bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The role of managers' political networking and functional experience in new venture performance: Evidence from China's transition economy
Authors: Li Haiyang , Zhang Yan 
Published: March 2007

AbstractDrawing upon the resource‐based view and transaction cost economics, this study aims to examine how various types of managerial resources (i.e., political networking and functional experience) can be beneficial to new ventures in a transition economy. Using survey data from a sample of new ventures in China's high‐technology industries, we demonstrate that managers' political networking and functional experience are positively related to new venture performance. We also find that the positive relationship between functional experience and new venture performance is moderated by the type of ownership of the ventures and the level of dysfunctional competition in their environments. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Allocation of inventive effort in complex product systems
Authors: Ethiraj Sendil K. 
Published: March 2007

AbstractThis paper examines the allocation of inventive effort in complex product systems. I argue that complex product systems, e.g., personal computers (PCs), are distinguished by functional interaction among several components, each guided by a relatively autonomous bundle of technical and economic characteristics. I try to explore whether the dynamics of such interactions between components of complex product systems can help us understand changes in the relative allocation of inventive effort. I advance and empirically test three hypotheses: (1) emergence of component constraints (bottlenecks) in product systems will trigger research and development (R&D) investment to resolve the constraints; (2) slack component firms have a strong incentive to invest in resolving component constraints; and (3) the incentive of slack component firms to invest in resolving component constraints is increasing in their prior sunk R&D investments in slack components. In sum, I argue that interactions between components in a product system conditions the R&D incentives of firms and also that the incentives are increasing in their prior investments or capabilities. Using product reviews from technical journals, I trace the constraint components in the PC from 1981 to 1998 and attempt to predict shifts in the allocation of inventive effort in the subsequent period. The empirical results strongly support all three hypotheses. This study highlights the paradoxical effect of modularity in complex product systems. Modular design architectures, while contributing to accelerating the pace of technical change, also tend to limit the economic benefits of firms' component R&D efforts, especially when different components technologies are progressing at different rates. This often creates an impetus to enlarge the scope of firm R&D activities beyond the component product markets that firms operate in. Other implications for R&D decision making are discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Metabolic Syndrome: Effects of n‐3 PUFAs on a Model of Dyslipidemia, Insulin Resistance and Adiposity
Authors: Lombardo Yolanda B. , Hein Gustavo , Chicco Adriana 
Published: March 2007

AbstractBoth genetic and environmental factors (e.g. nutrition, life style) contribute to the development of the plurimetabolic syndrome, which has a high prevalence in the world population. Dietary n‐3 PUFAs specially those from marine oil (EPA and DHA) appear to play an important role against the adverse effects of this syndrome. The present work examined the effectiveness of fish oil (FO) in reversing or improving the dyslipidemia, insulin resistance and adiposity induced in rats by long‐term feeding a sucrose‐rich diet (SRD). We studied several metabolic and molecular mechanisms involved in both lipid and glucose metabolisms in different tissues (liver, skeletal muscle, fat pad) as well as insulin secretion patterns from perifused islets under the stimulation of different secretagogues. Dietary FO reverses dyslipidemia and improves insulin action and adiposity in the SRD fed rats. FO reduces adipocytes cell size and thus, the smaller adipocytes are more insulin sensitive and the release of fatty acids decreases. In muscle, FO normalizes both the oxidative and non‐oxidative glucose pathways. Moreover, FO modifies the fatty acid composition of membrane phospholipids. In isolated β cells, lipid contents and glucose oxidation return to normal. All these effects could contribute to the normalization of glucose‐stimulated insulin secretion and muscle insulin insensitivity.
Canadian Mining Companies and Corporate Social Responsibility: Weighing the Impact of Global Norms
Authors: Dashwood Hevina S. 
Published: March 2007

Abstract.This study analyzes the factors that led two Canadian mining companies, Noranda and Placer Dome, to adopt polices on corporate social responsibility (CSR). Although much has been written on CSR in the business and organization fields, there has been little scholarly treatment of the topic from a social sciences perspective. A common assumption is that companies are merelyreactingto societal pressures from transnational non-governmental organizations. This study challenges that assumption, by weighing the impact of emerging global norms of CSR against influences internal to the companies themselves, and domestic influences operating in Canada. The research findings point to the decisive influence of internal company dynamics and the experience of operating mines in Canada. While emerging global CSR norms are important, their role is more complex than is often assumed, as mining companies have beenproactivein their efforts to shape those norms.Résumé.Cette étude analyse les facteurs qui ont amené deux sociétés minières canadiennes, Noranda et Placer Dome, à adopter des politiques concernant la responsabilité sociale de l'entreprise (RSE). La RSE a fait couler beaucoup d'encre dans le domaine des affaires et de l'organisation, mais peu de chercheurs s'y sont intéressés dans la perspective des sciences sociales. On part très souvent de l'hypothèse que les sociétés se contentent deréagiraux pressions sociales exercées par les organisations non-gouvernementales transnationales. Cette étude remet cette hypothèse en question en comparant l'impact des normes globales émergentes de la RSE aux influences internes aux sociétés elles-mêmes, et aux influences domestiques qui s'exercent au Canada. Les résultats révèlent l'influence décisive des dynamiques internes des sociétés et celle de l'expérience dérivée de l'exploitation des mines au Canada. Les normes globales émergentes en matière de RSE sont certes importantes, mais leur rôle est plus complexe qu'on ne l'admet souvent car les sociétés minières ont joué un rôle très actif dans leur élaboration.
Numbers and Newness: The Descriptive and Substantive Representation of Women
Authors: Beckwith Karen 
Published: March 2007

Abstract.The concept of “critical mass,” drawn from physics and organizational behaviour literatures, has been employed by women and politics scholars as a potential theoretical underpinning for explaining and predicting women's substantive representation in national legislatures. This article examines two number-based theories of women's substantive representation—critical mass theory and sex-ratio proportional theory—and assesses their theoretical utility. It then proposes the alternative of focusing on the impact of newness, or a substantial increase in the number and proportion of women elected for the first time, on women's substantive representation. The article identifies research design issues and discusses the intersection of “newness” and “numbers” for evaluating women's substantive representation in parliaments. Offering a range of hypotheses for testing, it concludes by identifying an irony for critical mass research and by underscoring the necessarily gendered nature of the newness-numbers intersection.Résumé.Le concept de “ masse critique ” issu de la physique et de la recherche en comportement organisationnel a été utilisé par les spécialistes du rapport femmes et politique comme modèle théorique possible pour expliquer et prédire la représentation substantive des femmes dans les législatures nationales. Cet article se propose d'examiner deux théories quantitatives de la représentation substantive des femmes et d'évaluer leur utilité théorique : 1. la théorie de la masse critique et 2. la théorie proportionnelle du sex ratio, et propose un autre modèle basé sur l'incidence de la nouveauté, ou une augmentation sensible dans le nombre et les proportions de femmes élues pour la première fois, sur la représentation substantive des femmes. L'article se penche sur les questions de méthodologie de la recherche et analyse l'intérêt du point d'intersection “ nouveauté ” et “ chiffres ” pour l'évaluation de la représentation substantive des femmes dans les parlements. À partir d'un choix d'hypothèses permettant d'évaluer ces modèles, l'article conclut en identifiant une ironie en ce qui concerne la recherche de masse critique et en soulignant le fait que la nature du point d'intersection nouveauté/chiffres est forcément marquée par le genre.
Droits démocratiques et identités,
Authors: LeBlanc Isabelle 
Published: March 2007

Droits démocratiques et identités,, sous la
direction de Bjarne Melkevik et Luc Vigneault., Collection Dikè,
Les Presses de l'Université Laval, 2006. 148 p.Ce ouvrage collectif regroupe les contributions de huit auteures et
auteurs au débat politique, social et juridique sur les
implications de la mondialisation, pour la société civile
d'une part et pour l'institution juridique d'autre part.
C'est dans le contexte contemporain de la mondialisation que ce livre
traite d'abord des droits démocratiques, puis du lien qui
existe entre l'identité et le droit. Lecteurs et lectrices
sont ainsi plongés, grâce à diverses perspectives et
approches, dans un profond questionnement de la compatibilité entre
le citoyen et le droit et dans une réflexion sur le décalage
qui peut exister entre l'ordre économique mondial, la
démocratie, les droits humains, la possibilité ou non de
l'universalité, les différences identitaires et le sens
même du politique.
The Success of Open Source
Authors: Zschoch Mark 
Published: March 2007

The Success of Open Source, Steven Weber, Cambridge MA:
Harvard University Press, 2004, pp. viii, 312.The phenomenon of open source software produced by distributed
networks of largely volunteer computer programmers has been studied by
legal scholars, economists, sociologists, anthropologists and computer
scientists but has to date not drawn significant attention from political
scientists. Steven Weber's book undertakes a political economic
analysis of this topic. Weber attempts to address the questions of what
incentives establish and sustain co-operation in the absence of direct
monetary rewards and how a system of governance develops despite the lack
of conventional exclusionary property rights.
Nature and History in American Political Development: A Debate
Authors: Breckenridge George 
Published: March 2007

Nature and History in American Political Development: A
Debate, James W. Ceaser; with responses from Jack N. Rakove, Nancy L.
Rosenblum, Rogers M. Smith, Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 2006,
pp. viii, 197.James Ceaser gave the first Tocqueville Memorial Lecture on American
Politics sponsored by the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard
in 2004. This volume contains an expanded version of his lecture, the
three responses by, respectively, a historian, a political theorist, and a
political scientist, and Ceaser's rejoinder or, in the case of
Rosenblum, rebuttal to each. There are two things going on in this volume:
a scholarly debate on how to approach the elusive question of the role of
ideas in politics and a rather acrimonious argument over Ceaser's
motivation.
The Legal Status of Tenants and Sharecroppers in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century France and Ottoman Syria
Authors: JOSEPH SABRINA 
Published: March 2007

By the middle of the sixteenth century, the role of the tenant farmer and sharecropper in both Syria and France witnessed important transformations which lent increasing relevance to the social and legal status enjoyed by these cultivators. In various regions of France after the sixteenth century, a rising class of bourgeois landholders increasingly appropriated agricultural lands from both peasant proprietors and nobles, leading to the spread of both sharecropping and leasing contracts. In Ottoman Syria, the appropriation of peasant lands and proliferation of tenancy arrangements was linked to an expanding state which sought to consolidate power and ensure the consistent flow of revenue. Thus, this paper will address how the socio-legal discourse on tenants and sharecroppers differed in a context where arable lands were appropriated by private rather than public forces. Issues that are examined include: perceptions of agricultural innovation; possession rights; and payment of rent and other dues.While Islamic legal scholars articulated a discourse which sought to incorporate tenants and sharecroppers, French legal and social thinkers of the day championed the rights of the landlord above all else. Unlike their Syrian counterparts, French thinkers linked agricultural development and efficient production to private ownership of land. In Syria, on the other hand, jurists advocated a land tenure system in which the possession rights of cultivators were supported while landlord interests were not jeopardised. Thus, agricultural development in the Syrian case was articulated within a framework which conceded multiple layers of ownership. These ideas would have an important impact on nineteenth-century developments in both regions.
Dormancy-break and germination in seeds ofPrunus campanulata(Rosaceae): role of covering layers and changes in concentration of abscisic acid and gibberellins
Authors: Chen Shun-Ying , Chien Ching-Te , Chung Jeng-Der , Yang Yuh-Shyong , Kuo Shing-Rong 
Published: March 2007

AbstractIntact seeds (seed+endocarp) from freshly harvested fruits ofPrunus campanulatawere dormant, and required 4–6 weeks of warm followed by 8 weeks of cold stratification for maximum germination percentage. Removing both endocarp and seed coat, however, promoted germination in a high percentage of non-stratified seeds. Treatment of intact, non-stratified seeds with gibberellic acid (GA3) was only partially effective in breaking dormancy. However, GA3promoted germination of non-stratified seeds in which the endocarp (but not the seed coat) had been removed. The order of abscisic acid (ABA) concentration in fresh seeds was endocarp > seed coat > embryo, and its concentration in endocarp plus seed coat was about 6.2-fold higher than that in the embryo. Total ABA contents of seeds subjected to warm and/or cold moist stratification were reduced 6- to 12-fold. A higher concentration of GA4was detected in embryos of non-dormant than in those of dormant seeds. Fluridone, a carotenoid biosynthesis inhibitor, was efficient in breaking dormancy ofPrunusseeds. Paclobutrazol, a GA biosynthesis inhibitor, completely inhibited seed germination, and the inhibitory effect could be partially reversed by GA4, but not by GA3. Thus, dormancy inP. campanulataseeds is imposed by the covering layers. Dormancy break is accompanied by a decrease in ABA content of the covering layers and germination by an increase of embryonic GA4content.
Quantifying the oxygen sensitivity of seed germination using a population-based threshold model
Authors: Bradford Kent J. , Côme Daniel , Corbineau Françoise 
Published: March 2007

AbstractSeeds vary widely in the sensitivity of germination to oxygen (O2) partial pressure, depending upon the species, temperature, dormancy state and physiological status of the seeds. Most analyses of the O2sensitivity of germination have focused on final germination percentages and estimated the O2percentage in air that is required to reduce germination to a given percentage (usually 50%). In contrast, we have applied a population-based threshold model utilizing time courses of germination to quantify three parameters related to seed germination sensitivity to O2availability: the median base (or threshold) O2percentage, the standard deviation of O2thresholds among seeds in the population, and an oxygen–time constant that relates O2percentage to germination timing. The model fits germination responses accurately across a wide range of O2concentrations. The response to O2was logarithmic in all cases, with the O2percentage required for 50% germination ranging from 21% to as low as 0.005%, depending upon the species, the temperature and the seed dormancy level. Modelling indicated that some seeds can adapt to low O2percentages and shift their thresholds to lower values over time. Lower temperatures decreased the minimum O2threshold, as did after-ripening. Seed priming generally reduced the oxygen–time constant and increased the standard deviation of germination responses, but had relatively little effect on the O2sensitivityper se. The population-based threshold model can be used to quantify the O2sensitivity of seed germination and to predict germination rates and percentages when O2availability is limiting.
Calcium, diet and fracture risk: a prospective study of 1898 incident fractures among 34 696 British women and men
Authors: Key Timothy J , Appleby Paul N , Spencer Elizabeth A , Roddam Andrew W , Neale Rachel E , Allen Naomi E 
Published: March 2007

AbstractObjectiveThe risk factors for fractures are incompletely understood. An outstanding question concerns the optimal amount of dietary calcium needed to minimise the risk of fracture.DesignWe examined the associations of dietary calcium and other nutrients with self-reported fracture risk in a prospective cohort study. Nutrient intakes were estimated using a semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire administered at recruitment.SettingThe UK.ParticipantsA total of 26 749 women and 7947 men aged 20–89 years.ResultsOver an average of 5.2 years of follow-up, 1555 women and 343 men reported one or more fractures, 72% of these resulting from a fall. Among women, fracture risk was higher at lower calcium intakes, with a relative risk of 1.75 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.33–2.29) among women with a calcium intake of < 525 mg day− 1 compared with women with a calcium intake of at least 1200 mg day− 1 (test for linear trend, P < 0.001). The association of dietary calcium with fracture risk was stronger among women aged under 50 years at recruitment than among women aged 50 and above. Dietary calcium intake was not associated with fracture risk in men. Fracture risk was not related to the dietary intake of any other nutrient examined.ConclusionIn this population, women with a low dietary calcium intake had an increased risk of bone fracture, and this association was more marked among younger women than among older women.
The therapeutic potential of gene transfer for the treatment of peripheral neuropathies
Authors: Goss James R. 
Published: March 2007

AbstractPeripheral neuropathy is a common medical problem with numerous aetiologies. Unfortunately, for the majority of cases there is no available medical solution for the underlying cause, and the only option is to try to treat the resulting symptoms. Treatment options exist when neuropathy results in positive symptoms such as pain, but there is a significant lack of treatments for negative symptoms such as numbness and weakness. Systemic application of growth factor peptides has shown promise in protecting nerves from neuropathic insults in preclinical animal studies, but translation into human trials has been problematic and disappointing. Significant advancements have been made in the past few years in utilising gene therapy approaches to treat peripheral neuropathy by expressing neuroprotective gene products either systemically or in specific nervous tissues. For example, plasmids expressing vascular endothelial growth factor injected into muscle, or herpes-simplex-virus-based vectors expressing neurotrophin gene products delivered to dorsal root ganglion neurons, have been used to protect peripheral nerve function in animal models of diabetes-associated peripheral neuropathy. Many published studies support the feasibility of this approach, although several questions still need to be addressed as gene therapy to treat peripheral neuropathy moves out of the laboratory and into the clinic.
Serum cytochrome c detection using a cytochrome c oxidase biosensor
Authors: Ashe Damian , Alleyne Trevor , Iwuoha Emmanuel 
Published: March 2007

Within the last ten years it has emerged that the release of cytochrome c plays a critical role in the important process of programmed cell death. It has also been shown that this protein is released into the circulating blood following MIs (myocardial infarctions). Methods for the detection of this protein have therefore become important. The enzyme cytochrome c oxidase is specific for cytochrome c. Bovine cytochrome c oxidase was successfully immobilized in a didodecyldimethylammonium bromide vesicular system on to gold electrodes and its interaction with cytochrome c was studied. Square‐wave‐voltammetric analysis of the biosensor showed two redox couples with midpoint potential, E0′, values of +182 and +414 mV compared with Ag/AgCl. The redox couple with E0′ of +414 mV showed a cathodic sensitivity to the presence of cytochrome c in both buffer solution and human serum. Responses of the cytochrome c oxidase biosensor to oxidized cytochrome c followed hyperbolic electrochemical Michaelis–Menten kinetics with a Km of 1.57 μM and maximum current (Imax) of 1.38×10−6 μA. The detection limit of the biosensor in human serum was 0.2 μM, which is well below the lowest physiological concentration of 0.8 μM previously reported for MIs [Alleyne, Joseph and Sampson (2001) Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. 90, 97–105]. These results indicate that the cytochrome c oxidase biosensors could be used to determine variations in cytochrome c concentration and thus have potential to be used as a diagnostic tool in the detection of MIs and possibly also in the study of programmed cell death.
Gender Differences in Anesthesiologists' Annual Incomes
Authors: Weeks William B. , Wallace Amy E. , Mackenzie Todd A. 
Published: March 2007

Background
Specialty, work effort, and gender have been shown to be associated with physicians' annual incomes; however, careful examination of the association between provider gender and annual income after correcting for other factors likely to influence income has not been conducted for anesthesiologists.

Methods
Survey responses collected throughout the 1990s from 819 actively practicing anesthesiologists and linear regression analysis were used to determine the association between provider gender and annual incomes after controlling for work effort, provider characteristics, and practice characteristics.

Results
White female anesthesiologists reported working 12% fewer annual hours than their white male counterparts. White female anesthesiologists had practiced medicine for fewer years than white males and were more likely to be employees, as opposed to having an ownership interest in the practice, but less likely to be board certified. After adjustment for work effort, provider characteristics, and practice characteristics, white females' mean annual income was 236,628 dollars, or 60,337 dollars (20%) lower than that for white males (95% confidence interval, 81,674 dollars lower to 39,001 dollars lower; P < 0.001).

Conclusions
During the 1990s, female gender was associated with lower annual incomes among anesthesiologists. These findings warrant further exploration to determine what factors might cause these gender-based income differences.