bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Proposals of Curvibacter gracilis gen. nov., sp. nov. and Herbaspirillum putei sp. nov. for bacterial strains isolated from well water and reclassification of [Pseudomonas] huttiensis, [Pseudomonas] lanceolata, [Aquaspirillum] delicatum and [Aquaspirillum] autotrophicum as Herbaspirillum huttiense comb. nov., Curvibacter lanceolatus comb. nov., Curvibacter delicatus comb. nov. and Herbaspirillum autotrophicum comb. nov.
Authors: Ding Linxian , Yokota Akira
Published: November 2004

Two strains of curved bacteria, 7-1T and 7-2T, isolated from well water, were phylogenetically examined to determine their taxonomic position. Strain 7-1T is a Gram-negative, slightly curved rod. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that strain 7-1T formed a cluster with [Aquaspirillum] delicatum and [Pseudomonas] lanceolata. It has some similar characteristics to [A.] delicatum and [P.] lanceolata, but has sufficient distance to separate it from other genera. DNA–DNA hybridization analysis, as well as chemotaxonomic and morphological studies, demonstrated that strain 7-1T, [A.] delicatum and [P.] lanceolata belong to a new genus, Curvibacter gen. nov. Strain 7-1T (=IAM 15033T=ATCC BAA-807T) is classified as the type strain of Curvibacter gracilis gen. nov., sp. nov., and [A.] delicatum and [P.] lanceolata are classified as Curvibacter delicatus comb. nov. and Curvibacter lanceolatus comb. nov., respectively. Strain 7-2T is a Gram-negative spirillum. Phylogenetic study based on the 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that it formed a cluster with the members of the genus Herbaspirillum, [Pseudomonas] huttiensis and [Aquaspirillum] autotrophicum. The classification is therefore proposed of strain 7-2T (=IAM 15032T=ATCC BAA-806T) as the type strain of Herbaspirillum putei sp. nov., and [P.] huttiensis and [A.] autotrophicum are transferred to the genus Herbaspirillum as Herbaspirillum huttiense comb. nov. and Herbaspirillum autotrophicum comb. nov., respectively.
Shewanella profunda sp. nov., isolated from deep marine sediment of the Nankai Trough
Authors: Toffin Laurent , Bidault Adeline , Pignet Patricia , Tindall Brian J. , Slobodkin Alexander , Kato Chiaki , Prieur Daniel
Published: November 2004

A novel piezotolerant, mesophilic, facultatively anaerobic, organotrophic, polarly flagellated bacterium (strain LT13aT) was isolated from a deep sediment layer in the Nankai Trough (Leg 190, Ocean Drilling Program) off the coast of Japan. This organism used a wide range of organic substrates as sole carbon and energy sources: pyruvate, glutamate, succinate, fumarate, lactate, citrate, peptone and tryptone. Oxygen, nitrate, fumarate, ferric iron and cystine were used as electron acceptors. Maximal growth rates were observed at a hydrostatic pressure of 10 MPa. Hydrostatic pressure for growth was in the range 0·1–50 MPa. Predominant cellular fatty acids were 16 : 1ω7c, 15 : 0 iso, 16 : 0 and 13 : 0 iso. The G+C content of the DNA was 44·9 mol%. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequences, strain LT13aTwas shown to belong to theγ-Proteobacteria, being closely related toShewanella putrefaciens(98 %),Shewanella oneidensis(97 %) andShewanella baltica(96 %). Levels of DNA homology between strain LT13aTandS. putrefaciens,S. oneidensisandS. balticawere <20 %, indicating that strain LT13aTrepresents a novel species. Genetic evidence and phenotypic characteristics showed that isolate LT13aTconstitutes a novel species of the genusShewanella. Because of the deep origin of the strain, the nameShewanella profundasp. nov. is proposed, with LT13aT(=DSM 15900T=JCM 12080T) as the type strain.
Bacillus asahii sp. nov., a novel bacterium isolated from soil with the ability to deodorize the bad smell generated from short-chain fatty acids
Authors: Yumoto Isao , Hirota Kikue , Yamaga Shingo , Nodasaka Yoshinobu , Kawasaki Tsuneshirou , Matsuyama Hidetoshi , Nakajima Kenji
Published: November 2004

In a screening campaign to isolate strains with the ability to remove the bad smell associated with animal faeces, strain MA001T was isolated from a soil sample obtained from Shizuoka prefecture, Japan. The isolate grew at pH 6–9 but not at pH 10. Cells were Gram-positive, straight rods with peritrichous flagella and produced ellipsoidal spores. The isolate was positive for catalase and oxidase tests but negative for indole production, deamination of phenylalanine and H2S production. The isolate did not produce acid from any carbohydrates tested and could not grow in more than 2 % NaCl. The DNA G+C content was 39·4 mol%. The cellular fatty acids profile consisted of significant amount of C15 branched-chain fatty acids, iso-C15 : 0 and anteiso-C15 : 0. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing indicated that strain MA001T was closely related to Bacillus simplex and Bacillus psychrosaccharolyticus. DNA–DNA hybridization revealed a low relatedness of the isolate to several phylogenetically close neighbours (less than 9 %). On the basis of the phenotypic characteristics observed, phylogenetic data based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing and DNA–DNA relatedness data, it is concluded that the isolate should be classified as representing a novel species, for which the name Bacillus asahii is proposed. The type strain is MA001T (=JCM 12112T=NCIMB 13969T).
Bacillus macyae sp. nov., an arsenate-respiring bacterium isolated from an Australian gold mine
Authors: Santini Joanne M. , Streimann Illo C. A. , Hoven Rachel N. vanden
Published: November 2004

A strictly anaerobic arsenate-respiring bacterium isolated from a gold mine in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, belonging to the genus Bacillus is described. Cells are Gram-positive, motile rods capable of respiring with arsenate and nitrate as terminal electron acceptors using a variety of substrates, including acetate as the electron donor. Reduction of arsenate to arsenite is catalysed by a membrane-bound arsenate reductase that displays activity over a broad pH range. Synthesis of the enzyme is regulated; maximal activity is obtained when the organism is grown with arsenate as the terminal electron acceptor and no activity is detectable when it is grown with nitrate. Mass of the catalytic subunit was determined to be approximately 87 kDa based on ingel activity stains. The closest phylogenetic relative, based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, is Bacillus arseniciselenatis, but DNA–DNA hybridization experiments clearly show that strain JMM-4T represents a novel Bacillus species, for which the name Bacillus macyae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is JMM-4T (=DSM 16346T=JCM 12340T).
Reclassification of Staphylococcus pulvereri Zakrzewska-Czerwińska et al. 1995 as a later synonym of Staphylococcus vitulinus Webster et al. 1994
Authors: Švec Pavel , Vancanneyt Marc , Sedláček Ivo , Engelbeen Katrien , Štětina Vlastimil , Swings Jean , Petráš Petr
Published: November 2004

A polyphasic taxonomic approach was applied to strains of the species Staphylococcus vitulinus and Staphylococcus pulvereri in order to clarify their taxonomic relatedness. Four reference strains, representing both species, and seven strains isolated from human clinical material were characterized by biotyping, ribotyping and SDS-PAGE analysis of whole-cell proteins, and none of the screening approaches allowed the two taxa to be distinguished. DNA–DNA hybridization experiments between four selected representative strains, including the type strains, confirmed that Staphylococcus pulvereri is a later synonym of Staphylococcus vitulinus.
Sphingomonas phyllosphaerae sp. nov., from the phyllosphere of Acacia caven in Argentina
Authors: Rivas Raúl , Abril Adriana , Trujillo Martha E. , Velázquez Encarna
Published: November 2004

Two bacterial strains (FA1 and FA2T) were isolated from the phyllosphere of a leguminous tree,Acacia caven, in central Argentina. The strains were Gram-negative, strictly aerobic, rod-shaped, motile and formed yellow-pigmented colonies on nutrient agar. The two-primer RAPD patterns of the two strains were identical, suggesting that they belong to the same species. The complete 16S rRNA gene sequences of the two strains were obtained and comparisons demonstrated that they cluster phylogenetically with the species of the genusSphingomonas sensu stricto. Strain FA2Twas most closely related (97·6 %) toSphingomonas adhaesiva. 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities to all other establishedSphingomonasspecies ranged from 94·4 % (toSphingomonas echinoides) to 97·6 % (toS. adhaesiva). Strains FA1 and FA2Twere catalase-positive and oxidase-negative. Aesculin was hydrolysed, gelatin and urea were not.β-Galactosidase was produced. From 51 compounds tested 21 were used as single sources of carbon. The major respiratory lipoquinone was ubiquinone-10. The predominant cellular fatty acids were 16 : 0, 18 : 1ω7cand 16 : 1ω7c(from summed feature 3). Hydroxy fatty acids 14 : 0 2-OH and 15 : 0 iso 2-OH were present as well (from summed feature 4). The polar lipids detected in strain FA2Twere diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine, sphingoglycolipid and two unidentified phospholipids. The DNA G+C content of strain FA2Twas 61 mol%. DNA–DNA hybridization experiments showed 27·6 % relatedness between strain FA2TandS. adhaesivaDSM 7418T. Based upon phenotypic and molecular evidence, a novel species of the genusSphingomonasis proposed,Sphingomonas phyllosphaeraesp. nov., with strain FA2T(=LMG 21958T=CECT 5832T) as the type strain.
Arthrobacter psychrophenolicus sp. nov., isolated from an alpine ice cave
Authors: Margesin Rosa , Schumann Peter , Spröer Cathrin , Gounot Anne-Monique
Published: November 2004

On the basis of phenotypic, genotypic and chemotaxonomic characteristics, a novel species belonging to the genusArthrobacteris described. A facultatively psychrophilic bacterium, strain AG31T, was isolated from an alpine ice cave. The aerobic, Gram-positive, non-spore-forming, non-motile strain exhibited a rod–coccus growth cycle and produced a yellow pigment. Good growth and phenol biodegradation occurred at a temperature range of 1–25 °C. Up to 10 mM phenol was utilized as a sole carbon source. Glucose was not assimilated. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene revealed that strain AG31Trepresents a distinct lineage within the genusArthrobacter, being most closely related toArthrobacter sulfureus. The level of DNA–DNA relatedness to the type strain ofA. sulfureuswas 29·9 %. Anteiso-C15 : 0was the predominant fatty acid (72 %). Strain AG31Texhibited A4αl-lys–l-Glu-type peptidoglycan and contained glucose as the only cell-wall sugar. MK-10 was the predominant menaquinone, and the polar lipid pattern consisted of phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol and an unidentified glycolipid. Strain AG31T(=DSM 15454T=LMG 21914T) is assigned as the type strain of a novelArthrobacterspecies,Arthrobacter psychrophenolicussp. nov.
Campylobacter insulaenigrae sp. nov., isolated from marine mammals
Authors: Foster Geoffrey , Holmes Barry , Steigerwalt Arnold G. , Lawson Paul A. , Thorne Petra , Byrer Dorothy E. , Ross Harry M. , Xerry Jacqueline , Thompson Paul M. , Collins Matthew D.
Published: November 2004

Phenotypic and phylogenetic studies were performed on four Campylobacter-like organisms recovered from three seals and a porpoise. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequencing studies demonstrated that the organisms represent a hitherto unknown subline within the genus Campylobacter, associated with a subcluster containing Campylobacter jejuni, Campylobacter coli and Campylobacter lari. DNA–DNA hybridization studies confirmed that the bacteria belonged to a single species, for which the name Campylobacter insulaenigrae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Campylobacter insulaenigrae sp. nov. is NCTC 12927T (=CCUG 48653T).
Clostridium straminisolvens sp. nov., a moderately thermophilic, aerotolerant and cellulolytic bacterium isolated from a cellulose-degrading bacterial community
Authors: Kato Souichiro , Haruta Shin , Cui Zong Jun , Ishii Masaharu , Yokota Akira , Igarashi Yasuo
Published: November 2004

A novel anaerobic, thermophilic and cellulolytic bacterium (strain CSK1T) was isolated from a cellulose-degrading bacterial community. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, strain CSK1T was mapped to cluster III of the genus Clostridium. Strain CSK1T is closely related to Clostridium thermocellum (96·2 %) and Clostridium aldrichii (95·1 %). Strain CSK1T is a non-motile, spore-forming, straight or slightly curved rod. The optimum temperature and initial pH for its growth and cellulose degradation are 50–55 °C and pH 7·5. Strain CSK1T grew under a gas phase containing up to 4 % O2. Phylogenetic and phenotypic analyses support the differentiation of strain CSK1T from its closest relatives. Strain CSK1T therefore represents a novel species, for which the name Clostridium straminisolvens sp. nov. is proposed, with CSK1T (=DSM 16021T=IAM 15070T) as the type strain.
Corynebacterium ciconiae sp. nov., isolated from the trachea of black storks (Ciconia nigra)
Authors: Fernández-Garayzábal J. F. , Vela A. I. , Egido R. , Hutson R. A. , Lanzarot M. P. , Fernández-García M. , Collins M. D.
Published: November 2004

Eight unidentified Gram-positive, rod-shaped organisms were recovered from the tracheas of apparently healthy black storks (Ciconia nigra) and subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic analysis. Based on cellular morphology and biochemical criteria the isolates were tentatively assigned to the genusCorynebacterium, although three of the organisms did not appear to correspond to any recognized species. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequencing studies demonstrated that all of the isolates were phylogenetically members of the genusCorynebacterium. Five strains were genotypically identified as representingCorynebacterium falsenii, whereas the remaining three strains represented a hitherto unknown subline, associated with a small subcluster of species that includesCorynebacterium mastitidisand its close relatives. On the basis of phenotypic and phylogenetic evidence, it is proposed that the unknown isolates from black storks represent a novel species within the genusCorynebacterium, for which theCorynebacterium ciconiaesp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CECT 5779T(=BS13T=CCUG 47525T).
Acetanaerobacterium elongatum gen. nov., sp. nov., from paper mill waste water
Authors: Chen Shuangya , Dong Xiuzhu
Published: November 2004

Two mesophilic anaerobic bacterial strains (Z7Tand Z1) were isolated from waste water sludge of the Xinanzhang paper mill, Beijing, China. The strains were Gram-positive, non-spore-forming and motile. Cells were thin rods (0·2–0·4×4·0–8·0 μm). Growth of the strains was observed at 20–42 °C and pH 5·0–7·5. Both strains hydrolysed gelatin and aesculin and fermented several kinds of mono-, di- and oligosaccharides. The fermentation end products formed from glucose were acetate, ethanol, hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The predominant cellular fatty acids were the branched-chain fatty acids isoC15 : 0(42·83 %) and isoC14 : 0(32·11 %). The DNA G+C contents of strains Z7Tand Z1 were 50·4 and 48·6 mol%, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the isolates represent a new phyletic sublineage within theClostridium leptumrRNA cluster, with <91 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to currently described species. On the basis of polyphasic evidence from this study,Acetanaerobacterium elongatumgen. nov., sp. nov., a novel genus and species, is proposed, with strain Z7T(=JCM 12359T=AS 1.5012T) as the type strain.
Aquiflexum balticum gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel marine bacterium of the Cytophaga–Flavobacterium–Bacteroides group isolated from surface water of the central Baltic Sea
Authors: Brettar Ingrid , Christen Richard , Höfle Manfred G.
Published: November 2004

A bacterial isolate from the Baltic Sea, BA160T, was characterized for its physiological and biochemical features, fatty acid profile, G+C content and phylogenetic position based on 16S rRNA gene sequences. The strain was isolated from the surface water of the central Baltic Sea during the decay of a plankton bloom. Phylogenetic analyses of the 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed a clear affiliation with the family ‘Flexibacteraceae’, and showed the closest phylogenetic relationship with the speciesBelliella balticaandCyclobacterium marinum. The G+C content of the DNA was 38·4 mol%. The strain was red-coloured due to carotenoids, Gram-negative, rod-shaped, and catalase- and oxidase-positive. Growth was observed at salinities from 0 to 6 %, with an optimum around 1·5 %. Temperature for growth ranged from 4 to 40 °C, with an optimum around 30 °C. The fatty acids were dominated by branched-chain fatty acids (>87 %), with a high abundance of iso-C15 : 0(23 %) and anteiso-C15 : 0(19 %). According to its morphology, physiology, fatty acid composition, G+C content and 16S rRNA gene sequence, strain BA160Tis considered to represent a new genus of the family ‘Flexibacteraceae’. Due to its aquatic origin, the nameAquiflexum balticumgen. nov, sp. nov. is suggested for the type species (type strain, BA160T=DSM 16537T=LMG 22565T=CIP 108445T) of the new genus.
Cold shock and regulation of surface protein trafficking convey sensitization to inducers of stage differentiation in Trypanosoma brucei
Authors: Engstler Markus , Boshart Michael
Published: November 2004

Transmission of a protozoan parasite from a vertebrate to invertebrate host is accompanied by cellular differentiation. The signals from the environment that trigger the process are poorly understood. The model parasite Trypanosoma brucei proliferates in the mammalian bloodstream and in the tsetse fly. On ingestion by the tsetse, the trypanosome undergoes a rapid differentiation that is marked by replacement of the variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) coat with GPI-anchored EP and GPEET procyclins. Here we show that a cold shock of ΔT > 15°C is sufficient to reversibly induce high-level expression of the insect stage-specific EP gene in the mammalian bloodstream stages of T. brucei. The 3′-UTR of the EP mRNA is necessary and sufficient for the increased expression. During cold shock, EP protein accumulates in the endosomal compartment in the proliferating, slender, bloodstream stage, whereas the EP is present on the plasma membrane in the quiescent, stumpy, bloodstream stage. Thus, there is a novel developmentally regulated cell surface access control mechanism for a GPI-anchored protein. In addition to inducing EP expression, cold shock results in the acquisition of sensitivity to micromolar concentrations of cis-aconitate and citrate by stumpy but not slender bloodstream forms. The cis-aconitate and citrate commit stumpy bloodstream cells to differentiation to the procyclic stage along with rapid initial proliferation. We propose a hierarchical model of three events that regulate differentiation after transmission to the tsetse: sensing the temperature change, surface access of a putative receptor, and sensing of a chemical cue.
The 6‐49 Lottery Paradox
Authors: Neufeld Eric , Goodwin Scott
Published: November 2004

The paradox of the preface and the lottery paradox are paradoxes of practical certainty sharing certain features. The paradox of the lottery argues that rational agents are at once practically certain that each ticket in a lottery will lose but also practically certain some ticket will win. The paradox of the preface argues that rational agents are at once practically certain that all facts in a written volume are true, yet are also practically certain that some fact is wrong. A difference between real lotteries and prefaces is that a winning lottery ticket is generally an intended feature of the lottery, whereas incorrect facts are generally unintended.

Despite these similarities, Pollock gives a novel argument suggesting that the preface paradox warrants qualitatively different treatment from the lottery, using as a rationale the differences between real lotteries and prefaces. This draws a clear line between the work of Pollock and the work of Kyburg, both of whom have had a prominent influence in recent thinking on nonmonotonic reasoning in AI.

This note shows there are real lotteries with the formal structure of the preface paradox and possibly prefaces with the formal structure of lotteries. The surprising conclusion is that within Pollock's framework, the treatment of any problem with a formal structure resembling the lottery (or the preface) depends on the process by which winning tickets (or publishing errors) are generated. The rationales given by Pollock seem to be unrelated to the actual mechanisms implemented.
Toward a Model Theory of Actions: How Agents do it in Branching Time
Authors: Singh Munindar P.
Published: November 2004

A clear understanding and formalization of actions is essential to computing, and especially so to reasoning about and constructing intelligent agents. Several approaches have been proposed over the years. However, most approaches concentrate on the causes and effects of actions, but do not give general characterizations of actions themselves. A useful formalization of actions would be based on a general, possibly nondiscrete, model of time that allows branching (to capture agents’ choices). A desirable formalization would also allow actions to be of arbitrary duration and would permit multiple agents to act concurrently. We develop a branching‐time framework that allows great flexibility in how time and action are modeled. We motivate and formalize several coherence constraints on our models, which capture some nice intuitions and validate some useful inferences relating actions with time.
Competition Among Middlemen When Buyers and Sellers Can Trade Directly
Authors: Fingleton John
Published: November 2004

This paper examines competition among middlemen when sellers and buyers can trade directly. Direct trade alters the supply and demand facing the middlemen, making them interdependent, and reduces the market power of intermediaries. However, it does not alter the Stahl [1988] result that middlemen may have an incentive to “corner” the market if demand is inelastic. The model is applied to market making in financial markets, vertical integration in goods markets and to the question of bypass in utilities. This discussion suggests that cornering is most likely in markets for essential inputs and that it may enable seller collusion.
Downstream Vertical Foreclosure and Upstream Innovation
Authors: Stefanadis Christodoulos
Published: November 2004

I examine a link between downstream foreclosure and upstream innovation. The crucial ingredient of the model is the presence of dynamic economies of scale upstream in the form of competition in R&D. The reason an upstream supplier has a captive buyer is to force rival suppliers to incur the disadvantages of low‐scale production and discourage them from innovating. The downstream buyer is offered favorable terms and is “convinced” to sign an exclusive supply contract and accept captivity. In this context, downstream foreclosure may reduce consumer welfare.
Does Entry Size Matter? The Impact of the Life Cycle and Technology on Firm Survival
Authors: Agarwal Rajshree , Audretsch David B.
Published: November 2004

A wave of empirical studies has recently emerged showing that smaller‐scale entry is confronted with a lower likelihood of survival than their larger counterparts. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the relationship between size of a firm when entering an industry and the likelihood of survival holds under different technological conditions and across the different stages of the industry life cycle. The empirical evidence suggests that the relationship between firm size and the likelihood of survival is shaped by technology and the stage of the industry life cycle. While the likelihood of survival confronting small entrants is generally less than that confronting their larger counterparts, the relationship does not hold for mature stages of the product life cycle, or in technologically intensive products. In mature industries that are still technologically intensive, entry may be less about radical innovation and possibly more about filling strategic niches, thus negating the impact of entry size on the likelihood of survival.
Small enterprises, fungibility and Indonesian rural family livelihood strategies
Authors: Leinbach Thomas R.
Published: November 2004

One critical aspect of the study of rural development involves the contribution of non–farm employment. In light of the need for employment creation and income expansion, the analysis of small businesses and home enterprises has been understudied. The current paper focuses on these activities in a spatially differentiated sample of transmigrant households from South Sumatra, Indonesia. An overriding objective is the deeper understanding of enterprise activities in terms of economic, social and contextual variables. Statistical inference is used to draw out relationships which contribute to the body of knowledge on enterprises and entrepreneurs in the developing world. In addition qualitative analyses of business experiences are presented using a case study approach with information derived from in–depth household interviews. In this regard the family mode of production is used as a theoretical tool to gain insight and seek more generalisation on the Lipton defined concept of ‘fungibility’.
Embodied Technological Change, Learning‐by‐doing and the Productivity Slowdown*
Authors: Boucekkine Raouf , Del Río Fernando , Licandro Omar
Published: November 2004

The productivity slowdown in the US economy since the first oil shock has recently been associated with a larger decline rate of the relative price of equipment investment and a smaller rate of disembodied technical change. We set up a growth model in which learning‐by‐doing is the engine of both embodied and disembodied technological progress. A shift in the relative efficiency of learning‐by‐doing from the consumption to the investment sector is shown to imply a technological reassignment consistent with the above‐mentioned evidence. This result derives from the interaction between the obsolescence costs inherent in embodiment and the learning‐by‐doing engine.
Bivariate Kurtotic Distributions of Garment Fibre Data
Authors: Hoggart C. J. , Walker S. G. , Smith A. F. M.
Published: November 2004

A bivariate and unimodal distribution is introduced to model an unconventionally distributed data set collected by the Forensic Science Service. This family of distributions allows for a different kurtosis in each orthogonal direction and has a constructive rather than probability density function definition, making conventional inference impossible. However, the construction and inference work well with a Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo analysis.
Recent Changes in the US Business Cycle
Authors: Chauvet Marcelle , Potter Simon
Published: November 2004

The US business cycle expansion that started in March 1991 is the longest on record. In this paper we use statistical techniques to examine whether this expansion is a one‐time unique event or whether its length is a result of a change in the stability of the US economy. Bayesian methods are used to estimate a common factor model that allows for structural breaks in the dynamics of a wide range of macroeconomic variables. We find strong evidence that a reduction in volatility is common to the series examined. Further, the reduction in volatility implies that future expansions will be considerably longer than the historical record.
Energy in the Caspian Sea region in the late 1990s: the end of the boom?
Authors: Von Hirschhausen Christian , Engerer Hella
Published: November 2004

Central Asia (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) have been expected to become important players in the international oil and gas trade. Recent forecasts (1998) still assume net exports of the Caspian region to increase to 75–118 million tonnes of oil and 72–84 billion cubic metres of gas in 2010. However, the real development of the energy sector in these countries, since they gained national independence in 1991, has been dis‐appointing. Oil production so far has hardly recovered from the post‐Soviet slump (52 mt in 1998) and oil exports have remained marginal (18 mt, i.e. just one per cent of international trade flows). The region's gas production fell from 146 bn cu m in 1990 to 80 bn cu m in 1998. Net gas exports diminished from 61 bn cu m in 1990 to a mere 5 bn cu m in 1998.

This paper analyses the development of the Caspian region's energy sector over the last decade. It also looks at the reasons why the high hopes concerning its potential have so far been disappointed:

–The macroeconomic development of all Caspian countries suffered badly after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Furthermore, the incipient recovery after 1996/97 was stifled by the fallout of the financial turmoil in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) after August 1998.

–A number of technical, legal and political obstacles has so far prevented the implementation of large investment projects.

–The restructuring of domestic oil and gas companies is further complicated by socio‐economic obstacles, e.g. overemployment, untransparent systems of governance and the need to diversify regions dominated by a single industry.

In view of the existing structural problems, the paper concludes that a major expansion of the region's energy output and exports is unlikely in the medium term (this paper was submitted to the OPEC Review in January 1999).
Household Energy Demand in Kuwait: an Integrated Two‐level Approach
Authors: Nagy Eltony M. , Hajeeh Mohammad
Published: November 2004

This paper models and estimates energy demand by the household sector using the top‐down or the two‐level approach. The discussion has been developed to include a breakdown of household consumption by fuel type. It also simulates the developed model under three scenarios and presents an analysis of the results. The empirical results indicate that short‐ and long‐run energy consumption and the level of economic activity are interrelated. The model simulation shows that energy consumption varies directly with economic growth. It also illustrates that an increase of 100 per cent in all nominal energy prices will lead to a reduction in household energy demand of 28 per cent by the year 2010. The simulation results clearly demonstrate that the potential for energy conservation exists in Kuwait in the household sector and particularly in the consumption of electricity. Moreover, fuel‐switching will be in favour of oil products only when energy prices increase substantially, as in the case of the extreme scenario.
The Unusual Case of ‘Mrs Sherlock’. Memoir, Identity and the ‘Real’ Woman Private Detective in Twentieth–Century Britain
Authors: Jackson Louise A.
Published: November 2004

Despite a huge popular and literary interest in detective fiction and an extensive academic literature on the history of policing, there have been very few studies of the history of private detectives/investigators. The work of women investigators has proved to be even more marginal. Histories of women and work have tended, for obvious reasons, to concentrate on mainstream industries, occupations and professions rather than the unusual or the unique. Focusing on the memoirs of Annette Kerner, published in the early 1950s, this article examines the range of opportunities that investigation created in the first half of the twentieth century, analysing the interaction of professional, gender and class identities. It highlights, firstly, women's ‘professional’ commitment to an exciting and challenging area of work, exploring their relationships with other occupational groups including women police. Second, it considers how disguise and masquerade presented opportunities for urban exploration and the crossing of traditional boundaries of gender and class. Investigative work developed, historically, at the same time as detective fiction and it has been deeply affected by fictional portrayals. The cultural mantle of ‘the female Sherlock Holmes’ was a hard inheritance to shake off and it suffused women's public presentations of themselves.
Harnessing Autonomous Art: Enlightenment and Aesthetic Education in Johann Adam Bergk’s Die Kunst, Bücher zu lesen
Authors: Bledsoe Robert
Published: November 2004

This paper poses the question of the compatibility between Enlightenment and the concept of an autonoumous work of art that underlies notions of atsthetic education. The analysis focuses on Johann Adam Bergk’s Die Kunst, Bücher zu lesen(1799). Bergk’s work is a self‐help book, for what will come to be called the ’Bildungsbürgertum’, that attempts tp integrate insights from the critics of rationalism into the Enlightenment project. Bergk embraces the rationalism of the Enlightenment in the limits placed upon it by Kant, yet he supplements it with a recognition of the value of genius and imagination that was so important to the Sturm und Drang. To this he adds an arsthetic understanding of a closed work of art that reminds one more of the classical aesthetics of Moritz, Schiller and Goethe. My analysis shows that in order to engage in the search for Enlightenment through an aesthetic education, Bergk assumes a position that leaves us with an inadequate explanation of the transformative potential of literature, but that allows us to see a unique attempt to synthesise ideas from the Enlightenment and Romanticism.
Art As Religious Commitment: Kafka’s Debt to Kierkegaardian Ideas and their Impact on his Late Stories
Authors: Eilttä Leena
Published: November 2004

Although Kafka’s reception of Kierkegaardian ideas has received much critical attention the critics have so far paid little heed to similarities between Kierke‐gaard’s religious and Kafka’s aesthetic views. My intention in the following is to show that in spite of Kafka’s critical remarks on his philosophy, Kierkegaard’s definition of a religious person influenced his description of the artist’s existence in Erstes Leid (1922), Ein Hungerkünstler (1922) and Josefine, die Sängerin oder das Volk der Mäuse (1924). In these stories Kafka turns Kierkegaard’s ideas about spiritual inwardness and passionate attitude towards religious life into artistic inwardness and passionate attitude towards art. He also describes how devotion that these artists feel towards their art leads to their solitude and how their lives reflect suffering, doubt and despair which is similar to Kierkegaard’s description of religious suffering. Kafka’s critical remarks on Kierkegaard’s philosophy should therefore be understood as a clear rejection of Kierkegaard’s Protestant theology, although these same ideas gave him inspiration to formulate his views on the artist’s existence.
’Integration’, ’Solidarität ’ and the Discourses of National Identity in the 1998 Bundestag Election Manifestos
Authors: Gould Robert
Published: November 2004

This paper examines the discourses of German identity in the manifestos of the parties elected to the Bundestag in September 1998, and analyses particularly the functions of the terms ‘Integration’ and ‘Solidarität’ as they apply (or not) to non‐German residents, German citizens, ethnic Germans and European integration. It also examines in a coda the uses of ‘Integration’ in the commentary accompanying the March 1999 bill to change the German citizenship laws. It concludes that within the two discourses of identity (the nation as an open community of rights or a closed community of ethnicity and custom) ‘Integration’ is a semantically empty verbal marker, used by all parties, around which to express attitudes of acceptance or covert rejection of non‐German groups in the central process of (re‐)defining ‘Deutsche/r’. ‘Solidarität’, on the other hand, is reserved by some parties for use in connection only with Germans. It is subjected to explicit re‐definition by one party in an attempt to claim the word for its particular ideology. Consequently the paper proposes that the concept of ‘Begriffe besetzen’ can be applied to ‘Solidarität’ but not to ‘Integration’, and situates these phenomena in relation to recent writing on political language.
Corporate Performance of Mixed Enterprises
Authors: Mok Henry M.K. , Chau Sandy S.M.
Published: November 2004

We delineate Hong Kong listed corporations into three levels of privatization: the fully privatized blue chips, semi‐privatized red chips and the least privatized H shares. Both H shares and red chips are mixed enterprises that mimic private ownership with joint government and private stock ownership. We find that mixed enterprises are less profitable and lower valued than the fully privatized blue chips, but red chips are more efficient and perform better than blue chips when market confidence swings to their favor. Regression analysis suggests that increased stock ownership by the government and increased emolument incentives are counterproductive to profitability, especially in bad economic times of the 1997–98 Asian financial crisis.
The Determinants of Credit Ratings in the United Kingdom Insurance Industry
Authors: Adams Mike , Burton Bruce , Hardwick Philip
Published: November 2004

This paper examines the determinants of external credit ratings attained by insurance firms in the United Kingdom (UK) and of the likelihood that insurers will have such an assessment. Using panel data relating to A.M. Best‐rated and Standard and Poor's (S&P)‐rated insurers over the period 1993–1997, a trichotomous logit model and an ordered probit model with sample selection are employed to show that the factors which influence the likelihood of having external credit assessments not only vary between the two agencies but also differ from those which determine the ratings themselves. Our results are shown to be of potential interest to participants in the insurance industry and policy‐makers alike.
Does Working Capital Management Affect Profitability of Belgian Firms?
Authors: Deloof Marc
Published: November 2004

The relation between working capital management and corporate profitablity is investigated for a sample of 1,009 large Belgian non‐financial firms for the 1992‐1996 period. Trade credit policy and inventory policy are measured by number of days accounts receivable, accounts payable and inventories, and the cash conversion cycle is used as a comprehensice measure of working capital management. The results suggest that managers can increase corporate profitablity by reducing the number of days accounts receivable and inventories. Less profitable firms wait longer to pay their bills.
Scale and the Scale Effect in Market‐based Accounting Research
Authors: Easton Peter D. , Sommers Gregory A.
Published: November 2004

The nature of the data we usually encounter in market‐based accounting research is such that the results of the regressions of market capitalization on financial statement variables (referred to ‘price‐levels’ regressions) are driven by a relatively small subset of the very largest firms in the sample. We refer to this overwhelming influence of the largest firms as the ‘scale effect’. This effect is more than heteroscedasticity. It arises due to the non‐linearity in the relation between market capitalization and the financial statement variables. We present the case that scale is market capitalization rather than a correlated omitted variable. Since scale is market capitalization, we advocate its use as a deflator in a regression estimated using weighted least squares. This regression overcomes the scale effect and the resultant regression residuals are more economically meaningful. Christie's (1987) depiction of scale is the same as ours but he advocates the use of the returns regression specification in order to avoid scale effects. We agree that returns regressions should be used unless the research question calls for a price‐levels regression.
Glamour Acquirers, Method of Payment and Post‐acquisition Performance: The UK Evidence
Authors: Sudarsanam Sudi , Mahate Ashraf A.
Published: November 2004

We study the effect of different acquirer types, defined by financial status and their payment methods, on their short and long‐term performance, in terms of abnormal returns using a variety of benchmark models. For a sample of 519 UK acquirers during 1983–95, we examine the abnormal return performance of acquirers based on their pre‐bid financial status as either glamour or value acquirers using both the price to earnings (PE) ratio and market to book value ratio (MTBV). Value acquirers outperform glamour acquirers in the three‐year post‐acquisition period. One interpretation is that glamour firms have overvalued equity and tend to exploit their status and use it more often than cash to finance their acquisitions. As we move from glamour to value acquirers, there is a greater use of cash. Our results are broadly consistent with those for the US reported by Rau and Vermaelen (1998). However, in contrast to their study, we find stronger support for the method of payment hypothesis than for extrapolation hypothesis. Cash acquirers generate higher returns than equity acquirers, irrespective of their glamour/ value status. Our conclusions, based on four benchmark models for abnormal returns, suggest that stock markets in both the US and the UK may share a similar proclivity for over‐extrapolation of past performance, at least in the bid period. They also tend to reassess acquirer performance in the post‐acquisition period and correct this overextrapolation. These results have implications for the behavioural aspects of capital markets in both countries.
Stock Market Reaction to the Appointment of Outside Directors
Authors: Lin Steve , Pope Peter F. , Young Steven
Published: November 2004

This paper examines the UK stock market's reaction to the appointment of outside (non‐executive) board members. Tests conducted using a sample of 714 appointments reported by EXTEL between 1 July, 1993 and 31 December, 1996, indicate a strong interaction between appointee characteristics and the magnitude of the agency problem: the share price reaction to outside director appointments is significantly more favourable when board ownership is low and the appointee possesses strong ex ante monitoring incentives. In contrast, the appointment of independent and manager‐affiliated outside directors does not appear to benefit shareholders on average, even in the presence of serious agency problems.
Measuring Pricing Inefficiencies Under Stressful Market Conditions
Authors: Cheng Louis , White Jay
Published: November 2004

This study examines the mispricing and time between arbitrage trades of the Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures and index options contracts under various stressed market conditions. Ex‐ante trading profits and differences in time between trades across up and down as well as stressed and non‐stressed markets are used to measure how well the derivative markets perform under emotional distress. We find evidence of illiquidity in stressed and down markets. In stressful markets and down markets, liquidity suppliers are less likely to trade against the informed traders. This, in turn, leads to longer time between trades and higher arbitrage profits.
Becoming ‘Unionate’? From Staff Association to National Union: The ‘Industrialisation’ of University Staff 1983-1993
Authors: O’Brien John
Published: November 2004

This paper traces the history of the major unions that covered Australian academic staff--from the registration of the Federation of Australian University Staff and the Union of Australian College Academics in the federal industrial jurisdiction in the mid-1980s to the formation of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) as an ‘industry’ union incorporating general staff in 1983. It builds on work done on the collective organisation of academic staff from 1949 to 1983. The paper discusses the notion of ‘unionateness’ and argues that the emergence of the NTEU is a product of changes in state policy, both in terms of industrial relations and in the structural adjustment of higher education. It contests the view that its emergence is a product of simplistic notion of the ‘industrialisation’ of the higher education sector.
Part-Time Employment, Gender and Employee Participation in Illawarra Workplaces
Authors: Markey Raymond , Kowalczyk Jo , Pomfret Simon
Published: November 2004

The growth in non-standard forms of employment has major implications for the effectiveness of employee participation mechanisms in the workplace, whether direct or indirect (representative). Representative forms of participation, such as consultative committees in particular, do not seem as easily accessible to casual or part-time employees. Since the majority of part-time and casual employees are female, women may also be disproportionately excluded from participation by their employment status. However, the literature on participation rarely addresses these major contextual aspects. This paper analyses survey data from the Illawarra Regional Workplace Industrial Relations Survey (IRWIRS) to test the hypothesis that part-time employees’ access to participatory mechanisms in the workplace is less than that enjoyed by their full-time colleagues, and finds that this is confirmed for the Illawarra region.
Personnel Selection Procedures and Invasion of Privacy
Authors: Stone‐Romero Eugene F. , Stone Dianna L. , Hyatt David
Published: November 2004

We conducted two studies on the perceived invasiveness of 12 personnel selection procedures. In Study 1, indirect scaling methods were used to examine the degree to which 84 employed adults in the United States perceived such procedures to be invasive of privacy. Results showed the application blank was the least invasive of privacy and the lie detector was the most invasive of privacy. In Study 2, data from 149 (mostly employed) adults in the Northeast were used to assess relationships between invasiveness and several hypothesized antecedents. Correlation analyses showed that invasiveness was predicted by several factors (e.g., the extent to which the procedures erroneously discredited job applicants). Implications for personnel selection practices in work organizations are considered.
Social and Political Dimensions of Privacy
Authors: Westin Alan F.
Published: November 2004

This article provides a framework for analyzing privacy in modern societies, defining information privacy and describing three levels that structure the values assigned to privacy. After describing a contemporary privacy baseline (1945–1960), these concepts are applied to social and political privacy developments in three contemporary eras of steadily growing privacy concerns and societal responses across citizen‐government, employee‐employer, and consumer‐business relationships in 1961–1979, 1980–1989, and 1990–2002. Each period is described in terms of new technology applications, changing social climates, and organizational and legal developments. Effects of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on privacy balances are analyzed and predictions for future privacy developments are presented. The relationship of articles in this issue to the author's framework is noted throughout.
Preaching the Word in the Context of Increasing Perplexity and Hopelessness
Authors: Melanchthon Monica Jyotsna
Published: November 2004

Abstract:  This article highlights the complexity of preaching the word in the caste‐ridden context of India. Preaching in India has been largely individualistic and emphasizes a personal approach to the Christian faith resulting in a church that is passive and ineffective, especially in its approach and response to issues in the social realm. What is needed is a reading of the Word that enables individuals and communities to recognize God active in creative and transformative struggle and thereby enables the participation of the community in the struggle for life in all its fullness. Unfortunately, tensions between the varied roles of the pastor, doctrinal misunderstandings, and a caste‐ridden church have hindered pastors from preaching the Word that empowers people to seek their liberation and that of the community.