bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A consumer shopping channel extension model: attitude shift toward the online store
Authors: Kim Jihyun , Park Jihye 
Published: March 2005

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the consumer shopping channel extension focusing on attitude shift from offline to online store with a theoretical approach.Design/methodology/approachTwo hundred and sixty two students in a large US midwestern university participated and provided usable survey responses. Structural equation modeling was employed to test hypotheses and the modified theory of planned behavior in the online retailing environment.FindingsThe results showed that attitude toward the offline store was a significant predictor of attitude toward the online store. In addition, search intention for product information via the online store was the strongest predictor of consumer's purchase intention via the online store as well as a mediating variable between predictor variables and purchase intention.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample of this study was slightly biased by gender and age. Female college‐aged consumers were the majority. This demographic group is, however, meaningful to investigate for apparel multichannel retailers due to the strong consumer demand and buying power.Originality/valueThis paper offered a theoretical framework to understand and predict the consumer shopping behavior in the multichannel retailing setting. In addition, the present paper contributed to the academia by expanding the theory of planned behavior and online prepurchase intentions model.
The application of a layered system to the marketing of outdoor clothing
Authors: Ruckman J.E. 
Published: March 2005

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to find out if there is an optimum combination of the three layer clothing system and if so to indicate how this layered system may be applied to the development and marketing of outdoor clothing.Design/methodology/approachSeven fabrics typically used in outdoor clothing systems were chosen for the experiments; two fabrics for base liner, two for the mid layer and three for the outer shell. A total of 12 different clothing systems, which are all possible combinations that a consumer may create as clothing systems, were then established using the selected fabrics. To evaluate the effectiveness of the clothing systems, the water vapour permeability of each of these varying combinations was measured under both isothermal conditions and non‐isothermal conditions.FindingsWhen three layers of fabrics, each developed to be base liner, middle layer and outer shell, were assembled into a simulated clothing system, it was expected that they would function together as a whole, exerting some influence over each other. In this paper, it was found that the behaviour of water vapour permeability changes if a layered system is applied within a clothing system. Furthermore, it was also found that an optimum combination of the three layer clothing system does exist although the combination may differ according to the ways in which the clothing system is evaluated.Originality/valueThese findings may be used for the development and marketing of three layer outdoor clothing systems as consumers will benefit by being offered the clothing system that will provide them with maximum comfort.
Telecommunications trade liberalisation and the WTO
Authors: Bressie Kent , Kende Michael , Williams Howard 
Published: March 2005

PurposeTo review the relationship between the nature of telecommunications sector reform and the commitments under the WTO, and determine the impact on sector performance.Design/methodology/approachA model is developed which links sector reforms and WTO commitments. Publicly available, data are then used to populate the model and explore the correlations between sector reform, WTO commitments and sector performance.FindingsThe empirical analysis suggests a strong and positive correlation between positive changes in sector performance and sector reform supported by WTO commitments.Research limitations/implicationsThe sequencing of the reform agenda and the use of WTO commitments as part within the political economy of a particular country are important issues which future research may consider. The lack of consistent cross‐sectional data prevented the adoption of more formal econometric analysis.Practical implicationsThe paper highlights the close integration of a number of policy measures if sector reform within a country is to be successful. The role of the WTO commitments may be significant not only in shaping the details of internal policy measures, but also as a credibility signal to investors.Originality/valueIn light of the Doha round of negotiations within the WTO, in particular the “Singapore Agenda”, this paper makes a significant contribution to understanding the relationship between WTO commitments and reform of the telecommunications sector.
The WTO and telecommunications services in China: three years on
Authors: Roseman Daniel 
Published: March 2005

PurposeTo assess the impact of China's WTO commitments on foreign investment flows, domestic regulation and industry performance in the telecommunications services sector.Design/methodology/approachSituates GATS disciplines in telecommunications in their historical context, then reviews China's specific commitments, and finally reviews available data on developments in China since accession.FindingsChina's commitments on market access and national treatment in telecommunications services are rather modest, and China is lagging in the implementation of regulatory disciplines. Nevertheless, China has gone a long distance toward a complete transformation of the telecommunications sector with little outside influence and no outside ownership or control. It is mainly because the prospect of joining the WTO and opening to the world galvanized government and industry into action. The overall thrust of those actions, however, has been to ensure that telecommunications plays its full role as a strategic economic sector and helps deliver economic benefits to the Chinese people in order to legitimize Communist Party leadership.Research limitations/implicationsUp‐to‐date and coherent data on industry performance (e.g. penetration rates, productivity increases, etc.) are lacking.Practical implicationsVery useful background and analysis relating to: relationship between, on the one hand, international trade commitments and, on the other hand, domestic reforms and industry performance; and on‐going issues in China's efforts to implement its WTO obligations and to create a statutory, regulatory and institutional framework supportive of continued growth of the telecommunications sector in China.Originality/valueResponds to an identified information need with information and analysis of practical value.
Be here now
Authors: Miles Ian 
Published: March 2005

PurposeOne of the reasons for confusion over the exact nature of the “Information Society” is that it is a moving target. The paper aims to elaborate a view of information society as involving the transformation of the social world through the use of new information technologies. This has evolved through a number of quite distinctive stages, over just a few decades. Understanding this is important for thinking about future prospects – whether we are interested in what technologies will be commercially successful, or in what the policy challenges of new systems are liable to be.Design/methodology/approachThe study reviews major trends. It illustrates the analyses of evolving information society by use of some historical narrative and vignettes of future possibilities, alongside the more conventional analysis. It presents a context within which these emerging issues may be examined.FindingsThree distinctive stages of information society evolution are identified, and future prospects discussed. Critical problem areas are identified.Research limitations/implicationsThe approach demonstrates the limits of simple extrapolation from one stage to the next.Practical implicationsElements of a future stage of information society, and some of the key problems of transition to this stage are outlined. The innovation, social action and political choices that are aimed at these problems will shape many key features of this society. To date, information technology has been fairly free of the controversies that have flared up around other technologies. But it remains to be seen how far privacy (and other) concerns will be outweighed by consumer and social benefits, and security applications, that can be realised through the new technology. Opportunities to counter terrorism and crime may be stacked up against the vulnerability of complicated systems.Originality/valueArticulating a fresh perspective on information society, this paper is relevant to analysis of commercial, social and political dimensions of emerging information technologies.
Dramatically different price developments for mobile services in India and Switzerland and their underlying drivers
Authors: Buerkler Erich 
Published: March 2005

PurposeBy comparing prices for mobile services in India and Switzerland, this article aims to highlight marginal differences in regulations – besides other significant factors – which can result in totally different price developments.Design/methodology/approachA holistic approach is used to explain the various drivers behind price developments. Besides costs (including licence fees), customer behaviours (summarized in demand elasticity), competitive behaviour (explained by the applied marketing mix) and termination fees (either as a price stabilizer – if not freezer – or as a relatively marginal cost component) represent the relevant drivers.FindingsThe comparative study underlines the crucial role termination costs play in dynamic mobile markets – besides the usually stressed general cost levels and numbers of competitors.Originality/valueAs a case study, this paper identifies country‐specific factors which would have to be reviewed again before drawing conclusions for other mobile markets and their regulatory success.
Developing Indian grain supply chain cost model: a system dynamics approach
Authors: Sachan Amit , Sahay B.S. , Sharma Dinesh 
Published: March 2005

PurposeThe objective of the present study is to model the total supply chain cost (TSCC) of an Indian grain chain in order to understand and predict the future outcome of each supply chain model in different situations and to devise policies accordingly to reduce TSCC.Design/methodology/approachThe system dynamics (SD) approach is used to model the TSCC model of an Indian grain chain, which takes care of the dynamic interaction of the cost variables.FindingsThe major findings of the paper are the reduced cost ratios in the different scenarios. A total of nine scenarios are evaluated, which are the cooperative model, contract farming and a collaborative supply chain based on optimistic, pessimistic and most likely views.Practical implicationsThe practical implications are the action plans suggested to reduce TSCC in each of the future scenarios of the supply chain model that are developed in the paper.Originality/valueThe TSCC model is beneficial not only for organizations entering into the food business, but also for economic policy makers.
Using job support tools to increase workgroup performance
Authors: Coulson‐Thomas Colin 
Published: March 2005

PurposeTo assess and share the experiences of users of a new generation of practical and knowledge‐based job support tools.Design/methodology/approachTo illustrate distinguishing features of job support tools and the use of multi‐media capabilities with examples of sales support tools.FindingsThe tools mentioned and other similar tools examined by the underpinning research programme have had a very significant and beneficial impact on performance.Practical implicationsJob support tools can make it easier for important work groups to undertake complex tasks. The essence of the greater success of superstar performers can be captured and shared by means of support tools that can be constructed to encourage adoption, build understanding with each use and change behaviours with benefits for both people and organisations.Originality/valueShares the experiences of early adopters and draws practical lessons from them.
Effective review meetings: the counter‐intuitive key to successful performance measurement
Authors: Meekings Alan 
Published: March 2005

PurposeTo present clear pointers to best practice in the implementation and use of performance measurement, highlighting the significance of effective review meetings, connected across functions and between levels in organisations.Design/methodology/approachA summary of practical experience in the implementation and use of performance measurement, supported by three complementary case studies, each illustrating ways in which it can be both a catalyst and impetus for results otherwise unachievable. In particular, this paper explains why the greatest benefits lie not in specific measures themselves, nor even in the process used to develop them, but in how performance measurement is actually implemented and used in practice. It argues that the key to getting the most out of performance measurement is to grab the review process and make it work properly.FindingsInsights into how to maximise the value of performance measurement by making the review process work properly, such that strategic developments and continual improvement are effectively “pulled‐through” in a coherent and progressive fashion and the measures themselves become essentially “self‐correcting”.Originality/valueThis paper brings performance measurement to life, by concentrating on how it is best implemented and used in practice through focusing on what it takes to make the review process work properly from top to bottom and side to side across organisations. It also offers some interesting hypotheses for further academic work in this field.
Compensating increases in protein backbone flexibility occur when the Dead ringer AT‐rich interaction domain (ARID) binds DNA: A nitrogen‐15 relaxation study
Authors: Iwahara Junji , Peterson Robert D. , Clubb Robert T. 
Published: April 2005

AbstractAT‐rich interaction domains (ARIDs) are found in a large number of eukaryotic transcription factors that regulate cell proliferation, differentiation, and development. Previously we elucidated how ARIDs recognize DNA by determining the solution structure of the Drosophila melanogaster Dead ringer protein in both its DNA‐free and ‐bound states. In order to quantitatively determine how ARIDs alter their mobility to recognize DNA, we have measured the relaxation parameters of the backbone nitrogen‐15 nuclei of Dead ringer in its free and bound forms, and interpreted these data using the model‐free approach. We show that Dead ringer undergoes significant changes in its mobility upon binding, with residues in the loop connecting helices H5 and H6 becoming immobilized in the major groove and contacts to the minor groove slowing down the motion of residues at the C terminus. A DNA‐induced rotation and displacement of the N‐terminal subdomain of the protein increases the mobility of helix H1 located distal to the DNA interface and may partially negate the entropic cost of immobilizing interfacial residues. Elevated motions on the micro‐ to millisecond timescale in the N‐terminal domain prior to DNA binding appear to foreshadow the DNA‐induced conformation change.
Multiple equilibria of the Escherichia coli chaperonin GroES revealed by mass spectrometry
Authors: Donald Lynda J. , Stokell David J. , Holliday Neil J. , Ens Werner , Standing Kenneth G. , Duckworth Harry W. 
Published: April 2005

AbstractNanospray time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry has been used to study the assembly of the heptamer of the Escherichia coli cochaperonin protein GroES, a system previously described as a monomer–heptamer equilibrium. In addition to the monomers and heptamers, we have found measurable amounts of dimers and hexamers, the presence of which suggests the following mechanism for heptamer assembly: 2 Monomers ↔ Dimer; 3 Dimers ↔ Hexamer; Hexamer + Monomer ↔ Heptamer. Equilibrium constants for each of these steps, and an overall constant for the Monomer ↔ Heptamer equilibrium, have been estimated from the data. These constants imply a standard free‐energy change, ΔG0, of about 9 kcal/mol for each contact surface formed between GroES subunits, except for the addition of the last subunit, where ΔG0 = 6 kcal/mol. This lower value probably reflects the loss of entropy when the heptamer ring is formed. These experiments illustrate the advantages of electrospray mass spectrometry as a method of measuring all components of a multiple equilibrium system.
Synthetic prions generated in vitro are similar to a newly identified subpopulation of PrPSc from sporadic Creutzfeldt‐Jakob Disease
Authors: Bocharova Olga V. , Breydo Leonid , Salnikov Vadim V. , Gill Andrew C. , Baskakov Ilia V. 
Published: April 2005

AbstractIn recent studies, the amyloid form of recombinant prion protein (PrP) encompassing residues 89–230 (rPrP 89‐230) produced in vitro induced transmissible prion disease in mice. These studies showed that unlike “classical” PrPSc produced in vivo, the amyloid fibrils generated in vitro were more proteinase‐K sensitive. Here we demonstrate that the amyloid form contains a proteinase K‐resistant core composed only of residues 152/153–230 and 162–230. The PK‐resistant fragments of the amyloid form are similar to those observed upon PK digestion of a minor subpopulation of PrPSc recently identified in patients with sporadic Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease (CJD). Remarkably, this core is sufficient for self‐propagating activity in vitro and preserves a β‐sheet‐rich fibrillar structure. Full‐length recombinant PrP 23‐230, however, generates two subpopulations of amyloid in vitro: One is similar to the minor subpopulation of PrPSc, and the other to classical PrPSc. Since no cellular factors or templates were used for generation of the amyloid fibrils in vitro, we speculate that formation of the subpopulation of PrPSc with a short PK‐resistant C‐terminal region reflects an intrinsic property of PrP rather than the influence of cellular environments and/or cofactors. Our work significantly increases our understanding of the biochemical nature of prion infectious agents and provides a fundamental insight into the mechanisms of prions biogenesis.
Improved side‐chain modeling for protein–protein docking
Authors: Wang Chu , Schueler‐Furman Ora , Baker David 
Published: April 2005

AbstractSuccess in high‐resolution protein–protein docking requires accurate modeling of side‐chain conformations at the interface. Most current methods either leave side chains fixed in the conformations observed in the unbound protein structures or allow the side chains to sample a set of discrete rotamer conformations. Here we describe a rapid and efficient method for sampling off‐rotamer side‐chain conformations by torsion space minimization during protein–protein docking starting from discrete rotamer libraries supplemented with side‐chain conformations taken from the unbound structures, and show that the new method improves side‐chain modeling and increases the energetic discrimination between good and bad models. Analysis of the distribution of side‐chain interaction energies within and between the two protein partners shows that the new method leads to more native‐like distributions of interaction energies and that the neglect of side‐chain entropy produces a small but measurable increase in the number of residues whose interaction energy cannot compensate for the entropic cost of side‐chain freezing at the interface. The power of the method is highlighted by a number of predictions of unprecedented accuracy in the recent CAPRI (Critical Assessment of PRedicted Interactions) blind test of protein–protein docking methods.
Deletion of the proline‐rich region of TonB disrupts formation of a 2:1 complex with FhuA, an outer membrane receptor of Escherichia coli
Authors: Khursigara Cezar M. , De Crescenzo Gregory , Pawelek Peter D. , Coulton James W. 
Published: April 2005

AbstractTonB protein of Escherichia coli couples the electrochemical potential of the cytoplasmic membrane (CM) to active transport of iron‐siderophores and vitamin B12 across the outer membrane (OM). TonB interacts with OM receptors and transduces conformationally stored energy. Energy for transport is provided by the proton motive force through ExbB and ExbD, which form a ternary complex with TonB in the CM. TonB contains three distinct domains: an N‐terminal signal/anchor sequence, a C‐terminal domain, and a proline‐rich region. The proline‐rich region was proposed to extend TonB's structure across the periplasm, allowing it to contact spatially distant OM receptors. Having previously identified a 2:1 stoichiometry for the complex of full‐length (FL) TonB and the OM receptor FhuA, we now demonstrate that deletion of the proline‐rich region of TonB (TonBΔ66‐100) prevents formation of the 2:1 complex. Sedimentation velocity analytical ultracentrifugation of TonBΔ66‐100 with FhuA revealed that a 1:1 TonB–FhuA complex is formed. Interactions between TonBΔ66‐100 and FhuA were assessed by surface plasmon resonance, and their affinities were determined to be similar to those of TonB (FL)–FhuA. Presence of the FhuA‐specific siderophore ferricrocin altered neither stoichiometry nor affinity of interaction, leading to our conclusion that the proline‐rich region in TonB is important in forming a 2:1 high‐affinity TonB–FhuA complex in vitro. Furthermore, TonBΔ66‐100–FhuAΔ21‐128 interactions demonstrated that the cork region of the OM receptor was also important in forming a complex. Together, these results demonstrate a novel function of the proline‐rich region of TonB in mediating TonB–TonB interactions within the TonB–FhuA complex.
Home management of childhood febrile illnesses in a rural community in Nigeria
Authors: Olaogun Adenike A.E. , Ayandiran Olufemi , Olasode Olayinka A. , Adebayo Abayomi , Omokhodion Folasade 
Published: April 2005

AbstractObjective:  To assess the care given to febrile children under 5 years old at home prior to attending health facility. Design:  Cross sectional design. Setting:  Outpatient clinic of a government health facility. Subjects:  Two hundred mothers who brought their sick children to the outpatient department were interviewed. Results:  The ages of mothers ranged from 15 to 50 years (mean of 26.2 years). Most of them had formal education although below grade 12. Only 12.5% of them were full‐time housewives. Others were engaged in self‐employed occupations. Fifty‐one percent of the children were females. Their ages ranged between 6 months and 5 years with a mean of 2.6 years. Over 60% of the children were suffering from symptoms of acute respiratory infections while 28% had symptoms of malaria. There was no significant difference between mothers’ diagnosis and researchers’ diagnosis (χ

2
= 0.199, P < 0.05). The duration of children's illnesses spanned from 1 to 60 days (mean of 4.8 days). Only one mother reported at the clinic within 24 h of the onset of the child's illness. Eighty‐one percent had taken action before coming to clinic. They had used combinations of drugs namely antipyretics, antimalarials and antibiotics. The average amount spent on drugs was US$0.57. These drugs were purchased at local medicine stores.Conclusion:  The findings indicate home use of drugs that were not prescribed by health professionals. There is therefore a strong need to give appropriate education and counselling to mothers/care givers and medicine vendors on early detection and proper home management of febrile illnesses.