bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The impact of e‐business on supply chain management
Authors: Croom Simon R. 
Published: January 2005

PurposeE‐business systems and processes that use ubiquitous platforms such as web browser and internet have a profound impact on the management of inter‐organisational processes. Consequently, a major implication of e‐business is its impact on supply chain management. This paper focuses on the developments in e‐business system adoption and deployment in support of supply chain management.Design/methodology/approachThe research conducted for this paper was empirical in nature, involving an interview study with a large sample of organisations and selected case study visits. Analysis of the impact of e‐business on supply chain strategy also examines three representative areas of supply chain management – procurement, customer relationship management, and fulfilment process.FindingsE‐business systems deployment was also seen to act as a significant catalyst for each of the three areas examined, although this paper presents only the findings from the exploratory study.Originality/valueFrom the research analysis it was possible to develop a normative, five‐stage, model classifying the evolution of e‐business systems deployment for supply chain management. Finally proposes the need for longitudinal research to surface the underlying dynamics of e‐business adoption and deployment.
Long‐term change in ground‐layer vegetation of deciduous forests of the North Carolina Piedmont, USA
Authors: TAVERNA KRISTIN , PEET ROBERT K. , PHILLIPS LAURA C. 
Published: January 2005

SummaryIn Southeastern North America residual mature deciduous forests have long been assumed to represent the stable endpoint of succession, with local compositional variation reflecting primarily variation in soils and topographic position. However, the long‐term stability of understorey vegetation in this region has rarely been examined due to the lack of reliable baseline data.We resampled a series of permanently marked vegetation plots spanning a range of soil and site conditions in the Piedmont of North Carolina to evaluate compositional change in the understorey of putative ‘climax’ hardwood forests over a 23‐year period. We examined all ground‐layer species for change in total and native species richness at 25 m2and 1000 m2, change in species composition and variation in richness and composition with environment.Although native and total species richness remained nearly constant, there was a significant decline in herb richness balanced by a strong increase in tree seedling richness. Species composition changed significantly across all plots with strong evidence of consistency in the direction of plot‐level compositional change.Change in herb species richness over time was strongly correlated with environment at 25 m2. Sites with higher pH, percentage sand and soil cations exhibited less decline in herb species than other sites. Understorey richness tended to increase more over time on low‐elevation, mesic sites as opposed to higher, dry sites.The systematic changes in herbaceous species richness and woody seedling abundance do not support the expectation of stability and may be due to the elimination of ground fires and widespread grazing in the early twentieth century, exotic species invasion or increases in white‐tailed deer populations.The lack of stability we observed for mature vegetation of the Carolina Piedmont is likely to be representative of temperate forests in general. Our results suggest that the common practice of projecting vegetation change based on contemporary mature vegetation as the expected endpoint is unreliable and results obtained must be viewed with caution.
Trichostatin A attenuates airway inflammation in mouse asthma model
Authors: Choi J.‐H. , Oh S.‐W. , Kang M.‐S. , Kwon H.J. , Oh G.‐T. , Kim D.‐Y. 
Published: January 2005

SummaryBackground
Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibition has been demonstrated to change the expression of a restricted set of cellular genes. T cells are essential in the pathogenesis of allergen‐induced airway inflammation. It was recently reported that treatment with HDAC inhibitors induces a T cell‐suppressive effect.Objective
The purpose of this study was to determine whether treatment with trichostatin A (TSA), a representative HDAC inhibitor, would reduce allergen‐induced airway inflammation in a mouse asthma model.Methods
BALB/c mice were intraperitoneally sensitized to ovalbumin (OVA) and challenged with an aerosol of OVA. TSA (1 mg/kg body weight) was injected intraperitoneally every 2 days beginning on day 1. Mouse lungs were assayed immunohistochemically for HDAC1, a major HDAC subtype, and for infiltration of CD4+ cells. The effect of TSA on airway hyper‐responsiveness (AHR) was determined, and the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of these mice was assayed for the number and types of inflammatory cells, and for the concentrations of IL‐4, IL‐5, and IgE.Results
HDAC1 was localized within most airway cells and infiltrating inflammatory cells of asthmatic lungs. Treatment with TSA significantly attenuated AHR, as well as the numbers of eosinophils and lymphocytes in BALF. TSA also reduced infiltration of CD4+ and inflammatory cells and mucus occlusions in lung tissue, and decreased the concentrations of IL‐4, IL‐5, and IgE in BALF.Conclusion
TSA attenuated the development of allergic airway inflammation by decreasing expression of the Th2 cytokines, IL‐4 and IL‐5, and IgE, which resulted from reduced T cell infiltration. Our results suggest that HDAC inhibition may attenuate the development of asthma by a T cell suppressive effect.
Serum concentrations of interferon‐γ and intercellular adhesion molecule‐1 eight years after an early respiratory syncytial virus infection
Authors: Juntti H. , Kokkonen J. , Dunder T. , Renko M. , Karttunen R. , Uhari M. 
Published: January 2005

SummaryBackground
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection may influence the development of recurrent wheezing and atopy, but the mechanisms are unclear.Objective
The purpose was to evaluate serum concentrations of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule‐1 (sICAM‐1), CD14, IgE, IL‐5 and IFN‐γ in children 6–10 years after an RSV infection and their correlation with subsequent asthma and atopy.Methods
Fifty‐one subjects admitted to hospital for RSV infection during the first year of life and controls matched for birth date and sex underwent clinical examinations including lung function, skin prick and blood tests.Results
The RSV subjects had significantly higher serum concentrations of IFN‐γ and sICAM‐1 than the controls (for IFN‐γ 224.9 pg/mL (standard deviation (SD) 271.3) vs. 187.1 pg/mL (372.9), difference 37.8 pg/mL, 95% confidence interval (CI) −90.3 to 166.0, P=0.05; for sICAM‐1 170.2 ng/mL (SD 63) vs. 147.8 ng/mL (SD 57), difference 22.4 ng/mL, 95% CI −1.4 to 46.1, P=0.04). The RSV subjects with asthma had significantly higher concentrations of IFN‐γ than the controls with asthma, and the RSV subjects with wheezing during the previous 12 months had significantly higher concentrations of both IFN‐γ and sICAM‐1 than the controls with wheezing.Conclusions
Children hospitalized for RSV infection in infancy still differ in IFN‐γ and sICAM‐1 production 6–10 years after the infection. The data suggest that the pathomechanism of asthma and wheezing after an early RSV infection may be different from that of children without an early RSV infection.
Mucosal symptoms elicited by fragrance products in a population‐based sample in relation to atopy and bronchial hyper‐reactivity
Authors: Elberling J. , Linneberg A. , Dirksen A. , Johansen J. D. , Frølund L. , Madsen F. , Nielsen N. H. , Mosbech H. 
Published: January 2005

SummaryBackground
Exposure to perfume and fragrance products may, in some individuals, cause symptoms from the eyes and airways. The localization, character and risk factors of such symptoms in the general population are unknown.Objective
To investigate both the localization and character of symptoms from the eyes and airways elicited by fragrance products, and the associations between such symptoms and skin prick test reactivity (atopy), methacholine bronchial hyper‐reactivity (BHR), allergic rhinitis and asthma.Methods
A questionnaire on mucosal symptoms elicited by fragrance products was posted to 1189 persons who had participated in a Danish population‐based study of allergic diseases in 1997/1998. The study included measurement of BHR, atopy, forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), and serum eosinophilic cationic protein (serum ECP).Results
The response rate was 79.6%. Symptoms from the eyes or airways elicited by fragrance products were reported by 42%. BHR (adjusted odds ratio 2.3, 95% confidence interval 1.5–3.5) was independently associated with symptoms from the eyes and airways elicited by fragrance products. There were no significant associations between these symptoms and atopy, FEV1 or serum ECP.Conclusions
Mucosal symptoms from the eyes and airways were common in this population. BHR was a significant and independent predictor of these symptoms. The lack of association with atopy suggested that IgE‐mediated allergic mechanisms do not play a major role in the development of these symptoms.
Pre‐ and post‐germination determinants of spatial variation in recruitment in the perennial herb Helleborus foetidus L. (Ranunculaceae)
Authors: GARRIDO JOSE L. , REY PEDRO J. , HERRERA CARLOS M. 
Published: January 2005

Summary

Recruitment in plant populations is a multiphase sequential process. An integrated view of the relationships between the stages and processes involved is therefore needed, but few studies have analysed the direct and indirect effects concerned. We propose a causal model of these relationships and use structural equation modelling (SEM) and path analysis to investigate the direct and indirect effects of pre‐ and post‐germination processes on recruitment.
We collected information on seed production, pre‐dispersal seed losses, seed removal from the ground, seedling emergence and mortality, and seedling recruitment during the first year after emergence from 1 × 1 m plots centred on reproductive individuals in three geographically distant populations of the perennial herb Helleborus foetidus.
The results suggest some congruence between the three populations and indicate that post‐germination processes shape the spatial variation in recruitment more than pre‐germination processes. Although between‐plot variation in recruitment was mostly explained by seedling emergence and mortality, factors such as seed production and removal still have significant effects on recruitment through various, and frequently contrasting, pathways.
Path analysis is a powerful analytical tool for revealing important aspects of the recruitment dynamics of plant populations and the factors determining their spatial variation. Such aspects, including indirect effects, are difficult to quantify with other, more classical, approaches to recruitment.
Life on the exponential curve – time to rattle the academic cage? A view from the street
Authors: Kernick David 
Published: January 2005

AbstractThe history of health service research has been characterized by an overwhelming volume of literature that has little impact on those who actually get on and do the work. The focus has been on an examination of why evidence is not accommodated into practice and how the barriers to implementation can be reduced. The fact that the evidence‐based product may not be relevant to those at whom it is directed had not until recently been considered a possibility. Over the past 20 years there has been a consolidation of two cultures in the National Health Service – the academic/researcher and the clinician/practitioner. This paper sets the two cultures within the context of a community of practice framework and argues that the emphasis should move away from managing the interface to a fundamental reappraisal of the health service academic community.
Regression to the mean: treatment effect without the intervention
Authors: Morton Veronica , Torgerson David J. 
Published: January 2005

AbstractRegression to the mean (RTM) is a widespread statistical phenomenon. It is a group phenomenon that occurs whenever an extreme group is selected from a population based on the measurement of a particular variable. If a second measurement is then taken for the same group, the second mean will be closer to the population mean than the first measurement. This decrease (or increase) can be mistakenly attributed to a treatment effect; the conclusion can be drawn that an effect results from treatment when it in fact results from chance. Any intervention that is aimed at a group or characteristic that is very different from the average will appear to be successful because of RTM. It is therefore important that any genuine reductions because of the treatment are separated out from the effect of RTM. If the problem is ignored then this will lead to errors in the interpretation of results and, potentially, decisions made on the evidence of those results. This paper highlights the importance of the issue and its effects on many common clinical, public health and managerial decisions.
Prevalence, characteristics, and outcome of BK virus nephropathy in Japanese renal transplant patients: analysis in protocol and episode biopsies
Authors: Namba Yukiomi , Moriyama Toshiki , Kyo Masahiro , Imamura Ryoichi , Shi Yi , Ichimaru Naotsugu , Oka Kazumasa , Takahara Shiro , Okuyama Akihiko 
Published: January 2005

Abstract:  Background:  BK virus nephropathy (BKN) is recognized as a cause of graft loss in renal transplant patients. This may be related to the introduction of new and potent immunosuppressive regimens. In Japan, our experience regarding its prevalence, clinical significance, and outcome is still limited. In this study, our primary purpose is to outline the prevalence, outcome, and clinical characteristics of BKN as observed at Osaka University Hospital.Methods:  We retrospectively analyzed 112 biopsy specimens from 87 renal transplant patients. All transplantations were from living donors. Of the 112 biopsy specimens, 71 were from protocol biopsies and 41 were from episode biopsies. Calcineurin inhibitors and corticosteroid were used in all patients (tacrolimus 32 and cyclosporin 55). In addition, azathioprine was used in 43 patients, mizoribine was used in 24 patients, and mycophenolate mofetil was used in 20 patients. BKN was diagnosed by light microscopic examination and a positive immunohistochemical staining of anti‐SV40 antibody in a biopsy specimen. In order to investigate the outcome and potential risk factors of patients with different histological staging, we divided the patients into groups A (mild histological change) and B (moderate or severe histological change).Results:  Of the 87 patients, six were diagnosed with BKN. There were no significant differences between BKN patients and non‐BKN patients, except for the number of patients with graft loss (p < 0.001). Of the six BKN patients, three were in group A, and three were in group B. We recognized a significant difference between group A and group B in terms of anti‐rejection treatment including glucocorticoid, tacrolimus trough levels of over 8 ng/mL, episode of acute rejection within 1‐month post‐transplantation, and the time period between transplantation and BKN diagnosis.Conclusions:  This is the first report of BKN in Japanese renal allograft recipients. In our hospital, the prevalence, risk factors, and outcome were similar to those previously for non‐Japanese recipients.
Organ donation: a population‐based study
Authors: Barcellos Franklin C. , Araujo Cora Luiza , Da Costa Juvenal Dias 
Published: January 2005

Abstract:  Objective:  Through a population‐based study, it was identified the prevalence of people's willingness to donate their own organs and from their relatives, evaluating associated factors in an adult population. It was also identified their understanding of cerebral death.Methodology:  Cross‐sectional study, with people aged 20 yr or older in the urban area of Pelotas, State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The instrument used was a structured questionnaire, filled out in individual interviews. Chi‐squared and linear trend test were used in the bivariated analysis. Multivariated analysis was conducted according to a hierarchical classification model using Poisson regression. It was considered meaningful the value for p ≤ 0.05 two‐sided.Results:  Amid 3159 participants, the prevalence to donate organs was 52%, amongst which 58% had expressed such willingness to a relative. Most respondents (80.1%) would authorize the donation of relative's organs who had previously declared their willingness to do so. When the subject had not been discussed, only a third of the total number of people interviewed would authorize the donation of a relative's organ. After adjustment to confusing factors, higher willingness was characterized among the youngest, the higher educated and those belonging to families with income over 10 minimum wages. The Evangelical and Jehovah's Witnesses practitioners showed to be less prone to donate.Conclusion:  According to the study, when the peoples had not enough information regarding family member's donation wishes the rate of willingness to donate organs is lower. Sociodemographic characteristics influence the rate of public willingness to donate organs and campaigns educacional should be directed to improve rates of donation the organs.
Introduction: Auditors' Legal Liability in the United States
Authors: Balachandran Bala V. 
Published: January 2005

The Directors of … Companies … being the managers rather of other people's money than of their own, it cannot well be expected that they should watch over it with the same anxious vigilance with which the partners in private copartnery frequently watch over their own.—Adam Smith, 1776, Wealth of Nations
Costs, Institutional Mobility Barriers, and Market Structure: Advertising Agencies as Multiproduct Firms
Authors: Silk Alvin J. , Berndt Ernst R. 
Published: January 2005

What accounts for the diversity and limited concentration that has long characterized the organization of the advertising agency industry? This question is addressed by treating an advertising agency as a multiproduct firm. The firm's product line or service mix is defined in terms of the set of different media categories where an agency places the advertising messages that it creates on behalf of its clients. Evidence is presented indicating that the structure of demand and costs in the advertising agency industry conforms to the conditions that MacDonald and Slivinski showed were required for an industry to sustain an equilibrium with diversified firms.Building on this framework, we formulate a set of three hypotheses relating to the realization of product‐specific scale and scope economies. The first two hypotheses posit that given low fixed costs and minimal entry barriers, both media‐specific scale and scope economies are available and can be exploited by relatively small‐size agencies. The third hypothesis suggests that large agencies may experience diseconomies of scope as a consequence of excessive diversification induced by two pervasive industry institutional phenomena: (1) “bundling” of agency services to match client demand for a mix of media advertising, and (2) “conflict policy,” which prohibits an agency from serving competing accounts and operates as a mobility constraint.Utilizing a multiproduct cost function, we estimate media‐specific scale and scope economies for a cross section of 401 U.S. agencies in 1987. The results obtained support the set of three hypotheses outlined above. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for the restructuring currently underway in this industry.
Racing To Invest? The Dynamics of Competition in Ethical Drug Discovery
Authors: Cockburn Iain , Henderson Rebecca 
Published: January 2005

Recent advances in the theoretical literature have greatly expanded our understanding of the forces that shape the competitive dynamics of research and development, but a paucity of sufficiently detailed empirical data has left these insights relatively untested. We draw on unusually detailed qualitative and quantitative infernal data provided at the research program level by 10 major pharmaceutical firms to explore the usefulness of the modern literature as a source of insight into the dynamics of competition in ethical drug discovery.Our analysis focuses on one particularly compelling aspect of the literature: the suggestion that in “winner take all situations,” competition in R&D becomes a Prisoner's Dilemma, leading to overinvestment in research. Without adequate measures of the social return to innovation, we can say nothing about whether there is “too much” or “too little” research undertaken by the industry, but our results do not support the suggestion that R&D investment in drug discovery is driven by the “tit‐for‐tat” or simple reaction function models hinted at by the institutional literature. First, R&D investment is only weakly correlated across firms once common responses to exogenous shocks are accounted far, and second, rivals' R&D results are positively correlated with own research productivity, which we interpret as evidence for extensive R&D spillovers rather than the depletion externality implied by “winner take all” models.These results are not, of themselves, sufficient to reject the hypothesis that investment behavior in the industry is driven by strategic considerations since there is theoretical support for a wide variety of observable behavior as equilibrium outcomes of strategic interaction. Nonetheless, they suggest that the more extreme forms of rent dissipation identified in the literature are probably poor characterizations of the reality of competition in pharmaceuticals. Our results point both to the need to develop theories that incorporate richer models of possible payoff structures, adjustment costs, and firm heterogeneity and to the need to collect empirical data that is comprehensive enough to enable one to test them.
Morphological Changes in the Rat Endocrine Pancreas within 12 h of Intravenous Streptozotocin Administration
Authors: Nagasao J. , Yoshioka K. , Amasaki H. , Tsujio M. , Ogawa M. , Taniguchi K. , Mutoh K. 
Published: January 2005

SummaryWe examined early morphological changes in pancreatic endocrine cells within 12 h of intravenous streptozotocin (STZ) administration (60 mg/kg). Thirty rats were allocated either to a control group (vehicle alone) or to one of four experimental groups tested after 3, 6, 9 and 12 h. Karyopyknosis and cytoplasmic vacuoles were first observed in β‐cell cytoplasm 3 h after STZ administration (STZ‐3 h), and the most severe damage was found in β cells at STZ‐12 h. Insulin‐positive non‐islet cells were observed near the intercalated duct (ICD) and/or centroacinar (CA) cells at STZ‐6 h and their numbers peaked at STZ‐6 h. The distribution patterns of the insulin‐positive cells and those of nestin and insulin‐like growth factor‐1 were similar and their nuclei were positive for proliferating cell nuclear antigen. Thus, ICD cells and/or CA cells reacted immediately to transform into insulin‐secreting cells to replace injured β cells (or to compensate for the lack of β cells) within 12 h of STZ administration.
Congenital Duplication of the Caudal Region (Monocephalus Dipygus) in a Kid Goat
Authors: Corbera J. A. , Arencibia A. , Morales I. , Gutierrez C. 
Published: January 2005

SummaryA case of congenital duplication (monocephalus dipygus) in a goat is described. Two pelvis and four pelvic limbs were observed in the kid. Conjoined or fused symmetric twins were diagnosed. Associated abnormalities were cleft palate and anal atresia. Most of the classically recognized teratogens were ruled out by history and serology. However, progenitors were related in the second degree. Thus, genetic factors could be suspected in this case. To the authors’ best knowledge, this is the first report of monocephalus dipygus in a goat.