bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of the implementation, use and effects of a computerised management information system in English secondary schools
Authors: Visscher Adrie , Wild Phil , Smith Debbie , Newton Len 
Published: May 2003

AbstractVery little empirical large‐scale research has been carried out on the use of IT in the management and administration of schools despite of the fact that schools all over the world have adopted such IT based systems. The move in many countries towards autonomous school management will further require the use of these systems. Sophisticated computerised school information systems (SISs) will have to provide school‐based information relevant to the development of policies in areas where schools used merely to follow governmental guidelines. If such systems are to be designed and used to full effect, knowledge is urgently needed on the implementation, use and effects of established computerised SISs. The large‐scale research project in England, reported here, goes some way towards filling this gap in our knowledge.
Reviews: 2
Authors: Mishra Sanjaya 
Published: May 2003

Cornford, James & Pollock, Neil (2003) Putting the university online Open University Press (Buckingham UK & Philadelphia PA) ISBN 0‐335‐21005‐8 121 pp £19.99 (boards £60) http://www.openup.co.uk

enquiries@openup.co.uk
The economics of rural areas in the proximity of urban networks: evidence from Flanders
Authors: Cabus Peter , Vanhaverbeke Wim 
Published: May 2003

Flanders is a densely populated, strongly urbanised region in Northwest Europe, but with still recognisable peri‐urban rural territories. These territories have a distinct economic profile that is far from being marginal, but which has a diminishing role for agriculturally related economic activities. From a regionally‐based economic approach, the authors argue that these rural areas act as flanking areas for the nearby urban areas, with mutual benefits. Therefore a model representing local economic development in these flanking rural territories can only be relevant if it takes into account this urban‐rural partnership, in respect to the territorial identity and cultural features of both these types of areas. The rural‐urban partnership should also be an important basis for a rural renewal policy. This policy will undoubtedly contain traditional rural elements stemming from traditional agricultural activities. However, it must also consider economic activities, in particular those of manufacturing and service industries in the countryside. It should also foster those characteristics of the rural environment which can play a decisive role in creating the new opportunities offered by the new localisation factors which are intrinsic to the rise of the new knowledge‐based economy.
Personal Bias in Automobile Claims Settlement
Authors: Doerpinghaus Helen , Schmit Joan , Yeh Jason Jia‐Hsing 
Published: May 2003

AbstractDespite the importance of claims handling practices to consumers and insurers, relatively little research has been done in this area. Our purpose here is to consider one aspect of automobile bodily injury liability claims management: the assignment of fault across parties as judged by the insured defendant's claims adjuster. Because legal fault assessment directly affects whether a defendant is held liable, and if so, for how much, this aspect of claims management is significant. We use accident data from the 1997 Insurance Research Council Closed Claim Survey to test for relationships between fault assessment and gender, age, and state comparative negligence rules. Controlling for actual fault, we find a greater assessment of fault against female, young, and elderly drivers. The results of the study are of interest to insurers seeking to provide better customer service, to consumer advocacy groups interested in claims settlement practices, and to insurance regulators.
Fixed‐Reimbursement Insurance: Basic Properties and Comparative Statics
Authors: Eeckhoudt Louis , Mahul Olivier , Moran John 
Published: May 2003

AbstractIn a number of settings, insurance contracts specify a fixed reimbursement in the event of a loss which is not conditioned on the size of the realized loss. In this article, we explore the theoretical properties of this form of insurance and draw comparisons with other types of insurance policies, such as those based on coinsurance and deductibles. We also examine links between our results and those from the literature on precautionary saving.
The Impact of Insurance Prices on Decision Making Biases: An Experimental Analysis
Authors: Laury Susan K. , McInnes Melayne Morgan 
Published: May 2003

AbstractThis article tests whether the use of endogenous risk categorization by insurers enables consumers to make better‐informed decisions even if they do not choose to purchase insurance. We do so by adding a simple insurance market to an experimental test of optimal (Bayesian) updating. In some sessions, no insurance is offered. In others, actuarially fair insurance prices are posted, and a subset of subjects is allowed to purchase this insurance. We find significant differences in the decision rules used depending on whether one observes insurance prices. Although the majority of choices correspond to Bayesian updating, the incidence of optimal decisions is higher in sessions with an insurance option. Most subjects given the option to purchase actuarially fair insurance choose to do so. However, fewer subjects purchase insurance when the probability of a loss is higher.
Determinants of International Insurers’ Participation in Foreign Non‐Life Markets
Authors: Ma Yu‐Luen , Pope Nat 
Published: May 2003

AbstractMirroring the trend in the broader marketplace, the global insurance industry is steadily moving toward increased liberalization and deregulation. This study seeks to develop the first empirical model that examines the importance of foreign market characteristics as they relate to the participation of international insurers in the non‐life business of those countries. The analysis reveals that market structure is an important factor in determining whether international insurers participate in a given foreign market. In addition, for markets that are not competitive, removing trade barriers would significantly improve the desirability of those countries as host markets. The results also suggest that countries with higher gross domestic product tend to attract more involvement from international insurers. While this research focuses on the markets of industrialized countries, the findings will provide significant implications for those emerging markets that have not yet collected relevant data on a number of the variables included in this study.
Japanese Corporate Pension Plans and the Impact on Stock Prices
Authors: Yoshida Kazuo , Horiba Yutaka 
Published: May 2003

AbstractThis study focuses on the stock market impact of Japanese corporate decisions to adopt pension plans. Implementing corporate pension plans in Japan is complicated because they are heavily regulated by the government and the traditional lump‐sum‐only severance benefit plans already exist, requiring interfacing newly adopted plans with existing ones. Using the GARCH estimation method, the market model applied in this article for the relatively long period 1975–1995 yields evidence that suggests that the stock market responds to some of the more specific characteristics of adopted plans. Alternative specifications of the pension “event” also suggest that relatively little of the market impact comes from public announcements about pension adoption occasioned by the release of a firm's financial statement.
The Determinants of Intra‐Industry Trade in Insurance Services
Authors: Li Donghui , Moshirian Fariborz , Sim Ah‐Boon 
Published: May 2003

AbstractIn light of the growing significance of trade in financial services, and the emphasis placed on trade in financial services during the Uruguay round of trade negotiations, this article is the first study of the determinants of intra‐industry trade (IIT) in insurance services. The article analyzes and measures the magnitude of IIT in insurance services for the United States. The empirical results of the determinants of IIT indicate that foreign direct investment in insurance services (FDI) is a significant contributor to the volume of trade in insurance services. These empirical findings confirm the new theoretical trade models that, unlike the traditional trade theory that considered trade and foreign direct investment in insurance services as substitutes, trade and FDI complement each other and hence multinational insurance companies are contributing to an increase in the volume of trade in insurance services. Furthermore, this study shows that trade intensity between the United States and its trading partners leads to product differentiation in insurance services and hence an increase in consumer welfare.
Corporate Risks and Property Insurance: Evidence From the People's Republic of China
Authors: Zou Hong , Adams Mike B. , Buckle Mike J. 
Published: May 2003

AbstractUsing panel data (1997–1999) for 235 publicly listed companies in the People's Republic of China, this study empirically tests the linkage between corporate risks and the decision to purchase property insurance and its financial extent. To achieve these objectives, we first estimate a probit insurance participation decision model and then a fixed‐effects insurance volume decision model with Heckman's sample selection correction. Our results indicate that the managerial decision to purchase property insurance is positively related to company size and insolvency risks. By contrast, the amount of property insurance purchased is positively related to systematic risks but negatively related to insolvency and unsystematic risks and company size. We find that the amount of property insurance used by Chinese companies can also be affected by other factors (e.g., the cash flow constraints). In addition, the decision to purchase property insurance and the financial extent to which it is used varies among Chinese companies according to their geographical location. However, state ownership does not appear to be an important determinant of the purchase of property insurance by Chinese publicly listed companies.
An Analysis of Risk, Insurance, and Actuarial Research: Citations From 1996 to 2000
Authors: Lee Colquitt L. 
Published: May 2003

AbstractThis article evaluates the relative significance of research published in 16 risk, insurance, and actuarial journals by examining the frequency of citations in these risk, insurance, and actuarial journals and 16 of the leading finance journals during the years 1996 through 2000. First, the article provides the frequency with which each sample risk, insurance, and actuarial journal cites itself and the other sample journals so as to communicate the degree to which each journal's published research has had an influence on the other sample journals. Then the article divides the 16 journals into two groups: (1) the risk and insurance journal group, and (2) the actuarial journal group, and ranks them within their group based on their total number of citations, including and excluding self‐citations. A ranking within each group is based on the journals’ influence on a per article published basis. Finally, this study observes and reports on the most frequently cited articles from the sample risk, insurance, and actuarial journals.
Survivor Bonds: A Comment on Blake and Burrows
Authors: Dowd Kevin 
Published: May 2003

AbstractThis article offers a critical assessment of the “survivor bonds” (SBs) proposal recently put forward by Blake and Burrows, which calls for the government to issue bonds whose coupon payments are contingent on the proportions of retirees surviving to particular ages. It suggests that the proposal has considerable merit and discusses the circumstances in which SBs would be useful risk management tools for insurance companies. It also discusses alternatives such as reinsurance, hedging with life contracts, dynamic hedging, and other forms of survivor derivative. Finally, it evaluates and rejects the argument that SBs should be issued by the state.
Inactivation of Mg Chelatase during Transition from Anaerobic to Aerobic Growth in
Rhodobacter capsulatus
Authors: Willows Robert D. , Lake Vanessa , Roberts Thomas Hugh , Beale Samuel I. 
Published: May 2003

ABSTRACT

The facultative photosynthetic bacterium
Rhodobacter capsulatus
can adapt from an anaerobic photosynthetic mode of growth to aerobic heterotrophic metabolism. As this adaptation occurs, the cells must rapidly halt bacteriochlorophyll synthesis to prevent phototoxic tetrapyrroles from accumulating, while still allowing heme synthesis to continue. A likely control point is Mg chelatase, the enzyme that diverts protoporphyrin IX from heme biosynthesis toward the bacteriochlorophyll biosynthetic pathway by inserting Mg
2+
to form Mg-protoporphyrin IX. Mg chelatase is composed of three subunits that are encoded by the
bchI
,
bchD
, and
bchH
genes in
R
.
capsulatus
. We report that BchH is the rate-limiting component of Mg chelatase activity in cell extracts. BchH binds protoporphyrin IX, and BchH that has been expressed and purified from
Escherichia coli
is red in color due to the bound protoporphyrin IX. Recombinant BchH is rapidly inactivated by light in the presence of O
2
, and the inactivation results in the formation of a covalent adduct between the protein and the bound protoporphyrin IX. When photosynthetically growing
R
.
capsulatus
cells are transferred to aerobic conditions, Mg chelatase is rapidly inactivated, and BchH is the component that is most rapidly inactivated in vivo when cells are exposed to aerobic conditions. The light- and O
2
-stimulated inactivation of BchH could account for the rapid inactivation of Mg chelatase in vivo and provide a mechanism for inhibiting the synthesis of bacteriochlorophyll during adaptation of photosynthetically grown cells to aerobic conditions while still allowing heme synthesis to occur for aerobic respiration.
Functional Subsets of the VirB Type IV Transport Complex Proteins Involved in the Capacity ofAgrobacterium tumefaciensTo Serve as a Recipient invirB-Mediated Conjugal Transfer of Plasmid RSF1010
Authors: Liu Zhenying , Binns Andrew N. 
Published: May 2003

ABSTRACTThevirB-encoded type IV transport complex ofAgrobacterium tumefaciensmediates the transfer of DNA and proteins into plant cells, as well as the conjugal transfer of IncQ plasmids, such as RSF1010, betweenAgrobacteriumstrains. While several studies have indicated that there are physical interactions among the 11 VirB proteins, the functional significance of the interactions has been difficult to establish since all of the proteins are required for substrate transfer. Our previous studies, however, indicated that although all of the VirB proteins are required for the capacity of a strain to serve as an RSF1010 donor, only a subset of these proteins in the recipient is necessary to increase the conjugal frequency by 3 to 4 logs. The roles of particular groups of VirB proteins in this increased recipient activity were examined in the study reported here. Examination of the expression of subgroups ofvirBgenes revealed that translation ofvirB6is necessary for expression of downstream open reading frames. Expression of limited subsets of the VirB proteins in a recipient strain lacking the Ti plasmid revealed that the VirB7 to VirB10 proteins yield a subcomplex that is functional in the recipient assay but that the VirB1 to VirB4 proteins, as a group, dramatically increase this activity in strains expressing VirB7 to VirB10. Finally, the membrane distribution and cross-linking patterns of VirB10, but not of VirB8 or VirB9, in a strain expressing only VirB7 to VirB10 are significantly altered compared to the patterns of the wild type. These characteristics are, however, restored to the wild-type status by coexpression of VirB1 to VirB3. Taken together, these results define subsets of type IV transport complex proteins that are critical in allowing a strain to participate as a recipient invirB-mediated conjugal RSF1010 transfer.
Phosphorylation of the Lipid A Region of Meningococcal Lipopolysaccharide: Identification of a Family of Transferases That Add Phosphoethanolamine to Lipopolysaccharide
Authors: Cox Andrew D. , Wright J. Claire , Li Jianjun , Hood Derek W. , Moxon E. Richard , Richards James C. 
Published: May 2003

ABSTRACT

A gene, NMB1638, with homology to the recently characterized gene encoding a phosphoethanolamine transferase,
lpt-3
, has been identified from the
Neisseria meningitidis
genome sequence and was found to be present in all meningococcal strains examined. Homology comparison with other database sequences would suggest that NMB1638 and
lpt-3
represent genes coding for members of a family of proteins of related function identified in a wide range of gram-negative species of bacteria. When grown and isolated under appropriate conditions,
N. meningitidis
elaborated lipopolysaccharide (LPS) containing a lipid A that was characteristically phosphorylated with multiple phosphate and phosphoethanolamine residues. In all meningococcal strains examined, each lipid A species contained the basal diphosphorylated species, wherein a phosphate group is attached to each glucosamine residue. Also elaborated within the population of LPS molecules are a variety of “phosphoforms” that contain either an additional phosphate residue, an additional phosphoethanolamine residue, additional phosphate and phosphoethanolamine residues, or an additional phosphate and two phosphoethanolamine residues in the lipid A. Mass spectroscopic analyses of LPS from three strains in which NMB1638 had been inactivated by a specific mutation indicated that there were no phosphoethanolamine residues included in the lipid A region of the LPS and that there was no further phosphorylation of lipid A beyond one additional phosphate species. We propose that NMB1638 encodes a phosphoethanolamine transferase specific for lipid A and propose naming the gene “
lptA
,” for “LPS phosphoethenolamine transferase for lipid A.”
Transcription of Bacteriophage PM2 Involves Phage-Encoded Regulators of Heterologous Origin
Authors: Männistö Riina H. , Grahn A. Marika , Bamford Dennis H. , Bamford Jaana K. H. 
Published: May 2003

ABSTRACT

Bacteriophage PM2 is the only described member of the
Corticoviridae
family. It is an icosahedral dsDNA virus with a membrane residing underneath the protein coat. PM2 infects some gram-negative
Pseudoalteromonas
spp. In the present study, we mapped the viral promoters and showed that the PM2 genome consists of three operons. Four new virus genes were assigned based on their function in transcription. Proteins P15 and P16 are shown to repress early transcription, and proteins P13 and P14 are shown to activate late transcription events. The early regulatory region, containing genes for proteins P15 and P16, as well as the newly identified early promoter region in PM2, has significant sequence similarity with the
Pseudoalteromonas
pAS28 plasmid. P14, the transcription activator for the structural genes, has a zinc finger motif homologous to archaeal and eukaryotic TFIIS-type regulatory factors.
Contribution of Aggregation-Promoting Factor to Maintenance of Cell Shape in
Lactobacillus
gasseri
4B2
Authors: Jankovic Ivana , Ventura Marco , Meylan Valerie , Rouvet Martine , Elli Marina , Zink Ralf 
Published: May 2003

ABSTRACT

Aggregation-promoting factor (APF) was originally described as a protein involved in the conjugation and autoaggregation of
Lactobacillus
gasseri
4B2, whose corresponding
apf
gene was cloned and sequenced. In this report, we identified and sequenced an additional
apf
gene located in the region upstream of the previously published one. Inactivation of both
apf
genes was unsuccessful, indicating that APF function may be essential for the cell. Overproduction of APF proteins caused drastic alteration in the cell shape of this strain. These cells were irregular, twisted, enlarged, and tightly bound in unbreakable clumps of chains. Down-regulation of APF synthesis was achieved by cloning of the
apf2
promoter region on a high-copy-number plasmid, which recruited a putative
apf
activator. As a consequence, the shape of the corresponding recombinant cells was elongated (filamentous) and cell division sites were no longer visible. None of the induced changes in APF production levels was clearly correlated with modifications of the aggregation phenotype. This report shows, for the first time, that APF proteins are mainly critical for
L
.
gasseri
4B2 cell shape maintenance.
Impaired Growth Rates in Milk of
Lactobacillus helveticus
Peptidase Mutants Can Be Overcome by Use of Amino Acid Supplements
Authors: Christensen Jeffrey E. , Steele James L. 
Published: May 2003

ABSTRACT

To evaluate the contribution of intracellular peptidases to the growth of the 14-amino-acid (aa) auxotroph
Lactobacillus helveticus
CNRZ32, single- and multiple-peptidase-deletion mutants were constructed. Two broad-specificity aminopeptidases (PepC and PepN) and X-prolyl dipeptidyl aminopeptidase (PepX) were inactivated through successive cycles of chromosomal gene replacement mutagenesis. The inactivation of all three peptidases in JLS247 (Δ
pepC
Δ
pepN
Δ
pepX
) did not affect the growth rate in amino acid-defined medium. However, the peptidase mutants generally had decreased specific growth rates when acquisition of amino acids required hydrolysis of the proteins in milk, the most significant result being a 73% increase in generation time for JLS247. The growth rate deficiencies in milk were overcome by amino acid supplements with some specificity to each of the peptidase mutants. For example, milk supplementation with Pro resulted in the most significant growth rate increase for Δ
pepX
strains and a 7-aa supplement (Asn, Cys, Ile, Pro, Ser, Thr, and Val) resulted in a JLS247 growth rate indistinguishable from that of the wild type. Our results show that characterization of the activities of the broad-specificity aminopeptidases had little predictive value regarding the amino acid supplements found to enhance the milk growth rates of the peptidase mutant strains. These results represent the first determination of the physiological roles with respect to specific amino acid requirements for peptidase mutants grown in milk.