bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An MBA Communication Program in an Entirely Integrated Management Core
Authors: Kelly Kathleen , Sokuvitz Sydel
Published: March 2007

We describe the communication component in a first-year MBA program that has been entirely integrated. In this integrated program, no courses, per se, exist; rather, the year's curriculum is built around stages in the business devel opment cycle. We first consider the choices that a program developer has to make about whether communication instruction will be reguired or elective, with or without credit, in the form of courses or workshops, and independent of or integrated with the rest of a business program. We then describe the com munication program, discuss the challenges of embarking on an integrated project, and suggest strategies for meeting them.
Interactive Distance Learning: Perspective and Thoughts
Authors: Barker Randolph T. , Holley Charles L.
Published: March 2007

Faculty, student, delivery, and university issues associated with distance learn ing as well as implementation and monitoring strategies require special atten tion if optimal benefits are to be produced. Communication faculties can play an important role in the success of this approach. This paper addresses the efforts at one school of business in developing an approach for program deliv ery through interactive distance learning.
Further Conceptualization of Explanation in Negative Messages
Authors: Limaye Mohan R.
Published: March 2007

Regarding explanation in negative messages, this article makes two innovative suggestions for presentation in the classroom and in textbooks of business communication: (1) Providing a reasonable explanation is the sender's moral obligation; receiving such explanation is a natural right of the target. (2) Explanation should be consciously generated and presented on two levels: general (macro) and specific (micro). Such presentation has at least two advantages: explanation on the general level ties the message to its wider con text or even with the human condition itself; explanation on the specific level connects it with the target's unique situation.
Cultural Fluency: Results from a UK and Irish Survey
Authors: Randlesome Collin , Myers Andrew
Published: March 2007

The importance of being fluent in a foreign language has been well docu mented and highlighted in academic texts. So has the importance of being fluent in another culture, a need documented as early as the 1950s. How have organizations in the UK and Ireland responded to these needs?A survey of members of ALECS (Association of Language Excellence Centres) in the UK and language training providers in Ireland assessed the level of language and cultural awareness. The results indicate that the percentage of British and Irish companies carrying out an internal foreign language audit is disturb ingly low. The number of companies wishing to become culturally fluent is even lower. Companies as well as training organizations are thus overlooking a number of opportunities.
Writing and Other Communication Standards in Undergraduate Business Education: A Study of Current Program Requirements, Practices, and Trends
Authors: Knight Melinda
Published: March 2007

A survey of 52 top-ranked undergraduate business schools suggests that profi ciency in written and oral communication is considered an important requirement for an undergraduate business degree. This conclusion derives from a study of offi cial Web sites, with follow-up verification by e-mail. All schools have writing and other communication ( primarily oral) standnrds in place; 50 have lower-division writing requirements, and 17 schools have other lower-division communication requirements ( primarily oral). A total of 36 schools have upper-division writing requirements, and 25 of those schools offer business communication courses through the business schools, and not through liberal arts divisions.
Content of the Business Communication Course: An Analysis of Coverage
Authors: Wardrope William J. , Bayless Marsha L.
Published: March 2007

This study examined 229 responses from members of the Association for Business Communication (United States) who rated the importance of 30 business commu nication concepts. The concepts were divided into six categories: communication theory, written communication, oral communication, employment communica tion, technology, and current business communication issues. Respondents also reported the amount of class coverage they provided for each topic. Of the 30 con cepts, 23 were rated as moderately or greatly important. Gaps occurred in some categories between their perceived importance and their actual class coverage. The five most important concepts centered on written communication and were ranked as follows ( from highest to lowest ): Use correct grammar and sentence structure, write memoranda, write persuasive news, write good news/positive message let ters, and write reports.
Auditors' Communication Requirements: A Study of Five MNCs in Singapore
Authors: Goby Valerie Priscilla , Lewis Justus Helen
Published: March 2007

This article contributes to the research on preparing new auditors for their work. It investigates the work and communication needs of newly graduated auditors, their senior colleagues, and their managers in five MNCs ( multinational companies ) in Sin gapore. Much research indicates that accountancy graduates entering the profession are perceived to be lacking some important communication abilities. This study investigates how important auditors perceive interpersonal, oral, and written skills to be to them at different stages of their professional careers and the degree to which they perceive that they need to improve in these skills. As expected, the newly graduated audit assistants perceived the greatest need for improvement in all three skills. However, they also per ceived that written skills were of lesser importance to them than interpersonal and oral skills. We suggest that accounting courses could prepare undergraduates more effectively in the oral/interpersonal skills needed in the initial stages of their auditing careers by introducing more case studies and by exploring the potential of the hypertext Internet environment to dovelop realistic simulations. These changes might involve the introduc tion of cross-disciplinary team teaching.
Influence of postharvest hot-dip fungicide treatments on Redblush grapefruit quality during long-term storage/Efecto de los tratamientos fungicidas postcosecha por inmersión en agua caliente sobre la calidad del pomelo Redblush durante el almacenamiento en frío
Authors: Schirra M. , Mulas M. , Baghino L.
Published: March 2007

The efficacy of postharvest hot-dip treatment on Redblush grapefruit was investigated by 3-min dips in water at 50°C and 20°C, with and without 1500 ppm imazalil (IMZ) or thiabendazole (TBZ). Fruits were stored for 16 weeks in cold rooms at 8°C and then held at 20°C for 1 week to simulate shelf life. IMZ and TBZ treatment at 20°C considerably reduced the incidence of chilling injury (by about 50-60%) and the percentage (by 20%) of fungal infections. The effectiveness of the two fungicides was found to be considerably increased at 50°C. However, the beneficial effect of hot-dip treatment was noted, whether or not associated with the use of fungicides. The chilling index was threefold lower in fruit dipped in water at 50°C. Similar results were obtained by IMZ treatment and mold decay was decreased by about 50%. IMZ treatment at 50°C proved to be phytotoxic, thus resulting in reddish peel pitting, starting on the fourth week of storage. No further detrimental heat-related effect was detected in the remaining cases. Fruit treated with the two fungicides exhibited no significant differences in respiration rate under cold storage, when compared to control. By contrast, by the end of shelf life, sharply increased values were found in fruit treated with IMZ at 20°C. Endogenous ethylene production and internal quality attributes (juice%, total soluble solid content, juice acidity, and ripening index) did not reveal important differences between treatments. Ethanol concentration in the juice was remarkably lower in fruit treated with the two fungicides, whereas differences due to dip temperature were negligible in most cases.
Note: Rheological changes in cooked cornmeal dough due to differences in moisture content using squeezing flow viscometry/Nota: Efecto del contenido de húmedad en las propiedades reológicas de masa de maíz cocida usando viscometría de compresión entre dos platos lubricados
Authors: Moreira R.G. , Lo T.-Er , Castell-Perez M.E.
Published: March 2007

The elongational viscosity of two different cooked cornmeal dough was determined as a function of moisture content (55-70% wet basis) and differences in cornmeal structure using the lubricated squeezing flow technique. When the flow regime was not governed by the viscoelastic effect, cooked cornmeal dough could be described as a power-law fluid with a flow behavior index, n, of 0.418-0.473 and consistency coefficient, K, ranging from 18.7 to 85.0 kPa s". Regression results indicated that K increased exponentially as moisture content decreased. Results suggested that the technique can be used to characterize the flow behavior and viscosity values of cooked cornmeal dough for further use in control of food processes such as extrusion.
Review : Role of polyamines in chilling injury of fruit and vegetables/Revisión: El papel de las poliaminas en los daños por frío de frutas y hortalizas
Authors: Serrano M. , Martínez-Madrid M.C. , Martínez G. , Riquelme F. , Pretel M.T. , Romojaro F.
Published: March 2007

Some tropical and subtropical fruit and vegetables suffer chilling injuries (CI) when exposed to low (above freezing) temperatures. The symptoms of such injuries vary between species, although they usually involve staining of the peel and internal browing, and are related to important modi fications at the cell membrane level. The polyamines putrescine, spermidine and spermine, have an antisenescent action because of their capacity to link with anionic compounds in the cell membrane and to capture free radicals, thus stabilizing the lipid bilayer and preventing membrane deterioration. This paper reviews the mechanism responsible for the physiological alterations produced by chilling, the role of polyamines and the quantitative changes they undergo in the affected tissues. Finally, it describes the possibility of using different treatments to reduce the negative effects of low temperatures and their influence on polyamine levels.
Deshidratación osmótica de guayaba a vacío pulsante / Pulse vacuum osmotic dehydration of guava
Authors: Panadés-Ambrosio G. , Treto-Cárdenas O. , Fernández-Torres C. , Castro D. , Núñez de Villavicencio M.
Published: March 2007

An empirical model to predict the effect of temperature (T, 30-70 °C), exposure time at atmos pheric pressure ( t, 5-105 min) and the number of pulse vacuum cycles ( n, 1-5) during the osmotic dehydration of guavas on weight loss (δ P), water loss (δ W) and solids gain (δ S) was studied in the laboratory. Results show that the three evaluated parameters T, t and n, significantly affect δ P and δ W values. No effect on fruit δ S values was observed.
Particle size distribution as a way of predicting types of flour and level of flour extraction / Predicción del tipo y grado de extracción de la harina mediante la distribución del tamano de partículas
Authors: Abd El-Rashid A.
Published: March 2007

Differentiation between degrees of flour extraction as well as between types of flour was attempted by the application of a particle size distribution technique. The separated particles namely coarse, medium and fine, were used to calculate the moduli of fineness and uniformity. A proportional relationship was found between the modulus of fineness and flour extraction and type of flour. Regression analysis between the weight of each fraction and the diameter of the sieves gave a slope with a negative value for flour of 72, 76 and 82% extraction, confirming the reports.
Preparaciôn y caracterización química y microestructural de surimi de merluza (Merluccius merluccius) y de jurel (Trachurus trachurus) / Preparation and chemical and microstructural characterization of surimi from hake (Merluccius merluccius) and horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus)
Authors: Álvarez-Parrilla E. , Puig A. , Lluch M.A.
Published: March 2007

Surimi and kamaboko prepared from hake ( Merluccius merluccius) and horse mackerel ( Trachurus trachurus) were characterized chemically and microstructurally. During the process, protein and lipid values decreased while ash, chloride and free nitrogen extract values increased. Hake surimi and kamaboko had less humidity and a higher value of protein than horse mackerel surimi and kamaboko. In both gels water activity decreased and whiteness increased. Horse mackerel kamaboko was more elastic while hake kamaboko was harder and more brittle. The microstructural study showed that the typical structure of fish muscle was lost, giving rise to a porous protein matrix with regions of high and low protein density, as well as some fragments of muscle fibres.
Ultrastructural changes in Staphylococcus aureus treated with pulsed electric fields / Cambios ultraestructurales en Staphylococcus aureus sometida a campos eléctricos pulsantes
Authors: Pothakamury U.R. , Barbosa-Cánovas G.V. , Swanson B.G. , Spence K.D.
Published: March 2007

Early stationary phase cells of Staphylococcus aureus were inoculated into a model food, simulated milk ultrafiltrate (SMUF) and subjected to 16, 32, and 64 pulses at electric field intensities of 20, 40 and 60 kV/cm at 13 °C. In addition temperatures of 20, 25 and 30 °C were also tested with 32 pulses and an electric field of 60 kV/cm. The temperature of the SMUF increased by 1-2 ° C at the end of the 64 pulses. Cells subjected to 64 pulses at 20, 40 and 60 kV/cm were observed for ultrastructural changes using scanning and transmission electron microscopy techniques. The cell surface was rough after treatment with electric field when observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The cell wall was broken, and the cytoplasmic contents were leaking out of the cell after exposure to 64 pulses at 60 kV/cm when observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The breaking of the cell wall is an indication of electro-mechanical breakdown of the cell. The increase in inactivation with an increase in the electric field strength can be related to the increase in the damage to the cells. Cells subjected to 32 pulses at 60 kV/cm and 13, 20 or 25 °C were compared microscopically with the untreated control cells. Cells subjected to heat treat ment (10 min, at 66 °C) were compared with electric field-treated and untreated control cells. Although important changes were observed in the protoplast, no cell wall breakdown was observed in heat-treated cells when compared to the electric field-treated cells. This result indi cates a different mechanism of inactivation of cells with heat treatment.
Functional properties of dried milk whey Propiedades funcionales de suero de leche deshidratado
Authors: Hall G.M. , Iglesias O.
Published: March 2007

The economic value of many proteins as food ingredients lies in their functional properties. Those having abilities such as foaming, emulsifying and water-holding are often supplied as dried powders [for example, egg white (albumin) and milk whey proteins]. The drying process, however, can have a great effect on such functional properties through denaturation of the protein. This paper will address some of the issues affecting functionality for spray-dried whey proteins, previ ously concentrated by ultrafiltration. The limiting factor is the outlet air temperature, which should be low enough to prevent denaturation, as the powder experiences a combination of the highest temperature and the lowest moisture content at that stage in the drying process.
Stabilization of strawberry jam colour with natural colourants / Estabilización del color de mermelada de fresa mediante la adición de colorantes naturales
Authors: Zafrilla P. , Valero A. , García-Viguera C.
Published: March 2007

A recurrent problem in the fruit processing industry is the loss of colour in fruit preserves during storage. Colour of such products may be fortified by adding natural colourants. In this work a commonly used colourant (elderberry extract) is compared with a newly proposed alternative, pomegranate juice, for the stabilization of strawberry jam colour. The results showed that adding a colourant to the jams helped to maintain the colour, and that the pomegranate-derived colourant could possibly be used as an alternative to elderberry pigments for this purpose.
Note. Vacuum impregnation of banana (Musa acuminata cv. giant cavendish) / Nota. Impregnación a vacío de banana (Musa acuminata cv. giant cavendish
Authors: Sousa R. , Salvatori D. , Andrés A. , Fito P.
Published: March 2007

Vacuum impregnation of banana was analysed by a hydrodynamic mechanism to determine effec tive porosity ( ∈e). In the initial experiments, the influence of the ripening degree and cut was deter mined without taking into account sample deformations caused by the pressure gradients; in these cases ∈ e decreased as maturity progressed. Important structural changes were observed 2-4 days after the bananas were purchased from the local market, probably due to the climacteric charac teristic of the product. Other experiments were carried out to analyse the coupling of the hydro dynamic mechanism (HDM) with deformation-relaxation phenomena (DRP) by varying the time of treatment; ε e values determined by this procedure were approximately 10.1% and significant deformation values in the vacuum step (γ e = 3.6%) were observed. The height/diameter ratio also seemed to influence the behaviour of the product to the HDM-DRP action. The most impregnated samples were the ones with a height half that of the banana diameter.
Note. End-over-end agitation processing of cans containing liquid particle mixtures. Influence of continuous versus oscillatory rotation / Nota. Agitación por volteo de latas con una mezcla de líquido y partículas en suspensión. Influencia de la agitación en continuo y oscilatoria
Authors: Sablani S.S. , Ramaswamy H.S.
Published: March 2007

Convective heat transfer coefficients were evaluated during end-over-end rotation processing of cans filled with liquid and particle mixtures in a pilot-scale, overpressure water-immersion, rotary retort. Two modes of end-over-end agitation were employed, one involving a continuous and the other involving an oscillatory rotation of the cage containing cans. Nylon spheres of diameter 0.025 m were used as test particles and a high temperature bath oil was used as the test liquid. A lumped capacity approach was employed to determine the overall heat transfer coefficient, U, and an inverse heat transfer approach was used to determined the fluid to particle heat transfer coefficient, hfp. Effects of the two modes of rotation (continuous and oscillation) on the associated heat transfer coefficients were evaluated at three speeds (8, 16 and 24 rpm) and three radii of rotation (0,13 and 26 cm). An analysis of variance showed that the effects of rotation speed and mode of rotation on both U and htp were significant ( p < 0.05). However, the effect of radius of rotation was significant only with U. These factors also affected the calculated process times for achieving an accumulated lethality ( Fo) of 10 min at the particle center and in the can liquid in a similar fashion. In general, U and hfp values associated with continuous rotation were 10-40% higher than those associated with oscillatory rotation.
Medication Use Risk Management: Hospital Meets Home Care
Authors: Aufseeser-Weiss Miriam R. , Ondeck Deborah Anne
Published: March 2007

Risk management is an objective strategy that seeks to eliminate or decrease the chances of financial loss and legal action. Risk management focuses on an actual mistake, an accident, or a potential similar occurrence. Risks occur in nursing in a variety of practice settings. Nursing has identified several key areas in which systematic change has improved and decreased the risk factor encountered in practice. This article targets medication usage and administration and the methods introduced in quality improvement processes to decrease risks and potentially reduce financial and legal risk.
Validating and Refining The Neal Theory of Home Health Nursing Practice
Authors: Neal Leslie Jean
Published: March 2007

The purpose of the study was to validate and refine the Neal Theory of Home Health Nursing Practice. A triangulated methodology of focus groups and a descriptive self-report survey were used to elicit data from home health nurses. Six focus groups with 20 participants total were held in three agencies in Virginia and Maryland. A stratified random sample of 68 members of the Home Health Nurses Association responded to a mailed survey. Nurses pass through three stages in attaining autonomy of home health nursing practice: dependence, moderate dependence, and autonomy. Role changes and process changes temporarily move the autonomous nurse back to dependence. Adaptation is key to home health nursing practice. Home health nursing is a specialty practice. Nurses require specific qualities and characteristics to practice effectively and successfully in home health. The findings support the Neal Theory of Home Health Nursing Practice.
Successful Supportive Care: Personnel, Pricing, and Salaries
Authors: Clinco Judith B.
Published: March 2007

Building a successful supportive-care service is a matter of hard work, industry knowledge, marketing skill, and much more. At the core of any successful service, though, is the caregiver. Without a screened, trained, qualified workforce, the supportive- care service will fail. This article outlines many of the staff-management strategies the author has developed, refined, and applied in her own service. It also discusses ways to make marketing do double duty as a recruiting tool for both clients and caregivers.
Medicating the elderly in home health care
Authors: McPherson Mary Lynn
Published: March 2007

This article may be used as an immediate, functional resource. It is a summary of issues including information on over-the-counter drugs, interactions and adverse reactions, and guidelines for medication management in home care.
Caring for older homebound adults: A chronic illness perspective
Authors: Folden Susan L.
Published: March 2007

This article discusses the unique challenges faced by both the elderly patient and the home care professional regarding the chronic disease process. The author integrates the concept of "maintaining control" into specifically described interventions. At the core of the article is the idea of the home care professional learning strategies from "the best teachers"—the patients themselves.
Pediatric home IV therapy
Authors: Campbell Kathy
Published: March 2007

This article outlines IV therapy services to the pediatric patient and describes the role of the family and the nurse, the supplies necessary, and areas to focus on when providing pediatric IV therapy services.
Hands on home care: The family with Alzheimer's disease
Authors: MacMillan M. Audrey , MacMillan-Scattergood Donna
Published: March 2007

Managing dementia of the Alzheimer's type at home is bewildering, exhausting and chaotic at best. Support from home health professionals is often critically essential for the family as the patient deteriorates with the disease's progression. Yet, limited and scarce resources risk precluding desired professional assistance. Teaching the family the Strategic Coping Technique (SCT) is one way to help them live with the disease and to best utilize existing personal, family, and community resources. A case study helps to illustrate key steps in SCT.
A home health agency's operational model utilizing per visit and hourly staff
Authors: Whitaker Ruth
Published: March 2007

This article presents a model of per visit and hourly remuneration that focuses on nursing staff. Incentives are built into the model to assure quality, retention, and a strong agency bottom line. The article includes a discussion of the responsibilities of each party.
HomeLife: Meeting the home health care needs of difficult clients
Authors: Fienberg Susan Tresch
Published: March 2007

The author presents information on a very successful homemaking agency program that serves patients who have mental illness, serious medical problems, elusive family members, and other problems that make providing services almost impossible. This model program, which was implemented in 1984, has proven successful in its approach. The article includes case examples and discusses recruitment and retention, wages, and communication requirements.
Organizational Pathology and Industrial Crisis
Authors: Miller Danny
Published: March 2007

Much has been said about the effects of industrial crises. But too little is known about their organizational roots. This paper distinguishes among financial, hu man and environmental crises and attempts to show how some very common types of pathological organizations can contribute to the development of dif ferent types of crises. The organizational types are denoted as compulsive, dra matic, depressive, detached, and suspicious. It is shown that the roots of their proclivites towards crisis can run very deep within and broadly pervade these pathological types of firms and may therefore be quite resistant to change. Often revolutionary 'quantum' change rather than evolutionary, incremental change will be needed to prevent industrial crises.
From crisis to community: the Pittsburgh oil spill
Authors: Comfort Louise , Abrams Joel , Camillus John , Ricci Edmund
Published: March 2007

The interdependence of metropolitan communities generates a stubborn paradox in crisis. The infrastructure created to link local systems in productive action operates, with equal facility, to transmit failure, distortion and neglect. This function serves to escalate failure in a single system to failure in multiple systems in the metropolitan community. This article examines the effects of interdependence in escalating the 1988 tank collapse at the Ashland Oil Com pany's storage site on the Monongahela River near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to a full-scale crisis spanning two weeks and three states, and affecting ad versely the lives of approximately 830,000 people. An interactive information system is proposed as an alternative method of reducing risk and facilitating response to minimize crisis in metropolitan communities.
The ever-expanding scope of industrial crises: a systemic study of the Hinsdale telecommunications outage
Authors: Pauchant Thierry C. , Mitroff Ian I. , Weldon Douglas N. , Ventolo Gerald F.
Published: March 2007

From in-depth studies of industrial crises, six factors emerge which are com mon to the general context of man-made, organizationally induced crises. An analysis of a particular crisis, the Hinsdale communications outage that af fected more than 500,000 customers and businesses in the Chicago area, dem onstrates the importance of these six factors.

The paper argues that current efforts in crisis management are primarily re active and focus on treating symptoms. A proactive strategy for crisis manage ment is proposed. This strategy not only follows directly from the six-factor model proposed in the paper but is formulated explicitly to reduce the general context that pervades all crises.
Human factors in large-scale technological systems' accidents: Three Mile Island, Bhopal, Chernobyl
Authors: Meshkati Najmedin
Published: March 2007

Many serious large-scale technological systems' accidents, having grave conse quences, such as those of Three Mile Island, Bhopal and Chernobyl, have pri marily been attributed to "operator error." However, further investigation has revealed that a large majority of these incidents are caused by a combination of many factors whose roots can be found in the lack of human factors (micro- and macro-ergonomics) considerations. Relevant human factor considera tions, the causes of human error, and commonalities of human factor problems in major disasters are briefly reviewed. We concluded that system accidents are caused by the way the (system) parts — engineered and human — fit together and interact. Also, on many occasions, the error and the resultant failures are both the attribute and effect of such factors as complicated operational pro cesses, ineffective training, non-responsive managerial systems, non-adaptive organizational designs, haphazard response systems, and sudden environmen tal disturbances, rather than being their cause. Recommendations for preven tion of such accidents are provided.
Learning from the Amoco Cadiz oil spill: damage valuation and court's ruling
Authors: Bonnieux F. , Rainelli P.
Published: March 2007

Bonnieux F., Rainelli P., 1993. Learning from the Amoco Cadiz oil spill: damage val uation and court's ruling. Industrial & Environmental Crisis Quarterly.

This article presents a discussion of the different economic costs that result ed from the Amoco Cadiz's oil spill which damaged 200 miles of French coastline in 1978. This case is particularly interesting for several reasons :

I) The Amoco Cadiz is the largest vessel spill in history, over five times the amount spilled by the Exxon Valdez in 1989, and is thus, a reference point.

II) It reveals the difficulties for economists in evaluating natural damage costs since these costs are highly dependent on the assumptions made in order to calculate them, the models used and the scarcity of data available.

III) Since the lawsuits were only settled recently (1992), this case allows for the first longitudinal study of the issues involved in the economic valu ation of a massive oil spill.

The conclusion, based on previous discussions on the evaluation of the damages by the different parties involved (plaintiffs, defendant, first court and court of appeals), highlights a number of lessons for the damage assess ment of disasters.
Psychological Preparedness And Crisis Management: Theory And Practice
Authors: Doepel David G.
Published: March 2007

Doepel, D.G., 1993. Psychological preparedness and crisis management: theory and practice. Industrial & Environmental Crisis Quarterly, 7:4, 279-292.

In "Crisis management: the psychological dimension" (Doepel, 1991) and in "Trauma, crisis intervention and psychological debriefing" (Hodgkinson and Stewart, 1993) it has been proposed that corporate crisis management would be more effective if strategies were developed to deal with the stress of man agement and employees in the aftermath of traumatic events. This paper expands this proposal and describes a model of crisis management and crisis preparedness that includes insights about stress during crisis situations in all phases: crisis response plan design, training, and evaluation of crisis plans during simulation exercises. This article also reports upon the implementa tion of this model in a national telecommunications company's "Crisis Preparedness Program".
A psychometric measure of learning disability predicts educational failure four years later in boys with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Authors: Faraone S.V. , Biederman J. , Monuteaux M.C. , Doyle A.E. , Seidman L.J.
Published: March 2007

Objective: Although most children with ADHD experience school problems, only a subset of these youth meet psychometric criteria for learning disabilities (LD) in reading or mathematics. Considering the well-documented adverse impact of both ADHD and LD on school performance, the presence of both conditions in a given child may herald a particularly poor educational outcome for affected youth. This issue has not been adequately addressed in previous follow-up studies of ADHD.

Design: In a four-year follow-up study of ADHD children, the educational, psychiatric, and psychosocial outcomes in ADHD youth with and without LD were examined.

Results: Among children with ADHD, LD at baseline selectively predicted poorer educational functioning at follow-up, as manifested by higher rates of grade retention, in-school tutoring, and placement in special classes. In contrast, psychiatric comorbidity and psychosocial outcomes were comparable in ADHD youth with and without LD.

Conclusions: Results suggest that LD predicts impaired academic outcomes among ADHD children. It does not, however, predict impaired social or psychiatric outcomes. These results stress the importance of including an evaluation of LD in the assessment of ADHD youth.
The effect of off-task behaviors on the task performance of hyperkinetic children
Authors: Sawyer A.-M. , Taylor E. , Chadwick O.
Published: March 2007

Hyperactive children have been observed to be off-task more frequently during experimental tasks compared with controls. It is possible that these off-task behaviors could directly account for their poor task performance.
Measuring teacher attitudes and expectations toward students with ADHD: Development of the Test of Knowledge About ADHD (KADD)
Authors: Hepperlen T.M. , Clay D.L. , Henly G.A. , Barké C.R. , Hehperlen T. Michael , Clay Daniel L.
Published: March 2007

Objective: The attitudes, expectations, and behaviors of teachers toward children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) may have a lasting impact on the academic self-efficacy and success of students with ADHD. Yet, to date there exists no standardized measure of teacher attitudes or expectations toward children with ADHD. The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to measure teacher attitudes and expectancies toward children with ADHD.

Method: The Test of Knowledge About ADHD (KADD) was constructed based on the error-choice method, which is an indirect method of attitude measurement. This psychometric approach was utilized to reduce patterns of response distortions that produce systematic errors in direct attitudinal assessment. Elementary school teachers ( N = 103) completed the error-choice instrument.

Conclusion: Results indicated adequate to good internal consistency reliability for the KADD for this sample, with a Cronbach's coefficient alpha of 0.82. Additionally, results yielded initial discriminant evidence to suggest that the KADD has construct valtdity for this sample. Implications for the use of this instrument in applied areas are discussed.
Person and Environment in HIV Risk Behavior Change Between Adolescence and Young Adulthood
Authors: Stiffman Arlene Rubin , Dore Peter , Cunningham Renee M. , Earls Felton
Published: March 2007

This article explores how personal and environmental variables influence change in human immunodefi ciency virus (HIV)-related risk behaviors between adolescence and young adulthood. Repeated interviews with 602 youths from 10 cities across the United States provide the data These interviews first occurred in 1984-1985 and 1985-1986 when the youths were adolescents and were repeated again in 1989-1990 and 1991-1992 when they were all young adults. A longitudinal multivariate analysis shows that 31% of the variance in HIV risk behaviors by inner-city young adults is predicted by a combination of adolescent risk behaviors, personal variables (suicidality, substance misuse, antisocial behavior), environmental variables (history of child abuse, poor relations with parents, stressful events, peer misbehavior, number of AIDS prevention messages), and interactions between variables (number of neighborhood murders with child abuse, number of neighborhood murders with substance misuse, and unemployment rates with antisocial behavior).
Disk Interleaving and Very Large Fast Fourier Transforms
Authors: Kim Michelle Y. , Nigam Anil , Paul George , Flynn Robert J. , Rodrigue Garry H.
Published: March 2007

Disk interleaving (disk striping) distributes fragments of a data block across a group of disks. For applications with regular I/O reference patterns and requiring large block transfers, interleaving can speed data transfers and reduce I/O times. Com puting fast Fourier transforms is one such application; the algorithm assumes that the entire array to be transformed should fit in the main memory. Occasionally arrays exceed the capacity of the main memory and reside in secondary storage. We have used synchronous and asynchronous disk striping to compute very large three-dimensional FFTs. We present a two-pass algorithm for com puting data stored on interleaved disks and analyze the I/O times. A large FFT ex ample provides a quantitative view of the advantages of disk interleaving for this application.
Computer Simulation of Large-Scale Econometric Models: Project Link
Authors: Petersen Christian E. , Sims Christopher A.
Published: March 2007

Large-scale systems of nonlinear difference equations are well suited for implementations on a parallel vector processor. This report de scribes the fast solution methods encompassed by Project LINK, including implementation on an IBM 3090-200VF supercomputer. LINK comprises 79 macroeconometric models emulating the economies of countries or regions linked through international trade. The model, with more than 20,000 equations, is solved by nesting a Jacobi iteration procedure with a combined Gauss- Seidel and Newton-Raphson procedure. The so lution performance, in terms of elapsed time, can be improved almost proportionally to the number of parallel processors. One can take advantage of vector processing at several stages of the solution algorithm. By exploiting the dynamics of the model, it is possible to gain a factor of 2 or more in speed from vectorization. Furthermore, the availability of large computer memory has significantly reduced the time spent on disk input/output.
Serial and Parallel Equilibration of Large-Scale Constrained Matrix Problems With Application To the Social and Economic Sciences
Authors: Nagurney Anna , Kim Dae-Shik , Robinson Alan G.
Published: March 2007

We have considered the computation of large-scale con strained matrix problems, which arise in numerous ap plications in the social and economic sciences—in par ticular, the general quadratic problem that permits alter native weighting mechanisms on the data and includes the much-studied diagonal problem. The procedure uti lized is row equilibration, column equilibration (RC), which exploits the bipartite network structure of the problem by decomposing it into simpler subproblems that can be solved exactly and in parallel. We compared the efficiency of the RC algorithm to that of a well- known algorithm and established that RC was faster. We used serial RC as a benchmark for our parallel experi mentation and investigated its absolute efficiency on economic data sets and on very large quadratic diagonal problems. We implemented the RC algorithm using Par allel Fortran Prototype on the IBM 3090-600E. The results demonstrate that a constrained matrix problem with as many as a million variables can be solved using RC in minutes of CPU time in a serial environment. Speedups with the parallelized RC algorithm were substantial for the diagonal problems and moderate for the general problems. These computational results broaden the po tential domain of constrained matrix applications.
Quantum Chemical Molecular Models for Fluorinated Polymers: Visualization of Structures and Vibrational Motions
Authors: Dixon David A. , Farnham William B. , Capobianco Patrick J.
Published: March 2007

Ab initio molecular orbital theory has been used to cal culate the electronic structure of model perfluoroalkanes, perfluoroethers, and a fluorinated macrocycle that binds fluoride ion. The molecular geometries were optimized. The perfluoroalkanes and the perfluoroethers do not have all trans configurations but rather show twisting of 10° to 20° about the C-C and C-O bonds. The molec ular force fields were calculated in the harmonic ap proximation. The low-frequency normal modes are dis played in the accompanying video. These low-energy modes involve coupled torsions. The visualization shows the various couplings of the torsional degrees of freedom. Certain features including the presence of "spectator" methyl side groups and of only a small cou pling of C-O torsions to the C-C bonds in the chain were revealed. Other features of the visualization allow one to study sterically accessible sites that are potentially reactive in these systems.
Plasma Turbulence Calculations On Supercomputers
Authors: Carreras B.A. , Dominguez N. , Drake J.B. , Leboeuf J.-N. , Charlton L.A. , Holmes J.A. , Lee D.K. , Lynch V.E. , Garcia L.
Published: March 2007

To predict the size, expense, and performance of mag netic fusion reactors, it is critical to know the scaling of particle transport and losses across the magnetic field with machine and plasma parameters. The mechanism for transport in magnetically confined plasmas is not yet known. However, at the plasma edge, losses larger than those predicted by classical theory have been shown to be induced by fluctuations. Numerical calculations of plasma turbulence are expected to lead to the identifica tion of the transport scaling parameters. The fluid ap proach to plasma dynamics makes tractable some plasma turbulence problems for which kinetic theory calculations are, at present, too complex. Only with present supercomputers can this problem be treated for the edge plasma.
Total Energy Calculations for Structural Phase Transformations
Authors: Ye Y.-Y. , Chan C.-T. , Ho K.-M. , Harmon B.N.
Published: March 2007

The structural integrity and physical properties of crys talline solids are frequently limited or enhanced by the occurrence of phase transformations. Martensitic trans formations involve the collective displacement of atoms from one ordered state to another. Modern methods to determine the microscopic electronic changes as the atoms move are now accurate enough to evaluate the very small energy differences involved. Extensive first principles calculations for the prototypical Martensitic transformation from body-centered cubic (bcc) to close- packed 9R structure in sodium metal are described. The minimum energy coordinate or configuration path be tween the bcc and 9R structures is determined as well as paths to other competing close-packed structures. The energy barriers and important anharmonic interactions are identified and general conclusions drawn. The calcu lational methods used to solve the Schrödinger equa tion include pseudopotentials, fast Fourier transforms, efficient matrix diagonalization, and supercells with many atoms.
First Principles Molecular Dynamics Studies of Liquid and Solid Sodium
Authors: Davenport James W. , Qian Guo-Xin , Fernando Gayanath W. , Weinert Michael
Published: March 2007

One of the outstanding problems in materials science is the lack of a fundamental theory of melting and freezing. Such a theory would be extremely useful in the search for new materials. For example, the high-temperature properties of alloys almost always limit the efficiency that can be achieved in an engine or power plant. Also the mechanical strength of materials is often determined by the distribution of impurities, which in turn is a result of the cooling (or annealing) that occurs during pro cessing. To address these problems we have used the technique of molecular dynamics simulation in which 50 to 100 atoms are followed on the computer as they move. From these simulations it is possible to calculate the important thermal properties such as the rate of dif fusion, the internal energy, the free energy, and the volume of the material above and below the melting temperature. These calculations make use of a new theory that combines molecular dynamics simulation with calculations of the electron states and therefore re quires no adjustable parameters as inputs.
Simulating Lattice Qcd On a Caltech/ Jpl Hypercube
Authors: Ding Hong-Qiang
Published: March 2007

Simulation of lattice quantum chromodynamics (QCD) on the 128-node Caltech/JPL lellarklllfp Hypercube achieves a sustained speed of 600 MFLOPS. The simu lations have produced excellent physics results on the forces between quarks. A speedup of 100 on the 128- node machine is obtained. We stress the importance of keeping up the communication speed as the processor speed increases and have devised a vectorized scheme to reduce the communication latency, leading to a 71% reduction in communication time. Practical experiences with the parallel implementation are discussed and a general performance analysis is reported.
Accreditation: a Non-Solution Whose Time Has Come?
Authors: Riegel Carl D. , Powers Thomas F.
Published: March 2007

This section is intended to accommodate short viewpoints related to hospitality education and research, rejoinders, commentaries, and rebuttals on the contents of H.E.R. Manuscripts in this section are not refereed. However, the Editor reserves the right to evaluate materials for their applicability and usefulness. All manuscripts must be prepared in the appropriate Hospitality Education and Research Jour nal style and not exceed 3,000 words.
An Investigation Into the Conditions of Hotel Front Office Automation: an Organizational Approach
Authors: Chandrasekar Venkat
Published: March 2007

The importance of understanding the various relational variables at the individ ual, organizational, and contextual construct levels to hotel automation as conditions to the extent of automation adoption in hotels was discussed. The purpose was to empirically test the relationship between selected independent variables under the three constructs to the dependent variable, extent of automation in the front office of hotels. A sample survey questionnaire was mailed to 400 hotel general managers in the State of Florida. Bivariate correlation and regression analysis was performed on the data provided by 153 respondents. The results indicate that variables of significance can be found among all the three constructs and the obtained signifi cance in the relationship show that automation adoption in hotel front office is clearly related to aspects other than the functions and costs of the automation products. The research carries a limitation in the form of sample hotels being restricted to Florida. Future research should look at the causal relationship among the variables with longitudinal design.
A Comparative Analysis of Lodging General Managers' and Hospitality Accounting Educators' Views of the Importance of Accounting Skills
Authors: Damitio James W. , Schmidgall Raymond S.
Published: March 2007

This study compares the views of lodging general managers and hospitality accounting educators regarding the importance of accounting skills to hospitality school graduates commencing theirprofessionallodging careers. Similarcompari sons are made regarding the importance of these same skills to the graduates after three years in the lodging industry.

Thirty-one skills were used in this research. Statisticallysignificantdifferences between the views of the two groups were present for 16 and 6 of the skills at the commencement of the graduates' professional careers and three years later, respectively. Both groups placed considerably more importance on the skills three years after employment than at the time of employment.
Employee Rights and Their Impact On Personnel Decisions By Managers in the Hospitality Industry
Authors: Ward Lynn M.
Published: March 2007

Employee rights and employer awareness of areas of current conflict and sensitivity are the subjects of this paper. The focus is upon four areas: hiring, investigation of employee misconduct, firing, and post-employment decisions by management.