Showing papers by "California State University, Long Beach published in 1999"

Electronic Commerce: A Managerial Perspective

Abstract: From the Publisher: This book presents the fundamentals of electronic commerce and its terminology, describing what it is and how it is being conducted and managed. It also focuses on the major opportunities, limitations, issues, and risks impacting the market place around the world as we enter the second millenium. Chapter topics include retailing, consumer behavior and market research, advertisement and publishing, services, intranet and extranet application, payments, corporate strategy, public policy, and infrastructure. For anyone interested in network and Internet transactions — especially managers and professional in any functional area of the business world, and people in government, education, and health services.

Number of Directors and Financial Performance: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract: Although a host of theory-driven rationales suggest a relationship between board of directors size and firm performance, the literature provides no consensus about the direction of that relationship. A meta-analysis of 131 samples (N = 20,620) provided systematic evidence of nonzero, positive, true population estimates of board size-performance relationships.

A Revised Index of Interrater Agreement for Multi-Item Ratings of a Single Target

Abstract: The commonly used form of rwg. (J) can display irregular behavior, so four variants of this index were examined. An alternative index, r*wg. J, is recommended. This index is an inverse linear function of the ratio of the average obtained variance to the variance of uniformly distributed random error. r*wg.Jis superficially similar to Cronbach’s α, but careful examination confirms that r*wg.Jis an index of agreement, not reliability. Based on an examination of the small-sample behavior of rwgand r*wg.J, sample sizes of 10 or more raters are recommended.

Late Ordovician mass extinction: A new perspective from stratigraphic sections in central Nevada

Abstract: Integrated sequence stratigraphic, biostratigraphic, and chemostratigraphic analyses of three stratigraphic sections in central Nevada indicate that Late Ordovician glaciation-induced sea-level fall produced diachronous, stepwise faunal turnover in graptolites, conodonts, chitinozoans, and radiolarians, and also triggered a strong, but transient, positive δ13C excursion. This pattern is very different from that described for most mass extinction events.

Differences between Gang Girls and Gang Boys: Results from a Multisite Survey

Abstract: During the past decade, a growing body of literature examining gang girls and the involvement of girls in violence has appeared. In this article, we contribute to this developing literature by usin...

Biotic response to late Quaternary rapid climate switches in Santa Barbara Basin: Ecological and evolutionary implications

Abstract: Benthic foraminiferal assemblages from Santa Barbara Basin exhibit major faunal and ecological switches associated with late Quaternary millennial- to decadal-scale global climate oscillations. Repeated turnovers of entire faunas occurred rapidly (<40--400 yr) without extinction or speciation in conjunction with Dansgaard-Oeschger shifts in thermohaline circulation, ventilation, and climate, confirming evolutionary model predictions of Roy et al. Consistent faunal successions of dysoxic taxa during successive interstadials reflect the extreme sensitivity and adaptation of the benthic ecosystem to the rapid environmental changes that marked the late Quaternary and possibly other transitional intervals in the history of the Earth`s ocean-atmosphere-cryosphere system. These data support the hypothesis that broad segments of the biosphere are well adapted to rapid climate change.

Effects of Instructional Conversations and Literature Logs on Limited- and Fluent-English-Proficient Students' Story Comprehension and Thematic Understanding.

Abstract: This article reports an experiment that tests the effects of 2 instructional components used to study literature with upper-elementary-grade limited-English-proficient and English-proficient students. The study is part of an ongoing "component-building" program of research designed to estimate the effects of several individual components of a Spanish-to-English language arts transition program. Literature logs and instructional conversations were the program components identified for intensive study. 5 teachers and 116 fourth and fifth graders participated in the study. Slightly more than half the students were English learners completing their first or second year of English language arts. Teachers had completed 1 year of literature log and instructional conversation training. Students were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatment conditions: literature logs only, instructional conversation only, literature log + instructional conversation, and control. Posttests showed significant differences among treatme...

Violence and Gangs: Gender Differences in Perceptions and Behavior

Abstract: Most research on violence has focused on males, but recent studies indicatethat females are also involved in violent crimes. Few studies, to date,have examined whether different or similar models explain male and femaleinvolvement in violent behavior. In the current research, we examine therelative contribution of social bond, self-control and social learningconcepts to the explanation of male and female violent offending. We alsoexplore the unique contribution of gang membership, school environment andprior victimization to these explanatory models. Using a multisite sampleof eighth-grade students, we find that results of a Chow test indicate theneed for separate theoretical models. Despite some similarities, differentfactors account for male and female rates of violent behavior.

Variable width bariatric modularbed

Abstract: A variable width bariatric bed including a frame having a modular configuration with front end, rear end and middle frame sections that are detachable from one another to facilitate storage, transport and relocation through narrow entrances. A series of electric motors carried by the frame apply pushing forces to raise a plurality of mattress support deck sections to adjust the contour of a mattress. Each of the mattress support deck sections has a pair of pull out extensions that are adapted to slide outwardly and in opposite directions from a retracted position to an extended position at which the mattress support deck sections have a relatively wide width to support a correspondingly wide (e.g. 48 inch) mattress. Such mattress includes a mattress body and a pair of (e.g. foam or air filled) mattress extensions that are releasably connected at opposite sides of the mattress body and seated upon the pair of pull out extensions of the mattress support deck sections.

The relation between sexual orientation and penile size.

Abstract: The relation between sexual orientation and penile dimensions in a large sample of men was studied. Subjects were 5122 men interviewed by the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction from 1938 to 1963. They were dichotomously classified as either homosexual (n = 935) or heterosexual (n = 4187). Penile dimensions were assessed using five measures of penile length and circumference from Kinsey's original protocol. On all five measures, homosexual men reported larger penises than did heterosexual men. Explanations for these differences are discussed, including the possibility that these findings provide additional evidence that variations in prenatal hormonal levels (or other biological mechanisms affecting reproductive structures) affect sexual orientation development.

Decrease in natural marine hydrocarbon seepage near Coal Oil Point, California, associated with offshore oil production

Abstract: Prolific natural hydrocarbon seepage occurs offshore of Coal Oil Point in the Santa Barbara Channel, California. Within the water column above submarine vents, plumes of hydrocarbon gas bubbles act as acoustic scattering targets. Using 3.5 kHz sonar data, seep distribution offshore of Coal Oil Point was mapped for August 1996, July 1995, and July 1973. Comparison of the seep distributions over time reveals more than 50% decrease in the areal extent of seepage, accompanied by declines in seep emission volume, in a 13 km 2 area above a producing oil reservoir. Declines in reservoir pressure and depletion of seep hydrocarbon sources associated with oil production are the mechanisms inferred to explain the declines in seep area and emission volume.

Integrated power module

Abstract: An integrated power module for generating thermal and electrical power is provided within a housing (110) which includes inlets for fuel (156) and for air (112), a reformer chamber (116), a fuel cell stack (118), and a combustion chamber (120). Oxygen-containing gas, such as air, is introduced into the module along path (114) in one direction in heat-exchange relationship with reaction products produced in the reaction chamber traveling in an adjacent path, preferably in an opposite direction, to preheat the incoming oxygen-containing gas. A nozzle (169) having an injector for the fuel and for the oxygen-containing gas delivers these gases to the interior of the reformer chamber, where the ignition is supplied by a suitable device. The reaction products from the reformer chamber are fed to a fuel cell which will consume certain of the reaction products, such as hydrogen gas, with oxygen provided from the reaction chamber acting as an oxidizing gas. Exchange between a cathode and an anode will effect the generation of current, as well as the production of water, which normally will be absorbed as steam and passed from the fuel cell. The current generated by the fuel cell can be delivered externally to a user, while hydrogen may be combusted downstream in the combustion chamber to provide an added thermal energy source for heating. In alternative embodiments of the power module, the fuel cell is used as a shift reactor and hydrogen purification device. The primary product of this module is purified hydrogen gas in addition to heat.

Synthesis, x-ray crystal structure, and solution behavior of fe(no)2(1-meim)2: implications for nitrosyl non-heme-iron complexes with g = 2.03

Abstract: The biological importance of nitric oxide (NO) has attracted much attention in the past decade. 1,2 Extensive EPR studies have identified nitrosyl non-heme-iron complexes as products after biosynthetic evolution of NO in vitro ,3-6 and from the addition of NO to iron-centered proteins. 7,8 Muller et al.9 and other groups10,11 have also reported evidence for nitric oxide storage as nitrosyl non-heme-iron complexes. Recently, a light-sensitive nitrile hydratase fromRhodococussp. N771 was found to have an NO molecule bound to the non-heme-iron center. 12 This enzyme is activated upon irradiation, followed by the release of NO from the iron center. These nitrosyl non-heme-iron complexes are paramagnetic complexes of the type “Fe(NO) 2”, more commonly referred to as “ g ) 2.03” complexes because of their characteristic isotropicg-factor. However, the isolation and structural determination of these compounds by means other than IR and EPR are both extremely tedious and difficult, and to our knowledge none are known. To gain understanding of the structures of these nitrosyl non-heme-iron complexes, we have recently isolated the first non-heme-iron complex that incorporates an imidazole moiety as well as nitrosyl ligands and is of the g ) 2.03 family. Here we report the synthesis, X-ray crystal structure, and NMR and EPR studies of Fe(NO) 2(1-methylimidazole) 2 (1). Syntheses were carried out under dry nitrogen atmosphere using glovebag and drybox techniques. Reactions of Fe(NO) 2(CO)2 (1.82× 10-3 mol) and excess of 1-methylimidazole (3.77 × 10-3 mol) were carried out in diethyl ether in test tubes with ground glass joints which were stoppered with Teflon valve stopcocks. The reactions were very rapid, changing color from red to green immediately and with gas evolution. After 1 h, green crystals formed that were of X-ray crystallographic quality. 13 These crystals were placed under paraffin oil which had been previously degassed and dried over sodium. One was selected and sealed in a capillary tube under nitrogen. The X-ray crystal structure 14 of 1, shown in Figure 1, provides the first direct structural insight concerning the “2.03” family of non-heme-iron nitrosyls. Compound 1 is monoclinic and crystallizes in aC2/c space group, with eight molecules per unit cell. The complex is pseudo-tetrahedral with a d10 iron center. The nitrosyl groups are linear (167.5(3) °, 170.1(3) °). The Fe-N(1) and Fe-N(2) bond distances of the nitrosyls are 1.648(3) and 1.650(3) Å, respectively. The Fe -N-O groups are bent symmetrically, with a O-Fe-O angle of 107.3 °, as compared with the N(NO)-Fe-N(NO) angle of 116.6 °. This is considered an “attracto” conformation because the N -M-N bond angle is less than 130° and the two oxygen atoms bend toward each other. 15

Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Bioabsorbable Polylactic Acid Interference Screws During the First 2 Years After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

Abstract: Bioabsorbable screws composed of poly(L-lactic acid) (PLA) were used for graft fixation and studied prospectively with serial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans at 8, 16, and 24 months after autogenous patellar tendon anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction in 10 patients. Conventional spin echo, proton density, and T2-weighted double echo sequences were obtained, as well as T2-weighted fat-saturated fast spin echo sequences. All but one of the screws (19 of 20) were evident in all serial scans. These showed minimal decrease in size over time. The one screw that had completely disappeared 8 months after reconstruction had cracked during insertion. None of the reconstructed ACL grafts showed clinical instability, persistent effusions, or detectable adverse reactions to the screws. Two patients developed abnormal signal in the tibial tunnel: one developed fluid anterior to the graft, and the other developed increased signal within the graft. The abnormal signal resolved with time in both patients. Other than the preceding changes, no abnormalities were detected on conventional sequences. Fat-saturated fast spin echo sequences showed a variable amount of increased signal around the tunnels, suggesting edema or fibrovascular marrow changes. The changes noted near the tunnels on the fat-suppressed scans most probably represent a general reaction to surgical insult rather than a reaction to the bioabsorbable screws, as similar changes were noted at the patellar harvest site.

Tissue engineering principles in orthopaedic surgery.

Abstract: Advances in the fields of biotechnology and biomaterials offer the orthopaedic surgeon the exciting possibility of repair or regeneration of tissue lost to injury, disease, or aging. The promising area of tissue engineering represents a multidisciplinary approach aimed at solving some of the most perplexing biologic problems, namely, the creation of new tissues and organs similar to the original tissues and organs. In addition, strategies using new synthetic polymer formulations can facilitate tissue replacement and represent alternatives to tissue regeneration in certain conditions. Although biotechnology has broad application over many medical specialties, orthopaedics is receiving a large focus of the research effort devoted to techniques for developing bone, articular cartilage, ligaments, and tendons. Because bioengineered tissue and/or techniques to stimulate tissue regeneration soon may be used clinically, orthopaedic surgeons should have a working knowledge of the basic concepts involved. Terms, such as biomaterial, biotechnology, matrices of synthetic or biologic polymers or both, adhesion, cohesion, porosity, induction, conduction, stem cell, progenitor cell, mesenchymal cell, tissue growth factor, bone morphogenetic protein, mitogenic and chemotactic factors, and numerous other terms will become part of the working language of clinicians of the twenty-first century.

Universal development of emotion categories in natural language.

Abstract: P. Shaver, J. Schwartz, D. Kirson, and C. O'Connor (1987) found that English emotion words fall into 25 categories of synonyms. To find emotion nomenclature universals, the authors used P. Shaver et al.'s taxonomy in a sample of the world's languages and found that emotion categories were added in most languages in a relatively similar generalized sequence. Labeled first were the categories of anger and guilt; followed in Stage 2 by adoration, alarm, amusement, and depression; in Stage 3 by alienation, arousal, and agony; and ending with eagerness in Stage 4. The remaining 5 stages were derivatives of Stages 1-4. Thus, in the folk taxonomy, Stages 1--4 are basic linguistic emotion categories. Motives for labeling emotions were driven possibly by the need to maintain social control, the identification of prototypical emotions elicited in interpersonal relationships, and the need for terms to identify intra-personal emotions. Features of markedness theory were corroborated for English emotion terms.

Practice patterns for the elicitation of sexual history, education, and counseling among providers of STD services: results from the gonorrhea community action project (GCAP).

Abstract: Background:The frequently asymptomatic nature and high incidence of severe complications of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) calls for targeted efforts to identify those at greatest risk. Earlier studies have shown inconsistencies regarding STD evaluation by primary care clinicians and physicians

Retaliation, Fear, or Rage An Investigation of African American and White Reactions to Racist Hate Crimes

Abstract: An experimental study was conducted in an effort to establish whether hate crimes produce greater harm than similarly egregious crimes Hate crimes are considered to be worse primarily because they are believed to be more likely to provoke retaliatory crimes and inflict distinct emotional distress on victims and members of the victim's social group or category In this study, analogous samples of African American and White males observed two videotaped assaults motivated by racial bias in one case, and by an ambiguous motive in the other Reactions were obtained following observation and revealed that emotional responses and expressed desire for retaliation were associated with participants' race but did not differ for the two types of assault The findings are discussed in terms of the utility of current hate crime legislation as well as the implications of the observed racial differences

Major changes in the brain histamine system of the ground squirrel Citellus lateralis during hibernation.

Abstract: Hibernation in mammals such as the rodent hibernator Citellus lateralis is a physiological state in which CNS activity is endogenously maintained at a very low, but functionally responsive, level. The neurotransmitter histamine is involved in the regulation of diurnal rhythms and body temperature in nonhibernators and, therefore, could likely play an important role in maintaining the hibernating state. In this study, we show that histamine neuronal systems undergo major changes during hibernation that are consistent with such a role. Immunohistochemical mapping of histaminergic fibers in the brains of hibernating and nonhibernating golden-mantled ground squirrels (C. lateralis) showed a clear increase in fiber density during the hibernating state. The tissue levels of histamine and its first metabolite tele-methylhistamine were also elevated throughout the brain of hibernating animals, suggesting an increase in histamine turnover during hibernation, which occurs without an increase in histidine decarboxylase mRNA expression. This hibernation-related apparent augmentation of histaminergic neurotransmission was particularly evident in the hypothalamus and hippocampus, areas of importance to the control of the hibernating state, in which tele-methylhistamine levels were increased more than threefold. These changes in the histamine neuronal system differ from those reported for the metabolic pattern in other monoaminergic systems during hibernation, which generally indicate a decrease in turnover. Our results suggest that the influence of histamine neuronal systems may be important in controlling CNS activity during hibernation.

Prevalence of food allergy in 137 latex-allergic patients.

Abstract: There have been reports of increased prevalence of certain food allergies in patients with Type I latex allergy (LA). A detailed food allergy history was obtained from 137 patients with LA. Latex allergy was defined by positive history of IgE mediated reactions to contact with latex and positive skin prick test to latex and/or positive in vitro test (AlaSTAT and/or Pharmacia CAP). Food allergy was diagnosed by a convincing history of possible IgE mediated symptoms occurring within 60 minutes of ingestion. We identified 49 potential allergic reactions to foods in 29 (21.1%) patients. Foods responsible for these reactions include banana 9 (18.3%), avocado 8 (16.3%), shellfish 6 (12.2%), fish 4 (8.1%), kiwi 6 (12.2%), tomato 3 (6.1%), watermelon, peach, carrot 2 (4.1%) each, and apple, chestnut, cherry, coconut, apricot, strawberry, loquat, one (2.0%) each. Reactions to foods included local mouth irritation, angioedema, urticaria, asthma, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, rhinitis, or anaphylaxis. Our study confirms the earlier reports of increased prevalence of food allergies in patients with LA. We also report increased prevalence of shellfish and fish allergy not previously reported. The nature of cross reacting epitopes or independent sensitization between latex and these foods is not clear.

Achieving the Impossible Dream: HOW JAPANESE AMERICANS OBTAINED REDRESS

Abstract: "Nearly fifty years after being incarcerated by their own government, Japanese American concentration camp survivors succeeded in obtaining redress for the personal humiliation, family dislocation, and economic ruin caused by their ordeal. An inspiring story of wrongs made right as well as a practical guide to getting legislation through Congress, "Achieving the Impossible Dream" tells how members of this politically inexperienced minority group organized themselves at the grass-roots level, gathered political support, and succeeded in obtaining a written apology from the president of the United States and monetary compensation in accordance with the provisions of the 1988 Civil Liberties Act."