bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Electrical properties of nanoceramics reinforced with ropes of single-walled carbon nanotubes
Authors: Zhan Guo-Dong , Kuntz Joshua D. , Garay Javier E. , Mukherjee Amiya K.
Published: August 2003

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were used to convert insulating nanoceramics to metallically conductive composites. Dense SWCNT/Al2O3 nanocomposites with CNT contents ranging from 5.7 to 15 vol % and with nanocrystalline alumina matrices have been fabricated by spark-plasma-sintering that retains the integrity of SWCNT in the matrix. The conductivity of these composites increases with increasing content of CNTs. The conductivity has been increased to 3345 S/m in the 15 vol % SWCNT/Al2O3 nanocomposite at room temperature. This is an increase of 13 orders of magnitude over pure alumina and of more than 735% over previously reported results in CNT–ceramic composites.
Yb
3+
:
Sc
2
O
3
ceramic laser
Authors: Lu J. , Bisson J. F. , Takaichi K. , Uematsu T. , Shirakawa A. , Musha M. , Ueda K. , Yagi H. , Yanagitani T. , Kaminskii A. A.
Published: August 2003

A solid-state laser material based on highly transparent Yb3+-doped scandia (Sc2O3) ceramic was developed using nanocrystalline technology and the nonpress vacuum sintering method. Continuous wave laser oscillations were obtained at around 1041 and 1094 nm using a 2.5 at. % Yb3+:Sc2O3 ceramic plate. Broadband lasing spectra were observed.
Molecular basis for the discrimination of repressive methyl-lysine marks in histone H3 by Polycomb and HP1 chromodomains
Authors: Fischle Wolfgang , Wang Yanming , Jacobs Steven A. , Kim Youngchang , Allis C. David , Khorasanizadeh Sepideh
Published: August 2003

On the histone H3 tail, Lys 9 and Lys 27 are both methylation sites associated with epigenetic repression, and reside within a highly related sequence motif ARKS. Here we show that the chromodomain proteins Polycomb (Pc) and HP1 (heterochromatinprotein1) are highly discriminatory for binding to these sites in vivo and in vitro. InDrosophilaS2 cells, and on polytene chromosomes, methyl-Lys 27 and Pc are both excluded from areas that are enriched in methyl-Lys 9 and HP1. Swapping of the chromodomain regions of Pc and HP1 is sufficient for switching the nuclear localization patterns of these factors, indicating a role for their chromodomains in both target site binding and discrimination. To better understand the molecular basis for the selection of methyl-lysine binding sites, we solved the 1.8 Å structure of the Pc chromodomain in complex with a H3 peptide bearing trimethyl-Lys 27, and compared it with our previously determined structure of the HP1 chromodomain in complex with a H3 peptide bearing trimethyl-Lys 9. The Pc chromodomain distinguishes its methylation target on the H3 tail via an extended recognition groove that binds five additional residues preceding the ARKS motif.
Structural basis for specific binding of Polycomb chromodomain to histone H3 methylated at Lys 27
Authors: Min Jinrong , Zhang Yi , Xu Rui-Ming
Published: August 2003

The chromodomain ofDrosophilaPolycomb protein is essential for maintaining the silencing state of homeotic genes during development. Recent studies suggest that Polycomb mediates the assembly of repressive higher-order chromatin structures in conjunction with the methylation of Lys 27 of histone H3 by a Polycomb group repressor complex. A similar mechanism in heterochromatin assembly is mediated by HP1, a chromodomain protein that binds to histone H3 methylated at Lys 9. To understand the molecular mechanism of the methyl-Lys 27 histone code recognition, we have determined a 1.4-Å-resolution structure of the chromodomain of Polycomb in complex with a histone H3 peptide trimethylated at Lys 27. The structure reveals a conserved mode of methyl-lysine binding and identifies Polycomb-specific interactions with histone H3. The structure also reveals a dPC dimer in the crystal lattice that is mediated by residues specifically conserved in the Polycomb family of chromodomains. The dimerization of dPC can effectively account for the histone-binding specificity and provides new mechanistic insights into the function of Polycomb. We propose that self-association is functionally important for Polycomb.
A user‐oriented evaluation of digital libraries: case study the “electronic journals” service of the library and information service of the University of Patras, Greece
Authors: Monopoli Maria , Nicholas David , Georgiou Panagiotis , Korfiati Marina
Published: August 2003

Provides an evaluation of the use of the electronic journals service of the library and information service of the University of Patras, Greece. Asks who these electronic journals service users are, how often they use the service, what their reasons for use are, where their access points for use are, and which search methods and services they use. In addition, invites users to choose between an electronic and print journal title subscription and indicate some factors that would discourage them from accessing an electronic journals service.
Effects of the shroud on aerodynamic performance in helicopter shrouded tail rotor system
Authors: Xu Guo‐Hua , Wang Shi‐Cun
Published: August 2003

Gives a momentum theory analysis to analyze the effects of the shroud on aerodynamic performance in a helicopter shrouded tail rotor system for hover and side wind states. As the key to the analysis, introduces a thrust distribution factor to represent the ratio of the shroud thrust to the total thrust of the shrouded rotor. With the help of the factor, fully derives the relations of the thrust, power and disk area for a shrouded rotor. Discusses the effects of the airflow velocity on the thrust gains of the shroud. Makes comparisons between a shrouded rotor and an isolated rotor for different cases and analyzes the variations of the thrust and power of a shrouded rotor with the thrust distribution factor. Gives several conclusions.
Cockpit and mission system modernization
Authors: Anttila Don , DeLong Kyle , Skaggs Mike , White Scott
Published: August 2003

An adaptable, integrated full glass cockpit and flight management system has been developed and is in production for application in multiple Sikorsky rotorcraft. The entire system was conceived, designed, tested and delivered in an unusually short time period. A systematic process was used to define the avionics system attributes, major capabilities, and cost targets up‐front and track them during the development program. First flight was achieved 12 months after contract start, and production deliveries commenced 5 months after first flight. The integrated glass cockpit has accumulated more than 9,000 flight hours in customer operations to date. This flexible system architecture allowed the team of Sikorsky and Rockwell Collins to reuse several blocks of existing military and civil application software, and to interface the various Avionics subsystems using industry standards. This proved to be a critical factor in allowing us to meet the compressed design and development schedule.
Enhancement of the properties of austenitic stainless steel by nickel diffusion coatings
Authors: Abdel Hamid Z. , Abbas M.A. , Gomaa N.
Published: August 2003

Austenitic stainless steels (ASS) have inadequate resistance to stress corrosion cracking (SCC). There are several ways to minimise the risk of SCC. One method is to increase the nickel content of the ASS. Electroless and electroplated costings were applied to ASS, Type 304, in order to produce a thin layer of nickel on its surface. Also during the present study, a SCC test was carried out at constant load in a tensile‐testing machine. The results showed that a thin layer of austenitic phase that had a high concentration of nickel and chromium was produced. This layer had good corrosion resistance compared to that of the base material and contained lower concentrations of Cr and Ni. The results obtained in these experiments reveal that austenitic steel to which the electroless coating process had been applied showed improved resistance to SCC, due to the presence of precipitates of the hard phase, Ni3P, which retarded localised breakdown of the oxide film.
Conference summary and future directions
Authors: Scott Peter
Published: August 2003

Summarizes the goals of the e‐tlas conference and goes on the examine the recommendations of the various working groups. Suggests that information obtained at the conference could be implemented in libraries and museums.
A study of current practices of selected libraries in cataloguing electronic journals
Authors: Sattar ChaPudhry Abdus , Periasamy Makeswary
Published: August 2003

MARC records and online policy documents of selected libraries were reviewed to study the approaches taken by libraries worldwide to catalogue electronic journals. In general, libraries catalogue those electronic journals that are subscribed by them on priority basis. Most of them annotate the e‐journal to the print record, some prefer to catalogue them separately, while the majority of the libraries adopt both approaches. While most of the libraries studied prefer full record, cataloguing e‐journals separately with a brief record (at least containing MARC fields 245, 500, and 856) that identifies and locates the resource seems to be the best practice.
Optimization of biocides for metal‐working fluids: factors which affect IPBC performance in metal‐working
Authors: Rioux M. , Ciccognani D.
Published: August 2003

Iodo propynyl butyl carbamate (IPBC) has been used as a fungicide in metal‐working fluid formulations for a number of years. While traditional laboratory evaluations show excellent performance, results in the field are often disappointing. An in‐depth review of the biocide’s physical and chemical characteristics has helped us predict these performance differences better.
Element analysis in lubricants using polarised X‐rays
Authors: Schramm R.
Published: August 2003

The use of energy‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence in the oil industries increases continuously. The use of polarized X‐rays especially increased enormously the performance of this technology. The reduction of background decreases the limits of detection by up to a factor of 10 in comparison with the traditional technology. Detection limits (in 3σ) of 1ppm are achieved for sulphur and chlorine. Generally the simultaneous multi‐element analysis allows the determination of all elements between Mg and U. Screening analysis with automatic matrix detection enables the quantitative analysis of waste or used oil with unknown water content. The high performance of this technology is proved by several applications.
Appraising the performance of library staff in a Ghanaian academic library
Authors: Martey A.K.
Published: August 2003

Reports a study of procedures employed in staff appraisal in a Ghanaian university library over a period of 16 years. A total of 650 appraisal forms filled by 25 assessors in the Balme Library, University of Ghana were examined. The conclusions drawn indicate that the performance procedures used did not provide the information required for management decision making. Recommendations are made as to how the procedure could be made effective and efficient.
Librarians wanted: a staff development program designed to solve recruiting woes
Authors: Engel Debra , Huang Jie , Reiss Fred
Published: August 2003

The University of Oklahoma Libraries (Norman, Oklahoma, USA) recently launched a staff development strategy to recruit new librarians by promoting staff currently enrolled in a graduate library science program. Paid at a rate higher than paraprofessionals, but lower than traditional faculty, these employees are given professional duties for no more than two years. Appointees are expected to continue steady progress toward completion of a Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) degree. This strategy targets the “best and brightest” students for recruitment into permanent positions after their graduation and encourages paraprofessionals to enter the profession. It also identifies one potential solution to recruitment problems in all types of libraries in the USA as the profession confronts serious shortages in trained librarians.
Job sharing in academic libraries at the senior management level: experiences of job sharing at deputy and director level
Authors: Brocklebank Jackie , Whitehouse Heather
Published: August 2003

Describes the practical experiences of job sharing at deputy and director level in an academic library. Details of applying as a job share are given, how the job is organised, strategic responsibilities and managing relationships within the academic context. The importance of good communication is stressed and illustrated with examples of good practice. Barriers to job sharing are discussed, together with the disadvantages and advantages. The authors’ positive experience of job sharing should encourage employees and employers to explore more flexible ways of working, particularly in view of the shortage of suitable candidates at senior manager level in libraries.
Brooks Automation expands control capability of precision industrial robots
Authors: Hosek Martin , Bleigh Timothy
Published: August 2003

Increasing complexity and aggressive throughput performance of precision robotic manipulators for semiconductor and flat‐panel‐display manufacturing applications require innovative control system architectures and advanced trajectory planning and motion control techniques. Brooks Automation, a global supplier of integrated automation solutions for the semiconductor and flat‐panel‐display manufacturing industries, has developed a number of advances that accelerate technological development in these areas of robot control in an effort to set new industry standards in performance and reliability.
The TERESA project : from space research to ground tele‐echography
Authors: Vieyres Pierre , Poisson Gérard , Courrèges Fabien , Mérigeaux Olivier , Arbeille Philippe
Published: August 2003

Ultrasound examinations represent one of the major diagnostic modalities of future healthcare. They are currently used to support medical space research but require a high skilled operator for both probe positioning on the patient's skin and image interpretation. TERESA is a tele‐echography project that proposes a solution to bring astronauts and remotely located patients on ground quality ultrasound examinations despite the lack of a specialist at the location of the wanted medical act.
Eugen Dühring in the perspective of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
Authors: Krause Günter
Published: August 2003

Describes how the work of Eugen Dühring was regarded by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It is underlined that the preoccupation of Marx and Engels with Dühring was accorded central importance in the history of Marxism. Shows the two phases of serious mutual attention between the protagonists of this relationship. The first phase dated from the year 1867/1868 when Dühring reviewed the first volume of Marx’s Capital. It is outlined that this phase has been comparatively little examined in dogma‐historical research up to now. Focuses on the second and most intensive phase of the engagement of Marx and Engels with Dühring covering the period from the middle of the 1870s to the start of the 1880s. Examines the climax represented by the Engels’ polemic Herrn Eugen Dühring‘s Revolution in Science and standing in the history of Marxism as the programmatic characteristic of the relationship of Marx and Engels to Dühring. Highlights the political‐ideological premises determining the Dühring debate.
Attitudes towards internationalisation in the library sector: the case of Danish librarians and library managers
Authors: Pors Niels O. , Gustav Johannsen Carl
Published: August 2003

This paper contains an analysis of the international orientation among Danish librarians and directors. The empirical base for the paper is two comprehensive surveys of librarians and directors. Through cluster analysis, in total, four groups of librarians and directors are formed with a distinctly different international or non‐international orientation and the differences between the groups are characterised. The discussion of the results takes place in relation to Hofstede’s theory of cultural differences. Parts of his theory can be confirmed through the analysis, and it is evident that a specific Scandinavian leadership style exists, with which library managers conform. It is demonstrated that internationally‐oriented librarians differ from non‐internationally‐ or nationally‐oriented librarians in some of their attitudes towards unions and the role of the library in society.
[Image] [Image] [Image] [Link] [Link] [Link]: inaccessible Web design from the perspective of a blind librarian
Authors: Lewis Valerie , Klauber Julie
Published: August 2003

This article looks at Web design accessibility from the perspective of a librarian who is legally blind. It describes her experiences using computers and the Internet with screen‐reading and screen‐enlarging software, and explains the impact of constantly changing Internet technology and inaccessible Web design on the efficiency with which she assists patrons. The article presents real‐life examples of the obstacles that inaccessible Web design has presented to her and to her patrons who are blind or visually impaired, and offers suggestions to help librarians make their own libraries’ Web sites accessible.
Mission statements exposed
Authors: Sufi Tahir , Lyons Howard
Published: August 2003

In the strategic management literature mission statements are said to be an inseparable part of corporate strategy. It has been argued that they have an impact on the performance of the organization, yet the evidence is unclear. This study is an investigation into the relationship between the financial success of hospitality enterprises and their mission statements. Mission statements of 30 top hospitality enterprises were evaluated. This sample is of significance as it represents some of the largest corporations, and about 200 of the largest brands in the hospitality industry. The mission statements were scored and these scores were tested for correlation with three financial performance indicators. The results indicated that while there was a statistically significant correlation between the mission statements and the annual turnover, there was no significant correlation with the net profit margin or the return on equity. The article concludes by considering how firms may improve their performance by better managing their mission statements.
Unleashing the power of finance
Authors: Wright Bruce J.
Published: August 2003

The finance and accounting processes tend to be mistakenly viewed only as necessary functions of month‐end closing and historical focus. When finance becomes recognized as a value‐adding process ‐ creating and focusing information to facilitate achieving the goals and objectives of the corporation, its impact on the bottom line will be fully realized. The key to revising this view of finance is to change the focus and processes of the finance and accounting functions. The author describes the changes in these functions that can be more supportive of meeting future business challenges.
Russell L. Ackoff, iconoclastic management authority, advocates a “systemic” approach to innovation
Authors: Allio Robert J.
Published: August 2003

Think tank dynamo Russell L. Ackoff advocates that managers scrap the way they normally approach problem solving in general and innovation in particular. He champions a process called “synthetic” thinking, a way of thinking about and designing a system that derives the properties and behavior of its parts from the functions required of the whole. His suggestions to managers for promoting creativity, innovation and better strategy are: (1) By understanding what’s happening inside and outside the organization, then by developing a vision of what the organization could be within the emerging culture and environment. Next by preparing a strategy for reaching or moving closer to that vision. (2) Through designs that lead require creativity. Creativity involves a three‐step process. The first step is to identify assumptions that you make which prevent you from seeing the alternatives to the ones that you currently see. These are self‐imposed constraints. The second step is to deny these constraining assumptions. The third is to explore the consequences of the denials. Creativity of individuals can be enhanced by practice, particularly under the guidance of one who is creative. (3) By becoming aware of the nature of the fundamental intellectual transformations now taking place and what their implications are for the future of business and management generally. And by attaching themselves to people who show creative thinking and engage with them in the process of redesigning, from scratch and with no constraints, the systems they manage.
Demand innovation: GM’s OnStar case
Authors: Slywotzky Adrian , Wise Richard
Published: August 2003

A new form of business innovation, a response to the current challenges to growth initiatives, is being pioneered by a handful of farsighted companies. These companies have shifted their approach from product innovation to demand innovation. Such new‐growth businesses focus on growing new value by discovering new forms of demand. For example, in the mid‐1990s, engineers within several GM business units realized that technological advances might enable the creation of a new business focused on the needs of drivers. The crucial factors in GM’s success have been its ability to look at customers’ driving needs from a fresh perspective and its decision to serve these needs through a business design that leverages GM’s unique hidden asset – its unequaled installed base of vehicles.
A qualitative study of the influencing factors on the decision process for acquiring ERP software
Authors: Verville Jacques C. , Halingten Alannah
Published: August 2003

This paper focuses on the influences and characteristics of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) acquisition process (ERPAP) that were found during a multiple‐case study of four organizations that had acquired ERP solutions. From organizational buying behaviour (OBB), Webster and Wind’s (Prentice‐Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1972) served as the basis for categorizing the influences that surfaced during the study. While Webster and Wind’s model presents a broad scope of variables that might affect organizational buying without distinguishing those variables that are dependent on specific buying situations, the research herein highlights variables (influences and characteristics) specific to the buying situation for ERP software packages. Numerous influences emerged, among the most notable of which was the influence of users. Five prominent characteristics were also noted. A future study of these influences could examine the extent to which they impact the ERPAP and could serve to help organizations minimize those that are shown to hinder it.
Case analyses of the “3 Rs” of information technology benefit management
Authors: Fink Dieter
Published: August 2003

Investments in information technology (IT) are large and growing and require management attention. This study investigated processes associated with IT benefit management (ITBM) to realise benefits during the development of a new system, to retrofit ITBM processes against an existing system, and to review ITBM processes against an existing system without retrofitting. The case study approach was used to ameliorate the shortage of qualitative research in IT value. The study identified key processes required during IT benefit realisation, changes in processes during retrofitting and strong and weak processes during review. All three approaches were found to be operational effective with the review approach having some strategic effectiveness. Operational effectiveness ensured that social subsystem costs and benefits and complementary assets were identified. To make the review approach more strategically effective requires definitive IT goals to be set. The application of the “3Rs” during case analyses enabled success factors for ITBM to be identified.
Developing a criteria‐based quality framework for measuring value
Authors: Dixon Pat , Pickard Alison , Robson Heather
Published: August 2003

If information professionals are to measure the value of their services, they must talk directly to users and listen to what they have to say about their lives, as well as measuring the service in terms of value for money. Whilst acknowledging the necessity of data concerned with processes and procedures, the concept of value can only be fully explored by going to the individual user directly, within a specific context. Researchers must make the anecdotal believable, trustworthy, worthy of being considered alongside other types of hard data, and a constructivist approach to collecting, analysing and presenting qualitative data can be used effectively to achieve this. The UK government has pledged to deliver public services to meet the needs of citizens, not the convenience of service providers, by involving and meeting the needs of all different groups in society. Its Best Value review represents one of the most far reaching challenges facing those responsible for local services. Can its framework provide the flexibility to support all those who have a stake in measuring value of library and information services?
Building management and maintenance in the new millennium
Authors: Daniel Vinod
Published: August 2003

Investigates conservation problems facing cultural collections in libraries and museums. Provides recommended levels of environmental control and a suggested risk assessment of collections. Concludes that conserving items may not be possible for small museums.
The Incidence and Consequence of Worker Displacement in Australia
Authors: Green Colin , Leeves Gareth
Published: August 2003

This paper analyses displacement risk and its consequences for re‐employment in Australia using data from the Survey of Employment and Unemployment Patterns (SEUP). We confirm overseas evidence that older workers and those from lower skill occupations are, in general, at a greater risk of displacement. By contrast, unlike US studies, no systematic link between tenure in job and displacement risk was found. Consistent with previous Australian research (Borland and McDonald, 2001) we find that males face a higher incidence of displacement than females. Decomposition of the gender difference revealed that industry effects are an important source of disparity in displacement rates. Analysis of re‐employment hazards indicated that workers displaced from manufacturing faced increased periods of non‐employment. Hence, it appears that there is a role for provisions to help workers in industries where the effects of structural reform have been concentrated (Kletzer, 1998).
Apocalypse Forever? A Comment
Authors: O'Hagan Jacinta
Published: August 2003

This paper engages with that by William Tow. By discussing the contentious aspects of the interpretive traditions used in Tow's article and further interrogating the distinction between hard power and soft power, it draws attention to the contested nature of international relations theory in general, as well as to the need for a diversity of approaches to the terrorism question in particular. It questions the continuing integrity of nation‐states and the ideas of rational action and proportional response. It elaborates some of the methodological problems concerning the respective priority of interpretation or prediction. Its conclusion is less sanguine than Tow's because it indicates that the causes of violence and resentment remain unaddressed; nonetheless endorsing the need for cooperative political processes.
Globalisation, Security and International Order After 11 September
Authors: Beeson Mark , Bellamy Alex J.
Published: August 2003

This article advances the discussion of the contentious question of links between global inequalities of power and violent responses, focussing on globalisation and non‐inclusive forms of governance. Drawing on international political economy, the article criticises the “nationstate‐centrism” in much political discourse, suggesting that both authority and security need to be reconsidered — to account for less plausible national borders and controls. It suggests that “human security” (including issues of development and equality) ought to replace “national security” as the primary focus of public policy. It draws attention to the intractability of difference, insisting that the terrorism of 2001 has complex transnational antecedents. Realist approaches to international order have become part of a problem to be overcome through further intellectual debate.
Democratic Deficit, the Global Trade System and 11 September
Authors: Capling Ann
Published: August 2003

This short paper examines the Howard government's engagement with the World Trade Organization through the prism of two events: the S11 anti‐globalisation protests and the 11 September terrorist attacks against the United States. Several policy dilemmas are highlighted including: concerns about the accountability and legitimacy of global political institutions (democratic deficit); the government's reluctance to expand public participation in trade policy‐making; and the preference for bilateral rather than multilateral trade agreements. Together these developments have undermined Australia's commitment to multilateralism and a “rules‐based” system for international trade, and have subjected Australia to the asymmetries of power that were traditionally mitigated by global political institutions.
Reconciliation and Political Legitimacy: The Old Australia and the New South Africa
Authors: Muldoon Paul
Published: August 2003

In both Australia and South Africa a state‐sponsored discourse of reconciliation has been deployed as a tool of national integration and state building. This usage has tended to encourage a politics of selective memory that runs contrary to the spirit of reconciliation as recognition of different views of the nation. This article seeks to recover (and promote) a more positive concept of reconciliation by treating it as a discursive, democratic space in which different versions of the national story can be acknowledged and negotiated. The cases of Australia and South Africa are used in a mutually illuminating way to explore what “telling the truth” about the past might mean and how such “truth‐telling” might help restore legitimacy to liberal states confronted with a “broken moral order”.
Pax Democratica: The Gospel According to St. Democracy
Authors: Houngnikpo Mathurin C.
Published: August 2003

The thaw of the Cold War ended the chess game between the superpowers and seemingly gave new momentum to the revival and spread of liberal democracy and its corollary, capitalism. Just as missionaries once offered Christianity to “save” colonised peoples, democracy has become the new gospel promising “salvation”. Both donor and recipient countries appeal to democracy, hoping that it will reverse decades of misfortune. Donor nations and multilateral financial institutions preach democratic governance. “Born again democratic” national leaders in the South who are intent on clinging to power attend to their sermons. None appear to have a genuine faith in democracy. While some nations and NGOs do give altruistically, most use foreign aid as another means of pursuing their national interest. Democracy is an elastic concept. Indeed it seems, at least at this point, that the new gospel of democracy is but a convenient tool used by different players for they own selfish reasons.
Peasants and the Process of Building Democratic Polities: Lessons from San Marino
Authors: Sundhaussen Ulf
Published: August 2003

This essay challenges the conventional wisdom that democracy must be built upon the foundation of an established middle class, a belief forthrightly asserted in Barrington Moore's resolute dictum of “no bourgeois, no democracy”. Taking a lead from Aristotle who thought peasants to be the best social group on which to build a political order that would preserve liberty, I consider the hypothesis that peasants can construct democratic systems of government. The little‐known little country of San Marino provides a case study. Its long history serves to demonstrate that the driving force behind the establishment of democracy need not be an educated and wealthy middle class but that a poor and uneducated peasantry can provide this impetus. This is a finding that calls into question the very formula that Western governments, scholars and institutions such as the IMF and World Bank routinely prescribe for Third World countries.
Approaches to studying and perceptions of academic quality in a short web‐based course
Authors: Richardson John T. E.
Published: August 2003

Both the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) and the Revised Approaches to Studying Inventory (RASI) were administered to students who were taking an introductory web‐based course in computing. The constituent structure of both questionnaires was preserved in this distinctive context, and the students’ scores on the individual scales of the CEQ and the RASI shared over 80% of their variance. Students’ perceptions of academic quality were positively associated with their adoption of desirable approaches to studying and negatively associated with their adoption of undesirable approaches. Students’ academic attainment was positively associated with their perceptions of academic quality and their adoption of a strategic approach to studying and negatively associated with their adoption of a surface approach to studying.
Individual differences in learning entrepreneurship and their implications for web‐based instruction in e‐business and e‐commerce
Authors: Foster Jonathan , Lin Angela
Published: August 2003

This paper reports on outcomes from a White Rose Centre for Enterprise funded project Managing Innovation in the Digital Economy. This project aims to incorporate learning for enterprise into undergraduate and postgraduate curricula in information management and information systems. The paper presents results from a survey distributed to postgraduate information management and information systems students following completion of a module in E‐Business and E‐Commerce delivered by the Department of Information Studies at the University of Sheffield. The findings suggest that differences in levels of prior knowledge of business studies and in cultural background can impact on students’ acquisition of domain knowledge and intellectual and information research skills during collaborative development of a business plan. Implications of the results for web‐based instruction are addressed, by identifying teaching and learning strategies that support differential treatment of learners in terms of content and process. It is concluded that empirical investigation of individual differences within a student body can inform more effective methods for information systems and information management graduates to learn about and for entrepreneurship.
Academic offences and e‐learning: individual propensities in cheating
Authors: Underwood Jean , Szabo Attila
Published: August 2003

It has been argued that the use of Information and Communications Technologies has made academic dishonesty easier but this does not necessarily mean that it is more prevalent. The study presented here investigated the attitudes to, and extent of, self‐reported involvement in Internet supported dishonest academic practices. Multiple linear regression analyses showed that Internet experience, acceptability of cheating and assessment of risk predicted an individual student's acceptance of acts such as plagiarism as a legitimate way to achieve academic goals. There was a complex interrelationship among gender, frequency of Internet usage, and maturity of students. Academic offences tended to be more acceptable to males, but also to active Internet users, who were often female: that is females who joined the Internet culture were more prone to plagiarise than their non‐active peers. New undergraduates were more likely to err than students in later years of their degree. These results show that there are a number of interrelated factors impacting on individuals’ willingness to commit academic offences. The final discussion of this paper both recognises that Internet supported academic offences occur and briefly outlines some technical and non‐technical responses that should be considered by faculty to ameliorate this problem.
Individual differences in navigation between sharable content objects—an evaluation study of a learning module prototype
Authors: Gauss Boris , Urbas Leon
Published: August 2003

In this article, we report the design and evaluation of a prototype for learning modules compliant to the SCORM standard. This prototype is especially developed for the subject matter of process systems engineering and features a novel process control display for the navigation between Sharable Content Objects. In a controlled field study, N=18 undergraduate students interacted with the module for a period of 40 minutes. The relations between individual differences in learner characteristics, navigation, and learning outcome were considered. Interaction with the module had a strong positive effect on learning outcome. Individual differences in learning outcome were significantly affected by individual differences in intrinsic motivation, computer experience and navigation behaviour.
Reviews: 6
Authors: Deeson Eric
Published: August 2003

Lewis, Roger & Whitlock, Quentin (2003) How to plan and manage an e‐learning programme Gower (Aldershot UK & Burlington VT) ISBN 0‐566‐08424‐4 185 pp £49.50

http://www.gowerpub.com
 
info@gowerpub.com
Reviews: 10
Authors: Cowan John
Published: August 2003

Salmon, Gilly (2002) E‐tivities Kogan Page (London (& Stylus, Sterling VA)) ISBN 0‐7494‐3686‐7 223 pp £19.99

http://www.kogan‐page.co.uk
 
kpinfo@kogan-page.co.uk
Orientalist Knowledge and Social Theories: China and the European Conceptions of East-West Differences from 1600 to 1900
Authors: Hung Ho-Fung
Published: August 2003

This paper examines the long-term development of Orientalism as an intellectual field, with the European learning of China between ca.1600 and ca.1900 as an exemplary case. My analysis will be aided by a theoretical framework based on a synthesis of the world-system and network perspectives on long-run intellectual change. Analyzing recurrent debates on China within European intellectual circles, I demonstrate that the Western conception of the East has been oscillating between universalism and particularism, and between naive idealization and racist bias. This oscillation is a function as much of the changing political economy of the capitalist world-system as of the endogenous politics of the intellectual field. Despite their contrasting views, both admirers and despisers of the East viewed non-Western civilizations as uniform wholes that had never changed. I argue that the fundamental fallacy of Orientalism lay, not in its presumptions about the ontological differences between East and West and the former's inferiority, as previous critics of Orientalism have supposed, but in its reductionism. Understanding non-Western civilizations in their full dynamism and heterogeneity is a critical step toward the renewal of the twentieth-century social theories that were built upon and impaired by the Orientalist knowledge accumulated in the previous centuries.
American Sociology Rewrites Its History
Authors: Hamilton Richard F.
Published: August 2003

Sociology textbooks written over the course of the twentieth century provide surprisingly different portraits of the field's origins. Spencer once held a stellar position but is now treated negatively. Marx was once treated negatively but now holds a stellar position. In the 1990s, Harriet Martineau, a prominent nineteenth-century publicist, was announced as a founder. Alexis de Tocqueville received little attention at any time. Some important contemporary sociologists receive very little attention. Questions are raised about the adequacy of this performance.
Phenomenon of Union Exhaustion: Is There a ‘Third Way’ for Trade Unionism in Hong Kong?
Authors: Hong Ng Sek , Ip Olivia
Published: August 2003

Over the past two decades, Hong Kong has been caught in the various dynamism of economic restructuring, political reversion to China and ‘late urbanism’, leading to a new constellation of social and industrial problems, which have been, so far, inadequately tackled by the government and by private businesses. Trade unions in Hong Kong face challenges to their conventional role, which are largely related to the rise of atypical employment and the increasingly transient nature of the workplace as a unit of work and employment. The present paper suggests that, in response to these adversities, trade unions in Hong Kong have taken strategic moves. There are emerging symptoms that the trade unions are restructuring and evolving a functional role in organising the neighbourhood community as a type of ‘third sector’ organisation outside and in parallel to their conventional occupational domain.
Getting Organised? A White Collar Union Responds to Membership Crisis
Authors: Cooper Rae
Published: August 2003

This article examines the responses of a white-collar union to massive membership decline in the period 1996 to 2000. During this time the union’s officials attempted to adopt a new mode of operation based on the ‘organising model’. The role of the organiser was redefined, attempts were made to split the union’s ‘servicing’ and ‘organising’ functions so that more resources could be directed to organising, and an increasingly planned and evaluated approach to organising was adopted. Whilst the impact of these changes is still emerging, the article discusses the significant organisational impacts their formulation and adoption has engendered. The article suggests that although the ‘organising model’ emphasises the active participation of members in union affairs, there has been little member involvement in the change process in this union to date.
Sustaining a Sacramental Commons
Authors: Hart John
Published: August 2003

Augustine described sacraments as visible signs of invisible grace, indications of the presence of the Creator in creation. Although the Christian churches later limited “sacrament” to mean only seven or two religious rituals, usually administered by a member of the clergy, U.S. Catholic bishops in 1991 described a “sacramental universe,” recalling Augustine's understanding. The “sacramental universe” is localized as the “sacramental commons”; people are called to care for it responsibly. The gospel account of Jesus' encounter with the Rich Young Man provides insights about human responsibility to share the goods of the commons as common goods, thereby sustaining the well‐being of the sacramental commons.
Calibration Procedure for Energy Performance Simulation of a Commercial Building
Authors: Yoon Jongho , Lee E. J. , Claridge D. E.
Published: August 2003

Calibration of an energy simulation with actual data has generally been considered too difficult to be part of the energy audit procedure. The purpose of this paper is to develop a systematic method using a “base load analysis approach” to calibrate a building energy performance model with a combination of monthly utility billing data and sub-metered data such as is commonly available in large buildings in Korea. The calibration procedure was specifically developed to be suitable for use in both the audit and savings determination procedure within a retrofit process. The procedure has been visualized using a logical flow chart and demonstrated using the simulation of a 26-story commercial building located in Seoul as a case study. The results indicate that the approach developed provided a reliable and accurate simulation of the monthly and annual building energy requirements of the case study building.
Experimental Data, Numerical Fit and Fatigue Life Calculations Relating to the Bauschinger Effect in High Strength Armament Steels
Authors: Troiano Edward , Parker Anthony P. , Underwood John , Mossey Charles
Published: August 2003

The uniaxial Bauschinger effect has been evaluated in several high strength steels being considered for armament application. The steels investigated include ASTM A723 (1130 and 1330 MPa), PH 13-8 Mo stainless steel (1380 MPa), PH 13-8 Mo super tough stainless steel (1355 MPa), and HY 180 (1180MPa). Tests were conducted at plastic strains up to 3.5%. Results of testing show a progressive decrease in Bauschinger effect up to plastic strains of approximately 1% (for all materials investigated), after which there is little further decrease in the Bauschinger effect. Several key features were discovered during testing. First, all of the materials tested exhibited a changing modulus, where the elastic modulus on unloading after tensile plastic straining is consistently lower than that observed in the original loading of the specimens. The amount of modulus reduction is dependent upon the material tested, and larger reductions are observed with increasing amounts of tensile plastic strain. Prior work by Milligan reported Bauschinger effect factor β for a modified 4340 steel (old vintage A723 steel), which compares well with the present work. However, his results failed to mention any observations about a modulus reduction. The second observation was the expected strength reduction where a reduced compressive strength is observed as a result of prior tensile plastic straining. Numerical curve fits used to calculate residual stresses, which take into account both the modulus reduction and strength reduction are presented for all materials. Fatigue life calculations, utilizing the numerical curve fits, show good agreement with full size A723 laboratory fatigue test results.
Critical Fracture Processes in Army Cannons: A Review
Authors: Underwood John H. , Troiano Edward
Published: August 2003

Fast fracture in cannons can be well described using elastic-plastic fracture toughness, in combination with comparisons of cannon section size relative to the size required to maintain plane strain fracture. Fatigue fracture of cannon tubes is modeled from results of full-size fatigue tests that simulate cannon firing. These tests are also the basis of fatigue-intensity-factor modeling of fatigue life, which incorporates material strength, initial crack size and Bauschinger-modified autofrettage residual stress into life predictions. Environment-assisted fracture in the thermally damaged near-bore region of fired cannons is shown to be controlled by hydrogen. High strength cannon steels are susceptible to hydrogen; cannon propellant gases provide the hydrogen; and the source of sustained tensile stress is the near-bore thermal damage and compressive yielding. A thermo-mechanical model predicts tensile residual stress of similar depth to that of observed hydrogen cracks. Coating fracture in the thermal-damage region of fired cannons is characterized and modeled. The Evans/Hutchinson slip zone concept is extended to calculate in-situ coating fracture strength from observed crack spacing and hardness in the damaged region.
Hydraulic Versus Swage Autofrettage and Implications of the Bauschinger Effect
Authors: Parker A. P. , O’Hara G. P. , Underwood J. H.
Published: August 2003

A hybrid method is presented which permits calculation of residual stresses in a swage autofrettaged tube including Bauschinger effect. The results are generally supported by three types of available experimental evidence by comparing “equivalent” swage and hydraulic autofrettage tubes having the same level of overstrain. Radial slitting of the swaged tube is predicted to show a greater opening angle than its hydraulic equivalent. Fatigue lifetime of the swaged tube is predicted to be significantly higher than the hydraulic case. Re-pressurization of the equivalent tubes is predicted to produce initial re-yielding at the same pressure in both cases. Analysis of results shows that permanent strains in the swaged tube are expected to appear at a pressure level below that for the hydraulic tube.