bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Tornado risk analysis in the United States
Authors: Daneshvaran Siamak , Morden Robert E. 
Published: February 2007

PurposePerils of tornado and hail cause large amounts of loss every year. Based on the data provided by Property Claims Services, since 1949, tornado, hail and straight‐line‐wind losses account for more than 40 percent of total natural losses in the USA. Given the high frequency of tornado and damaging hail in the continental USA, quantifying these risks will be an important advancement in pricing them for insurance/reinsurance purposes. In the absence of a realistic physical model, which would look at these perils on a cluster/outbreak basis, it is not possible to underwrite these risks effectively. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the tornado risk.Design/methodology/approachA tornado wind‐field model is developed based on the model used by Wen and Ang. The model is calibrated to the specifications given in the Fujita intensity scale. To estimate the tornado hazard, a historical database is generated and de‐trended using the information provided by Storm Prediction Center along with the dataset given by Grazulis. This new historical database together with a reinsurance timeframe criterion in mind was used to define outbreaks. These outbreaks are used in a Monte‐Carlo simulation process to generate a large number of outbreaks representing 35,000 years of simulated data. This event‐set is used to estimate spatial frequency contours and loss analyses.FindingsThe results focus on the spatial frequency of occurrence of tornadoes in the USA. The losses are tallied using multiple occurrences of tornado and/or hail per outbreak. The distribution of loss, both on per occurrence and on aggregate basis, are discussed.Originality/valueThis paper is believed to be the first one to use a tornado wind‐field model, outbreak model, and vulnerability models, which estimate both spatial distribution of hazard and location‐based distribution of losses. Estimation of losses due to hail is also provided.
Systemic risk in modern financial systems: analytics and policy design
Authors: Gai Prasanna , Jenkinson Nigel , Kapadia Sujit 
Published: February 2007

PurposeIn recent years, the financial system has been changing rapidly. At the same time, macroeconomic volatility has fallen in developed countries. The purpose of this paper is to examine how these developments may have affected the nature of systemic crises. The paper also aims to discuss how central banks and other financial regulators might respond to these developments with a clearer, more rigorous, operational framework for their systemic financial stability work.Design/methodology/approachThe paper describes analytical models developed at the Bank of England to assess how recent developments may have affected the probability and potential impact of systemic financial crises. The results from these models help to shape the practical framework for the Bank's financial stability work.FindingsThe models suggest that financial innovation and integration, coupled with greater macroeconomic stability, have served to make systemic crises in developed countries less likely than in the past, but potentially more severe. Implementing a practical framework for financial stability work in response to this raises many formidable challenges.Practical implicationsIf individuals are risk‐averse, the recent change in the profile of crises could lower welfare and would suggest that policymakers should place a higher premium on actions to monitor and mitigate systemic risk. The analysis also highlights the importance of differentiating the probability of risks from their potential impact.Originality/valueThe paper will be of interest to academics interested in systemic risk, central bankers, financial regulators, and financial market participants.
System dynamics study of the Japanese automotive industry closed loop supply chain
Authors: Kumar Sameer , Yamaoka Teruyuki 
Published: February 2007

PurposeA major challenge the car industry currently faces worldwide is how to implement an effective reverse (also called closed loop) supply chain design while manufacturing environmental friendly cars from limited available resources. The purpose of this paper is to examine relationships between reduce, reuse and disposal in the Japanese car market with base scenario analysis using the car consumption data and forecast.Design/methodology/approachThe system dynamics (SD) modeling analyzes the closed loop supply chain design for the Japanese car industry. Relationships between reduce, reuse, recycle and disposal are explored with base scenario analysis using the car consumption data and forecast. The SD model is subjected to extreme conditions test for structural validity. Dynamic analysis of different market scenarios for the Japanese car industry's reverse supply chain is conducted.FindingsJapanese ELV regulation will trigger the growth of used car export rate to emerging countries. Without additional tax on used car export, manufacturers in Japan tend to export used cars. Imposing tax on used car export will place some control on such export and improve economic opportunities for remanufacturers, recyclers, government, manufacturers and consumers in Japan.Practical implicationsThe used car export option in Japanese reverse supply chain may cause the emerging countries (importing used cars) not able to sustain this activity. The Japanese government and manufacturers should take initiative to create or support the reverse logistics facilities in export countries. Issues pertaining to how product components can be recycled, reused, or remanufactured should be factored in the product design phase to reduce the cost of products and raw materials.Originality/valueThe dynamic model of the Japanese car market provides an experimental simulation tool, which can be used to forecast the relationship between reduce, reuse, recycle, disposal and how various logistics elements will be impacted by government regulations on a long‐term basis.
Manufacturing best practices: implementation success factors and performance
Authors: Ungan Mustafa C. 
Published: February 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the pre adoption decision factors that have an influence on the implementation success of manufacturing best practices (MBP). This study also investigates whether successful implementation of best practices leads to operational performance improvement.Design/methodology/approachA survey research based on 55 MBP was conducted. Regression analysis was employed to test the proposed relationships.FindingsCodification, compatibility and innovativeness of organizational culture were found to have an impact on implementation success. On the other hand, complexity, absorptive capacity, external support and the existence of champion were not emerged as the determinants of implementation. It was also found that successful implementation would lead to operational performance improvement.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample size is a limitation to this study.Practical implicationsKnowing the significant determinants of implementation success, practitioners will make a better selection among competing MBP. Also, practitioners will also be able to utilize their resources better, because they will know what they should look for in each benchmarking visit. A positive significant relationship between the implementation success and performance indicated that benchmarking is an effective technique.Originality/valueThis study is the first to explore pre adoption factors that may have an influence on the implementation of MBP. Davies and Kochhar reported that studies of relationships between MBP and performance in the area of manufacturing are limited. Therefore, this work also made a contribution to this under researched area.
Children and business: pluralistic ethics of marketers
Authors: Bergadaà Michelle 
Published: February 2007

PurposeMarketers have increased decision‐making responsibility when they work either directly or indirectly with children and adolescents; a vulnerable sector of the population. These young consumers are the target of much‐criticised practices. The objective of this paper is to lay the foundations of a code of ethics for the marketing industry.Design/methodology/approachFirst, the stakes for marketers are outlined, in addition to an overview of the epistemological and historic foundations of the marketing discipline; materialism, pragmatic utilitarianism and liberalist individialism.FindingsFinds that each of these concepts is subject to allegations of suspicious and outright immoral marketing practices.Originality/valueThe paper gives food for thought on morality, professional deontology, ethics and individual decision‐making responsibility. This code of ethics is designed to serve as a pragmatic paradigm and it is destined for marketers who are both decision‐makers and social stakeholders.
Leadership development needs of managers who supervise foreign nurses
Authors: Sherman Rose O. 
Published: February 2007

PurposeThis concept paper seeks to outline evidenced‐based findings about the current experiences, best practices and leadership development needs of nurse leaders who work with foreign nurses.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative approach was used to collect data for this project. A convenience sample of ten nursing leaders from different geographic areas in the USA was telephone interviewed to obtain information for this project.Practical implicationsRecommendations are made about the type of educational programming that leaders who receive foreign nurses in their work environments will need to facilitate a successful transition.Originality/valueThe legal, ethical and human resource issues that surround the international recruitment of nurses have received widespread coverage in the media and nursing literature. Although organizations which do foreign recruitment invest significant resources, little has been written about the challenges in the transition of foreign nurses into healthcare practice environments outside their countries of origin. The literature suggests that the successful transition of foreign nurses into the healthcare environment of another country requires supportive leadership but this does not always occur.
Role of aggregation conditions in structure, stability, and toxicity of intermediates in the Aβ fibril formation pathway
Authors: Lee Sungmun , Fernandez Erik J. , Good Theresa A. 
Published: February 2007

Abstractβ‐amyloid peptide (Aβ) is one of the main protein components of senile plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Aβ readily aggregates to forms fibrils and other aggregated species that have been shown to be toxic in a number of studies. In particular, soluble oligomeric forms are closely related to neurotoxicity. However, the relationship between neurotoxicity and the size of Aβ aggregates or oligomers is still under investigation. In this article, we show that different Aβ incubation conditions in vitro can affect the rate of Aβ fibril formation, the conformation and stability of intermediates in the aggregation pathway, and toxicity of aggregated species formed. When gently agitated, Aβ aggregates faster than Aβ prepared under quiescent conditions, forming fibrils. The morphology of fibrils formed at the end of aggregation with or without agitation, as observed in electron micrographs, is somewhat different. Interestingly, intermediates or oligomers formed during Aβ aggregation differ greatly under agitated and quiescent conditions. Unfolding studies in guanidine hydrochloride indicate that fibrils formed under quiescent conditions are more stable to unfolding in detergent than aggregation associated oligomers or Aβ fibrils formed with agitation. In addition, Aβ fibrils formed under quiescent conditions were less toxic to differentiated SH‐SY5Y cells than the Aβ aggregation associated oligomers or fibrils formed with agitation. These results highlight differences between Aβ aggregation intermediates formed under different conditions and provide insight into the structure and stability of toxic Aβ oligomers.
Cooperative hydrogen bonding in amyloid formation
Authors: Tsemekhman Kiril , Goldschmidt Lukasz , Eisenberg David , Baker David 
Published: February 2007

AbstractAmyloid diseases, including Alzheimer's and prion diseases, are each associated with unbranched protein fibrils. Each fibril is made of a particular protein, yet they share common properties. One such property is nucleation‐dependent fibril growth. Monomers of amyloid‐forming proteins can remain in dissolved form for long periods, before rapidly assembly into fibrils. The lag before growth has been attributed to slow kinetics of formation of a nucleus, on which other molecules can deposit to form the fibril. We have explored the energetics of fibril formation, based on the known molecular structure of a fibril‐forming peptide from the yeast prion, Sup35, using both classical and quantum (density functional theory) methods. We find that the energetics of fibril formation for the first three layers are cooperative using both methods. This cooperativity is consistent with the observation that formation of amyloid fibrils involves slow nucleation and faster growth.
Mutation of interfaces in domain‐swapped human βB2‐crystallin
Authors: Smith Myron A. , Bateman Orval A. , Jaenicke Rainer , Slingsby Christine 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThe superfamily of eye lens βγ‐crystallins is highly modularized, with Greek key motifs being used to form symmetric domains. Sequences of monomeric γ‐crystallins and oligomeric β‐crystallins fold into two domains that pair about a further conserved symmetric interface. Conservation of this assembly interface by domain swapping is the device adopted by family member βB2‐crystallin to form a solution dimer. However, the βB1‐crystallin solution dimer is formed from an interface used by the domain‐swapped dimer to form a tetramer in the crystal lattice. Comparison of these two structures indicated an intriguing relationship between linker conformation, interface ion pair networks, and higher assembly. Here the X‐ray structure of recombinant human βB2‐crystallin showed that domain swapping was determined by the sequence and not assembly conditions. The solution characteristics of mutants that were designed to alter an ion pair network at a higher assembly interface and a mutant that changed a proline showed they remained dimeric. X‐ray crystallography showed that the dimeric mutants did not reverse domain swapping. Thus, the sequence of βB2‐crystallin appears well optimized for domain swapping. However, a charge‐reversal mutation to the conserved domain‐pairing interface showed drastic changes to solution behavior. It appears that the higher assembly of the βγ‐crystallin domains has exploited symmetry to create diversity while avoiding aggregation. These are desirable attributes for proteins that have to exist at very high concentration for a very long time.
Very‐broad‐scale assessment of human impacts on river condition
Authors: NORRIS RICHARD H. , LINKE SIMON , PROSSER IAN , YOUNG WILLIAM J. , LISTON PETER , BAUER NICHOLAS , SLOANE NERIDA , DYER FIONA , THOMS MARTIN 
Published: February 2007

Summary1. Management of whole rivers and river catchments requires a comprehensive set of information about river condition and use, both existing and historical, and the links between them at regional, state or national scales. This paper outlines a new approach to the assessment of river condition, using a small team was able to assess 210 000 km of rivers across more than 3 million km2 of Australia in little more than a year.2. The approach was driven by a hierarchical model of river function, which assumed that broad‐scale catchment characteristics affect local hydrology, habitat features, water quality and, ultimately, aquatic biota. The model provided the basis for selecting important ecologically relevant features that indices should represent. For each reach of each river we derived a biological index and an environmental index based on measures quantifying catchment and hydrological condition, and habitat and water quality condition. Data came from existing state and national databases, satellite images, site measurements and process models.3. All indices were calculated as deviation from a reference condition, were range‐standardised and were divided into equivalent bands of condition. Amalgamation of index components and of sub‐indices was determined by consideration of their ecological effects; for example, general degradation might be additive, but toxic effects of one component would override all others.4. Several internal and external validation methods were employed, with the all‐important validation of the final assessments undertaken by comparison with a similar index based on locally measured data.5. The environmental assessment classified 14% of reaches as largely unmodified, 67% as moderately modified and 19% as substantially modified by human impacts. The biological assessment based on site assessments and modelled data using invertebrates indicated that 70% of reaches were equivalent to reference condition and that 30% were significantly impaired. Catchment disturbance, elevated sediment and nutrient loads, and habitat degradation all contributed to these results. These impacts have all occurred during the last 200 years (post‐European settlement).6. Partly as a result of the assessments of this study the Australian Government has begun to adopt a more environmentally sustainable approach to broad‐scale water management.
Coupling microscale vegetation–soil water and macroscale vegetation–precipitation feedbacks in semiarid ecosystems
Authors: DEKKER STEFAN C. , RIETKERK MAX , BIERKENS MARC F. P. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractAt macroscale, land–atmosphere exchange of energy and water in semiarid zones such as the Sahel constitutes a strong positive feedback between vegetation density and precipitation. At microscale, however, additional positive feedbacks between hydrology and vegetation such as increase of infiltration due to increase of vegetation, have been reported and have a large impact on vegetation distribution and spatial pattern formation. If both macroscale and microscale positive feedbacks are present in the same region, it is reasonable to assume that these feedback mechanisms are connected. In this study, we develop and analyse a soil‐vegetation‐atmosphere model coupling large‐scale evapotranspiration–precipitation feedback with a model of microscale vegetation–hydrology feedback to study the integration of these nonlinearities at disparate scales. From our results, two important conclusions can be drawn: (1) it is important to account for spatially explicit vegetation dynamics at the microscale in climate models (the strength of the precipitation feedback increased up to 35% by accounting for these microscale dynamics); (2) studies on resilience of ecosystems to climate change should always be cast within a framework of possible large‐scale atmospheric feedback mechanism (substantial changes in vegetation resilience resulted from incorporating macroscale precipitation feedback). Analysis of full‐coupled modelling shows that both type of feedbacks markedly influence each other and that they should both be accounted for in climate change models.
Prostate‐specific membrane antigen (PSMA) protein expression in normal and neoplastic tissues and its sensitivity and specificity in prostate adenocarcinoma: an immunohistochemical study using mutiple tumour tissue microarray technique
Authors: Mhawech‐Fauceglia P , Zhang S , Terracciano L , Sauter G , Chadhuri A , Herrmann F R , Penetrante R 
Published: February 2007

Aims:  To determine prostate‐specific membrane antigen (PSMA) expression in normal tissues and in 3161 benign and malignant tumours and subsequently to define its sensitivity and specificity in prostatic adenocarcinoma (PaC).Methods and results:  Multiple tissue microarray sections were stained with a monoclonal antibody to PSMA. PaC was positive in 93/141 cases (66.0%) with various staining patterns including cytoplasmic, apical, apical/cytoplasmic and cytoplasmic with membranous accentuation. Of 2174 various tumour types, 154 expressed PSMA, including 59/346 (17.0%) urothelial carcinomas of the bladder (UBC). In those tumours, the staining pattern was always cytoplasmic. All 846 benign tumours were negative for PSMA. The sensitivity and specificity of PSMA in distinguishing PaC from any other type of malignancy is 65.9% and 94.5%, respectively. Furthermore, its sensitivity and specificity in differentiating PaC from urothelial cancer is 65.9% and 82.9%, respectively.Conclusions:  Despite its expression by subsets of various types of malignancies, PSMA is still considered to be fairly sensitive and highly specific for PaC.
Spatial distribution and differential expression of the PBAN receptor in tissues of adult Helicoverpa spp. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)
Authors: Rafaeli A. , Bober R. , Becker L. , Choi M.‐Y. , Fuerst E.‐J. , Jurenka R. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractPheromone‐biosynthesis‐activating neuropeptide (PBAN) regulates sex pheromone production in many female moths. PBAN‐like peptides, with common FXPRLamide C‐terminals are found in other insect groups where they have other functions. The ubiquity and multifunctional nature of the pyrokinin/PBAN family of peptides suggests that the PBAN receptor proteins could also be present in a variety of insect tissues with alternative functions from that of sex pheromone biosynthesis. Previously we showed the presence of the PBAN‐R in Helicoverpa armigera at the protein level. In the present study we confirm the similarities between the two Helicoverpa species: armigera and zea by (1) demonstrating the presence of the receptor protein in Sf9 cells, cloned to express the HezPBAN receptor, as compared with the endogenous receptor protein, previously shown in H. armigera pheromone glands, and (2) by identifying the nucleotide sequence of the PBAN‐R from mRNA of H. armigera pheromone glands. Sequences of the two Helicoverpa spp. are 98% identical with most changes taking place in the 3′‐end. We demonstrate the spatial distribution of the PBAN receptor protein in membranes of H. armigera brain (Br), thoracic ganglion (TG) and ventral nerve cord (VNC). We also demonstrate the presence and differential expression of the PBAN receptor gene (using reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction and reverse transcription–quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction, respectively) in the neural tissues (Br, TG and VNC) of adult H. armigera female moths as compared with its presence in pheromone glands. Surprisingly, the gene for the PBAN receptor is also detected in the male tissue homologous to the female pheromone gland, the aedeagus, although the protein is undetectable and PBAN does not induce physiological (pheromone production) or cellular (cyclic‐adenosine monophosphate production) responses in this tissue. Our findings indicate that PBAN or PBAN‐like receptors are present in the neural tissues and may represent a neurotransmitter‐like function for PBAN‐like peptides. In addition, the surprising discovery of the presence of the gene encoding the PBAN receptor in the male homologous tissue, but its absence at the protein level, launches opportunities for studying molecular regulation pathways and the evolution of these G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs).