bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A trucker's dilemma: Managerial behavior under an operating‐ratio standard
Authors: Giordano James N. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractA model of an individually regulated trucking firm is extended to reflect collective regulation by the operating‐ratio method as conducted for many years by the ICC. The game‐theoretic extension predicts that managers will not respond to a required operating ratio, in cartel‐like manner, by increasing expenses in pursuit of higher profit. This result undermines the Commission's stated belief that an operating‐ratio standard, even when applied collectively, imparted such an incentive. An empirical test supports the conclusion that tighter regulation, measured by higher achieved operating ratios, did not invite increased employment of the variable factors. On the contrary, tighter regulation is found inversely related to the employment of all factors and, implicitly, to industry output. Deregulation of entry and rates was thus a more likely source of improved managerial efficiency than merely switching from an operating ratio to a return‐on‐equity standard, as tbe Commission did in 1978.
The two stages of an equity carve‐out and the price response of parent and subsidiary stock
Authors: Klein April , Rosenfeld James , Beranek William 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis paper provides evidence that an equity carve‐out is usually the first stage of a two‐stage process either to dispose of parent interest in a subsidiary or eventually re‐acquire the subsidiary's publicly traded snares. Both the initial carve‐out announcement and subsequent sell‐off announcement yield, on average, significantly positive abnormal returns to parent shareholders. In contrast, the parent's price response to a re‐acquisition of subsidiary shares is, on average, insignificantly positive. Both sell‐off and re‐acquisition announcements have a strong positive impact on subsidiary share prices. These gains, however, are offset by the subsidiaries' below‐average return performance preceding the second event.
Corporate restructuring and incentive effects of leverage and taxes
Authors: John Teresa A. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractRecent empirical studies have indicated that mergers are value enhancing, yet the theoretical aspects of merger gains have not been as well explored. This paper presents a theoretical analysis of mergers. In the model of the firm presented, outstanding risky debt gives rise to agency costs of underinvestment which are offset by the benefit of debt‐related tax shields. The trade‐off specifies the optimal leverage for a firm. Within this framework, we then consider whether and under what circumstances firm value could be enhanced by a merger. Under a fairly broad set of assumptions it is shown that most firm combinations ‘improve’ investment incentives and increase the value of debt‐related tax shields. Mergers between optimally financed firms result in a merged firm that is also optimally financed, but such mergers are not synergistic. Nevertheless, firm value may be increased if mergers are undertaken in tandem with a refinancing program to bring the combined firms from suboptimal to optimal debt levels.
Dynamic competitive retail pricing behavior with uncertainty and learning
Authors: Coughlan Anne T. , Mantrala Murali K. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractWhen competing retailers lack full information about rivals' decision processes, how will dynamic pricing behavior vary from patterns observed in more traditional static or full‐information models? We investigate this question in a dynamic alternating‐moves duopoly model. Retailers update (linear) conjectures about rivals' future prices in a Bayesian fashion. We show that as observed and expected prices converge, a pricing equilibrium is always achieved, whether or not the conjectured and actual values of the slope of the rival's best response function are consistent. Assuming specific parameter values, we compare equilibrium prices and associated profits in our Bayesian learning model with those obtained under the assumptions of static Nash behavior, collusive behavior and dynamically optimal behavior with full information. We apply the notions of strategic substitutability and strategic complementarity to the analysis and find that when products are strategic complements, conjectures of higher rival price responsiveness lead to higher steady‐state prices and profits. The reverse is true for strategic substitutes. We also find that learning about a rival's behavior proceeds more quickly, the less intensely related in demand are products. We find, in general, that equilibrium pricing patterns and profits can vary considerably from those in full‐information environments, but that even with grossly wrong beliefs about rival behavior, competing retailers are still attracted to an equilibrium. The analysis suggests not only the value of investigating lessthan‐full information situations but also the potential incremental value of signalling greater or less aggressiveness than truly characterizes one's behavior as a strategic option.
A cost function study of the providers of TVA power
Authors: Claggett E. Tylor 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis paper examines these TVA power distributor issues: distribution of nonelectric utilities, municipal versus co‐operative distributors, effects of high urbanization, marketing and customer recruiting (M&CR), conservation and load management (C&LM) programs, and service area boundary changes. A translog cost model is the basis for the analyses. The conclusions are: (1) TVA distributors experience electrical distribution inefficiencies when they distribute water and electricity, but when they also distribute gas, there are no additional effects; (2) TVA co‐operatives enjoy electrical distribution cost advantages over TVA municipals; (3) the TVA municipals that serve the five largest metropolitan areas of the Tennessee River Valley have the highest electrical distribution costs; (4) M&CR efforts benefit TVA distributors; (5) the many TVA‐sponsored C&LM programs produce varied fiscal effects for TVA distributors; (6) there are both diseconomies and economies to scale given proportional increases in output components brought about by hypothetical increases in TVA distributor service areas.
To err is rational: A theory of excess demand for tickets
Authors: Deserpa Allan C. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis paper examines the relationship between chronic excess demand for sporting events, a robust ticket resale market and the market for seasons tickets. The main argument focuses on property rights associated with the purchase of season tickets. Given the impossibility of pricing games individually, season‐ticket holders act as brokers. The ‘broker's fees’ are paid in the form of priorities for playoff tickets and premium seats in future years. Since a pure monopoly price would render season‐ticket property rights worthless, a profit‐maximizing strategy requires apparent underpricing.
Executive stock option compensation: The corporate reporting decision
Authors: Lewellen Wilbur , Park Taewoo , Ro Byung 
Published: May 2007

AbstractNew regulations instituted in 1992 by the SEC require that estimates of the values of executive stock option grants now be included in proxy statement reports on senior executive compensation. We examine the character of firms' reporting choices under the new rules, from a large sample of the first round of proxy statements issued. We find that the majority of firms have elected a reporting approach that provides little additional information to investors, and appear at least in part to have done so because the alternative approach would have caused them to report above‐average stock option compensation amounts for their executives.
Alterations in inorganic phosphate in mouse hindlimb muscles during limb disuse
Authors: Pathare Neeti , Vandenborne Krista , Liu Min , Stevens Jennifer E. , Li Ye , Frimel Tiffany N. , Walter Glenn A. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractMuscle disuse induces a wide array of structural, biochemical, and neural adaptations in skeletal muscle, which can affect its function. We recently demonstrated in patients with an orthopedic injury that cast immobilization alters the resting Pi content of skeletal muscle, which may contribute to loss of specific force. The goal of this study was to determine the direct effect of disuse on the basal phosphate content in skeletal muscle in an animal model, avoiding the confounding effects of injury/surgery. 31P and 1H MRS data were acquired from the gastrocnemius muscle of young adult mice (C57BL6 female, n = 8), at rest and during a reversible ischemia experiment, before and after 2 weeks of cast immobilization. Cast immobilization resulted in an increase in resting Pi content (75%; p < 0.001) and the Pi to phosphocreatine (PCr) ratio (Pi/PCr; 80%, p < 0.001). The resting concentrations of ATP, PCr and total creatine (PCr + creatine) and the intracellular pH were not significantly different after immobilization. During ischemia (30 min), PCr concentrations decreased to 54 ± 2% and 52 ± 6% of the resting values in pre‐immobilized and immobilized muscles, respectively, but there were no detectable differences in the rates of Pi increase or PCr depletion (0.55 ± 0.01 mM min−1 and 0.52 ± 0.03 mM min−1 before and after immobilization, respectively; p = 0.78). At the end of ischemia, immobilized muscles had a twofold higher phosphorylation potential ([ADP][Pi]/[ATP]) and intracellular buffering capacity (3.38 ± 0.54 slykes vs 6.18 ± 0.57 slykes). However, the rate of PCr resynthesis (kPCr) after ischemia, a measure of in vivo mitochondrial function, was significantly lower in the immobilized muscles (0.31 ± 0.04 min−1) than in pre‐immobilized muscles (0.43 ± 0.04 min−1). In conclusion, our findings indicate that 2 weeks of cast immobilization, independent of injury‐related alterations, leads to a significant increase in the resting Pi content of mouse skeletal muscle. The increase in Pi with muscle disuse has a significant effect on the cytosolic phosphorylation potential during transient ischemia and increases the intracellular buffering capacity of skeletal muscle. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Differential expression of both extracellular and intracellular proteins is involved in the lethal or nonlethal phenotypic variation of BrtlIV, a murine model for osteogenesis imperfecta
Authors: Forlino Antonella , Tani Chiara , Rossi Antonio , Lupi Anna , Campari Elena , Gualeni Benedetta , Bianchi Laura , Armini Alessandro , Cetta Giuseppe , Bini Luca , Marini Joan C. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis study used proteomic and transcriptomic techniques to understand the molecular basis of the phenotypic variability in the bone disorder osteogenesis imperfecta (OI). Calvarial bone mRNA expression was evaluated by microarray, real‐time, and comparative RT‐PCR and the bone proteome profile was analyzed by 2‐DE, MS, and immunoblotting in the OI murine model BrtlIV, which has either a moderate or a lethal OI outcome. Differential expression analysis showed significant changes for eight proteins. The expression of the ER stress‐related protein Gadd153 was increased in lethal mice, whereas expression of the chaperone αB crystallin was increased in nonlethal mice, suggesting that the intracellular machinery is involved in the modulation of the OI phenotype. Furthermore, in lethal BrtlIV, the increased expression of the cartilaginous proteins Prelp, Bmp6, and Bmp7 and the lower expression of the bone matrix proteins matrilin 4, microfibril‐associated glycoprotein 2, and thrombospondin 3 revealed that both a delay in skeletal development and an alteration in extracellular matrix composition influence OI outcomes. Differentially expressed proteins identified in this model offer a starting point for elucidating the molecular basis of phenotypic variability, a characteristic common to many genetic disorders. The first reference 2‐DE map for murine calvarial tissue is also reported.
Wastewater Treatment Using a Heterogeneous Magnetite (Fe3O4) Non‐Thermal Plasma Process
Authors: Lei Lecheng , Hao Xiaolong , Zhang Xingwang , Zhou Minghua 
Published: May 2007

AbstractWe propose here a new combination of aqueous pulsed discharge plasma (PDP) process with magnetic material (Fe3O4) nanoparticles for the efficient removal of p‐chlorophenol(4‐CP)‐contaminated wastewater. It was found that the magnetite particles could efficiently degrade the toxic, organic pollutant 4‐CP into more active species through the main surface Fenton's reactions and catalytic decomposition of dissolved ozone. Magnetite particles with a dose of 100 mg · L−1 in combination with bubbling oxygen were found to be suitable under any pH condition, and, as suggested by the analysis of Fe ions leaching rate and by the changes of XRD patterns before and after use, the catalytic activity of the magnetite particles was only slightly affected by the critical circumstances induced by PDP (e.g. supersonic condition, shock wave and supercritical water condition).magnified image
Thick Film Ceramic Combinatorial Libraries: The Substrate Problem
Authors: Zhan Yong , Chen Lifeng , Yang Shoufeng , Evans Julian R. G. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractDiscrete, thick‐film, combinatorial libraries of ceramics are made by computer controlled mixing of well‐dispersed suspensions of commercially available powders followed by deposition of droplets on a substrate for drying and subsequent firing. The substrate influences the shape and size of the samples through spreading effects. Later, at the firing stage, interaction with the substrate can involve reactions that adulterate the composition or low adhesion that can result in sample loss during transport. We describe substrate pretreatment with a perfluorinated silane to provide control of droplet size and prevent spreading. Substrate compatibility during high temperature firing is more problematic and we discuss the limited material choices. One approach seeks a substrate that will support the library from beginning to end of the preparatory stage and during storage. An alternative method involves firing samples on low adhesion substrates followed by pneumatic transfer to a silver electroding paste and a low temperature firing. This method provides sufficiently strong adhesion to allow libraries of samples to be surface‐ground a give a flat parallel configuration on a common electrode together with robust construction for storage and transport.
Psychogenic hypertension
Authors: Friedman Richard , McCaughran James A. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThere is a considerable experimental literature concerning the psychophysiology of high blood pressure, but many difficulties arise in extrapolating data derived from laboratory studies in animals to the human condition. Nevertheless, a familiarity with basic laboratory results should be a prerequisite for all clinically orientated mental health professionals interested in the relationship between psychological functioning and hypertension. Profound cardiovascular alterations can result from exposure to environmental situations which are perceived as stressful. In particular, the relationships between stress and acute elevations in blood pressure and heart rate have been well documented. It is, however, a much more difficult problem to establish the relationship between repeated and/or prolonged exposure to stress and the pathogenesis of chronic hypertension. It is the purpose of this article to illustrate this relationship with a series of fundamental experimental observations.
Incontinence in the elderly
Authors: Irvine R. E. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractIncontinence is liable to breed a sense of frustration and hopelessness but there are now many aids for incontinent people. Several factors are involved such as bladder instability, neuropathic bladder, environment, psychological, iatrogenic and mechanical factors, and so on. Diagnosis should differentiate between stress incontinence, overflow incontinence and the atonic bladder.Drugs are seldom effective by themselves but play a useful role as adjuvants in the general management of the patient. A number of drugs are useful, such as anticholinergics, oestrogens, and possibly indomethacin. The anticholinergics are most widely used, emepronium and flavoxate being the most effective.Toilet training is most important and many advances have been made in the last few years to produce aids and appliances for the incontinent patient. Among these are male and female urinals, commodes, incontinence pants of several varieties, incontinence pads and absorbent bed sheets. Catheterization may be needed as a last resort.
Stress and the schoolteacher
Authors: Renvoize Edward B. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis paper examines the manifestations, effects, prevalence and origins of stress in schoolteachers. Evidence suggests that many teachers find their work stressful, that there is a correlation between perceived stress and the experience of psychological and physical symptoms, but that as a group teachers do not have an increased incidence of psychiatric or physical disorders. Possible coping strategies to reduce teacher stress are discussed.
Psychological and socioeconomic factors and cancer in rural Greece
Authors: Ioannidis Paul J. , Savvari Helen 
Published: May 2007

AbstractIn an attempt to test the effect of ‘psychosocial stress’ in carcinogenesis, cancer mortality for each district of Greece was assessed for its relationship with several demographic variables thought to reflect socioeconomic and psychological factors. In districts with more than 50 per cent rural population the associations between cancer mortality and mean annual infant mortality (representing poverty) and mean annual emigration rate (representing the impact of ‘loss‐depression’) for the previous decade were significantly positive. A significant negative association was observed between cancer mortality and migration to the country's capital. Similarly, a significant negative relationship was found between the ‘surplus’ of natality when losses through emigration and general mortality were subtracted from the mean natality of the previous decade. Intercorrelations among most of the studied dependent and independent variables were significant. These associations suggest that socioeconomic and psychological factors may act as an interdependent complex in the causation of cancer.
Policing the violent society: The American experience
Authors: Reese James T. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractContemporary law enforcement officers must function as counsellors, social workers, psychologists, negotiators and investigators, as well as traditional police officers. Their work alternates from dull and boring to moments of sheer panic, when life and death decisions have to be made in a matter of seconds. The combination of factors in police work–dealing with terrible situations and traumatized victims, and working under the threat of physical danger–results in overwhelming stress. It is this unusual amount of stress that makes explicable the fact that police officers in the United States have high rates of problem drinking, suicide and divorce. How exactly does stress cause attitude and behaviour changes, impair familiy and social relationships and develop cynicism, apathy and an unwillingness to seek help? This article explores these concerns and the early warning signs of poor adaptation to the stress created by policing violence. Some techniques to combat poor adaptation are also outlined.
Objective evaluation of laughing
Authors: Shimizu Akira , Kawasaki Tatsuhito , Kawasaki Miki , Azuma Tsukasa , Tanaka Michio , Sumitsuji Noboru 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe method for an objective evaluation of laughing by using a polygraphic recording (EMG of the zygomatic muscle, GSR, plethysmogram, pneumogram, body movement and phonation) is demonstrated. ‘Laughing score’, which is an index for intensity and frequency of laughing calculated from polygraphic recordings, correlated well with the subjective rating of laughing by experimenters. It was also shown that laughing scores differed from person to person among normal subjects and that laughing reaction decreased over the age of 40.
Psychiatric patients and their response to experimental stress
Authors: Albus M. , Müller‐spahn F. , Ackenheil M. , Engel R. R. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractSerum levels of Epinephrine (E), norepinephrine (NE), heart rate (HR), skin conductance reaction (SCR) and skin conductance level (SCL) were measured in schizophrenic, endogenous depressed and anxiety patients as well as in normal controls. Conditions were rest, noise and a mental arithmetic (MA) task. Schizophrenic and depressed patients had an attenuated HR response to MA. Moreover, Schizophrenic patients also had higher NE base level and the highest NE secretion during noise. Anxiety and depressed patients showed significantly lower phasic electrodermal activity (SCR) throughout the whole trial, exclusively anxiety patients had significantly higher tonic electrodermal activity (SCL). These findings indicate that autonomous reactions discriminate between patient groups and controls as well as between each other.
Hypnosis and sex
Authors: Metcalfe J. B. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractHypnosis is not a discipline to be thought of in isolation but is one of the techniques of psychotherapy, like abreaction, analysis, behaviour therapy, support and others, with which it may be combined. Hypnosis can often enhance the effect of other methods of treatment, and has no dangers apart from those inherent to psychotherapy. In the treatment of sexual dysfunction it is often, perhaps usually, necessary to interview and treat both partners, but this article is concerned with the role of hypnosis in this field; it will usually be employed with only one of the partners, and in some cases may be the only technique used. Hypnosis is useful in primary and secondary sexual dysfunction, and deserves wider recognition.
Sexual dysfunction and cardiovascular disease
Authors: Cooper A. J. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractA number of cardiovascular disorders may be associated with male sexual problems. Both psychogenic and organic causes may be variably implicated and in the individual case the relative significance of each needs to be ascertained using appropriate clinical and laboratory assessments. Myocardial infarction may be followed by impotence, or with the avoidance of sexual opportunities even if libido has recovered. Fear of reinfarction (during coitus) may be a major impediment. Generalized penile arteriosclerosis (without evidence of disease elsewhere) may cause impotence directly. This can be established in a high percentage of cases using specialized techniques including doppler ultrasound, nocturnal penile tumescence measures (NPT) and retograde radiographic studies. Treatment, which must be tailored to the individual circumstances, consists of an optimum permutation of several ingredients including behavioural psychotherapy, education, cardiovascular and intracavemosal (IC) drugs.
The hidden victims of disaster: Helper stress
Authors: Shepherd Melanie , Hodgkinson Peter E. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe effects of disaster work on helpers, both of the emergency services type (rescue, recovery, and identification personnel) and those who offer psychological support, are reviewed. In terms of emotional, cognitive and behavioural effects, a significant number experience short‐term stress and a small percentage experience long‐term effects, which may be of the fluctuating nature. The extent and nature of the encounter with death, and organizational factors appear as particular stressors. Coping styles (eg hardiness), age, experience and social support have been identified as moderating factors. Positive, as well as negative effects are observed.