bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The integration of human resource and operation management practices and its link with performance: A longitudinal latent class study
Authors: de Menezes Lilian M. , Wood Stephen , Gelade Garry 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThis paper reviews the literature on the association between lean production and performance. From this, propositions on the integration and evolution of operation and human resource management practices associated with the lean production concept are developed. Using 24 years of data on the use of seven core OM and HRM practices in British manufacturing firms, the potential link between integration in the use of practices and productivity is tested. In each year, three latent clusters are identified via ordered restricted latent class models; the cluster that consistently makes a more integrated use of practices outperforms the others. Furthermore, the longitudinal nature of the data permits modeling the growth curves of each practice in the sample, recognizing any similarity in growth and investigating whether or not an early integration in adoption of practices is associated with higher final productivity. The results show that pioneers are more productive, thus suggesting that the head start in integrating core OM and HRM practices associated with the lean production concept has paid off.
Dynamic General Equilibrium andT-Period Fund Separation
Authors: Gerber Anke , Hens Thorsten , Woehrmann Peter 
Published: February 2010

AbstractIn a dynamic general equilibrium model, we derive conditions for a mutual fund separation property by which the savings decision is separated from the asset allocation decision. With logarithmic utility functions, this separation holds for any heterogeneity in discount factors, while the generalization to constant relative risk aversion holds only for homogeneous discount factors but allows for any heterogeneity in endowments. The logarithmic case provides a general equilibrium foundation for the growth-optimal portfolio literature. Both cases yield equilibrium asset pricing formulas that allow for investor heterogeneity, in which the return process is endogenous and asset prices are determined by expected discounted relative dividends. Our results have simple asset pricing implications for the time series as well as the cross section of relative asset prices. It is found that on data from the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a risk aversion smaller than in the logarithmic case fits best.
The work of conservation organisations in sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Brockington Dan , Scholfield Katherine 
Published: February 2010

ABSTRACTConservation non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have excited a great deal of comment and debate, generally quite divided, in diverse journals. Some advocate them as forces for good, others decry their clumsy dealings with rural peoples and the impoverishment their activities can cause. The debate suffers in two ways. First, it ignores a large parallel literature about the work of development NGOs. Second, there is a paucity of general knowledge about the state of the conservation NGO sector. We do not know where it works, what the main players are doing, or much at all about the extent or activities of the smaller conservation organisations. We do not know how much money the sector spends. In this paper we first briefly outline why work on development NGOs should be applied to conservation NGOs, and then offer an overview of the sector's activities based on a survey of over 280 organisations. We describe some of the basic contours of these activities, and reflect on the implications of our findings for existing writings about conservation NGOs and future research.
Hidden in Plain View: Brajbhasha Poets at the Mughal Court
Authors: BUSCH ALLISON 
Published: February 2010

AbstractBrajbhasha literature is a domain of Mughal culture seldom investigated by scholars, to the detriment of our understanding of both. While the Mughal court is famed for its lavish support of Persian writers, a surprising number of Brajbhasha poets also attracted the notice of Mughal patrons. In this paper I look at the lives and texts of important Braj writers who worked in Mughal settings, with a view to uncovering the nature of the social, political and cultural interactions that this kind of patronage represents. Why these poets have been largely lost to social and literary history is another concern, along with the challenges of trying to recover their stories.
International Law Scholarship in Post-colonial India: Coping with Dualism
Authors: CHIMNI B. S. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThis essay seeks to sketch and evaluate international law scholarship in post-colonial India in the period 1947–2007. The exercise is undertaken to assess how Indian scholarship has coped with the dual life of international law: the fact that it is both an instrument of domination and possible emancipation. It is contended that while the dominant approach of formalist dualism, which critiques colonial international law but embraces the narrative of progress in the present, has made a seminal contribution to the world of international law, in particular the first articulation of Third World approaches to international law (TWAIL), it has not adequately addressed deep systemic structures that underlie contemporary international law. It is argued that this task is performed more effectively by a critical dualist approach that problematizes the structure, ideology, and practices of global capitalism. The essay concludes by reflecting on the future tasks of Indian scholarship.
Self-Defence in Response to Attacks by Non-state Actors in the Light of Recent State Practice: A Step Forward?
Authors: VAN STEENBERGHE RAPHAËL 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThis article analyses the recent state practice in which the right of self-defence has been invoked in order to justify the use of force in response to attacks by non-state actors. The main purpose of this analysis is to determine whether the law of self-defence has evolved through this practice. It is submitted that the latter confirms the tendency, evidenced by the US operation ‘Enduring Freedom’ in Afghanistan in 2001, towards allowing states to respond in self-defence to private armed attacks, that is, attacks which are committed by non-state actors only. The article also aims to shed some light on other fundamental conditions of the law of self-defence which played a significant role in the legal assessment of the recent state practice. It is argued in this respect that this practice confirms that any armed attack must reach some level of gravity – which may be assessed by accumulating minor uses of force – in order to trigger the right of self-defence, and that proportionality of the action taken in self-defence may be assessed in quantitative terms, but only as a means of making a prima facie judgement about the necessity of this action.
Assessing the potential of multispectral remote sensing for lithological mapping on the Antarctic Peninsula: case study from eastern Adelaide Island, Graham Land
Authors: Haselwimmer C.E. , Riley T.R. , Liu J.G. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThe results of lithological mapping using Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data for the Wright Peninsula region of Adelaide Island, Antarctic Peninsula are compared with existing geological maps and recent field observations to assess the potential of multispectral remote sensing to undertake lithological mapping on the Antarctic Peninsula. The Wright Peninsula comprises calc-alkaline intrusive rocks ranging from granite to gabbro, volcanic rocks of acidic to intermediate composition, and arc-related sediments. The reflective and thermal bands of a single ASTER image were analysed with reference to reflectance spectra of rock samples from the study area. Assessment of the ASTER mapping outcomes was undertaken with a newly compiled geological map of Adelaide Island and observations made during recent fieldwork. The results demonstrate that ASTER can uniquely discriminate granitoid intrusive rocks and altered rhyolitic volcanic rocks that display distinctive spectral properties. The results are more ambiguous at discriminating more intermediate/mafic rocks such as diorite/gabbro, andesite/basalt and chlorite-bearing sediments due to the similarity in spectral properties. These results demonstrate that although ASTER data are limited in their ability to uniquely discriminate lithologies they can provide important lithological information in support of geological mapping on the Antarctic Peninsula.
Reactive collisions of sulfur dioxide with molten carbonates
Authors: Krebs Thomas , Nathanson Gilbert M. 
Published: February 2010

Molecular beam scattering experiments are used to investigate reactions of SO2at the surface of a molten alkali carbonate eutectic at 683 K. We find that two-thirds of the SO2molecules that thermalize at the surface of the melt are converted to gaseous CO2via the reaction. The CO2product is formed from SO2in less than 10-6 s, implying that the reaction takes place in a shallow liquid region less than 100 Å deep. The reaction probability does not vary between 683 and 883 K, further implying a compensation between decreasing SO2residence time in the near-interfacial region and increasing reactivity at higher temperatures. These results demonstrate the remarkable efficiency of SO2 → CO2conversion by molten carbonates, which appear to be much more reactive than dry calcium carbonate or wet slurries commonly used for flue gas desulfurization in coal-burning power plants.
Performance of harvest control rules in a variable environment
Authors: Brunel Thomas , Piet Gerjan J. , van Hal Ralf , Röckmann Christine 
Published: February 2010

AbstractBrunel, T., Piet, G. J., van Hal, R., and Röckmann, C. 2010. Performance of harvest control rules in a variable environment. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67: 1051–1062. Population dynamic models used for fisheries management assume that stocks are isolated entities, ignoring the influence of environmental factors on stock productivity. An operating model parameterized for North Sea cod, plaice, and herring is developed, in which the link between recruitment and environment is assumed to be known and described by generalized additive models. This tool is used to compare the performance of harvest control rules (HCRs) when recruitment is independent of the environment or when recruitment is affected by an environment varying according to different scenarios. The first HCR exploited the stock with a fixed fishing mortality (F) corresponding to maximum sustainable yield, and in the second HCR, F was set equal to the precautionary approach F (i.e. Fpa), but reduced from Fpa when stock biomass fell below Bpa. The performance of the HCRs altered only slightly in a randomly varying environment compared with a constant one. For a detrimental change in the environment, however, no HCR could prevent a massive decrease in stock size. The performance of the HCRs was also influenced by the stock characteristics, such as recruitment variability or the shape of the stock–recruitment relationship. The performance of “environmental” HCRs (eHCRs), in which F varies depending on environmental conditions, was compared with that of conventional HCRs. The gain in using the eHCR was small, except for a detrimental change in the environment, where the eHCR performed markedly better than a conventional HCR. The benefits of using the eHCR were the greatest for the stock with the strongest environment–recruitment relationship.
Relationship between the distribution of pseudoxanthoma elasticum skin and mucous membrane lesions and cardiovascular involvement
Authors: UTANI Atsushi , TANIOKA Miki , YAMAMOTO Yosuke , TAKI Reiko , ARAKI Eri , TAMURA Hiroshi , MIYACHI Yoshiki 
Published: February 2010

AbstractPseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) primarily affects organs that are abundant in elastic fibers, such as the skin, eye and blood vessels, and may eventually cause loss of vision or cardiovascular disease (CVD). Because CVD is a potentially life‐threatening complication, its early detection is important for improving the quality of life of PXE patients. To determine the relationship between the distribution of skin and mucous membrane lesions and the prevalence of CVD in patients with PXE, we examined 14 PXE cases who presented between 2004 and 2007. All patients had angioid streaks (AS) and positive pathological findings. The skin lesions in PXE patients are distributed discontinuously and thus the degrees of skin involvement were assessed by determining the presence or absence of PXE skin and mucous membrane lesions in six sites (oral mucosa, neck, periumbilical region, cubital fossa, axillae and inguinal regions). Each site was given a binary score (i.e. present = 1, absent = 0) irrespective of severity and the scores were summed to yield a total distribution score (potential range of 0–6). Four cases had PXE‐associated CVD. Their mean distribution score was 5.7, which was significantly higher than the score of the cases without CVD (1.8) (P = 0.0049). There was also significant correlation between the high distribution score (P = 0.0053) as well as CVD (P = 0.029) with the maximum width of AS. A higher distribution score and the presence of oral mucosal lesions were associated with CVD. This scoring method may be useful for predicting the presence of CVD in PXE patients.
Efficacy of a far erythemogenic dose of narrow‐band ultraviolet B phototherapy in chronic plaque‐type psoriasis
Authors: AKARAPHANTH Rutsanee , KITTIPAVARA Yotsinee , VORAVUTINON Nataya , WACHIRATARAPADORN Usa , GRITIYARANGSAN Pimonpun 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThe aim of the present study was to examine the effect of far erythemogenic dose of narrow‐band ultraviolet B (NB‐UVB; starting dose at 35% minimal erythematous dose [MED]) on clinical response by measuring the severity, extent of disease and the changes in quality of life. Fifty patients with chronic plaque‐type psoriasis were enrolled. Therapy was held for 3 days a week. The severity of the disease was assessed based on the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) scores. The percentage improvement of PASI at 30 sessions was 68.99%. The improvement in DLQI scores at 30 sessions was 79.67%. Pearson correlation coefficients showed that PASI scores were not correlated with DLQI scores at the beginning of treatment (P = 0.330, r = 0.14), but after the 30th session of NB‐UVB therapy improvements in quality of life were correlated (P < 0.05, r = 0.399). Therefore, far erythemogenic dose of NB‐UVB is considered to be effective treatment for plaque‐type psoriasis in our patients. However, we cannot confirm that it is safer than higher MED starting dose in term of cumulative UV irradiation.
Comorbidities associated with psoriasis: An experience from the Middle East
Authors: AL‐MUTAIRI Nawaf , AL‐FARAG Shahat , AL‐MUTAIRI Ahmed , AL‐SHILTAWY Mazen 
Published: February 2010

AbstractRecent studies suggest that psoriasis patients have higher rates of comorbidities. We sought to determine the prevalence of comorbidities and co‐medications in our psoriasis patients. We conducted case‐control study in 1835 patients with psoriasis vulgaris and age‐ and gender‐matched cohort without psoriasis. Patients were examined for clinical characteristics of psoriasis, PASI scores, and data of age, sex, body mass index (BMI), smoking status, comorbidities, and co‐medications were analysed for both patients and controls. We identified 1661 (92.8%) patients with mild to moderate psoriasis (PASI < 10) and 129 patient’s (7.03%) with severe psoriasis (PASI > 10). Patients with psoriasis were more likely to be current smokers (51.34% vs 32.51% controls). Respective prevalence rates of risk factors in those with mild–moderate psoriasis, severe psoriasis, and controls were as follows: inflammatory arthritis (20%, 31% and 10.68%); coronary heart disease (4.1%, 8.35% and 1.42%); obesity (BM1) (32.5%, 41% and 17%); diabetes mellitus type II (37.4%, 41% and 16%); hypertension (32%, 40.3% and 11.55%); dyslipidemia (14.1%, 22.48% and 4.96%); metabolic syndrome (16%, 26.35% and 6.76%); chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (5.36%, 6.98% and 4.03%); cancer (0.3%, 1.55% and 0.16%). They had a higher odds of inflammatory arthritis, coronary heart disease, obesity, diabetes mellitus II, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and metabolic syndrome. They were receiving significantly wider varieties of drugs. Which most commonly included antidiabetic drugs, antihypertensives, and hypolipidemic drugs.
Favorable response of reticular erythematous mucinosis to ultraviolet B irradiation using a 308‐nm excimer lamp
Authors: MIYOSHI Ken , MIYAJIMA Osamu , YOKOGAWA Maki , SANO Shigetoshi 
Published: February 2010

AbstractReticular erythematous mucinosis (REM) is a rare chronic mucinosis. Histologically, the presence of mucin in the upper dermis is the most specific feature. A 73‐year‐old woman presented to our outpatient clinic with a 4‐year history of netlike macular erythema with slight edema on her left arm. She was diagnosed as having REM on the basis of the clinical picture and histological findings. She was treated with ultraviolet B irradiation using the VTRAC Excimer Lamp system with favorable response. This is the first reported case that was treated with a 308‐nm excimer lamp.
Good’s syndrome (hypogammaglobulinemia with thymoma) presenting intractable opportunistic infections and hyperkeratotic lichen planus
Authors: HANAFUSA Takaaki , UMEGAKI Noriko , YAMAGUCHI Yuji , KATAYAMA Ichiro 
Published: February 2010

AbstractGood’s syndrome (GS) is a rare acquired combined T‐ and B‐cell immunodeficiency accompanying thymoma. This report concerns a case of a 57‐year‐old man with GS manifesting intractable opportunistic infections and hyperkeratotic lichen planus. He had a past history of extended thymectomy for removal of thymoma. He consulted us about scaly and exudative intractable erythematous plaque on his right forearm. The histology was compatible with phlegmon coexisting with lichen planus. Laboratory examination results indicated hypogammaglobulinemia accompanied by complete absence of B cells, which is consistent with GS. Combined treatment with immunoglobulin replacement and administration of antibiotics and antifungal drugs was effective for the phlegmon and overlying fungal infection. The patient also presented with hyperkeratotic lichen planus on both knees and the right elbow, suggesting that intractable opportunistic infection and lichen planus may be associated with GS.
Understanding early communication signals in autism: a study of the perception of infants' cry
Authors: Esposito G. , Venuti P. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractBackground  Previous studies have highlighted that episodes of crying of children with autistic disorder (AD) were perceived as inexplicable from their parents who could not identify causative factors. These results supported the view of AD as related to a problem of expressing and sharing emotions. Moreover, no evidence has been presented on which characteristics of a cry episode influence the adult perception. Aim of our research is to investigate how acoustical features of crying episodes modulate their perception of infants with ASD compared with infants with typical development (TD) and infants with developmental delay (DD).Methods  Two studies were employed. In study 1, we artificially modified structural parameters (fundamental frequency, duration of the pauses, waveform modulation) of a cry episode, and then 50 adults (parents and non‐parents) were asked to judge the level of distress elicited. In study 2, acoustic analysis was applied to episodes of crying selected from retrospective home videos of 42 children with AD, TD and DD at 18 months.Results  The results showed that (1) differences in the fundamental frequency and in other structural parameters of the cry lead parents and non‐parents to perceive an episode of crying as more aversive and (2) at 18 months of age, AD episodes of crying have higher fundamental frequency (f0).Conclusion  Our findings offer support for the hypothesis that acoustic characteristics of episodes of crying of children with autism, especially higher fundamental frequencies, may account for mental states of uneasiness in the listener.
Water use efficiency and associated physiological traits of nine naturalized white clover populations in Chile
Authors: Inostroza L. , Acuña H. 
Published: February 2010

With 1 figure and 4 tables AbstractWater use efficiency (WUE) of nine naturalized white clover (Trifolium repens L.) populations was evaluated to select parental genotypes for future breeding programmes and to identify associated physiological traits that could be used as selection criteria. A greenhouse experiment was carried out during the spring of 2007 in Chillán, Chile (36º03′S, 72º07′W). The nine naturalized populations plus two controls were planted in pots containing soil as substrate. The plants were grown under two soil water treatments: with water stress (−1 MPa) and without water stress (−0.01 MPa). The experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replicates. Transpirated water (T) was recorded daily by weighing the pots, shoot DM (leaves + petioles + stolons) production was measured and WUE was calculated (shoot DM/T). Stomatal conductance (gs), chlorophyll content, relative water content, leaf 13C isotopic discrimination, canopy temperature and stolon water potential were also evaluated. The WUE varied significantly (P = 0.05) among populations and increased under drought conditions because of gs reduction. A high WUE was associated with populations that had a low leaf area DM investment and high stolon DM investment.
An analysis of the reasons for the asymmetries surrounding earnings benchmarks
Authors: Bennett Bruce K. , Bradbury Michael E. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractSeveral studies report an asymmetry in the distribution of earnings around specified benchmarks. However, doubt has arisen over whether the observed ‘kink’ in the distribution of earnings is solely caused by earnings management. We use a ratio analysis approach to examine a range of specific accruals for evidence of earnings management. We find little evidence that firms immediately above the benchmark have abnormal receivables, inventories or provisions. However, they do increase cash‐from‐customers and reduce inventory. Thus, our results support the recent research that suggests that firms engage in real actions to meet earnings benchmarks.