bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
TESTS ON MECHANICAL BEHAVIOUR OF 304 L STAINLESS STEEL UNDER CONSTANT STRESS ASSOCIATED WITH CYCLIC STRAIN
Authors: LEBEY J. , ROCHE R. 
Published: April 2007

Abstract— Mechanical analyses of structures, to be efficient, must incorporate materials behaviour data. Among the mechanisms liable to cause collapse, progressive distorsion (or ratcheting) has been the subject of only a few basic experiments, most of the investigations being theoretical. In order to get meaningful results to characterize materials behaviour, an experimental study on ratcheting of austenitic steels has been undertaken at the C.E.A.This paper gives the first results of tests at room temperature on thin tubes of 304 L steel submitted to an axial constant stress (primary stress) to which is added a cyclic shearing strain (secondary stress). The tests cover a large combination of the two loading modes. The main results consist of curves of cumulative iso‐deformation in the primary and secondary stress field (Bree type diagrams). Results are given for plastic deformations ranging from 0·1 to 2·5% up to N= 100 cycles.
DETERMINATION OF FATIGUE CRACK INITIATION LIFE
Authors: IBRAHIM M. F. E. , MILLER K. J. 
Published: April 2007

Abstract—A reanalysis has been carried out on the results of Zachariah. An elastic‐plastic analysis based onS‐Ndata indicates that the mechanism of growth of very small cracks is similar to that expressed by linear elastic fracture mechanics, i.e. crack growth in mild steel is given byimagewhere Δγpis the plastic shear strain range andais the crack length.Crack initiation occurs within a single grain and crack propagation is given by the above equation for cracks which can be smaller than a few microns. The size of an initiated crack is a function of stress level varying from 0·1–1·0 μm in the high strain fatigue regime to 2·3 μm close to the fatigue limit. The period of crack initiation is negligible in the HSF regime whilst the initiation period can dominate lifetime at low stress levels.
A strong species–area relationship for eukaryotic soil microbes: island size matters for ectomycorrhizal fungi
Authors: Peay Kabir G. , Bruns Thomas D. , Kennedy Peter G. , Bergemann Sarah E. , Garbelotto Matteo 
Published: April 2007

AbstractWhile the effects of habitat size and isolation have been successfully studied for macro‐organisms, there is currently debate about their relative importance in explaining patterns of microbial species richness. In this study, we examine the species richness of a dominant group of eukaryotic soil microbes, ectomycorrhizal fungi, on ‘tree islands’ of constant age and host composition that range in size from < 10 to > 10 000 m2. Our results show that ectomycorrhizal species richness is significantly reduced on smaller and more isolated tree islands, and the species–area slope that we observe (0.20–0.23) is similar to average slopes reported for macro‐organisms. Additionally, species’ occurrence patterns across tree islands and investment trends in fungal fruit bodies suggest that a trade‐off between competition and dispersal could play an important role in structuring ectomycorrhizal assemblages.
A novel Dps‐type protein from insect gut bacteria catalyses hydrolysis and synthesis of N‐acyl amino acids
Authors: Ping Liyan , Büchler Rita , Mithöfer Axel , Svatoš Aleš , Spiteller Dieter , Dettner Konrad , Gmeiner Sophie , Piel Jörn , Schlott Bernhard , Boland Wilhelm 
Published: April 2007

SummaryA novel type of a microbial N‐acyl amino acid hydrolase (AAH) from insect gut bacteria was purified, cloned and functionally characterized. The enzyme was obtained from Microbacterium arborescens SE14 isolated from the foregut of larvae of the generalist herbivore Spodoptera exigua. The substrates of AAH are N‐acyl‐glutamines previously reported to elicit plant defence reactions after introduction into the leaf during feeding. The isolated AAH catalyses the hydrolysis of the amide bond (Km = 36 μmol l−1) and, less efficient, the formation (Km = 3 mmol l−1) of the elicitor active N‐acyl amino acids. The AAH from M. arborescens SE14 shows no homology to known fatty acyl amidases (EC 3.5.1.4) but belongs to the family of Dps proteins (DNA‐binding protein from starved cell). In line with other DPS proteins AAH is a homododecamer (monomer 17 181 Da) and contains iron atoms (c. 1–16 iron atoms per subunit). Unlike genuine DPS proteins the enzyme does not significantly bind DNA. Amino acid hydrolase is the first member of the DPS family that catalyses the cleavage or formation of amide bonds. The participation of a microbial enzyme in the homeostasis of N‐acyl‐glutamines in the insect gut adds further complexity to the interaction between plants and their herbivores.
Campylobacter lari: genotype and antibiotic resistance of isolates from cattle, wildlife and water in an area of mixed dairy farmland in the United Kingdom
Authors: Leatherbarrow A. J. H. , Griffiths R. , Hart C. A. , Kemp R. , Williams N. J. , Diggle P. J. , Wright E. J. , Sutherst J. , Houghton P. , French N. P. 
Published: April 2007

SummaryCampylobacter lari is a rare human pathogen most commonly associated with birds and shellfish. Little information has been published regarding its prevalence in other environments, or on its potential role as a reservoir of antibiotic resistance. In this study, we characterized 109 C. lari isolated from a range of hosts using pulsed‐field gel electrophoresis of macro‐restricted chromosomal DNA, and by determining their susceptibility to a panel of four antibiotics. Pulsed‐field gel electrophoresis analysis showed C. lari to be genetically diverse, particularly in isolates from wild birds and environmental water. The most common composite macro‐restriction profile (cMRP) was found in multiple hosts (cattle, badgers, wild birds and rabbits), and seven other cMRPs were recovered from more than one host. All isolates were resistant to nalidixic acid and ciprofloxacin. Resistance to erythromycin and ampicillin was uncommon, but was observed in isolates from wild birds, cattle, wild mammals and water samples. The presence of the same cMRP in multiple hosts provides further evidence of transmission between livestock, wildlife and the environment, or for a common source of infection.
Sponge disease: a global threat?
Authors: Webster Nicole S. 
Published: April 2007

SummarySponges are the most simple and primitive metazoans, yet they have various biological and ecological properties that make them an influential component of coral‐reef ecosystems. Marine sponges provide refuge for many small invertebrates and are critical to benthic‐pelagic coupling across a wide range of habitats. Reports of sponge disease have increased dramatically in recent years with sponge populations decimated throughout the Mediterranean and Caribbean. Reports also suggest an increased prevalence of sponge disease in Papua New Guinea, the Great Barrier Reef and in the reefs of Cozumel, Mexico. These epidemics can have severe impacts on the survival of sponge populations, the ecology of the reef and the fate of associated marine invertebrates. Despite the ecological and commercial importance of sponges, the understanding of sponge disease is limited. There has generally been a failure to isolate and identify the causative agents of sponge disease, with only one case confirming Koch's postulates and identifying a novel Alphaproteobacteria strain as the primary pathogen. Other potential disease agents include fungi, viruses, cyanobacteria and bacterial strains within the Bacillus and Pseudomonas genera. There is some evidence for correlations between sponge disease and environmental factors such as climate change and urban/agricultural runoff. This review summarizes the occurrence of sponge disease, describes the syndromes identified thus far, explores potential linkages with environmental change and proposes a strategy for future research towards better management of sponge disease outbreaks.
A randomized controlled trial examining combinations of repaglinide, metformin and NPH insulin
Authors: Davies M. J. , Thaware P. K. , Tringham J. R. , Howe J. , Jarvis J. , Johnston V. , Kitchener D. L. , Skinner T. C. , McNally P. G. , Lawrence I. G. 
Published: April 2007

AbstractAims  To compare combination use of repaglinide, metformin and bedtime Neutral Protamine Hagedorn (NPH) insulin with conventional approaches of insulin initiation in patients with Type 2 diabetes (T2DM).Methods  Eighty‐two patients with T2DM with suboptimal glycaemic control on oral glucose‐lowering agents were randomized to one of three treatment regimens for 4 months. Group 1 received metformin and twice daily biphasic 30/70 human insulin mixture (n = 27), group 2 metformin and bedtime NPH insulin (n = 26) and group 3 metformin, bedtime NPH insulin and mealtime repaglinide (n = 25).Results  Seventy‐five patients completed the study. Baseline and end‐point mean HbA1c levels fell from 9.0 ± 1.1 to 7.9 ± 1.1% in group 1, 10.0 ± 2.2 to 9.2 ± 1.4% group 2 and 10.0 ± 1.7 to 8.1 ± 1.5% in group 3, respectively. All groups showed improvements in HbA1c. There was no significant difference between groups in the proportions of patients experiencing hypoglycaemia (29.6, 25.0 and 16.7%, respectively; P = 0.55) or in mean weight gain (2.9, 0.7 and 2.2 kg, respectively; P = 0.06). By 4 months, insulin doses were 0.63 ± 0.32 IU/kg in group 1, 0.58 ± 0.21 IU/kg in group 2 and 0.37 ± 0.22 IU/kg in group 3 (group 3 vs. groups 1 and 2: P < 0.002).Conclusions  The approach using repaglinide, metformin and NPH insulin improved glycaemic control with a similar safety profile to conventional insulin initiation in T2DM and produced final glycaemic control similar to metformin and a twice daily biphasic insulin mixture.
THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION FACES THE PROBLEM OF ECONOMIC PLANNING
Authors: THOMAS Albert 
Published: April 2007

Raw materials are there. Stocks are not diminishing. They are increasing. Men, labour are there and there are 25 millions offering their services. Even the credits whose absence has been blamed are there. What, then, is wanting? What we want is organisation the possibility of co‐ordinating all the necessary factors, the will to set all the factors to work, and to set them to work in accordance with the requirements of social justice. What we lack is the supreme initiative which will permit international decisions to be made. Surely employers and workers should agree with one another and with the Governments in demanding, in the name of the International Labour Conference, a monetary policy concerted internationally with a view to the restoration of a normal situation. The monetary unity of the world requires a return to the gold standard, but a gold standard the purchasing power of which is properly controlled and stabilised, subject of course to the inevitable minor fluctuations. A planned economy, in order to succeed, must be first of all a conscious economy, an economy in which everyone concerned is fully conscious both of its objects and of its possibilities. The development of industrial relations in undertakings is tending to promote a deeper consciousness of the general interest and this creates possibilities for economic reconstruction.The participation of employers and workers in a national or international economic organisation would appear to be a useful means of supplementing the system of industrial relations establishet in undertakings or corporations. It seems calculated to inspire and vitalise the new system of industrial relations from top to bottom.
THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY AND THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Authors: Marchal André 
Published: April 2007

In 1962 an article by Mr. Angelos Angelopoulos, professor at the Pantheios School of Political Sciences (Athens), entitled “The Third World, the European Common Market and the West”, was published in the Annals. In that article the author described, with the freedom which is by tradition allowed to all contributors to the Annals, the fears and anxieties of the newly developing countries regarding the European Economic Community.In the present article Mr. André Marchal, lecturer at the Faculty of Law and Economics of the University of Paris, discusses the same problem with the same freedom and a viewpoint radically different from that of Professor Angelopoulos.
CONFLICT IN THE CO‐OPERATIVE RETAIL SOCIETY
Authors: Stephenson T.E. 
Published: April 2007

SUMMARYThis paper considers the nature of organizational conflict in general and conflict in the co‐operative society in particular.It examines the unitary and pluralistic views of organizations and considers the suggestions that conflict is necessary for the independence of the individual, is constructive for the organization and is inevitable in any form of society. It investigates the proposed mechanisms for restraining conflict so that it is constructive.It is then argued that the co‐operative retail society is a pluralistic organization comprising a number of different interest groups with their own sets of values. These groups tend to be engaged in an evaluation of the other groups and this evaluation carries with it the framework for competition rather than co‐operation.It is contended that when economic conditions are favourable and there is a substantial surplus in the society the different groups can be satisfied and the inherent conflict remains submerged. The evaluation process is, in these conditions, latent, and internal competition is likely to be minimal. When economic conditions are unfavourable it is suggested that the divergent interests come to the surface. There is less dividend available for the members, the demands of managers and staff for higher wages and salaries may be difficult to meet, the members may be concerned about their capital and wish to draw it at a time when management want to retain it in the society. Within management the competition for scarce resources becomes sharper, and between management and staff there is increased tension as the former increase the pressure for greater efficiency. Economic values predominate and the holders of social values feel their position within the society to be threatened. To reassert themselves, they may stress the need for more effective democratic control. This emphasis on democratic control is a part of a wider feeling of anti‐professionalism. This may take a number of forms, all, of which are aimed to redress the balance between managers and laymen. The attempt to establish firmer democratic control and the broader issue of anti‐professionalism are both likely to intensify the conflict situation in a retail society at a time of economic stress.
THE UK WORKER CO‐OPERATIVE MOVEMENT IN 1988
Authors: HOBBS Phil 
Published: April 2007

Abstract: This short paper reports on the results of the 1988 Survey of Worker Co‐operatives, which was carried out as part of a wider enquiry into the economic performance of the British co‐operative sector.Based on an interim analysis of survey data it is argued that the co‐operative sector has reached a degree of equilibrium in terms of the growth in numbers and employment. Regional and industrial distributions have shown some degree of realignment in the period 1986/88 and this may be a reflection of certain structural and environmental factors. Not least of these is the relative strength of the service economy in the UK and the decline in the role and extent of local Co‐operative Development Agencies.
THE POSTAL SERVICE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION PUBLIC MONOPOLY OR COMPETITIVE MARKET?: A transaction cost approach
Authors: COMANDINI Vincenzo VISCO 
Published: April 2007

ABSTRACT: * The paper discusses the relevant institutional and economic aspects of the postal service, and analyses both the arguments for abolishing the statutory monopoly and those for retaining it. The main thesis of the paper is that public and private postal services differ from each other in many aspects: transaction costs, the willingness of the customer to pay, market structure, and possibilities of substituting the service with other communication instruments. Therefore, a simple privatisation will not solve per se the efficiency problems of the service. furthermore, the European Commission, which published in 1992 a green paper on postal services, is considering the possibility of harmonising the quality of the service within the EU and gradually reducing the gap in national postal prices. This seems to be an effective device to force firms towards the greater efficiency required in a Continental market. In future, the competition will take place not so much between private firms (more interested in running the high‐value segments), as between national public carriers, as shown by the phenomenon of remail.
PUBLIC RADIO STATIONS ARE REALLY, REALLY NOT PUBLIC GOODS: Charitable contributions and impure altruism
Authors: KINGMA Bruce R. , McClelland Robert 
Published: April 2007

ABSTRACT: * This paper applies the censored regression model under several distributional assumptions to data on charitable giving to public radio stations. The authors show that charitable contributions are positively affected by the level of use of a pure public good. Wing this factor into account they additionally show thd contributions to public radio do not support the public good hypothesis, but rather donors behave as impure altruists.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND VOUCHER BUY‐OUTS IN RUSSIA
Authors: FILATOTCHEV Igor , WRIGHT Mike , BUCK Trevor 
Published: April 2007

ABSTRACT: * This paper examines the issues which may create pressures and incentives to introduce efficiency‐enhancing governance structures in enterprises which are privatized through voucher schemes in Russia. These pressures emphasize the need to view buy‐outs created on privatization as transitory organizational forms with a three‐stage process being suggested as the most feasible for developing governance mechanisms which produce efficiency gains, The paper uses illustrative case studies of the first major enterprises to experience post‐privatization ownership changes.
Analysis by synthesis in computational vision with application to remote sensing
Authors: Woodham R.J. , Catanzariti E. , Mackworth A.K. 
Published: April 2007

The central problem in vision is to determine scene properties from image properties. This is difficult because the problem, formally posed, is underconstrained. Methods that infer scene properties from images make assumptions about how the world determines what we see. In remote sensing, some of these assumptions can be dealt with explicitly. Available scene knowledge, in the form of a digital terrain model and a ground cover map, is used to synthesize an image for a given date and time. The synthesis process assumes that the surface is a perfectly diffuse or “lambertian” reflector. A scene radiance equation is described based on simple models of direct solar irradiance, diffuse sky irradiance, and atmospheric path radiance. Parameters of the model are estimated from the real image. A statistical comparison of the real image and the synthetic image is used to judge how well the model represents the mapping from scene to image.The methods presented for image synthesis are similar to those used in computer graphics. The motivation, however, is different. In graphics, the goal is to produce an effective rendering of the scene for a human viewer. Here, the goal is to predict properties of real images. In vision, one must deal with a confounding of effects due to surface shape, surface material, illumination, shadows, and atmosphere. These effects often detract from, rather than enhance, the determination of invariant scene characteristics.
Pragmatic modeling: toward a robust natural language interface
Authors: Carberry Sandra 
Published: April 2007

One of the most important ways in which an information‐provider can assimilate an information‐seeking dialogue is by inferring the underlying task‐related plan motivating the information‐seeker's queries. This paper presents a strategy for hypothesizing and tracking the changing task‐level goals of an information‐seeker and building a model of his task‐related plan as the dialogue progresses.Naturally occurring utterances are often imperfect. The information‐provider often appears to use acquired knowledge about the information‐seeker's underlying task‐related plan to remedy many of the information‐seeker's faulty utterances and enable the dialogue to continue without interruption. This paper presents a strategy for understanding one kind of defective utterance. Our approach relies on the information‐seeker's inferred task‐related plan as the primary mechanism for suggesting how an utterance should be understood, thereby considering only interpretations that are relevant to what the information‐seeker is trying to accomplish. If multiple interpretations are suggested, relevance to the current focus of attention in the dialogue and similarity to the information‐seeker's actual utterance are used to select the interpretation that is most likely to represent his intended meaning or satisfy his needs.
Learning and discovery: one system's search for mathematical knowledge
Authors: Epstein Susan L. 
Published: April 2007

The Graph Theorist, GT, is a system that performs mathematical research in graph theory. From the definitions in its input knowledge base, GT constructs examples of mathematical concepts, conjectures and proves mathematical theorems about concepts, and discovers new concepts. Discovery is driven both by examples and by definitional form. The discovery processes construct a semantic net that links all of GT's concepts together.Each definition is an algebraic expression whose semantic interpretation is a stylized algorithm to generate a class of graphs correctly and completely. From a knowledge base of these concept definitions, GT is able to conjecture and prove such theorems as “The set of acyclic, connected graphs is precisely the set of trees” and “There is no odd‐regular graph on an odd number of vertices.” GT explores new concepts either to develop an area of knowledge or to link a newly acquired concept into a pre‐existing knowledge base. New concepts arise from the specialization of an existing concept, the generalization of an existing concept, and the merger of two or more existing concepts. From an initial knowledge base containing only the definition of “graph,” GT discovers such concepts as acyclic graphs, connected graphs, and bipartite graphs.
OBADE: cognitive modelling with objects
Authors: Darcel Nelly , Escarabajal Marie‐Cl. 
Published: April 2007

We realize a computer simulation of children's reasoning in arithmetic word problem solving. The model parses the terms provided to the system in natural language and, while it performs this task, it tries to build its representation of the described situation by the way that the child elaborates a mental problem representation. This image results from three components: semantic knowledge, text comprehension process, and problem‐solving strategies.We emphasize the adequacy, on one hand, between the knowledge representation and manipulation by an object formalism and, on the other hand, between the structure and the use of knowledge interacting in this application.The specific aspect of our model is that the internal representation is realized in an object‐oriented language whose main properties are accurately exploited. This choice allows one to combine the descriptive characteristics of each piece of knowledge with its implication in the progress of the process.The program is supported by the analysis of individual protocols of some children: they allow us to hypothesize on the way the children modify their problem representation during the solving task.We describe the main objects of the model. Then we simulate on the terms of a problem, the way that the process is driven by expectations of contextually relevant information.