bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Biosafety Protocol, SPS Agreement and export and import control of LMOs/GMOs
Authors: Haseeb Ansari Abdul , Kamal Nik Mahmod Nik Ahmad 
Published: November 2008

PurposeWhen genetically modified organisms (GMOs) were put into the international trade, people in many countries, especially European countries, became skeptical of them. A perception developed that they are harmful to human, animal, plant life and health, and destructive to the environment. It is true that if there is no safe use of genetically modified living organisms (LMOs), other species might be affected causing loss to the environment. So as to ensure safe use of LMOs and GMOs, the Cartagena Protocol and the SPS Agreement were, respectively, made. The purpose of this paper is to critically examine both the legal instruments and to explore ways to make them co‐existent, so that human, animal, plant life and health, and the environment are protected without affecting the international trade in LMOs and GMOs.Design/methodology/approachThis paper undertakes a critical examination of the issues surrounding GMOs and LMOs.FindingsThe Cartagena Protocol and the SPS Agreement serve two different purposes. It is for this reason that some of their provisions are not co‐extensive. But the conflict in them can be resolved. It is suggested that the provisions pertaining to the precautionary principle of the SPS Agreement should be brought in line with that of the Cartagena Protocol. It is also suggested that importing countries should conduct their own risk assessment preferably by following the CODEX procedure. In no case, risk assessment done by producing companies should be taken as conclusive.Practical implicationsIf suggestions offered by the paper are followed, the two will then protect the human, animal and plant health and the environment in the best possible way.Originality/valueFor achieving its object, the paper presents a comparative assessment of the cases decided under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO).
SEC proposes mandatory use of XBRL tagging of financial statements
Authors: Romeo Peter J. , Parrino Richard J. , Bell Julie A. 
Published: November 2008

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explain the SEC's proposal to require domestic and foreign public companies that prepare their financial statements in accordance with US GAAP to file financial statements contained in registration statements and periodic reports in an interactive data format using XBRL, or “eXtensible Business Reporting Language”.Design/methodology/approachThe paper explains the purpose of XBRL, provides an overview of the SEC's proposal, discusses the consequences of noncompliance, and explains the SEC's “bifurcated” approach to filers' liability for the interactive data they are required to provide.FindingsXBRL, like the other electronic formats currently used by registrants in their SEC filings, defines or “tags” data using standard definitions. The SEC believes that financial reporting based on the XBRL format would create new ways for investors, analysts, and others to retrieve and use financial information in documents filed with the SEC. XBRL tagging of financial statements most likely represents only the SEC's first step in moving toward more widespread adoption of XBRL reporting.Originality/valueThe paper contains practical guidance by experienced securities lawyers.
Summary of selected FINRA regulatory notices, July‐August 2008
Authors: Davis Henry A. 
Published: November 2008

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide excerpts of selected Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Regulatory Notes issued in July and August 2008.Design/methodology/approachThe paper provides excerpts from the June 2008 Supplement to the Options Disclosure Document; Regulatory Notice 08‐38, SEC Emergency Orders on Short Selling; Regulatory Notice 08‐39, Variable Insurance Products; Regulatory Not ice 08‐41, Portfolio Margin Program; Regulatory Notice 08‐42, SEC Rule 144 and TRACE Eligibility; and Regulatory Notice 08‐43, Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (TRACE)FindingsThe Orders and Guidance in Regulatory Notice 08‐38 address the naked short selling of the securities of 19 public companies. Through Regulatory Notice 08‐39, FINRA proposes to update and consolidate the rules governing member firm communications with the public about variable insurance products. Regulatory Notice 08‐41 addresses margin requirements based on projected loss scenarios, and also discusses concentrated equity positions and day trading. Regulatory Notice 08‐42 notes that once a security meets the definition of “TRACE‐eligible security”, all secondary market transactions in such securities are “reportable TRACE transactions”. Regulatory Notice 08‐43 describes additional data elements in real‐time TRACE data that will identify transactions as either inter‐dealer or customer transactions and, in customer transactions, whether the dealer is on the buy or sell side.Originality/valueThese are direct excerpts designed to provide a useful digest for the reader and an indication of regulatory trends. The FINRA staff is aware of this summary but has neither reviewed nor edited it. For further detail as well as other useful information, the reader should visit www.finra.org
Price forecasting using wavelet transform and LSE based mixed model in Australian electricity market
Authors: Aggarwal S.K. , Saini L.M. , Kumar Ashwani 
Published: November 2008

PurposePrice forecasting is essential for risk management in deregulated electricity markets. The purpose of this paper is to propose a hybrid technique using wavelet transform (WT) and multiple linear regression (MLR) to forecast price profile in electricity markets.Design/methodology/approachPrice series is highly volatile and non‐stationary in nature. In this work, initially complete price series has been decomposed into separate 48 half‐hourly series and then these series have been categorized into different segments for price forecasting. For some segments, WT based MLR has been applied and for the other segments, simple MLR model has been applied. The model is general in nature and has been implemented for one day‐ahead price forecasting in National Electricity Market (NEM) of Australia. Participants can use the technique practically, since it predicts price well before submission of bids.FindingsForecasting performance of the proposed WT and MLR based mixed model has been compared with the three other models, an analytical model, a MLR model and an artificial neural network (ANN) based model. The proposed model was found to be better. Performance evaluation for different wavelets was performed, and it has been observed that for improving forecasting accuracy using WT, Daubechies wavelet of order two gives the best performance.Originality/valueForecasting accuracy improvement of an established technique by incorporating time domain and wavelet domain variables of the same time series into one set has been implemented in this work. The paper also attempts to explain how non‐stationarity can be removed from a non‐stationary time series by applying WT after appropriate statistical investigation. Moreover, real time electricity markets are highly unpredictable and yet under investigated. The model has been applied to NEM for the same reason.
Views on the international market for energy biomass in 2020: results from a scenario study
Authors: Heinimö Jussi , Ojanen Ville , Kässi Tuomo 
Published: November 2008

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to clarify the alternative future scenarios for the international biomass market until the year 2020 and identify underlying steps needed toward a vital working and sustainable biomass market for energy purposes.Design/methodology/approachTwo scenario processes were conducted for the study. A heuristic, semi‐structured approach, including the use of preliminary questionnaires as well as manual and computerised group support systems (GSS), was applied in the scenario processes.FindingsThe scenarios estimated that the biomass market will develop and grow rapidly as well as diversify in the future. The scenario analysis shows the key issues in the field: global economic growth including the growing need for energy, environmental forces in the global evolution, the potential of technological development in solving the global problems, capabilities of the international community to find solutions for the global issues, and the complex interdependencies of all these driving forces.Research limitations/implicationsFurther research is needed involving analysis of the probabilities of the technological and commercial elements in each scenario. It is also important to conceptualise the scale and directions of biomass trade streams and determine the influences of the scenarios from the viewpoints of different actors.Practical implicationsThe results of the scenario processes provide a starting point for further research analysing the technological and commercial aspects of the scenarios and foreseeing the scales and directions of biomass streams.Originality/valueIn this study, scenario processes supplemented by a GSS are applied for investigating the future development of the biomass market.
Risk diversification in a real estate portfolio: evidence from the Italian market
Authors: Giannotti Claudio , Mattarocci Gianluca 
Published: November 2008

PurposeIn real estate industry, managers' choices in portfolio construction impact directly on the performance of real estate fund. Looking at the literature, real estate diversification criteria are related to tenants' characteristics, to endogenous and exogenous risk and to financial choices. The aim of the paper is to study the role of different risk profiles in the investment selection and in the construction of an efficient real estate portfolio.Design/methodology/approachThe first step is to find out an investment selection model based on the main risk factors. The aim was to check the ability of qualitative criteria (tenant, exogenous, endogenous and financial risks) to identify ex ante the best investment opportunities. The observation of the portfolios' composition on the efficient frontier and the proximity of individual property to the efficient frontier point out which risk factors are more important. The second step is to define a model to construct a portfolio, with non correlated investments, based on the main risk factors. This ability was tested by comparing the classifications made according to quality criteria, which can potentially be used ex ante to construct a diversified portfolio, with the results of cluster analysis. The results from the cluster analysis, free from quality profiles, are therefore considered as the best diversification strategy.FindingsThe results stemming from the use of a real estate database supplied by Fimit SGR (Unicredit banking group) showed that an ex ante study of risk profiles can help to identify those investment opportunities which are more or less near to the efficient frontier, although there is no prevailing criterion to identify a portfolio able to maximise investment diversification benefits. To identify more efficient portfolio is necessary to define an evaluation approach that considers simultaneously different risk profiles of real estate investments.Originality/valueThe paper considers the Italian market, a young market for institutional real estate investments characterised by high growing opportunities. The value added of the paper is to study the relationship of different real estate specific risks considered in literature (tenant risk, endogenous and exogenous risk) and financing choices in order to define a more complete model to evaluate real estate portfolios.
Impact of university training on UK graduates' decision making
Authors: Ye Xu , Dent Peter R. 
Published: November 2008

PurposeStudies regarding rational decision have been conducted over many years and one of the common understandings of rationality in financial terms is that investors are assumed to be risk averse. However, in a previous paper, Xu and Dent, identify that property professionals in both the UK and China do not behave in a rational manner as assumed by traditional finance models. This is because the sample in the study is risk seeking when the probabilities of receiving capital gains are low. This current paper aims to explore whether university training would influence the respondents’ risk preferences. A survey of undergraduate and postgraduate real estate students at Oxford Brookes University was used to investigate the potential of university training to improve people's decision making, so as to enhance the rationality of their behaviour.Design/methodology/approachA survey of undergraduate and postgraduate real estate students at Oxford Brookes University was conducted during the academic year 2007/2008 to investigate the potential of university training to improve people's decision making, so as to enhance the rationality of their behaviour. In total, there were 206 students participated in the survey (156 undergraduates and 52 postgraduates).FindingsThis paper finds that preferences of Oxford Brookes University students seem likely to change once the same question is phrased differently. This preference is more relevant to the university training they received than their gender. After three years’ study at universities, students seem more likely to make rational decisions, i.e. similar to normative theory suggestions regarding the actions of rational people.Originality/valueThis paper is only a start of behavioural research of people's decision making, and further studies could also cover areas such as property experts' decision‐making process or validity of other assumptions of expected utility theory.
Strategically crafting a customer‐focused culture: an inductive case study
Authors: Ford Robert C. , Wilderom Celeste P.M. , Caparella John 
Published: November 2008

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to show how the content of a firm's culture, carefully developed by top managers, can create effective employee experiences and how this exemplary case of strategic culture shaping relate to various academic insights on intangible social or collaborative capital.Design/methodology/approachInductive case study (of a large American convention hotel), highlighting the strategic crafting of a service‐firm culture, both descriptively (in terms of what took place) and analytically (in terms of various OB‐literatures).FindingsDescribes how organizational culture can be part of strategizing in terms of aligning cultural expressions regarding various employees' practices, including continuous organizational improvement. Analyzes and integrates various extant culture insights on service cultures and culture strength.Research limitations/implicationsInsights are applicable to a wide variety of work settings beyond the hospitality and service sectors; it expands the view of organizational culture to the broader and more complex, strategic issue of how organizations can craft or amend cultures that fit their missions.Practical implicationsOne may learn from this case (including the authors' reflections), how to put a well‐articulated service mission into operational practice: through taking a particular, desired culture quite seriously when creating employee experiences, so that they are effectively focused on that mission.Originality/valueThe paper illustrates specific tactics for implementing culture plus the value of developing a strategic approach to creating a particular culture. It offers a template of crafting a culture, based on the strategic pairing of managerial mission with action (or employee and client experiences). Strategizing with culture, also referred to as firm‐cultural content shaping, is meant for researchers and practitioners seeking to help develop a mission‐focused organizational culture.
A performance gradient perspective on gradient‐based policy iteration and a modified value iteration
Authors: Yang Lei , Dankert James , Si Jennie 
Published: November 2008

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a mathematical framework to address some algorithmic features of approximate dynamic programming (ADP) by using an average cost formulation based on the concepts of differential costs and performance gradients. Under such a framework, a modified value iteration algorithm is developed that is easy to implement, in the mean time it can address a class of partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDP).Design/methodology/approachGradient‐based policy iteration (GBPI) is a top‐down, system‐theoretic approach to dynamic optimization with performance guarantees. In this paper, a bottom‐up, algorithmic view is provided to complement the original high‐level development of GBPI. A modified value iteration is introduced, which can provide solutions to the same type of POMDP problems dealt with by GBPI. Numerical simulations are conducted to include a queuing problem and a maze problem to illustrate and verify features of the proposed algorithms as compared to GBPI.FindingsThe direct connection between GBPI and policy iteration is shown under a Markov decision process formulation. As such, additional analytical insights were gained on GBPI. Furthermore, motivated by this analytical framework, the authors propose a modified value iteration as an alternative to addressing the same POMDP problem handled by GBPI.Originality/valueSeveral important insights are gained from the analytical framework, which motivate the development of both algorithms. Built on this paradigm, new ADP learning algorithms can be developed, in this case, the modified value iteration, to address a broader class of problems, the POMDP. In addition, it is now possible to provide ADP algorithms with a gradient perspective. Inspired by the fundamental understanding of learning and optimization problems under the gradient‐based framework, additional new insight may be developed for bottom‐up type of algorithms with performance guarantees.
Image piecewise inpainting based on radial basis function
Authors: Shen Minfen , Chen Jialiang , Li Bin 
Published: November 2008

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a novel algorithm for image inpainting, which has been widely used for removing unwanted objects from images or reconstructing damaged photographs.Design/methodology/approachAn image piecewise inpainting technique based on radial basis function (RBF) is used to transform the 2D image inpainting problem into 3D implicit surface reconstruction problem. And a RBF center reduction method is proposed. By RBF resampling, the algorithm can nicely fix the damaged image or remove specific objects.FindingsExperimental results show that the proposed algorithms can prevent the edge blur caused by the isotropic character of RBF, and effectively reduce the RBF centers without a loss in accuracy.Originality/valueThe proposed inpainting approach is interesting for its combination of RBF method and region segmentation that can handle the restoring of high‐variation areas.
Long‐term follow‐up analysis after rituximab therapy in children with refractory symptomatic ITP: identification of factors predictive of a sustained response
Authors: Parodi Emilia , Rivetti Elisa , Amendola Giovanni , Bisogno Gianni , Calabrese Roberto , Farruggia Piero , Giordano Paola , Rosaria Matarese Sofia Maria , Nardi Margherita , Nobili Bruno , Notarangelo Lucia D. , Russo Giovanna , Vimercati Chiara , Zecca Marco , De Mattia Domenico , Ramenghi Ugo 
Published: November 2008

SummaryWe report the long‐term follow‐up (median 39·5 months) of 49 paediatric patients (33 females and 16 males) with refractory symptomatic immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) treated with rituximab. The overall response rate was 69% (34/49 patients). Twenty‐one responders had a platelet count >50 × 109/l at a median 20·2 months from treatment. Kaplan–Meier analysis showed a probability of relapse‐free survival (RFS) of 60% at 36 months from the first rituximab infusion. The number of infusions and a previous splenectomy did not influence overall response rate. Patients who achieved complete response were significantly older at diagnosis and first rituximab infusion than partial responders (P = 0·027). Older children displayed a significantly greater probability of sustained response (RFS) at 36 months than younger children (88·9% vs. 56·7%, P = 0·037). Earlier responses (within 20 d from treatment) were significantly associated with both complete (P = 0·004) and sustained response (P = 0·002). Only mild and transient side‐effects were observed in 9/49 children; no major infections nor delayed toxicities were recorded during the follow‐up.
The effect of flight‐related behaviour on the risk of venous thrombosis after air travel
Authors: Schreijer Anja J. M. , Cannegieter Suzanne C. , Doggen Carine J. M. , Rosendaal Frits R. 
Published: November 2008

SummaryIn a case–control study including 11 033 participants (The Multiple Environmental and Genetic Assessment of risk factors for venous thrombosis study) on risk factors of venous thrombosis, we studied the effect of flight‐related behaviour on the risk of venous thrombosis after air travel. Patients and control subjects received a questionnaire on risk factors for venous thrombosis, including recent travel history and details of their last flight. From this population, 80 patients and 108 control subjects were selected who had recently (<8 weeks) travelled for more than 4 h by aeroplane. Window seating compared to aisle seating increased the risk twofold [odds ratio (OR) 2·2; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1·1–4·4], particularly in those who were obese (OR 6·1; 95% CI: 0·5–76·2). Anxiety (OR 2·5; 95% CI: 0·9–7·0) and sleeping (OR 1·5; 95% CI: 0·7–3·1) may increase the risk slightly. The risk was not affected by alcohol consumption (OR 1·1; 95% CI: 0·5–2·4). Flying business class may lower the risk (OR 0·7; 95% CI: 0·2–1·8). We did not find a protective effect for several measures currently part of standard advice from airlines and clinicians, i.e. drinking non‐alcoholic beverages, exercising or wearing stockings. The effect of behavioural factors during flying on the risk of venous thrombosis after air travel is limited. Current advice on prevention of travel‐related thrombosis may have to be reconsidered.
Is a short, sharp shock equivalent to long‐term punishment? Contrasting the spatial pattern of acute and chronic ozone damage to soybean leaves via chlorophyll fluorescence imaging
Authors: CHEN CHARLES P. , FRANK THOMAS D. , LONG STEPHEN P. 
Published: November 2008

ABSTRACTExperimental investigations of ozone (O3) effects on plants have commonly used short, acute [O3] exposure (>100 ppb, on the order of hours), while in field crops damage is more likely caused by chronic exposure (<100 ppb, on the order of weeks). How different are the O3 effects induced by these two fumigation regimes? The leaf‐level photosynthetic response of soybean to acute [O3] (400 ppb, 6 h) and chronic [O3] (90 ppb, 8 h d−1, 28 d) was contrasted via simultaneous in vivo measurements of chlorophyll a fluorescence imaging (CFI) and gas exchange. Both exposure regimes lowered leaf photosynthetic CO2 uptake about 40% and photosystem II (PSII) efficiency (Fq′/Fm′) by 20% compared with controls, but this decrease was far more spatially heterogeneous in the acute treatment. Decline in Fq′/Fm′ in the acute treatment resulted equally from decreases in the maximum efficiency of PSII (Fv′/Fm′) and the proportion of open PSII centres (Fq′/Fv′), but in the chronic treatment decline in Fq′/Fm′ resulted only from decrease in Fq′/Fv′. Findings suggest that acute and chronic [O3] exposures do not induce identical mechanisms of O3 damage within the leaf, and using one fumigation method alone is not sufficient for understanding the full range of mechanisms of O3 damage to photosynthetic production in the field.