bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Benchmarking in the non‐profit sector in Australia
Authors: Conley Tyler Melissa 
Published: June 2005

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the use of benchmarking as a management technique in the Australian non‐profit sector. Benchmarking has great potential benefit for the non‐profit sector, particularly given the reliance of non‐profit enterprises on effectively utilizing human capital; thus it might be expected that they would be enthusiastic about techniques such as benchmarking that can assist them in improving their performance. The non‐profit sector is a large and important part of the economy in the developed world.Design/methodology/approachTo determine the use of benchmarking in the Australian non‐profit sector, the following methods were used: a review of published industry surveys and case studies; interviews with 15 non‐profit sector experts; and a review of more than 50 works on non‐profit management.FindingsResearch showed that benchmarking has been little used by non‐profit organizations in Australia to date. This seems to mirror the experience of non‐profits in other countries.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper argues that the limited use of benchmarking in the non‐profit sector can be explained by: non‐profit management culture; lack of industry and funder pressure; and a lack of targeted information on benchmarking for the non‐profit sector. Any efforts to increase the use of benchmarking in the sector would need to ensure that these issues are overcome.Practical implicationsA plan of action is suggested for promoting benchmarking to non‐profit organizations.Originality/valueThe paper assesses the use of a standard management technique in the emerging area of non‐profit management. It should be of interest to those researching or managing in the Australian non‐profit sector. The paper may also be of interest to the non‐profit sector or human capital sector in other countries.
Critical success factors in developing teleworking programs
Authors: Berube Kowalski Kellyann , Swanson Jennifer Ann 
Published: June 2005

PurposeTo provide a framework of critical success factors for practioners and employers looking to develop new or enhance existing telework programs.Design/methodology/approachThis paper focuses on benchmarking the remote work arrangement of telecommuting. The issues of teleworking, including the benefits and challenges of such arrangements, are presented and reviewed. Based on a review of the teleworking literature, the authors have developed a framework that specifies the critical success factors that are instrumental in implementing or improving a teleworking program.FindingsThe authors put forward a framework of the critical success factors including support, communication, and trust that are instrumental in developing telework programs. In order to address both macro and micro levels of analysis, the framework outlines critical success factors at the organizational, managerial, and employee level.Practical implicationsIn the information age, with rapid advances in technology and telecommunication systems, a teleworking program is not only a possibility, but also a smart strategic business decision. This paper provides a useful framework for organizations to employ when developing new or enhancing existing telework arrangements.Originality/valueBy focusing on benchmarking the teleworking process, this paper provides a new and structured approach in the development of telework programs.
Effects of Sun‐style Tai Chi exercise on physical fitness and fall prevention in fall‐prone older adults
Authors: Choi Jung Hyun , Moon Jung‐Soon , Song Rhayun 
Published: June 2005

Aim.  This paper reports a study to determine changes in the physical fitness (knee and ankle muscle strength, balance, flexibility, and mobility), fall avoidance efficacy, and fall episodes of institutionalized older adults after participating in a 12‐week Sun‐style Tai Chi exercise programme.Background.  Fall prevention has a high priority in health promotion for older people because a fall is associated with serious morbidity in this population. Regular exercise is effective in fall prevention for older adults because of improvements in strength and balance. Tai Chi exercise is considered to offer great potential for health promotion and rehabilitation, particularly in the maintenance of good mental and physical condition in older people.Methods.  A quasi‐experimental design with a non‐equivalent control group was used. Data were collected from September 2001 to January 2002. A total of 68 fall‐prone older adults with a mean age of 77·8 years participated in the study, and 29 people in the Tai Chi group and 30 controls completed the post‐test measures. The Tai Chi exercise programme was provided three times a week for 12 weeks in the experimental group. Data were analysed for group differences using t‐tests.Results.  At post‐test, the experimental group showed significantly improved muscle strength in knee and ankle flexors (P < 0·001) and extensors (P < 0·01), and improved flexibility (P < 0·01) and mobility (P < 0·001) compared with the control group. There was no significant group difference in fall episodes, but the relative risk ratio for the Tai Chi exercise group compared with the control group was 0·62. The experimental group reported significantly more confidence in fall avoidance than did the control group.Conclusion.  The findings reveal that Tai Chi exercise programmes can safely improve physical strength and reduce fall risk for fall‐prone older adults in residential care facilities.
A description of radical nephrectomy practice and outcomes in England: 1995–2002
Authors: Nuttall Martin , Cathcart Paul , Van Der Meulen Jan , Gillatt David , McIntosh Gregor , Emberton Mark 
Published: June 2005

OBJECTIVESTo describe national trends in the practice of radical nephrectomy (RN) in England between 1995 and 2002.METHODSData were extracted from the Hospital Episode Statistics database of the Department of Health in England between 1995/1996 and 2001/2002. Patients were included in the study if an International Classification of Diseases diagnosis code (ICD‐10) for malignant neoplasm of the kidney, renal pelvis or ureter, and an operative procedure code (OPCS‐4) describing total or partial excision of the kidney by either a laparoscopic or open approach, were present in any of the diagnosis or operative procedure fields. Overall, 17 308 patients were included.RESULTSPatient age and the proportion who were men did not change over the study period. The proportion of patients admitted as an emergency decreased from 14.0% to 7.5% over this period (P < 0.001). The mean waiting duration increased by almost 6 days (P < 0.001) and length of stay by ≈ 1 day, from 11.7 days in 1995 to 10.8 days in 2001 (P < 0.001). In‐hospital mortality decreased from 2% to 1.5% (P = 0.134). In‐hospital mortality and length of stay were higher in older patients and in those admitted as an emergency. Women had a longer stay than men (11.5 vs 11.1 days), but in‐hospital mortality was higher in men (2.3% vs 1.6%). The national number of RNs per year increased by ≈ 20%, from 2254 in 1995 to 2671 in 2001. Over the same period the mean annual hospital volume of RN increased by ≈ 40%, from 17 in 1995 to 24 in 2001. The annual number of laparoscopic RNs nationally increased from seven in 1995 to 84 in 2002.CONCLUSIONSThe annual number of RNs in England increased by almost a fifth and this was accompanied by an increase in annual hospital volume of about two‐fifths. There was a large proportional increase in the number of laparoscopic RNs. Emergency admission rates and length of stay decreased but this was not accompanied by a significant change in in‐hospital mortality rate.
Vitamin E therapy prevents hyperoxaluria‐induced calcium oxalate crystal deposition in the kidney by improving renal tissue antioxidant status
Authors: Thamilselvan Sivagnanam , Menon Mani 
Published: June 2005

OBJECTIVETo determine whether vitamin E prevents hyperoxaluria‐induced stone formation, using a new animal model of calcium oxalate stone disease, as our previous in‐ vitro and in‐vivo studies showed that oxalate and hyperoxaluria induce free‐radical generation, which results in peroxidative injury to renal tubular cells.MATERIALS AND METHODSEthylene glycol (EG) was administered at 150 mg/day by gavage for 3 weeks to rats fed on diets with adequate (group 1), excess (group 2) or deficient (group 3) vitamin E. Several indicators of peroxidation, free radicals and enzymatic activity were then assessed.RESULTSEG treatment in group 1 lead to increased lipid peroxidation, protein thiol, excretion of urinary enzymes, oxalate and decreases in urinary calcium, antioxidant enzymes and altered glutathione redox balance. Although renal function was not altered, there was increased water intake, urine volume and lowered urinary pH in these rats. These changes were more intense, with extensive calcium‐oxalate crystal deposition, in rats in group 3, and prevented in rats in group 2, except for urinary oxalate levels, which remained high. Histopathological examination showed that there was no deposition of calcium oxalate crystals in rats in group 2.CONCLUSIONThis is the first study to demonstrate in‐vivo evidence that hyperoxaluria‐induced peroxidative injury induces individual calcium oxalate crystal attachment in the renal tubules. In addition, excess vitamin E completely prevented calcium oxalate deposition, by preventing peroxidative injury and restoring renal tissue antioxidants and glutathione redox balance. Therefore, vitamin E therapy might provide protection against the deposition of calcium oxalate stones in the kidney of humans.
Maslaha in Contemporary Islamic Legal Theory
Authors: Opwis Felicitas 
Published: June 2005

AbstractThis article investigates the concept of maslaha in contemporary Islamic legal theory. After presenting models of maslaha developed by al-Ghazālī, Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, al-Qarāfī, al-Tūfī, and al-Shātibī, I analyze writings on maslaha by leading jurists from the late 13th/19th century to the 1380s/1960s, namely al-Qāsimī, Rashīd Ridā, Mahmasānī, 'Allāl al-Fāsī, Khallāf, and al-Būtī. The findings show that the early reformers tended towards al-Tūfī's expansive understanding of the principle of maslaha in the law-finding process. Later jurisprudents, in contrast, either advocated a holistic approach similar to that of al-Shātibī or espoused a more restrictive use of maslaha like that of al-Ghazālī and al-Rāzī. The way in which jurists employ the principle of maslaha is not random but rather is influenced by education, personal position, and historical environment.
The Minor Compendium of Ibn 'Abd al-Hakam (d. 214/829) and its reception in the early Mālikī school
Authors: Brockopp Jonathan 
Published: June 2005

AbstractIbn 'Abd al-Hakam's Minor Compendium may be the earliest known handbook of Islamic law. Remarkably compact and comprehensive, it challenges depictions of the pre-classical period as a time of unsystematic legal scholarship, consisting of only "organic" texts and student notebooks. In this article, I argue for an early date for this text, based on analysis of the manuscript witnesses. I then compare the Minor Compendium with several contemporary texts to highlight its unique characteristics; in the process I discover, and seek to explain, several discrepancies in the descriptions of this text that are found in the biographical dictionaries. In my reading, the Minor Compendium is part of a nascent Mālikī tradition and demonstrates a close affinity to Mālik's Muwatta'. Yet it is also a highly creative and independent work, and its method of making legal arguments is quite different than that found in the Muwatta' and other early legal texts.
The Economics of Ritual at Late Old Babylonian Kish
Authors: Yoffee Norman 
Published: June 2005

AbstractA small archive of economic documents from the city of Kish in the late Old Babylonian period records amounts of money owed to the “supervisor of kezertu women” from the kezertu account. The employment of kezertu women in ritual performance is investigated as well as the managerial activities of the “supervisor of kezertu women.” The historical reasons for the migration of the cult of Ištar of Uruk to Kish and the economics of ritual performance are considered.
Javanese Markets and the Asian Sea Trade Boom of the Tenth to Thirteenth Centuries A.D.
Authors: Wisseman Christie Jan 
Published: June 2005

AbstractBetween the early tenth and the mid-thirteenth centuries, a boom occurred in the trade linking the seas of maritime Southeast Asia to the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea. The impact that this growth in trade had upon the Javanese domestic economy was profound. The expansion of the Chinese market, in particular, for the produce of Java and its archipelago trading network led to changes in Javanese agricultural practices, patterns of domestic marketing and regional trade, and the monetary and tax system. The resulting increase in wealth stimulated a Javanese consumption boom, and competition from commodities imported from China and India provoked innovations in domestic production.
Indian Ocean Dipolelike Variability in the CSIRO Mark 3 Coupled Climate Model
Authors: Cai Wenju , Hendon Harry H. , Meyers Gary 
Published: June 2005

Abstract
Coupled ocean–atmosphere variability in the tropical Indian Ocean is explored with a multicentury integration of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Mark 3 climate model, which runs without flux adjustment. Despite the presence of some common deficiencies in this type of coupled model, zonal dipolelike variability is produced. During July through November, the dominant mode of variability of sea surface temperature resembles the observed zonal dipole and has out-of-phase rainfall variations across the Indian Ocean basin, which are as large as those associated with the model El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). In the positive dipole phase, cold SST anomaly and suppressed rainfall south of the equator on the Sumatra–Java coast drives an anticyclonic circulation anomaly that is consistent with the steady response (Gill model) to a heat sink displaced south of the equator. The northwest–southeast tilting Sumatra–Java coast results in cold sea surface temperature (SST) centered south of the equator, which forces anticylonic winds that are southeasterly along the coast, which thus produces local upwelling, cool SSTs, and promotes more anticylonic winds; on the equator, the easterlies raise the thermocline to the east via upwelling Kelvin waves and deepen the off-equatorial thermocline to the west via off-equatorial downwelling Rossby waves. The model dipole mode exhibits little contemporaneous relationship with the model ENSO; however, this does not imply that it is independent of ENSO. The model dipole often (but not always) develops in the year following El Niño. It is triggered by an unrealistic transmission of the model’s ENSO discharge phase through the Indonesian passages. In the model, the ENSO discharge Rossby waves arrive at the Sumatra–Java coast some 6 to 9 months after an El Niño peaks, causing the majority of model dipole events to peak in the year after an ENSO warm event. In the observed ENSO discharge, Rossby waves arrive at the Australian northwest coast. Thus the model Indian Ocean dipolelike variability is triggered by an unrealistic mechanism. The result highlights the importance of properly representing the transmission of Pacific Rossby waves and Indonesian throughflow in the complex topography of the Indonesian region in coupled climate models.
The Footprint of Urban Areas on Global Climate as Characterized by MODIS
Authors: Jin Menglin , Dickinson Robert E. , Zhang Da 
Published: June 2005

Abstract
One mechanism for climate change is the collected impact of changes in land cover or land use. Such changes are especially significant in urban areas where much of the world’s population lives. Satellite observations provide a basis for characterizing the physical modifications that result from urbanization. In particular, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Terra satellite measures surface spectral albedos, thermal emissivities, and radiative temperatures. A better understanding of these measurements should improve our knowledge of the climate impact of urbanization as well as our ability to specify the parameters needed by climate models to compute the impacts of urbanization. For this purpose, it is useful to contrast urban areas with neighboring nonurban surfaces with regard to their radiative surface temperatures, emissivities, and albedos. Among these properties, surface temperatures have been most extensively studied previously in the context of the “urban heat island” (UHI). Nevertheless, except for a few detailed studies, the UHI has mostly been characterized in terms of surface air temperatures.
To provide a global analysis, the zonal average of these properties are presented here measured over urban areas versus neighboring nonurban areas. Furthermore, individual cities are examined to illustrate the variations of these variables with land cover under different climate conditions [e.g., in Beijing, New York, and Phoenix (a desert city of the United States)]. Satellite-measured skin temperatures are related to the surface air temperatures but do not necessarily have the same seasonal and diurnal variations, since they are more coupled to surface energy exchange processes and less to the overlying atmospheric column. Consequently, the UHI effects from skin temperature are shown to be pronounced at both daytime and nighttime, rather than at night as previously suggested from surface air temperature measurements. In addition, urban areas are characterized by albedos much lower than those of croplands and deciduous forests in summer but similar to those of forests in winter. Thus, urban surfaces can be distinguished from nonurban surfaces through use of a proposed index formed by multiplying skin temperature by albedo.
Antarctic Surface and Subsurface Snow and Ice Melt Fluxes
Authors: Liston Glen E. , Winther Jan-Gunnar 
Published: June 2005

Abstract
This paper presents modeled surface and subsurface melt fluxes across near-coastal Antarctica. Simulations were performed using a physical-based energy balance model developed in conjunction with detailed field measurements in a mixed snow and blue-ice area of Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. The model was combined with a satellite-derived map of Antarctic snow and blue-ice areas, 10 yr (1991–2000) of Antarctic meteorological station data, and a high-resolution meteorological distribution model, to provide daily simulated melt values on a 1-km grid covering Antarctica. Model simulations showed that 11.8% and 21.6% of the Antarctic continent experienced surface and subsurface melt, respectively. In addition, the simulations produced 10-yr averaged subsurface meltwater production fluxes of 316.5 and 57.4 km3 yr−1 for snow-covered and blue-ice areas, respectively. The corresponding figures for surface melt were 46.0 and 2.0 km3 yr−1, respectively, thus demonstrating the dominant role of subsurface over surface meltwater production. In total, computed surface and subsurface meltwater production values equal 31 mm yr−1 if evenly distributed over all of Antarctica. While, at any given location, meltwater production rates were highest in blue-ice areas, total annual Antarctic meltwater production was highest for snow-covered areas due to its larger spatial extent. The simulations also showed higher interannual meltwater variations for surface melt than subsurface melt. Since most of the produced meltwater refreezes near where it was produced, the simulated melt has little effect on the Antarctic mass balance. However, the melt contribution is important for the surface energy balance and in modifying surface and near-surface snow and ice properties such as density and grain size.
Explicit Convection over the Western Pacific Warm Pool in the Community Atmospheric Model
Authors: Ziemiański MichałZ. , Grabowski Wojciech W. , Moncrieff Mitchell W. 
Published: June 2005

Abstract
This paper reports on the application of the cloud-resolving convection parameterization (CRCP) to the Community Atmospheric Model (CAM), the atmospheric component of the Community Climate System Model (CCSM). The cornerstone of CRCP is the use of a two-dimensional zonally oriented cloud-system-resolving model to represent processes on mesoscales at the subgrid scale of a climate model. Herein, CRCP is applied at each climate model column over the tropical western Pacific warm pool, in a domain spanning 10°S–10°N, 150°–170°E. Results from the CRCP simulation are compared with CAM in its standard configuration.
The CRCP simulation shows significant improvements of the warm pool climate. The cloud condensate distribution is much improved as well as the bias of the tropopause height. More realistic structure of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) during the boreal winter and better representation of the variability of convection are evident. In particular, the diurnal cycle of precipitation has phase and amplitude in good agreement with observations. Also improved is the large-scale organization of the tropical convection, especially superclusters associated with Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO)-like systems. Location and propagation characteristics, as well as lower-tropospheric cyclonic and upper-tropospheric anticyclonic gyres, are more realistic than in the standard CAM. Finally, the simulations support an analytic theory of dynamical coupling between organized convection and equatorial beta-plane vorticity dynamics associated with MJO-like systems.
Discovering Associations between Climatic and Oceanic Parameters to Monitor Drought in Nebraska Using Data-Mining Techniques
Authors: Tadesse Tsegaye , Wilhite Donald A. , Hayes Michael J. , Harms Sherri K. , Goddard Steve 
Published: June 2005

AbstractDrought is a complex natural hazard that is best characterized by multiple climatological and hydrological parameters. Improving our understanding of the relationships between these parameters is necessary to reduce the impacts of drought. Data mining is a recently developed technique that can be used to interact with large databases and assist in the discovery of associations between drought and oceanic data by extracting information from massive and multiple data archives.In this study, a new data-mining algorithm [i.e., Minimal Occurrences With Constraints and Time Lags (MOWCATL)] has been used to identify the relationships between oceanic parameters and drought indices. Rather than using traditional global statistical associations, the algorithm identifies drought episodes separate from normal and wet conditions and then uses drought episodes to find time-lagged relationships with oceanic parameters. As with all association-based data-mining algorithms, MOWCATL is used to find existing relationships in the data, and is not by itself a prediction tool.Using the MOWCATL algorithm, the analyses of the rules generated for selected stations and state-averaged data for Nebraska from 1950 to 1999 indicate that most occurrences of drought are preceded by positive values of the Southern Oscillation index (SOI), negative values of the multivariate ENSO index (MEI), negative values of the Pacific–North American (PNA) index, negative values of the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO), and negative values of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The frequency and confidence of the time-lagged relationships between oceanic indices and droughts at the selected stations in Nebraska indicate that oceanic parameters can be used as indicators of drought in Nebraska.