bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The internet and international marketing
Authors: Alrawi K. 
Published: December 2007

PurposeThis paper aims to provide a link between the concepts of internationalization and internetalization, since both have become an e‐business.Design/methodology/approachThis study extends a model developed by Buttriss and Wilkinson which offers a starting‐point for classifying elements and identifying interactions in the internationalization process in global marketing. The objective has been achieved through the comparison between the Buttriss and Wilkinson model and a suggested model by the researcher.FindingsThe adoption of internationalization provides excellent opportunities in international marketing activities. It is suggested that e‐business is made up of many elements, such as business intelligence, supply chain management, customer relationship management, and enterprise resource planning. All of these existed in electronic form prior to the web but to a limited degree of penetration and below the level of sophistication that is prevailing today.Originality/valueThis paper fulfils and identifies resources needed and offers new thought to individuals in the field of management and probably IT.
Activity‐based life‐cycle costing in long‐range planning
Authors: Rodríguez Rivero Edilberto J. , Emblemsvåg Jan 
Published: December 2007

PurposeThe aim of the paper is to present and illustrate a new approach for long‐range planning.Design/methodology/approachBuilding on well‐tested frameworks such as activity‐based costing (ABC), life‐cycle costing (LCC) and Monte Carlo methods as well as earlier case studies, an approach is developed further and tested using a real‐life case.FindingsThe effectiveness of the approach is confirmed using a process‐oriented framework (ABC) and introducing an LCC perspective. Monte Carlo methods are used to handle uncertainty and identify risks and critical success factors.Research limitation/implicationsThe presented research is a starting‐point for developing a simple approach for budgeting that overcomes many of the problems with traditional budgeting.Practical implicationsThe paper shows how long‐range planning can be performed in a realistic fashion without ending up in many of the traps of traditional budgeting.Originality/valueThe paper presents an approach that can help corporations anticipate the future much more realistically than before.
Alternative evidence on financial analysts' use of financial statement information
Authors: Byard Donal , Cebenoyan Fatma 
Published: December 2007

PurposeFinancial analysts are frequently viewed as information intermediaries who process and interpret firms' financial reports for other market participants. Much recent research, however, has cast doubts on analysts' ability to fully utilize the information in firms' financial reports. Using an alternative approach, this study aims to provide evidence on how sophisticated analysts are at using information in firms' financial reports.Design/methodology/approachThe paper estimates different measures of firms' operational efficiency, all of which are derived from financial statement data, and compares the strength of the association between these measures and analysts' absolute forecast errors. It then compares a sophisticated frontier‐based measure of firms' operational efficiency that evaluates firms' performance relative to their competitors with three more traditional efficiency measures; specifically the return on asset (ROA) ratio, industry‐adjusted ROA, and the return on equity ratio.FindingsThe results indicate that the more sophisticated frontier‐based measure is more strongly negatively associated with analysts' absolute forecast errors than the other three measures. The results thus suggest that analysts are capable of undertaking a sophisticated analysis of the information in firms' financial reports, at least as it pertains to operational efficiency.Originality/valueTo the extent that analysts serve as a key group of users of financial information, these results are likely to be of interest to accounting policy makers.
Shill‐bidding in private values auctions
Authors: Hlasny Vladimir 
Published: December 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present implications of the seller's ability to bid in the four classical auction forms, with independent private values: English, Dutch, first‐ and second‐price auctions.Design/methodology/approachUnder each auction form, the identity of the winning bidder and the expected winning bid are compared between the case when the seller may bid and when he cannot, using equilibrium bidder strategies. The seller's incentive to bid is evaluated.FindingsThe strategies and the welfare results differ with auction type and underlying information assumptions – bidders are either aware or unaware of the seller's ability to bid. In the Dutch and the first‐price auctions, seller‐bidding does not affect any classical results. In the English and the second‐price auctions, it leads to no lower expected prices than without it and higher prices with positive probability. In the English and the second‐price auctions, the seller bids above his reservation value and may unintentionally win the auction. These auctions result in inefficiency with positive probability.Practical implicationsThe English and the second‐price auctions are the most common real‐world auctions. In these auctions, the seller's ability to bid – secretly or publicly – redistributes welfare among participants and introduces a possibility of inefficiency. Making this ability publicly known does not solve the latter problem. Auctioneers must prevent the seller from bidding, or must select a different auction form when seller‐bidding is anticipated.Originality/valueThe paper clarifies to regulators, auction designers, bidders, and other readers which auction forms are susceptible to subversion by seller‐bidding and what the potential damages are.
MOS1 Osmosensor of
Metarhizium anisopliae
Is Required for Adaptation to Insect Host Hemolymph
Authors: Wang Chengshu , Duan Zhibing , St. Leger Raymond J. 
Published: December 2007

ABSTRACT

Entomopathogenic fungi such as
Metarhizium anisopliae
infect insects by direct penetration of the cuticle, after which the fungus adapts to the high osmotic pressure of the hemolymph and multiplies. Here we characterize the
M. anisopliae Mos1
gene and demonstrate that it encodes the osmosensor required for this process. MOS1 contains transmembrane regions and a C-terminal Src homology 3 domain similar to those of yeast osmotic adaptor proteins, and homologs of MOS1 are widely distributed in the fungal kingdom. Reverse transcription-PCR demonstrated that
Mos1
is up-regulated in insect hemolymph as well as artificial media with high osmotic pressure. Transformants containing an antisense vector directed to the
Mos1
mRNA depleted transcript levels by 80%. This produced selective alterations in regulation of genes involved in hyphal body formation, cell membrane stiffness, and generation of intracellular turgor pressure, suggesting that these processes are mediated by MOS1. Consistent with a role in stress responses, transcript depletion of
Mos1
increased sensitivity to osmotic and oxidative stresses and to compounds that interfere with cell wall biosynthesis. It also disrupted developmental processes, including formation of appressoria and hyphal bodies. Insect bioassays confirmed that
Mos1
knockdown significantly reduces virulence. Overall, our data show that
M. anisopliae
MOS1 mediates cellular responses to high osmotic pressure and subsequent adaptations to colonize host hemolymph.
A Highly Conserved Protein of Unknown Function Is Required by
Sinorhizobium meliloti
for Symbiosis and Environmental Stress Protection
Authors: Davies Bryan W. , Walker Graham C. 
Published: December 2007

ABSTRACT

We report here the first characterization of the
Sinorhizobium meliloti
open reading frame SMc01113. The SMc01113 protein is a member of a highly conserved protein family, universal among bacteria. We demonstrate that the SMc01113 gene is absolutely required for
S. meliloti
symbiosis with alfalfa and also for the protection of the bacterium from a wide range of environmental stresses.
Identification of Type 3 Fimbriae in UropathogenicEscherichia coliReveals a Role in Biofilm Formation
Authors: Ong Cheryl-Lynn Y. , Ulett Glen C. , Mabbett Amanda N. , Beatson Scott A. , Webb Richard I. , Monaghan Wayne , Nimmo Graeme R. , Looke David F. , McEwan Alastair G. , Schembri Mark A. 
Published: December 2007

ABSTRACTCatheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) is the most common nosocomial infection in the United States. UropathogenicEscherichia coli(UPEC), the most common cause of CAUTI, can form biofilms on indwelling catheters. Here, we identify and characterize novel factors that affect biofilm formation by UPEC strains that cause CAUTI. Sixty-five CAUTI UPEC isolates were characterized for phenotypic markers of urovirulence, including agglutination and biofilm formation. One isolate,E. coliMS2027, was uniquely proficient at biofilm growth despite the absence of adhesins known to promote this phenotype. Mini-Tn5mutagenesis ofE. coliMS2027 identified several mutants with altered biofilm growth. Mutants containing insertions in genes involved in O antigen synthesis (rmlCandmanB) and capsule synthesis (kpsM) possessed enhanced biofilm phenotypes. Three independent mutants deficient in biofilm growth contained an insertion in a gene locus homologous to the type 3 chaperone-usher class fimbrial genes ofKlebsiella pneumoniae. These type 3 fimbrial genes (mrkABCDF), which were located on a conjugative plasmid, were cloned fromE. coliMS2027 and could complement the biofilm-deficient transconjugants when reintroduced on a plasmid. Primers targeting themrkBchaperone-encoding gene revealed its presence in CAUTI strains ofCitrobacter koseri,Citrobacter freundii,Klebsiella pneumoniae, andKlebsiella oxytoca. All of thesemrkB-positive strains caused type 3 fimbria-specific agglutination of tannic acid-treated red blood cells. This is the first description of type 3 fimbriae inE. coli,C. koseri, andC. freundii. Our data suggest that type 3 fimbriae may contribute to biofilm formation by different gram-negative nosocomial pathogens.
Identification of Two Catalases in
Azotobacter vinelandii
: a KatG Homologue and a Novel Bacterial Cytochrome
c
Catalase, CCC

Av
Authors: Sandercock James R. , Page William J. 
Published: December 2007

ABSTRACT

Azotobacter vinelandii
produces two detectable catalases during growth on minimal medium. The heat-labile catalase expressed during exponential growth phase was identified as a KatG homologue by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) using a mixed protein sample. The second catalase was heat resistant and had substantial residual activity after treatment at 90°C. This enzyme was purified by anion-exchange and size exclusion chromatography and was found to exhibit strong absorption at 407 nm, which is often indicative of associated heme moieties. The purified protein was fragmented by proteinase K and identified by LC-MS/MS. Some identity was shared with the MauG/bacterial cytochrome
c
peroxidase (BCCP) protein family, but the enzyme exhibited a strong catalase activity never before observed in this family. Because two putative
c
-type heme sites (CXXCH) were predicted in the peptide sequence and were demonstrated experimentally, the enzyme was designated a cytochrome
c
catalase (CCC

Av

). However, the local organization of the CCC

Av

heme motifs differed significantly from that of the BCCPs as the sites were confined to the C-terminal half of the catalase. A possible Ca
2+
binding motif, previously described in the BCCPs, is also present in the CCC

Av

peptide sequence. Some instability in the presence of EGTA was observed. Expression of the catalase was abolished in
cccA
mutants, resulting in a nearly 8,700-fold reduction in peroxide resistance in stationary phase.
Roles of the Major, Small, Acid-Soluble Spore Proteins and Spore-Specific and Universal DNA Repair Mechanisms in Resistance of
Bacillus subtilis
Spores to Ionizing Radiation from X Rays and High-Energy Charged-Particle Bombardment
Authors: Moeller Ralf , Setlow Peter , Horneck Gerda , Berger Thomas , Reitz Günther , Rettberg Petra , Doherty Aidan J. , Okayasu Ryuichi , Nicholson Wayne L. 
Published: December 2007

ABSTRACT

The role of DNA repair by nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ), homologous recombination, spore photoproduct lyase, and DNA polymerase I and genome protection via α/β-type small, acid-soluble spore proteins (SASP) in
Bacillus subtilis
spore resistance to accelerated heavy ions (high-energy charged [HZE] particles) and X rays has been studied. Spores deficient in NHEJ and α/β-type SASP were significantly more sensitive to HZE particle bombardment and X-ray irradiation than were the
recA, polA
, and
splB
mutant and wild-type spores, indicating that NHEJ provides an efficient DNA double-strand break repair pathway during spore germination and that the loss of the α/β-type SASP leads to a significant radiosensitivity to ionizing radiation, suggesting the essential function of these spore proteins as protectants of spore DNA against ionizing radiation.
Minority Rights, Multiculturalism and the Roma of Europe
Authors: Barth William 
Published: December 2007

AbstractIn this article, I review legal initiativaes to improve conditions for the Roma peoples who live in the states of Europe. The question is timely given the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the European Union on 1 January 2007. Romania contains the largest concentration of the Roma population in Europe. My article uncovers a schism between political theory and international law on the question of minority rights. I distinguish how the conclusions of Will Kymlicka, one of the most prolific writers on the subject of multiculturalism in political theory, differ from the international jurisprudence that protects minority groups. In this essay, I analyse Kymlicka's claim that multicultural policies are contextually dependent, and an inappropriate subject for a common legal regime of international human rights treaties. To determine the implications of human rights jurisprudence for this normative claim, I also research court cases filed by the Roma under the European Framework Convention for the Protection of Minorities and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. I contrast the international treaties that protect minority groups from political theorist accounts of multiculturalism in three areas. First, my article discusses jurisdictional issues concerning whether the particular groups defined by minority rights, irrespective of their geographical location or contextual experience, are proper subjects for protection by a common rights regime. Next, I illustrate how cultural rights are distinguishable from traditional civil rights laws. Finally, I examine how the historic persecution of the Roma violates human rights standards that protect minorities. The Roma have a long and unique relationship with the European states, which serves to demonstrate whether or not a common regime of minority rights safeguards the cultural development of the Roma.
Constraining Chaos
Authors:   Fraser
Published: December 2007

AbstractWith the help of the integrated study of time, the paper traces the evolution of causation and time. Then, based on what has been learned and assisted by a critique of the idea that our experience of passage is rooted in cosmic entropy increase, it suggests that the human experience of time derives from the constitutive conflicts of matter, life, and personal and collective human identities. It shows that all of these conflicts derive from the evolutionary constraints upon the primeval chaos.
In Search of Dead Time: Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily"
Authors:   Harris
Published: December 2007

AbstractGilles Deleuze discovers in Marcel Proust a mode of thinking about time specific to literature. Deleuze's analysis may be used as a framework for showing how William Faulkner's fiction induces readers to undertake a similar thinking process. Faulkner's story "A Rose for Emily" provides a fruitful example, because its enigmatic qualities in relation to chronology engender a deeper inquiry into the nature of time in the story. While Proust undertakes a search for lost time, Faulkner sends his reader in search of a dead time encrypted in the heart of his tale.
Mythen, die unter die Haut gehen—zur literarischen Form der Tätowierelegie (PBrux. inv. e 8934 und PSorb. inv. 2254)
Authors:   Bernsdorff
Published: December 2007

AbstractIn the tattoo elegy, written on a papyrus from the second century BC, a speaker threatens to tattoo pictures of mythical sinners and their punishment on someone's skin. I try to show that this alludes to the ancient practice of tattooing a text which describes the offences of a criminal on his body. At the same time, the possible erotic context of the poem suggests that it modifies the mainly elegiac topos of leaving marks (notae in Latin) on the skin of the beloved (part 1). In the following parts I concentrate on the two most important literary forms the tattoo elegy combines, namely ecphrasis and catalogue. The poet stresses the catalogue form on different levels of content as well as of form (part 2). The combination of both forms is already prepared for in archaic poetry (part 3). The speaker exploits the uncertainty whether the description only tells what is represented in the pictures or whether it becomes a narrative expansion without a visible equivalent. This uncertainty is inherent in every ecphrasis, but in this special case, where the production of the picture is connected with the pain of the tattooing, it reaches a new degree of intensity.
When Success Becomes a Liability: Challenges of State Building in Eritrea (1991-2005)
Authors: Bereketeab Redie 
Published: December 2007

AbstractThe article aims to discuss and analyze the post-liberation state building challenges in Eritrea. It interrogates how and why the promising start was transformed into a nightmare. It traces two sets of explanatory factors. The first is the political culture that was developed during the liberation struggle. A political culture characterized by centralization, hierarchy, collectivism, strong loyalty and discipline became an obstacle to state building and transition from a guerrilla to civilian governance. The second set of factors pertains to the second war with Ethiopia. The second war not only erased all the post-liberation achievements, but also plunged the nation into social, economic, and political structural and systemic crisis. To exist from this predicament would require emancipation from the political culture of the liberation struggle and smooth transition to a civilian democratic and constitutional governance system.
The Effects of Polygyny and Domicility on Offspring Sex Ratio in Ghana
Authors: Amankwaa Adansi 
Published: December 2007

AbstractThis article explores how family structure and domicility influences offspring sex ratio bias, specifically living arrangements of husband in polygynous unions. Data from three Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys were used to examine the relationship between family structure and offspring sex ratio at birth, something that previous studies have not been able to do. This study estimate models of sex ratio offspring if the wives live together with husband present and wives live in separate dwellings and are visited by husband in turn. The results suggest that within polygynous marriages there are more male births, especially when husbands reside in the same dwelling as wives, than when husbands reside in separate dwellings from their wives. The analyses show that offspring sex ratio is related to the structure of living arrangement of husbands in polygynous unions. Indeed, the findings suggest that living arrangements and family structure among humans are important factors in predicting offspring sex ratio bias.
Hermeneutic Reflections from Visiting a Project in Dumaria, India
Authors: Smythe Liz , Robinson Bob , Scrimgeour Frank 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
When people from one culture visit the transformational development work in another country the question of 'understanding' is raised. This paper draws on the philosophical writings of Heidegger and Gadamer to show how interpretations are made in an experience of 'being there'. We argue that understanding is always on-the-way, influenced by past experience, interest, and mood. 'Being-there' affords an opportunity to move beyond taken-for-granted assumptions, to become more attuned to the hermeneutic 'as' that reveals the complex nature of 'meaning'. At the same time, we recognise that understanding always comes with the possibility of misunderstanding. Dialogue, where partners seeks to understand the experience of 'other, opens the way forward.
Toward a Theological 'Theory of Everything'
Authors: Barrett Peter 
Published: December 2007

AbstractThe emergence of a new scientific world-picture during the course of the 20thcentury has created the challenge to theology, as in the time of Aquinas, to act as the great integrating discipline, drawing upon the full range of knowledge to formulate a grand narrative of the evolving cosmos. First, key questions of the science-theology debate of the past three decades are outlined, with emphasis on the epistemic aspects. George Ellis's theistic cosmology is then presented briefly, as an example of a limited integration that brings together the realms of the physical and the moral. Using the same hypothetico-deductive approach, an axiomatic framework is proposed as a way of extending his model into a more comprehensive scheme - one that is based on a fundamental idea of trinitarian theology, the kenosis of God. This is then linked to the traditional triad of transcendental values - truth, goodness and beauty - with reference on the one hand to the neglect of beauty in modern culture, and on the other hand to the role of the Holy Spirit as the One who affirms particularity and inspires beauty.
The Poor in the Old Testament: Some Observations1
Authors: Levin Christoph 
Published: December 2007

AbstractThe positive religious attitude to poverty distinguishes the Old Testament from its environment in the Ancient Near East. According to the worldview held in antiquity, poverty was simply a given fact. In the ancient ideology of kingship, for example, concern for the poor counted as one of the king's special duties; but this concern was designed to preserve the world order, not to change it. The Old Testament view is very different. Prophecy condemns the oppression of the poor in the strongest terms and proclaims Yahweh's comprehensive judgment on their oppressors. Everything thrusts towards change and fundamental remedy. At the same time, the poor (Anawim) count as Yahweh's people in a special sense. It emerges from literary analysis that this special character did not as yet exist in the pre-exilic period. The relevant texts are evidently brief and late ad hoc additions. This is true both of the Torah (Exod 22; Deut 15; 22) and of the prophets (Isa 1-3; Jer; Ezek; Amos; Zeph; Hab; Zech), as well as of the Psalms (passim). There are historical reasons for this. We know from Nehemiah 5 that the impoverishment of wide sections of the population was a problem in the post-exilic community. One possible cause was the economic 'modernisation' which took place in the Persian and Hellenistic period. The poor, who interpreted their fate as the fruit of obedience to the Torah, expected Yahweh to bring about the reversal of that fate, either through the intervention of the Last Judgment or through the coming of the Messiah. As well as Moses (Num 12:3), the Messiah himself (Zech 9:9), was in the end also viewed as being one of the poor.