bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Intellectual Property and Pharmaceutical Drugs: An Ethical Analysis
Authors: De George Richard T. 
Published: July 2012

Abstract:The pharmaceutical industry has in recent years come under attack from an ethical point of view concerning its patents and the non-accessibility of life-saving drugs for many of the poor both in less developed countries and in the United States. The industry has replied with economic and legal justifications for its actions. The result has been a communication gap between the industry on the one hand and poor nations and American critics on the other. This paper attempts to present and evaluate the arguments on all sides and suggests a possible way out of the current impasse. It attempts to determine the ethical responsibility of the drug industry in making drugs available to the needy, while at the same time developing the parallel responsibilities of individuals, governments, and NGOs. It concludes with the suggestion that the industry develop an international code for its self-regulation.
Corporate Character: Modern Virtue Ethics and the Virtuous Corporation
Authors: Moore Geoff 
Published: July 2012

Abstract:This paper is a further development of two previous pieces of work (Moore 2002, 2005) in which modern virtue ethics, and in particular MacIntyre’s (1985) related notions of “practice” and “institution,” have been explored in the context of business. It first introduces and defines the concept of corporate character and seeks to establish why it is important. It then reviews MacIntyre’s virtues-practice-institution schema and the implications of this at the level of the institution in question—the corporation—and argues that the concept of corporate character follows from, but is a novel development of, MacIntyre’s schema. The paper contrasts corporate character and virtues with the more familiar concepts of corporate culture and values. The constitutive and substantive elements of corporate character, including the essential corporate virtues, are then drawn out and illustrated with reference to the cases explored in Koehn (1998). Finally, the paper acknowledges and counters a specific criticism of this approach.
Sweatshops, Choice, and Exploitation
Authors: Zwolinski Matt 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACT:This paper argues that sweatshop workers’ choices to accept the conditions of their employment are morally significant, both as an exercise of their autonomy and as an expression of their preferences. This fact establishes a moral claim against interference in the conditions of sweatshop labor by third parties such as governments or consumer boycott groups. It should also lead us to doubt those who call for MNEs to voluntarily improve working conditions, at least when their arguments are based on the claim that workers have a moralrightto such improvement. These conclusions are defended against three objections: 1) that sweatshop workers’ consent to the conditions of their labor is not fully voluntary, 2) that sweatshops’ offer of additional labor options is part of an overall package that actually harms workers, 3) that even if sweatshop labor benefits workers, it is nevertheless wrongfully exploitative.
Private Political Authority and Public Responsibility: Transnational Politics, Transnational Firms, and Human Rights
Authors: Kobrin Stephen J. 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACTTransnational corporations have become actors with significant political power and authority which should entail responsibility and liability, specifically direct liability for complicity in human rights violations. Holding TNCs liable for human rights violations is complicated by the discontinuity between the fragmented legal/political structure of the TNC and its integrated strategic reality and the international state system which privileges sovereignty and non-intervention over the protection of individual rights. However, the post-Westphalian transition—the emergence of multiple authorities, increasing ambiguity of borders and jurisdiction and blurring of the line between the public and private spheres—should facilitate imposing direct responsibility on transnational firms. Mechanisms for imposing direct responsibility on TNCs are considered including voluntary agreements and international law. However, I conclude that a hybrid public-private regime which relies on non-hierarchical compliance mechanisms is likely to be both more effective and consistent with the structure of the emerging transnational order.
Understanding the Role of Moral Principles in Business Ethics: A Kantian Perspective
Authors: Smith Jeffery , Dubbink Wim 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACT:Does effective moral judgment in business ethics rely upon the identification of a suitable set of moral principles? We address this question by examining a number of criticisms of the role that principles can play in moral judgment. Critics claim that reliance on principles requires moral agents to abstract themselves from actual circumstances, relationships and personal commitments in answering moral questions. This is said to enforce an artificial uniformity in moral judgment. We challenge these critics by developing an account of principle-based moral judgment that has been widely discussed by contemporary Kantian scholars. In so doing we respond to some basic problems raised by so-called “moral particularists” who voice theoretical objections to the role of principles as well as to contemporary business ethicists who have criticized principle-based moral judgment along similar lines. We conclude with some future areas of research.
Organizational Virtue Orientation and Family Firms
Authors: Payne G. Tyge , Brigham Keith H. , Broberg J. Christian , Moss Todd W. , Short Jeremy C. 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACT:This manuscript develops the concept of organizational virtue orientation (OVO) and examines differences between family and non-family firms on the six organizational virtue dimensions of Integrity, Empathy, Warmth, Courage, Conscientiousness, and Zeal. Using content analysis of shareholder letters fromS&P 500companies, our analyses find that there are significant differences between family and non-family firms in their espoused OVO, with family firms generally being higher. Specifically, family firms were significantly higher on the dimensions of Empathy, Warmth, and Zeal, but lower on Courage. Based on these findings we further develop the OVO concept through the discussion of implications and areas for future research.
Ethics in the Family Firm: Cohesion through Reciprocity and Exchange
Authors: Long Rebecca G. , Mathews K. Michael 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACT:The ubiquity of family dominated firms in economies worldwide suggests that inquiry into the nature of the ethical frames of these types of firms is increasingly important. In the context of a social exchange approach and the norm of reciprocity, this manuscript addresses social cohesion in a dominant family firm coalition. It is argued that the factors underlying this cohesion, direct versus indirect reciprocity, shape unique attributes of family firms such as intentions for transgenerational sustainability, the pursuit of non-economic goals, and strong interpersonal ties. Exchange structures, represented by direct and indirect reciprocity, lead family and non-family firms toward development of distinctive ethical frames of reference.
Drivers of Proactive Environmental Strategy in Family Firms
Authors: Sharma Pramodita , Sharma Sanjay 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACT:Globally, family firms are the dominant organizational form. Family involvement in business and unique family dynamics impacts organizational strategy and performance. However, family control of business has rarely been adopted as a discriminating variable in the organizations and the natural environment (ONE) research field. Drawing on the theory of planned behavior we develop a conceptual framework of the drivers of proactive environmental strategy (PES) in family firms. We argue that family involvement in business influences the attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control of a firm’s dominant coalition. Together these factors determine the extent of the dominant coalition’s intentions to undertake PES. Further, family firms with lower levels of relationship conflict within the controlling family will be more successful in translating the dominant coalition’s intentions to allocate resources for the pursuit of PES. Research implications of the theory are discussed.
On the Trail of the Lonesome Pine: Archaeological Paradigms and the Chaco “Tree of Life“
Authors: Wills W. H. 
Published: July 2012

AbstractThe great houses of Chaco Canyon (ca. A.D. 850–1150) are widely assumed to represent cosmological meaning through the orientation of walls and other features to celestial events. Archaeological models of such relationships are considered cosmographic. A prominent feature of these models is a lone pine tree at Pueblo Bonito that has been interpreted as a “tree of life” symbolically connecting the physical and heavenly worlds. This study suggests that this interpretation is inconsistent with contextual data and should be dismissed. Future cosmographic research in Chaco should endeavor to develop methods of independent verification that will strengthen inferences about cosmological symbolism in architecture.
Early Woodland Ritual use of Caves in Eastern North America
Authors: Crothers George M. 
Published: July 2012

AbstractMammoth and Salts caves in west-central Kentucky were Intensively mined for gypsum and other sulfate minerals during the Early Woodland period (ca. 1000–200 B.C.). I propose that this mining was part of a larger ritual performance assodated with the initiation of adolescent males into adulthood. Drawing on ethnological literature, I suggest that, beginning in the Early Woodland, caves became integral settings for male rites of passage. This argument is based on (1) ethnographic examples of male initiation that invokes the use of caves for secrecy and seclusion, (2) fecal steroid analysis that indicates exclusive male activity, (3) medicinal use of cave minerals as a purgative, (4) evidence of sensory deprivation and possible use of psychotropic substances to heighten states of consciousness, and (5) collection of gypsum as a symbolic marker of transitional rites. Using an institutional economic approach, I further suggest that Early Woodland ritual cave use is correlated with the formation of new social institutions and new forms of property relations stemming from the emergence of horticultural economies in the Eastern Woodlands.
Differential Temporal and Spatial Preservation of Archaeological Sites in a Great Lakes Coastal Zone
Authors: Lovis William A. , Monaghan G. William , Arbogast Alan F. , Forman Steven L. 
Published: July 2012

AbstractAnalysis of regional site taphonomy that incorporates depositional and postdepositional histories has become increasingly important in understanding the nature of preserved site populations and the strategies necessary for their discovery. We applied a systematic archival and field strategy directed at understanding such taphonomic processes in the coastal sand dunes of the northern and eastern Lake Michigan basin, and coupled these with a tactically directed program of OSL, 14C, and AMS dating. We demonstrate that long-term geological processes including lake level variation, episodic dune activation and stabilization, and the long-term effects of postglacial isostatic adjustments have markedly affected the potential for preservation of sites in coastal dune contexts over time and across subregions of the basin. Preservation potential for different time periods in coastal dunes is largely not synchronous with that of southern Michigan floodplains, posing substantial inferential problems. The archaeology of coastal dunes specifically, and coastal zones generally, must be used with extreme caution when cast against archaeological data from landforms with different formation processes and histories. While particularly true for the Great Lakes region, these results have implications for regional research broadly.
Catalytic Asymmetric Friedel–Crafts Reaction of Activated Phenols and 4‐Oxo‐4‐arylbutenoates
Authors: Bai Sha , Liu Xiaohua , Wang Zhen , Cao Weidi , Lin Lili , Feng Xiaoming 
Published: July 2012

AbstractA highly enantioselective Friedel–Crafts reaction of activated phenols with (E)‐4‐oxo‐4‐arylbutenoates has been developed with the N,N′‐dioxide‐scandium(III) complex as the catalyst. A variety of (E)‐4‐oxo‐4‐arylbutenoates were found to be suitable substrates for the reaction. The desired products were obtained in moderate to high yields (up to 98%) and excellent enantioselectivities (up to 97% ee).
Glucose transporter 1 deficiency in the idiopathic generalized epilepsies
Authors: Arsov Todor , Mullen Saul A. , Rogers Sue , Phillips A. Marie , Lawrence Kate M. , Damiano John A. , Goldberg‐Stern Hadassa , Afawi Zaid , Kivity Sara , Trager Chantal , Petrou Steven , Berkovic Samuel F. , Scheffer Ingrid E. 
Published: July 2012

AbstractObjective:We examined whether glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) deficiency causes common idiopathic generalized epilepsies (IGEs).Methods:The IGEs are common, heritable epilepsies that usually follow complex inheritance; currently little is known about their genetic architecture. Previously considered rare, GLUT1 deficiency, due to mutations in SLC2A1, leads to failure of glucose transport across the blood–brain barrier and inadequate glucose for brain metabolism. GLUT1 deficiency was first associated with an encephalopathy and more recently found in rare dominant families with epilepsy and paroxysmal exertional dyskinesia (PED). Five hundred four probands with IGEs and 470 controls underwent SLC2A1 sequencing. Glucose transport was assayed following expression of SLC2A1 variants in Xenopus oocytes. All available relatives were phenotyped, and SLC2A1 was sequenced.Results:Functionally validated mutations in SLC2A1 were present in 7 of 504 (1.4%) probands and 0 of 470 controls. PED, undiagnosed prior to study, occurred in 1 proband and 3 of 13 relatives with mutations. The IGEs in probands and relatives were indistinguishable from typical IGE. Three cases (0.6%) had mutations of large functional effect and showed autosomal dominant inheritance or were de novo. Four (0.8%) cases had a subtle functional effect; 2 showed possible dominant inheritance, and 2 did not. These alleles leading to subtle functional impairment may contribute to complex, polygenic inheritance of IGE.Interpretation:SLC2A1 mutations contribute to approximately 1% of IGE both as a dominant gene and as a susceptibility allele in complex inheritance. Diagnosis of GLUT1 deficiency has important treatment (ketogenic diet) and genetic counseling implications. The mechanism of restricted glucose delivery differs from the current focus on IGEs as ion channel disorders. ANN NEUROL 2012;72:807–815
Viscosity, pH, and moisture effect in the porosity of poly(furfuryl alcohol)
Authors: Oishi Silvia Sizuka , Rezende Mirabel Cerqueira , Origo Fábio Dondeo , Damião Alvaro José , Botelho Edson Cocchieri 
Published: July 2012

AbstractThe poly(furfuryl alcohol) is highly indicated to obtain advanced carbonaceous materials due mainly to its good carbon yield (around 50%) and a controllable cure reaction. In the processing of some carbonaceous materials, such as monolithic vitreous carbon, it is necessary to make sure that the material has the smallest porosity to be used in nobler applications such as heart valves and aerospace integrated systems. In this manuscript, a design of experiments was used to study the influence of viscosity, pH, and moisture in the porosity of the cured material. This study shows that the moisture exerts a significant influence on the porosity and the trend of the results lead to conclude that lower viscosity and moisture, and the use of non‐neutralized poly(furfuryl alcohol) resins lead to obtain materials with better quality. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013
Computer‐assisted learning in anatomy at the International Medical School in Debrecen, Hungary: A preliminary report
Authors: Kish Gary , Cook Samuel A. , Kis Gréta 
Published: July 2012

AbstractThe University of Debrecen's Faculty of Medicine has an international, multilingual student population with anatomy courses taught in English to all but Hungarian students. An elective computer‐assisted gross anatomy course, the Computer Human Anatomy (CHA), has been taught in English at the Anatomy Department since 2008. This course focuses on an introduction to anatomical digital images along with clinical cases. This low‐budget course has a large visual component using images from magnetic resonance imaging and computer axial tomogram scans, ultrasound clinical studies, and readily available anatomy software that presents topics which run in parallel to the university's core anatomy curriculum. From the combined computer images and CHA lecture information, students are asked to solve computer‐based clinical anatomy problems in the CHA computer laboratory. A statistical comparison was undertaken of core anatomy oral examination performances of English program first‐year medical students who took the elective CHA course and those who did not in the three academic years 2007–2008, 2008–2009, and 2009–2010. The results of this study indicate that the CHA‐enrolled students improved their performance on required anatomy core curriculum oral examinations (P < 0.001), suggesting that computer‐assisted learning may play an active role in anatomy curriculum improvement. These preliminary results have prompted ongoing evaluation of what specific aspects of CHA are valuable and which students benefit from computer‐assisted learning in a multilingual and diverse cultural environment. Anat Sci Educ. © 2012 American Association of Anatomists.
Synchronization and Adaptive Anti‐Synchronization Control for Lorenz Systems under Channel Noise with Applications
Authors: Liu Bin , Li Jian‐Ping , Zheng Weixing 
Published: July 2012

AbstractThis paper studies synchronization and adaptive anti‐synchronization control for Lorenz systems with applications to secure communication, where the transmission channel is subject to noise disturbance and the parameters of the Lorenz systems are allowed to be uncertain. Based on the methods of the Lyapunov function, input‐to‐state stability theory, nonlinear parametric variation, and the Barbalat Lemma, estimates for errors of synchronization and adaptive anti‐synchronization are derived. These estimates help to design the feedback control and adaptive control laws with relatively small synchronization error bounds. Moreover, the information signal error in secure communication is also derived, which is used to design a secure communication scheme with a lower disturbance from channel noise and with higher security. Simulations are given to demonstrate the results.
Frequency‐domain fluorescence spectroscopy; principles, biochemical applications and future developments
Authors: Lakowicz Joseph R. , Laczko Gabor , Gryczynski Ignacy , Szmacinski Henryk , Wiczk Wieslaw , Johnson Michael L. 
Published: July 2012

AbstractTime‐resolved fluorescence decays are frequently used for the characterization of biological macromolecules. Such data are usually obtained by measurements of the time‐dependent emission from samples excited with brief pulses of light. In this article we describe an alternative method, in which the time‐resolved emission is determined from the frequency‐response of the emission to intensity modulated light, a method we call frequency‐domain fluorometry. We describe the principles of this method, the instrumentation, and the methods used to analyze the data. We then describe the use of this method to recover the complex decays resulting from conformational distributions of flexible molecules and segmental mobility of aromatic residues in proteins. The present instrumentation allows measurements to 2 GHz, which has been used to measure rotational correlation times as short as 7 ps. In the future it may be possible to extend the frequency range to 6 GHz which should allow still faster processes to be quantified. It should be emphasized that the GHz frequency‐domain measurements are performed using low excitation intensities which do not damage the samples.
A thermodynamic description of quasibinary systems based on a four particle cluster model
Authors: Leute Volkmar 
Published: July 2012

AbstractA cluster model considering four particle interactions between nearest neighbours is used to calculate the excess free enthalpy of quasibinary solid solutions of type M(XlY(1‐l)). By a quasichemical interpretation of the cluster variation it is shown, that the real behaviour of the solid solution depends uniquely on the association energy of the nearest neighbour pairs XX or YY. The relations between the experimentally determined interaction energies and the cluster energies, as derived for the random distribution assumption, hold good as long as the association energies are small compared to the thermal energy. — By means of the examples Pb(Te, S) and Br(Na, Li) it is demonstrated, that the random distribution assumption is a good approximation for the calculation of the miscibility gap unless the temperature is near the critical temperature.
A study of relative stability
Authors: Chou (Zhou Guo‐Zhi) Kuo‐Chih 
Published: July 2012

AbstractThe formula for calculating the relative stability of the solution for the binary system involving an intermediate compound has been presented, and an analysis concerning all three kinds of stability has been made. The investigation shows that, the compositions corresponding to three kinds of stability peak in the central region of composition axis normally should be close to each other. Upon combining advantages of all three kinds of stability, a new quantity, so called “relative excess stability”, has been suggested. The formula presented here has been applied to the Mg—Si binary solution.
Reaction between C6H5(CH3)CHOO• and HO•2 radicals in liquid phase. I. Product study at 371 K
Authors: Móger G. , Gál D. 
Published: July 2012

AbstractBoth 1‐phenylethyl peroxy (HRO•2) and HO•2 radicals were generated simultaneously by the photochemical interaction of triplet anthraquinone (TQ) with ethylbenzene (RH2) at 371 K and the quantum yields of product formations have been measured. Evidences have been presented that the interaction of HO•2 and HRO•2 radicals yields alkoxy radicals (HRO•) and comparison has been carried out between the reaction of hydrogen abstraction by HRO•2 leading to alcohol and the reaction of β‐scission of HRO•, producing benzaldehyde.—According to the measurements k/kβ = 0.3 ± 0.1 M−1.
Effect of Temperature on the Ion‐Solvent Interactions in Water‐Urea Mixtures from Volume Data
Authors: Woldan Marian 
Published: July 2012

AbstractDensities of solutions of NaCl, NaI, KCl, KBr, and CsCl in three mixtures containing 10 wt% (3.22 mol%), 20 wt% (6.98 mol%) and 30 wt% (11.39 mol%) urea in water have been measured at 333.15 K using the magnetic float densitometer. The apparent molal volumes of the electrolytes calculated from the experimental data were extrapolated to infinite dilution by means of the Masson equation. The ionic partial molal volumes of alkali‐metal and halide ions have been estimated. The partial molal volumes of transfer of ions from water to water‐urea mixtures were separated into the two components: V̄0elect(tr) and V̄0disord(tr). The effect of urea and temperature on V̄0elect(tr) and V̄0disord(tr) in the temperature range 298.15–333.15 K is discussed.
A p‐V‐T Surface for Trifluoromethane
Authors: Rubio Ramón G. , Zollweg John A. , Streett William B. 
Published: July 2012

AbstractThe density of trifluoromethane has been measured from 126 to 332 K and up to 1000 bar. The results have been correlated in terms of the Strobridge equation of state, and compared with results from the literature. The ability of other semitheoretical equations of state to fit the data has been tested, as well as a variational theory. The spinodal curve has been estimated from the expansivity data.