjusted prices, industry concentration, numbers of licensed drivers, and traffic fatalities. The authors find that gender-neutral automobile-insurance laws have no impact on the risk-adjusted price of insurance, the market share held by direct writers, the number of licensed drivers, or the rate of traffic fatalities. Gender-neutral laws were associated with a larger market share being controlled by the three largest firms. The authors conclude that because gender-neutral insurance laws have no impacts which are detrimental to consumers, they could be adopted by all states with few negative consequences.
Modelling Local and Small-Area Income Distributions in Scotland
Authors: Bramley G , Lancaster S
Published: October 2006

Reliable local income data remains a key missing element within British official statistics. The authors discuss the development of a model of local income distributions intended to overcome this problem, particularly in the context of housing-affordability analysis. The model links national surveys (the Family Expenditure Survey and Scottish House Condition Survey) to local data available from census and other sources. Developments to the model are described including: tenure disaggregation, calibration and testing with the aid of micro and other datasets; application down to small-area (postcode-sector) level; updating and projection from census to recent and future dates; and predicting benefit take-up. Discussion of the results highlights some features of recent income patterns and trends in Scotland as well as the value and limitations of the method.
European Environmental Policy by Stealth: The Dysfunctionality of Functionalism?
Authors: Weale A
Published: October 2006

There are four paradoxes to be explained in respect of European Union (EU) environmental policy: how it is that a liberal policy regime makes relatively little use of economic instruments; how it is that the formally independent Commission is heavily dependent upon member states in the development of its policy proposals; how it is that a ‘weak’ European Parliament has had greater influence on environmental standard setting than have most national parliaments; and how it is that a supranational political authority regulates subnational environmental public goods so extensively. The author argues that these four features of EU environmental policy are related to one another as the effects of a common cause: the historical importance of the Monnet method of European integration. How far this method should be transcended is also discussed.
The Changing Role of the European Union in International Environmental Politics: Institution Building and the Politics of Climate Change
Authors: Sbragia A M , Damro C
Published: October 2006

In the last twenty-five years the European Union (EU) has gradually developed an international, albeit ambiguous, identity that has greatly enhanced its leadership role in the international environmental arena. The leadership offered by the EU has been largely shaped by its unique institutional structure, but also by such factors as the changing nature of international environmental issues. In this essay we contrast the traditional role of the United States with that of the EU in global climate change negotiations and comment on the future role of both actors in the international environmental arena. An understanding of the institutional structures of the EU and the changing nature of international environmental issues helps to explain the EU's ascendant role as a leader in multilateral environmental politics.
The Greening of the EU: The Common Agricultural Policy and the Structural Funds
Authors: Lenschow A
Published: October 2006

The degree to which environmental concerns are integrated into ‘non-environmental’ policies such as economic development, agricultural, transport, and energy policies provides a better measure of the ‘real’ performance of European Union (EU) environmental policy than does the total amount of legislation adopted. The author investigates the extent to which the environmental integration principle is applied in the EU's regional development, cohesion, and agricultural policies. Differences in the levels of integration achieved across these policy areas is determined by the ‘goodness of fit’ with preexisting policy philosophies and institutional structures, and the type of strategies pursued to achieve integration. Although indirect strategies are principally problematic, defensive strategies may succeed in conjunction with some active political or legal pressure.
The Limits of Policy Diffusion: Comparative Experiences of Second-Home Ownership in Britain and Sweden
Authors: Allen C , Gallent N , Tewdwr-Jones M
Published: October 2006

In this paper we provide a critical examination of the concept of policy diffusion. In doing so, we critique the core belief that underpins it, namely, the notion that housing problems are the product of universal structural conditions that are common to all societies. In turn, we also critique the logical derivative, namely, the notion that housing policies which have been ‘successful’ in their country of origin can be transferred to (that is, exported to or imported by) other societies. To do this, we commence by developing a conceptual framework that is based on the idea of societal ‘divergence’ rather than universalism. This provides a comparative method which we then apply in order to examine the second-home ownership problematic in Britain and Sweden. In doing so, they demonstrate that the problems caused by postwar growth in second-home ownership (and the associated housing policy responses that have been formulated) are particular to each country. To conclude, we make some general observations about the limits of policy diffusion by highlighting the conditions in which imported or exported housing policies are likely to succeed or fail.
Entrepreneurial Diversification, Business-Cluster Formation, and Growth
Authors: Rosa P , Scott M
Published: October 2006

In its 1998 White Paper on competitiveness, the British government stressed the importance of entrepreneurship in halting Britain's apparent relative economic decline and in enhancing international competitiveness. In this document the potential contribution of entrepreneurship is envisaged primarily in terms of the need to increase the supply of entrepreneurs capable of starting and growing innovative new businesses; less recognition is given to the entrepreneurial vitality of the existing business base. This is in keeping with much of the influential policy and research literature, in which concentration through core growth of single firms has tended to be valued, rather than growth through diversification by entrepreneurs starting additional firms. The authors researched diversification as an entrepreneurial phenomenon through case studies of new high-growth Scottish companies. Most business founders in the study had established more than one company, and many had successfully pursued entrepreneurial forms of diversification. The high-growth companies were, in effect, embryonic business clusters, rather than single unidimensional businesses. This supports the notion that the greatest source of new high-growth businesses is entrepreneurs with existing businesses, not novice entrepreneurs. This has implications for future policy support for entrepreneurship.
State, oil, and Accumulation; from Boom to Crisis
Authors: Watts M
Published: October 2006

The sharp increase in crude petroleum prices during the 1970s had a startling impact on state, economy, and society among oil producers. The meteoric growth of oil rents not only enlarged and centralized the state itself but simultaneously internationalized and domesticated the public sector. Fiscal rather than market mechanisms played a significant role in all oil-producing states, especially in so-called high absorbers. Adopting Nigeria as an example of oil-based accumulation, I examine (a) the general impact of oil rents on preexisting economic, political, and social relations; (b) the specific relations between oil-based public investment and capitalist development, using the case of the agrarian sector, and (c) the effects of the downturn in oil demand and prices upon Nigerian political economy.
Regions in Context: Spatiality, Periodicity, and the Historical Geography of the Regional Question
Authors: Soja E W
Published: October 2006

The regional question has emerged as an important theoretical and political issue over the past twenty years. Contemporaneously, established regional theories and planning doctrines have been seriously challenged and new approaches offered in their place. This paper is an examination of the recent development of regional political economy in four contexts: (1) the transformative retheorization of space and time currently taking place in social theory and philosophy, (2) the related reconceptualization of the nature and necessity of geographically uneven development, (3) the interpretation of uneven regional development within the historical geography of capitalism, and (4) the contemporary restructuring of spatial divisions of labor. These interrelated contexts form the basis for a reinterpretation of the regional question and an analysis of regional crisis and restructuring in the past and present.
Worker Militancy in South Africa: A Sociospatial Analysis of Trade Union Activism in the Manufacturing Sector
Authors: Sutcliffe M , Wellings P
Published: October 2006

The independent trade union movement has become increasingly significant in the popular struggle against racial capitalism in South Africa, yet it has so far attracted comparatively little attention from geographers in the region. One of the concerns of this paper, then, is to consider ways in which the spatial configuration of South African industry affects workers' organisations. In this context, the focus centres upon strike activity in the manufacturing sector. From an analysis of the changing composition, fortunes, and strategics of the trade union movement since the 1950s—substantially reviewed here—it can be seen how such activity is influenced by factors at work within the state apparatus and within the unions themselves, and is indicative of the everchanging relationship that exists between these two. Our major objective here, though, is to demonstrate how certain spatial and temporal variations in strike action may also be related to particular developments in the structure of South African capitalism. The forces underpinning the emergence of a spatial/sectoral division of labour and the contradictory imperatives driving industry towards the centralisation and decentralisation of capital are the developments under review.
Disability and the Urban Environment: A Perspective on Los Angeles
Authors: Hahn H
Published: October 2006

Increasingly, research on disability has been guided by a definition that focuses on the interaction between the individual and the environment and by a minority-group perspective based on the propositions that discriminatory attitudes are the primary source of the problems of disabled citizens, that the environment is shaped by public policy, and that policies reflect prevalent social attitudes and values. The implications of this approach for an analysis of the experience of disabled persons in Los Angeles are examined by assessing major characteristics of this urban area such as geographic dispersion, the absence of a sense of community, and the impact of pervasive standards of personal appearance. The investigation indicates a pressing need to provide increased accessibility for disabled residents to fulfill constitutional principles of freedom and equality.
Popular Consciousness, Moral Ideology, and Locality
Authors: Eyles J , Evans M
Published: October 2006

After a brief sketch of the nature of popular consciousness, the role of ideology in shaping needs and human subjects through interpellation and character structure is examined. The significance of the sign is assessed and its function in shaping consciousness exemplified by a look at style and locality creation. It is not, however, suggested that the dominant ideology and its concomitant conservative popular consciousness are monolithic and the paper concludes with an examination of fractures in hegemony and possibilities of resistance, with a concentration on the spatial structuration of resistance.
Core–Periphery Structure in Fiji
Authors: Sofer M
Published: October 2006

The central theme of this paper is that a core – periphery structure which was established in Fiji in colonial times has been maintained in the current independent state. The basic structure has not changed and the nature of the relationships between the capitalist mode of production (as the main component of the core) and the village-based mode of production (as a typical mode of the periphery) are supporting the already polarized economic pattern. The current major mechanisms which operate to maintain the basic structure are the pattern of capital allocation, internal migration, the preservation of the village mode of production, and the monopolistic position of the core. These major mechanisms do not differ significantly from past mechanisms although the specific details may vary somewhat. Changes within the structure may occur through a transformation process, in which some basic modification in the production relations and the production forces of the village mode of production may occur. This is regarded as progress and may improve the position of the periphery in relation to the core but does not cause any change of the basic structure.
Situationism, Geography, and Poststructuralism
Authors: Bonnett A
Published: October 2006

After an introduction to situationism and the theory of the spectacle, the movement's intellectual roots in postwar French Marxism are summarised. The situationist theory of social subversion and a contemporary example of the practice are then introduced. Situationism's critique of human geography and the development of similar perspectives within geography and other disciplines are assessed. It is suggested that situationism immobilises political judgment and that this tendency is paralleled within the poststructuralist philosophies of Derrida, Lyotard, and Baudrillard.
‘A Perfect System of Control’? State Power and ‘Native Locations' in South Africa
Authors: Robinson J
Published: October 2006

In this, paper I draw upon recent accounts of the state, notably that developed by Michael Mann, in order to investigate the formation of ‘Locations' (segregated and separately administered residential areas for African people) in South Africa. The central argument is that the Location was a territorial strategy employed by the state (amongst others) to enhance its powers and capacities with respect to South Africa's black population. This argument relies upon a theory of the state which preserves state autonomy, but which allows that outcomes, such as the Location, are the result of a variety of processes, including economic conflict. State territorial strategies abound both in the South African context and in the more general colonial context, and thus, in this paper I put forward a wide-ranging research agenda around the themes of the colonial or racial state, territoriality, and power-themes which have hitherto received little attention.
Class as Community: The New Dynamics of Social Change
Authors: Fitzgerald J
Published: October 2006

The debate over whether class and community are alternative or mutually complementary bases of collective action is examined. A typology is developed to examine the relative contribution of each in determining the demands of grass-roots organizations. Specific emphasis within this analysis is on Tri-State Conference on Steel, a community–labor organization fighting plant closings in the Pittsburgh, PA, area. It is concluded that class consciousness can emerge out of participation in grass-roots movements, and the author focuses on the role of human agency in shaping this process. Further, it is concluded that grass-roots movements do have the potential for effecting structural reform.
Postmodernism, Geography, and the Social Semiotics of Space
Authors: Lagopoulos A P
Published: October 2006

The nucleus of postmodern philosophy and theory is derived primarily from French neostructuralist writings. The ontological foundation of such literature is the idealist rejection of the possibility of knowing reality and, as a consequence, the enclosure of the subject within the signifying universe, which in turn results in the exaltation of the signifying processes as the only social processes. The same emphasis, but through nonverbal means, is demonstrated by postmodern architectural and urban design. In geography, however, postmodernism is interpreted differently. In two recent books (by Soja and by Harvey) the postmodern era in human geography is related to the heightened importance of space for social reality and theory. But the split of geography itself between Marxist geography on the one hand, and behavioural and humanistic geography on the other, shows the pertinence of the signifying dimension for the field of geography. In this paper, it is argued that the roles of space and meaning are equally important for geography, and it is proposed that an analysis of the signifying aspect of space may be achieved through semiotics, currently the most complete and sophisticated theory of meaning and culture. The main problem for geography, which is addressed in the final section of this paper, is the integration of a renewed version of the semiotics of space with an equally renewed Marxist geography, the most powerful explanatory approach to geography we have at our disposal.
(Hetero)Sexing Space: Lesbian Perceptions and Experiences of Everyday Spaces
Authors: Valentine G
Published: October 2006

Heterosexuality is the dominant sexuality in modern Western culture, However, it is not defined merely by sexual acts in private space but is a process of power relations which operates in most everyday environments. In this paper, therefore, the author explores how lesbians perceive and experience everyday spaces. It is argued that lesbians can feel ‘out of place’ in environments such as the workplace or hotels, because these spaces are organised and appropriated by heterosexuals and so express and reproduce asymmetrical sociosexual relations. Consideration is also given to the way heterosexual hegemony is reproduced and expressed in space through antigay discrimination and violence. In the conclusion, the author explores the way in which fear of disclosure and antigay abuse inhibit the expression of lesbian and gay sexualities in everyday spaces and so feed the spatial supremacy of heterosexuality.
Images of the Periphery: The Architecture of Flex Space in Switzerland
Authors: Lehrer Ute Angelika
Published: October 2006

The peripheries of Swiss cities are currently being restructured at an unprecedented pace. Specifically, new commercial and office developments are mushrooming along the major traffic arteries. Peripheral centers without a center have sprung up. In this paper, urban forms are described in relation to the architectural form. The new urban form comes with a specific aesthetic programme: the architecture and the planning design of the industrial and office centers in the periphery defy the mass-produced built environment of earlier suburbanization. Rather, ‘individualized’ architectural designs lend themselves to custom-made commercialization of the new urban landscape. Buildings increasingly become billboards which are strategically placed along freeways and rail lines. Finally, in what seems a marked difference to automobile-based peripheral centralization in North America and other parts of Europe, the Swiss example depends heavily on a state-managed expansion of the railroads and light-rail systems.
The Trials of Laurence Powell: Law, Space, and a ‘Big Time Use of Force’
Authors: Herbert Steve
Published: October 2006

This paper is intended as a contribution to a growing literature concerned with showing the importance of conceptions of space in interpretive legal struggles. The focus of the paper is on jury trials, where lawyers engage in an open contest to develop the most convincing narrative. It is suggested here that the geographic context of these narratives can help determine their plausibility. The author also argues for the necessity to recognize the influence of extralegal discourses on interpretive legal struggles, and focuses in particular on two such discourses, those of morality and scientific administration. It is further suggested that such discourses can be infused with conceptions of space and territory in ways that affect their capacity to influence juries, An attempt is made to demonstrate the significance of these arguments with an analysis of the trials of the four Los Angeles Police Department officers charged in the beating of Rodney King.
The Bargain, the Knowledge, and the Spectacle: Making Sense of Consumption in the Space of the Car-Boot Sale
Authors: Gregson Nicky , Crewe Louise
Published: October 2006

We are concerned with making sense of the car-boot sale as an empirical and theoretical phenomenon. The paper is based on participant-observation field research, in-depth interviews, and site surveys and we start by challenging two of the most commonly held myths about car-boot sales; that these events arc all about ‘shady rogues’ disposing of volumes of dodgy gear onto an unsuspecting public, and that a preponderance of cheap goods means that car-boot sales are dominated by ‘tatt’ and disadvantaged sectors of society. Having examined patterns of purchasing within the car-boot sale, we consider how car-boot-sale goers themselves construct and participate within the space of the boot sale. At one level, this construction is shown to involve the use both of accumulated and of local knowledge and to be open to interpretation as illustrative of competitive individualism, Another reading of the car-boot sale, however, and one central to understanding the enduring popularity of this phenomenon, is its transgressive nature. The space of the car-boot sale is argued to be one where people come to play, where the conventions of retailing are suspended, and where participants come to engage in and produce theatre, performance, spectacle, and laughter. We go on to examine the connections between the car-boot sale and the Bakhtinian notion of carnival, arguing that the car-boot sale needs to be read in multifarious ways: as a liminal space which encapsulates the carnivalesque, the festive, and the popular, which subverts convention and yet which, through its celebration of the free market and the unshackled individual, embraces facets of the dominant order. We then move on to comment on the broader significance of the car-boot-sale phenomenon for studies of consumption.
Hitching a Ride on the Tiger's Back: Globalisation and Spatial Imaginaries in New Zealand
Authors: Larner Wendy
Published: October 2006

In this paper I develop a genealogy of globalisation in New Zealand informed by the neo-Foucauldian literature on governmentality. My claim is that globalisation involves a shift-in the object of economic governance away from the national economy and towards the circuits of global capital. This shift is associated with a change in spatial imaginaries. Through an analysis of three key arenas—social policy, foreign direct investment, and immigration—I show that policies and programmes, designed to fulfil these new political ambitions, aim to articulate individuals, sectors, and regions into the economic flows and networks of the Pacific Rim. In this regard, globalisation can be usefully understood as a political strategy that promotes a new understanding of the means and ends of economic governance.
Phantoms and Spectres: Capital and Labour at the Millennium
Authors: Merrifield Andy
Published: October 2006

As the financial system tailspins and ‘Asian Flu’ reverberates everywhere and as 950 million people in South-East Asia struggle to get by on less than one dollar a day, Marx's ideas continue to nourish radical critique and action. If anything, his vision is more economically meaningful and more politically viable today than ever before. In this paper I try to bring Marx's insights on the “laws of motion” of modern capitalism to bear on prevailing global political-economic disorder. I discuss, more specifically, his theory of crisis and the dialectics of accumulation and circulation of “real” and “fictitious” capital as sketched out in the Grundrisse and Capital (volumes 1 and 3). I end with an exploration of the famous political prognosis from The Communist Manifesto of mass collective class struggle and the development of a “world literature”, and set all this within the context of a newly emerging workers' internationalism and social-movement unionism.
Explorations of Neighbourhood and Educational Outcomes for Young Swedes
Authors: Andersson Eva , Subramanian S.V.
Published: October 2006

The aim of this study is to estimate the impact of neighbourhoods on educational outcome for adolescents in Sweden. Using a multilevel statistical approach and the PLACE database that consists of a census of individuals in 1990-2000 in Sweden, the paper explores different domains of neighbourhood characteristics that predict educational outcomes in adolescents. Educational achievement in year 2000 was measured for three cohorts, geocoded to their neighbourhood environments. It was found that neighbourhood characteristics related to socioeconomic resources and demographic stability are predictors of individual educational outcomes. A strong association between neighbourhood socio-cultural capital variables and education were also observed. Despite national policies on availability and access to education in Sweden, there are substantial inequalities in educational outcomes that are not simply a result of differences in individual characteristics.
Changes in Spatial and Sectoral Patterns of Employment in Ile-de-France, 1978-97
Authors: Guillain Rachel , Le Gallo Julie , Boiteux-Orain Celine
Published: October 2006

This paper investigates the spatial distribution of employment in the region of Ile-de-France in 1978 and 1997. Exploratory spatial data analysis is used to identify employment centres and a sectoral analysis of the central business district (CBD) and sub-centres is performed. The results highlight a process of suburbanisation of employment in Ile-de-France between 1978 and 1997. A more polarised space emerges in 1997 than in 1978, with several employment centres specialised in different activities. Moreover, even if the spatial influence of the CBD declines over the study period, the CBD maintains its economic leadership by concentrating a large variety of high-order producer services.
Extended Excess Commuting: A Measure of the Jobs-Housing Imbalance in Seoul
Authors: Ma Kang-Rae , Banister David
Published: October 2006

The balance between jobs and housing has received considerable attention in the recent debates over sustainable urban development. The excess commuting technique, which measures the difference between the average observed commute and the average minimum commute, has been suggested as one means to identify the numerical imbalance between workplaces and residential locations. This paper extends the conventional approach through the development of an extended excess commuting technique, which can measure both the quantitative and qualitative imbalance. The empirical results show that commuters in the Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA) have tried to reduce both qualitative and quantitative imbalance based on time rather than distance over the past 10 years (1990-2000). The results show how the spatial processes of decentralisation have been countered by the economic processes of faster travel, and how the net result is a saving in the journey to work travel time.
The effect of noise on the Chafee-Infante equation: A nonlinear case study
Authors: Caraballo Tomás , Crauel Hans , Langa José , Robinson James
Published: October 2006

We investigate the effect of perturbing the Chafee-Infante scalar reaction diffusion equation,

u
t

−
Δ
u
=
β
u
−

u
3

u_t-\Delta u=\beta u-u^3

, by noise. While a single multiplicative Itô noise of sufficient intensity will stabilise the origin, its Stratonovich counterpart leaves the dimension of the attractor essentially unchanged. We then show that a collection of multiplicative Stratonovich terms can make the origin exponentially stable, while an additive noise of sufficient richness reduces the random attractor to a single point.
Increased genetic diversity as a defence against parasites is undermined by social parasites:Microdon mutabilishoverflies infestingFormica lemaniant colonies
Authors: Gardner M.G , Schönrogge K , Elmes G.W , Thomas J.A
Published: October 2006

Genetic diversity can benefit social insects by providing variability in immune defences against parasites and pathogens. However, social parasites of ants infest colonies and not individuals, and for them a different relationship between genetic diversity and resistance may exist. Here, we investigate the genetic variation, assessed using up to 12 microsatellite loci, of workers in 91Formica lemanicolonies in relation to their infestation by the specialist social parasiteMicrodon mutabilis. At the main study site, workers in infested colonies exhibited lower relatedness and higher estimated queen numbers, on average, than uninfested ones. Additionally, estimated queen numbers were negatively correlated with estimated average numbers of mates per queen within infested colonies. At another site, infested colonies also exhibited significantly lower worker relatedness, and estimated queen numbers were comparable in trend. In contrast, in two populations ofF. lemaniwhereM. mutabiliswas absent, relatedness within colonies was high (40 and 90% withR>0.6). While high genetic variation can benefit social insects by increasing their resistance to pathogens, there may be a cost in the increased likelihood of infiltration by social parasites owing to greater variation in nestmate recognition cues. This study provides the first empirical test of this hypothesis.
Chemosensory assessment of sperm competition levels and the evolution of internal spermatophore guarding
Authors: Carazo P , Font E , Alfthan B
Published: October 2006

Males of many species adjust their reproductive behaviour according to the perceived risk of sperm competition. Although this phenomenon is widespread in insects and other animals, the mechanisms that allow mates to assess sperm competition levels remain largely unexplored. In this study, we analysed the mating behaviour of pairs ofTenebrio molitorbeetles under three odour treatments representing increasing levels of sperm competition risk (SCR) and sperm competition intensity (SCI). Copula duration and male and female post-copulatory behaviour varied significantly with odour treatment. Both copula duration and post-copulatory associations (PCAs) increased significantly in odour treatments reflecting high male density. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report that insects may assess the actual density of potential competitors at the time of mating, a cue to SCR and SCI, on the basis of chemical cues. InT. molitor, males inhibit sperm release from the spermatophore of a rival male when remating takes place at short intervals. We show that, when sperm competition levels are high, PCAs increase female remating interval just above that necessary to prevent spermatophore inhibition by rival males. This finding strongly suggests that strategic male behaviour plays a ‘spermatophore guarding’ role in this species. Although common in insects with external spermatophore transfer, spermatophore guarding is not expected in species with rapid ejaculate transfer and internal spermatophore delivery. Our results reveal that spermatophore guarding may evolve, even under these circumstances, as an evolutionary response to short-term spermatophore inhibition or displacement mechanisms.
Dynamic Response of Prevacuolar Compartments to Brefeldin A in Plant Cells
Authors: Tse Yu Chung , Lo Sze Wan , Hillmer Stefan , Dupree Paul , Jiang Liwen
Published: October 2006

Little is known about the dynamics and molecular components of plant prevacuolar compartments (PVCs) in the secretory pathway. Using transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) Bright-Yellow-2 (BY-2) cells expressing membrane-anchored yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) reporters marking Golgi or PVCs, we have recently demonstrated that PVCs are mobile multivesicular bodies defined by vacuolar sorting receptor proteins. Here, we demonstrate that Golgi and PVCs have different sensitivity in response to brefeldin A (BFA) treatment in living tobacco BY-2 cells. BFA at low concentrations (5–10 μg mL−1) induced YFP-marked Golgi stacks to form both endoplasmic reticulum-Golgi hybrid structures and BFA-induced aggregates, but had little effect on YFP-marked PVCs in transgenic BY-2 cells at both confocal and immunogold electron microscopy levels. However, BFA at high concentrations (50–100 μg mL−1) caused both YFP-marked Golgi stacks and PVCs to form aggregates in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Normal Golgi or PVC signals can be recovered upon removal of BFA from the culture media. Confocal immunofluorescence and immunogold electron microscopy studies with specific organelle markers further demonstrate that the PVC aggregates are distinct, but physically associated, with Golgi aggregates in BFA-treated cells and that PVCs might lose their internal vesicle structures at high BFA concentration. In addition, vacuolar sorting receptor-marked PVCs in root-tip cells of tobacco, pea (Pisum sativum), mung bean (Vigna radiata), and Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) upon BFA treatment are also induced to form similar aggregates. Thus, we have demonstrated that the effects of BFA are not limited to endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi, but extend to PVC in the endomembrane system, which might provide a quick tool for distinguishing Golgi from PVC for its identification and characterization, as well as a possible new tool in studying PVC-mediated protein traffic in plant cells.
Graft‐versus‐host disease in recipients of grafts from natural killer T cell‐deficient (Jα281–/–) donors
Authors: Ellison Cynthia A. , Taniguchi Masaru , Fischer Jacqie M. M. , Hayglass Kent T. , Gartner John G.
Published: October 2006

Vα14i natural killer T cells (NKT cells) are a CD1‐restricted subset of NKT cells that express an invariable Vα14+ Jα281+αβ T‐cell receptor. To determine whether the absence of Vα14i NKT cells from the graft affects the development of acute GVHD, we induced GVH reactions using Jα281–/– mice as donors in the C57BL/6→(C57BL/6 × DBA/2)F1‐hybrid strain combination. Recipients of grafts from Jα281–/– donors were not protected from either the morbidity or the severe wasting syndrome associated with the development of acute GVHD, but the concentrations of some T helper 1 (Th1) and Th2 cytokines were different from those seen in recipients of grafts from wild‐type donors. Interferon‐γ was seen earlier (day 4) in recipients of grafts from Jα281–/– donors but did not reach the concentrations seen in recipients of grafts from wild‐type donors on day 8 (P < 0·02). On day 8, the amount of tumour necrosis factor‐α released into the serum following the injection of a small amount of lipopolysaccharide was lower in recipients of grafts from Jα281–/– donors (P < 0·02). The amount of interleukin (IL)‐5 was also lower in recipients of grafts from Jα281–/– donors, when compared to the concentration seen in recipients of grafts from wild‐type donors (P < 0·002). IL‐13 was seen in recipients of grafts from Jα281–/– donors but not in recipients of grafts from wild‐type donors. Our findings show that the absence of donor Vα14i NKT cells is associated with lower concentrations of some Th1 cytokines. We also observed higher IL‐13 concentrations and lower IL‐5 concentrations in recipients of grafts from Jα281–/– donors indicating a variable effect on Th2 cytokine production.
Litter decomposition in a sandy Monte desert of western Argentina: Influences of vegetation patches and summer rainfall
Authors: PUCHETA EDUARDO , LLANOS MARÍA , MEGLIOLI CAROLA , GAVIORNO MARIÁNGELES , RUIZ MÓNICA , PARERA CARLOS
Published: October 2006

Abstract:  We tested the hypothesis that shrub canopies interact with monthly rain pulses to control litter decomposition in a sandy Monte desert, in Argentina. We assessed (i) the potential for litter decomposition of soils beneath the canopies of two dominant shrub species (Larrea divaricata and Bulnesia retama, Zygophyllaceae R. Br.) and from bare‐ground microsites or ‘openings’; (ii) litter decomposition at different spatial patches over the summer rainy season; and (iii) the interaction between vegetation patches and monthly rain pulses on short‐term litter decomposition, or decomposition pulses. In a greenhouse experiment, we found buried litter decomposition to be higher in soils from under the canopies of a dominant shrub species compared with soils from openings and sterilized controls. This, and higher nutrient concentration under shrub soils, suggest undercanopy soils may support a microbial community capable of decomposing litter at higher rates than soils in bare openings. However, ﬁeld trials showed that shrub patches did not affect leaf litter decomposition over the rainy season, at least for short periods. We found an interaction between shrub patches and incubation time at the end of the ﬁeld experiment, with higher litter decomposition rates under B. retama canopies. In a monthly ﬁeld experiment, we found monthly rain pulses signiﬁcantly explained decomposition pulses, irrespective of patch type. Our ﬁndings support the hypothesis that shrub soils have a greater potential for litter decomposition, but this is not directly translated to the ﬁeld possibly due to interactions with abiotic factors. Rain pulses create conditions for decomposition pulses to occur at shorter time scales, whereas rainfall may interact with a dominant shrub undercanopy to control litter mass loss over longer time scales.
Sigmoid orthotopic neobladder after radical cystectomy for bladder tumour: an Indian experience
Authors: Yadav Sher Singh , Sadadukhi Trilok Chand , Sharma Krishnan Kumar , Yadav Ram Gopal , Mathur Rajeev
Published: October 2006

Authors from India describe their experience using a sigmoid orthotopic neobladder in patients who have had a radical cystectomy. They found a fairly high complication rate, with nocturnal incontinence occurring in 97% of their patients. Other complications were relatively few, and the authors felt that their sigmoid neobladder presented a valuable option for diverting urine after radical cystectomy.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the long‐term results of constructing a sigmoid neobladder after radical cystectomy for transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the urinary bladder.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The study included 170 patients with TCC of the bladder and a normal sigmoid colon. After radical cystectomy the neobladder was formed by completely detubularizing an isolated sigmoid colon segment. Subsequently patients were followed by clinical, biochemical, radiological and urodynamic assessments.

RESULTS

Four patients died soon after surgery; the neobladder‐related delayed complications were death in three patients, loss of five renal units, and electrolyte imbalance in five patients. Uretero‐intestinal anastomotic narrowing was another frequent delayed complication. Most (97%) patients had nocturnal incontinence, and most voided with a good stream with a minimal postvoid residual urine volume.

CONCLUSION

The sigmoid neobladder, despite some limitations, is the best option for diverting urine after radical cystectomy.
Benchmarking Australian fixed interest fund performance: finding the optimal factors
Authors: Soucik Victor , Allen David E.
Published: October 2006

In this paper, we analyse the performance of Australian fixed interest managed funds and assess multiple benchmarks through which such performance can be reliably measured. We examine the effectiveness of seven indices of bond performance, as well as factors impacting on fixed interest asset values and, hence, returns, including interest rate fluctuations, economic fundamentals, maturity risk, default risk and cross‐market influences. We test all combinations of factors in cross‐section and time series to find the optimum benchmark. The results, consistent across time, show that a correct combination of a fund‐based market variable, a mixture of interest rate factors and economic factors as well as a proxy for movements in the equity markets yield the optimal benchmark.