bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
An Analysis of the Convergent and Discriminant Validity of the Transformational Leadership Questionnaire
Authors: Alban‐Metcalfe Robert J. , Alimo‐Metcalfe Beverly 
Published: December 2004

This article sets out to provide evidence of the convergent and discriminant validity of a recently developed leadership questionnaire to support the assessment and development of leadership in organizations, the Transformational Leadership Questionnaire (TLQ). The TLQ was developed on the basis of eliciting constructs of leadership from managers working at different levels (executive, top, senior, middle) in two large parts of the UK public sector, using a Grounded Theory approach.Evidence is presented that eight scales which measure different aspects of transformational leadership are significantly correlated with each of five criterion variables, even when the instrument is used in a public sector different from the one in which it was developed.Discriminant analysis indicated, however, that the relationship between the scales and the criterion variables is not consistent for the different groups and sub‐groups of managers, divided by level, by sex, and by level x sex. These latter data were interpreted, in the light of the ‘range of convenience’ corollary of Kelly's Personal Construct Theory, and of the concept of ‘substitutes for leadership’, as evidence that certain TLQ scales have particular relevance to certain groups and sub‐groups of managers, and thus of the discriminant validity of the instrument, and further evidence of its construct validity.
Odyssean and Rubicon Refugees: Toward a Typology of Refugees in the Land of Exile
Authors: Joly Danièle 
Published: December 2004

With a focus on refugees in Western Europe, this paper seeks to establish refugees in their country of exile/settlement as social types distinct from labour migrants. It looks at the notion of ethnic groups and their strategies as a theoretical tool for better understanding refugees. The refugees' positioning within the structure of conflict of their country of origin is posited as a determining factor of their modes of settlement. It is possible to find two large categories:1. Odyssean refugees: refugees who nurtured a collective project in the land of origin and took it with them in the land of exile.2. Rubicon refugees: refugees who did not partake in a collective project oriented toward the homeland or who have forsaken it.
Qualifications Recognition Reform for Skilled Migrants in Australia: Applying Competency‐based Assessment to Overseas‐qualified Nurses
Authors: Hawthorne Lesleyanne 
Published: December 2004

The past two decades have coincided with unprecedented Australian selection of skilled migrants, in particular professionals from non‐English speaking background (NESB) source countries. By 1991, the overseas‐born constituted 43 to 49 per cent of Australia's engineers, 43 per cent of computer professionals, 40 per cent of doctors, 26 per cent of nurses, and rising proportions in other key professions. Within one to five years of arrival, just 30 per cent of degree‐qualified migrants were employed. However, few diploma holders had found work in any profession, and select NESB groups were characterized by acute labour market disadvantage.Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, barriers to credential recognition were identified as a major contributing factor to these inferior employment outcomes. This paper describes the evolution of Australia's qualifications recognition reform agenda for NESB migrants, including progressive growth in support of a shift from paper to competency‐based assessment (CBA). Within this context, the paper examines the degree to which improvements were achieved in the 1990s in the field of nursing — the first major Australian profession to embrace CBA, and one promoted by the National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition as an exemplar of the reform process. Assessment protocols and outcomes are analysed within two contrasting contexts: pre‐migration at Australian overseas posts, and within Australia following overseas‐qualified nurses' (OQNs) arrival. Based on empirical data from a wide range of sources, the paper identifies the development of a major paradox. Substantial improvements in qualifications recognition were indeed achieved for NESB nurses through CBA in Australia, in particular in the dominant immigrant‐receiving states of Victoria and New South Wales. At the same time, it is argued, a significant tightening of recognition procedures was occurring at Australian overseas posts where CBA was unavailable. The Immigration Department placed pre‐migration assessment more, rather than less, exclusively in the hands of the professional nursing bodies, in a period coinciding with their harsher, rather than more lenient, treatment of NESB migrants' qualifications. Minimal improvement in recognition of overseas qualifications was achieved in other professions.
The Commodification of International Marriages: Cross‐border Marriage Business in Taiwan and Viet Nam
Authors: Wang Hong‐zen , Chang Shu‐ming 
Published: December 2004

In this article, we attempt to place the issue of international marriage in an institutionalized profit‐oriented social context, which is described as “the commodification process”. The starting point included measuring the scale of the international marriage market in Taiwan.Socio‐demographic change in Taiwan and Viet Nam has created a market for profit‐pursuing marriage agents. Agents scattered in different social spheres have gradually linked to form a profitable industry. Two different industrial organization types have emerged in the matchmaking process to meet different market constraints. As the cross‐border marriage market matures, more and more people enter the market, and competitive price, good quality and delivery on time become the necessary conditions for success. In this competitive process, female migrant partners become increasingly commodified to conform to the new situation. They are required to accept reduced prices, to be “good enough” to marry and to be married when there is demand. The social networks of individuals are gradually transformed by agents in pursuit of profit.
Liberalized capital markets, state autonomy, and European monetary union
Authors: Jones Erik 
Published: December 2004

AbstractThe conventional wisdom is that capital market integration and now monetary union have limited the options available to macroeconomic policy makers in Europe. The question considered here, therefore, is why many prominent Europeans insist that monetary union is a rational response to capital market integration. Monetary union eliminates exchange rate volatility — but only at a cost in terms of tightening the constraints on macroeconomic policy. Using a combination of macroeconomic theory and (descriptive) statistical analysis of European performance, I find that: capital market integration has increased macroeconomic flexibility through a mitigation of the current account constraint; European states have combined macroeconomic policies in a manner that has taken advantage of greater flexibility on the current account; the cost of such flexibility in terms of the impact of financial volatility on the real economy manifests differently in different countries; and monetary union both enhances flexibility on the current account and mitigates financial volatility.
Two‐dimensional gel analysis of haemolymph proteins from Plasmodium‐melanizing and ‐non‐melanizing strains of Anopheles gambiae
Authors: Chun J. , McMaster J. , Han Y.‐S. , Schwartz A. , Paskewitz S. M. 
Published: December 2004

AbstractHaemolymph polypeptides from Plasmodium‐refractory and ‐susceptible mosquitoes were compared by one‐ and two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis. The refractory strain of Anopheles gambiae kills malaria parasites by a humoral melanization mechanism whereas the parasites develop normally in susceptible mosquitoes. The two strains respond in a similar manner to carboxy‐methyl‐Sephadex beads that have been injected into the thoracic haemocoel, i.e. beads are strongly melanized in refractory but not susceptible mosquitoes. Protein profiles were compared between strains following cold shock (naïve control), saline injection and Sephadex bead injection. Using the susceptible naïve control as the standard, eight constitutively expressed polypeptides were specific to naïve susceptible mosquitoes while twelve other spots were reduced, enhanced or specific to refractory mosquitoes. Several of the strain‐specific spots probably comprise related pairs (one in each strain) which vary only in isoelectric focusing point. Nine spots were induced by sham injection or by an injection of beads or saline, but none was reproducibly different between the strains. Amino acid sequence analysis of one of the refractory strain‐specific spots identified it as AgSp14D1, an A. gambiae infection‐responsive serine protease that is most similar to the Drosophila gene easter and Manduca prophenoloxidase activating enzyme. This gene maps to polytene chromosome division 14, which has been implicated in the melanization phenotype by quantitative trait loci mapping.
Cystic fibrosis mutation screening before assisted reproduction
Authors: Gazvani R. , Lewis‐Jones D. I. 
Published: December 2004

SummaryCystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common autosomal recessive disease in Caucasians, with a reported incidence of one in 2500. In 97–98% of men with CF, a congenital bilateral absence of the vas deferens (CBAVD) blocks the transport of spermatozoa from testicular or epididymal structures to the outer genital tract, resulting in azoospermia. Abnormalities in semen parameters have also been identified in males with CF. Around 10% of obstructive azoospermia is congenital and is due to mutations the CF gene. It is therefore suggested that men who have CBAVD should be considered for CF screening prior to intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) treatment. Men with azoospermia of unknown origin should also be considered for screening. Couples requesting surgical sperm retrieval/ICSI should therefore be advised and counselled to bear an elevated risk for CF in their offspring. Counselling of these couples is vitally important in order to help them understand and cope with the diagnosis.
Biogeography of lemurs in the humid forests of Madagascar: the role of elevational distribution and rivers
Authors: Goodman Steven M. , Ganzhorn Jörg U. 
Published: December 2004

AbstractAim  Elucidation of the influence of river systems on the distribution of lemurs.Location  Humid forests of Madagascar.Methods  We review the elevational distribution of Malagasy lemurs to address hypotheses of the role of rivers as physical barriers.Main conclusions  Rivers are barriers for some species. However, several lemurs have altitudinal ranges that are higher than the headwaters of a given river, and in such cases these species are able to disperse across the source.
Associations of smoking, alcohol and physical activity with risk factors for coronary heart disease and diabetes risk in the first follow‐up cohort of the Heart Disease and Diabetes Risk Indicators in a Screened Cohort study (HDDRISC‐1)
Authors: Godsland I. F. , Leyva F. , Walton C. , Worthington M. , Stevenson J. C. 
Published: December 2004

AbstractGodsland IF, Levya F, Walton C, Worthington M, Stevenson JC (Imperial College School of Medicine, London, UK). Associations of smoking, alcohol and physical activity with risk factors for coronary heart disease and diabetes in the first follow‐up cohort of the Heart Disease and Diabetes Risk Indicators in a Screened Cohort study. J Intern Med 1998; 244: 33–41.ObjectivesTo investigate the associations between risk factors for cardiovascular disease and cigarette smoking, alcohol intake, and physical activity in a group of predominantly healthy men.DesignCohort study with baseline characterisation, clinical follow‐up, and identification of predictors of coronary artery disease and diabetes.SettingUniversity hospital metabolic day ward.SubjectsParticipants in a company health programme (n= 742).Main outcome measuresRoutine haematology and biochemistry, cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (on a subset of 522 subjects), and glucose and insulin levels during a 3 h oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT).ResultsIndependent associations with previous cigarette smoking included high uric acid and low HDL cholesterol, and with current cigarette smoking, high haemoglobin and white cell count and low OGTT insulin. Increasing alcohol intake was associated with increasing blood pressure, uric acid, HDL cholesterol and fasting glucose. The moderate range of exercise intensity in this cohort was associated with decreasing systolic blood pressure, fasting insulin and OGTT glucose and insulin. Factor analysis distinguished principal factors comprising features of the metabolic syndrome with low physical activity, and high white cell count, high haemoglobin concentration and low HDL cholesterol with increasing previous and current cigarette smoking and alcohol intake.ConclusionsSome characteristics of the metabolic syndrome were seen with previous but not current smoking habit. Regular alcohol consumption was associated with mainly unfavourable metabolic characteristics, although there was an independent beneficial association with HDL cholesterol. The improved metabolic syndrome profile seen with increasing exercise is consistent with even moderate degrees of physical activity having beneficial effects on metabolism.
Feeding Performance in Heterochronic Alpine Newts is Consistent with Trophic Niche and Maintenance of Polymorphism
Authors: Denoël Mathieu 
Published: December 2004

AbstractThe feeding performances of two heterochronic morphs of the Alpine newt Triturus alpestris were investigated in laboratory experiments. Although both morphs are able to feed in the aquatic habitat, the hydrodynamics of prey capture differ between morphs. In paedomorphs water sucked with prey is expelled behind the mouth through gill bars. In metamorphs, water is expelled by the mouth as gill slits are closed. Feeding performance was better in paedomorphs than in metamorphs when foraging on aquatic crustaceans, but paedomorphs were less successful when foraging on terrestrial invertebrates caught at the water surface. These differences in prey capture success related to prey type allow the two morphs to use specific resources in their aquatic habitat. These results are consistent with previous studies that showed diet differentiation between morphs in natural populations. Such resource partitioning is a factor favouring the maintenance of facultative paedomorphosis in natural populations.
Male Mate Choice in the Guppy (Poecilia reticulata): Do Males Prefer Larger Females as Mates?
Authors: Herdman Emily J. E. , Kelly Clint D. , Godin Jean‐Guy J. 
Published: December 2004

AbstractAlthough females are the choosier sex in most species, male mate choice is expected to occur under certain conditions. Theoretically, males should prefer larger females as mates in species where female fecundity increases with body size. However, any fecundity‐related benefits accruing to a male that has mated with a large female may be offset by an associated fitness cost of shared paternity if large females are more likely to be multiply mated than smaller females in nature. We tested the above hypothesis and assumption using the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata) by behaviourally testing for male mate choice in the laboratory and by ascertaining (with the use of microsatellite DNA genotyping) patterns of male paternity in wild‐caught females. We observed significant positive relationships between female body length and fecundity (brood size) and between body length and level of multiple paternity in the broods of females collected in the Quaré River, Trinidad. In laboratory tests, a preference for the larger of two simultaneously‐presented virgin females was clearly expressed only when males were exposed to the full range of natural stimuli from the females, but not when they were limited to visual stimuli alone. However, as suggested by our multiple paternity data, males that choose to mate with large females may incur a larger potential cost of sperm competition and shared paternity compared with males that mate with smaller females on average. Our results thus suggest that male guppies originating from the Quaré River possess mating preferences for relatively large females, but that such preferences are expressed only when males can accurately assess the mating status of encountered females that differ in body size.
Neuronal coding of interaural transient envelope disparities
Authors: Heil Peter 
Published: December 2004

AbstractOnsets are salient and important transient (i.e. dynamic) features of acoustic signals, and evoke vigorous responses from most auditory neurons, but paradoxically these onset responses have most often been analysed with respect to steady‐state stimulus features, e.g. the sound pressure level (SPL). In nearly all studies concerned with the coding of differences in SPL at the two ears (interaural level differences; ILDs), which provide a major cue for the azimuthal location of high frequency sound sources, interaural onset disparities were covaried with ILD, but the possibly confounding effects of this covariation on neuronal responses have been entirely neglected. Therefore, dichotic stimulus paradigms were designed here in which onset and steady‐state features were varied independently. Responses were recorded from single neurons in the inferior colliculus of rats, anaesthetized with pentobarbital and xylazine. It is demonstrated that onset responses, or the onset response components of neurons with more complex temporal response patterns, are dependent on the binaural combination of dynamic envelope features associated with conventional ILD stimulus paradigms, but not on the binaural combination of steady‐state SPLs reached after the onset. In contrast, late or sustained response components appear more sensitive to the binaural combination of steady‐state SPLs. These data stress the general necessity for a separate analysis of onset and late response components, with respect to different stimulus features, and suggest a need for re‐evaluation of existing studies on ILD coding. The sensitivity of onset responses to the binaural combination of envelope transients, rather than to steady‐state ILD, is in line with their sensitivity to other interaural envelope disparities, created by stationary or moving sounds.
Co‐localized neuropeptide Y and GABA have complementary presynaptic effects on sensory synaptic transmission
Authors: Parker David , Söderberg Charlotte , Zotova Elena , Shupliakov Oleg , Langel Ülo , Bartfai Tamas , Larhammar Dan , Brodin Lennart , Grillner Sten 
Published: December 2004

AbstractWe have examined the morphological relationship of neuropeptide Y (NPY) and GABAergic neurons in the lamprey spinal cord, and the physiological effects of NPY and GABAB receptor agonists on afferent synaptic transmission. NPY‐containing fibres and cell bodies were identified in the dorsal root entry zone. NPY immunoreactive (–ir) fibres made close appositions with primary afferent axons. Co‐localization of NPY and GABA‐ir was found in the dorsal horn and dorsal column. Fifty‐two per cent of NPY‐ir profiles showed immunoreactivity to GABA at the ultrastructural level. Electron microscopic analysis showed that NPY‐immunoreactivity was present throughout the axoplasm, including over dense core vesicles, whereas GABA‐immunoreactivity was mainly found over small synaptic vesicles. Synthetic lamprey NPY, and the related peptide, peptide YY, reduced the amplitude of monosynaptic afferent EPSPs in spinobulbar neurons. NPY had no significant effect on the postsynaptic input resistance or membrane potential, the electrical component of the synaptic potential, or the response to glutamate, but it could reduce the duration of presynaptic action potentials, suggesting that it was acting presynaptically. NPY also reduced the excitability of the spinobulbar neurons, suggesting at least one postsynaptic effect. Because NPY and GABA colocalize, we compared the effects of NPY and the GABAB agonist baclofen. Both presynaptically reduced EPSP amplitudes, baclofen having a larger effect and a faster onset and recovery than NPY. The GABAB antagonist phaclofen reduced the effect of baclofen, but not that of NPY. We conclude that NPY and GABA are colocalized in terminals in the dorsal spinal cord of the lamprey, and that they have complementary actions in modulating sensory inputs.
Odour coding is bilaterally symmetrical in the antennal lobes of honeybees (Apis mellifera)
Authors: Galizia C. Giovanni , Nägler Karl , Hölldobler Bert , Menzel Randolf 
Published: December 2004

AbstractThe primary olfactory neuropil, the antennal lobe (AL) in insects, is organized in glomeruli. Glomerular activity patterns are believed to represent the across‐fibre pattern of the olfactory code. These patterns depend on an organized innervation from the afferent receptor cells, and interconnections of local interneurons. It is unclear how the complex organization of the AL is achieved ontogenetically. In this study, we measured the functional activity patterns elicited by stimulation with odours in the right and the left AL of the same honeybee (Apis mellifera) using optical imaging of the calcium‐sensitive dye calcium green. We show here that these patterns are bilaterally symmetrical (n = 25 bees). This symmetry holds true for all odours tested, irrespective of their role as pheromones or as environmental odours, or whether they were pure substances or complex blends (n = 13 odours). Therefore, we exclude that activity dependent mechanisms local to one AL determine the functional glomerular activity. This identity is genetically predetermined. Alternatively, if activity dependent processes are involved, bilateral connections would have to shape symmetry, or, temporal constraints could lead to identical patterns on both sides due to their common history of odour exposure.
Truncation of the Shaker‐like voltage‐gated potassium channel, Kv1.1, causes megencephaly
Authors: Petersson Susanna , Persson Ann‐Sophie , Johansen Jeanette E. , Ingvar Martin , Nilsson Johanna , Klement Göran , Århem Peter , Schalling Martin , Lavebratt Catharina 
Published: December 2004

AbstractThe megencephaly mouse, mceph/mceph, displays dramatically increased brain volume and hypertrophic brain cells. Despite overall enlargement, the mceph/mceph brain appears structurally normal, without oedema, hydrocephaly or leukodystrophy, and with only minor astrocytosis. Furthermore, it presents striking disturbances in expression of trophic and neuromodulating factors within the hippocampus and cortex. Using a positional cloning approach we have identified the mceph mutation. We show that mceph/mceph mice carry an 11‐base‐pair deletion in the gene encoding the Shaker‐like voltage‐gated potassium channel subtype 1, Kcna1. The mutation leads to a frame shift and the predicted MCEPH protein is truncated at amino acid 230 (out of 495), terminating with six aberrant amino acids. The expression of Kcna1 mRNA is increased in the mceph/mceph brain. However, the C‐terminal domains of the corresponding Kv1.1 protein are absent. The putative MCEPH protein retains only the N‐terminal domains for channel assembly and may congregate nonfunctional complexes of multiple Shaker‐like subunits. Indeed, whereas Kcna2 and Kcna3 mRNA expression is normal, the mceph/mceph hippocampus displays decreased amounts of Kv1.2 and Kv1.3 proteins, suggesting interactions at the protein level. We show that mceph/mceph mice have disturbed brain electrophysiology and experience recurrent behavioural seizures, in agreement with the abnormal electrical brain activity found in Shaker mutants. However, in contrast to the commonly demonstrated epilepsy‐induced neurodegeneration, we find that the mceph mutation leads to seizures with a concomitant increase in brain size, without overt neural atrophy.