Showing papers by "Temple University published in 2006"

At the Heart of It All: The Concept of Presence

Abstract: A number of emerging technologies including virtual reality, simulation rides, video conferencing, home theater, and high definition television are designed to provide media users with an illusion that a mediated experience is not mediated, a perception defined here as presence. Traditional media such as the telephone, radio, television, film, and many others offer a lesser degree of presence as well. This article examines the key concept of presence. It begins by noting practical and theoretical reasons for studying this concept. Six conceptualizations of presence found in a diverse set of literatures are identified and a detailed explication of the concept that incorporates these conceptualizations is presented. Existing research and speculation about the factors that encourage or discourage a sense of presence in media users as well as the physiological and psychological effects of presence are then outlined. Finally, suggestions concerning future systematic research about presence are presented.

Corporate Social Responsibility, Customer Satisfaction, and Market Value

Abstract: Although prior research has addressed the influence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on perceived customer responses, it is not clear whether CSR affects market value of the firm. This study develops and tests a conceptual framework, which predicts that (1) customer satisfaction partially mediates the relationship between CSR and firm market value (i.e., Tobin’s q and stock return), (2) corporate abilities (innovativeness capability and product quality) moderate the financial returns to CSR, and (3) these moderated relationships are mediated by customer satisfaction. Based on a large-scale secondary data set, the results show support for this framework. Notably, the authors find that in firms with low innovativeness capability, CSR actually reduces customer satisfaction levels and, through the lowered satisfaction, harms market value. The uncovered mediated and asymmetrically moderated results offer important implications for marketing theory and practice.

Understanding and Predicting Electronic Commerce Adoption: An Extension of the Theory of Planned Behavior

Abstract: This paper extends Ajzen’s (1991) theory of planned behavior (TPB) to explain and predict the process of e-commerce adoption by consumers. The process is captured through two online consumer behaviors: (1) getting information and (2) purchasing a product from a Web vendor. First, we simultaneously model the association between these two contingent online behaviors and their respective intentions by appealing to consumer behavior theories and the theory of implementation intentions, respectively. Second, following TPB, we derive for each behavior its intention, attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control (PBC). Third, we elicit and test a comprehensive set of salient beliefs for each behavior. A longitudinal study with online consumers supports the proposed e-commerce adoption model, validating the predictive power of TPB and the proposed conceptualization of PBC as a higher-order factor formed by self-efficacy and controllability. Our findings stress the importance of trust and technology adoption variables (perceived usefulness and ease of use) as salient beliefs for predicting ecommerce adoption, justifying the integration of trust and technology adoption variables within the TPB framework. In addition, technological characteristics (download delay, Website navigability, and information protection), consumer skills, time and monetary resources, and product characteristics (product diagnosticity and product value) add to the explanatory and predictive power of our model. Implications for Information Systems, e-commerce, TPB, and the study of trust are discussed.

Orchestrating Innovation Networks

Abstract: Innovation networks can often be viewed as loosely coupled systems of autonomous firms. We propose that hub firms orchestrate network activities to ensure the creation and extraction of value, without the benefit of hierarchical authority. Orchestration comprises knowledge mobility, innovation appropriability, and network stability. We reject the view of network members as inert entities that merely respond to inducements and constraints arising from their network ties, and we embrace the essential player-structure duality present in networks.

Risk and Rationality in Adolescent Decision Making: Implications for Theory, Practice, and Public Policy

Abstract: Crime, smoking, drug use, alcoholism, reckless driving, and many other unhealthy patterns of behavior that play out over a lifetime often debut during adolescence. Avoiding risks or buying time can set a different lifetime pattern. Changing unhealthy behaviors in adolescence would have a broad impact on society, reducing the burdens of disease, injury, human suffering, and associated economic costs. Any program designed to prevent or change such risky behaviors should be founded on a clear idea of what is normative (what behaviors, ideally, should the program foster?), descriptive (how are adolescents making decisions in the absence of the program?), and prescriptive (which practices can realistically move adolescent decisions closer to the normative ideal?). Normatively, decision processes should be evaluated for coherence (is the thinking process nonsensical, illogical, or self-contradictory?) and correspondence (are the outcomes of the decisions positive?). Behaviors that promote positive physical and mental health outcomes in modern society can be at odds with those selected for by evolution (e.g., early procreation). Healthy behaviors may also conflict with a decision maker's goals. Adolescents' goals are more likely to maximize immediate pleasure, and strict decision analysis implies that many kinds of unhealthy behavior, such as drinking and drug use, could be deemed rational. However, based on data showing developmental changes in goals, it is important for policy to promote positive long-term outcomes rather than adolescents' short-term goals. Developmental data also suggest that greater risk aversion is generally adaptive, and that decision processes that support this aversion are more advanced than those that support risk taking. A key question is whether adolescents are developmentally competent to make decisions about risks. In principle, barring temptations with high rewards and individual differences that reduce self-control (i.e., under ideal conditions), adolescents are capable of rational decision making to achieve their goals. In practice, much depends on the particular situation in which a decision is made. In the heat of passion, in the presence of peers, on the spur of the moment, in unfamiliar situations, when trading off risks and benefits favors bad long-term outcomes, and when behavioral inhibition is required for good outcomes, adolescents are likely to reason more poorly than adults do. Brain maturation in adolescence is incomplete. Impulsivity, sensation seeking, thrill seeking, depression, and other individual differences also contribute to risk taking that resists standard risk-reduction interventions, although some conditions such as depression can be effectively treated with other approaches. Major explanatory models of risky decision making can be roughly divided into (a) those, including health-belief models and the theory of planned behavior, that adhere to a "rational" behavioral decision-making framework that stresses deliberate, quantitative trading off of risks and benefits; and (b) those that emphasize nondeliberative reaction to the perceived gists or prototypes in the immediate decision environment. (A gist is a fuzzy mental representation of the general meaning of information or experience; a prototype is a mental representation of a standard or typical example of a category.) Although perceived risks and especially benefits predict behavioral intentions and risk-taking behavior, behavioral willingness is an even better predictor of susceptibility to risk taking-and has unique explanatory power-because adolescents are willing to do riskier things than they either intend or expect to do. Dual-process models, such as the prototype/willingness model and fuzzy-trace theory, identify two divergent paths to risk taking: a reasoned and a reactive route. Such models explain apparent contradictions in the literature, including different causes of risk taking for different individuals. Interventions to reduce risk taking must take into account the different causes of such behavior if they are to be effective. Longitudinal and experimental research are needed to disentangle opposing causal processes-particularly, those that produce positive versus negative relations between risk perceptions and behaviors. Counterintuitive findings that must be accommodated by any adequate theory of risk taking include the following: (a) Despite conventional wisdom, adolescents do not perceive themselves to be invulnerable, and perceived vulnerability declines with increasing age; (b) although the object of many interventions is to enhance the accuracy of risk perceptions, adolescents typically overestimate important risks, such as HIV and lung cancer; (c) despite increasing competence in reasoning, some biases in judgment and decision making grow with age, producing more "irrational" violations of coherence among adults than among adolescents and younger children. The latter occurs because of a known developmental increase in gist processing with age. One implication of these findings is that traditional interventions stressing accurate risk perceptions are apt to be ineffective or backfire because young people already feel vulnerable and overestimate their risk. In addition, research shows that experience is not a good teacher for children and younger adolescents, because they tend to learn little from negative outcomes (favoring the use of effective deterrents, such as monitoring and supervision), although learning from experience improves considerably with age. Experience in the absence of negative consequences may increase feelings of invulnerability and thus explain the decrease in risk perceptions from early to late adolescence, as exploration increases. Finally, novel interventions that discourage deliberate weighing of risks and benefits by adolescents may ultimately prove more effective and enduring. Mature adults apparently resist taking risks not out of any conscious deliberation or choice, but because they intuitively grasp the gists of risky situations, retrieve appropriate risk-avoidant values, and never proceed down the slippery slope of actually contemplating tradeoffs between risks and benefits.

RB and cell cycle progression

Abstract: The Rb protein is a tumor suppressor, which plays a pivotal role in the negative control of the cell cycle and in tumor progression. It has been shown that Rb protein (pRb) is responsible for a major G1 checkpoint, blocking S-phase entry and cell growth. The retinoblastoma family includes three members, Rb/p105, p107 and Rb2/p130, collectively referred to as 'pocket proteins'. The pRb protein represses gene transcription, required for transition from G1 to S phase, by directly binding to the transactivation domain of E2F and by binding to the promoter of these genes as a complex with E2F. pRb represses transcription also by remodeling chromatin structure through interaction with proteins such as hBRM, BRG1, HDAC1 and SUV39H1, which are involved in nucleosome remodeling, histone acetylation/deacetylation and methylation, respectively. Loss of pRb functions may induce cell cycle deregulation and so lead to a malignant phenotype. Gene inactivation of pRB through chromosomal mutations is one of the principal reasons for retinoblastoma tumor development. Functional inactivation of pRb by viral oncoprotein binding is also shown in many neoplasias such as cervical cancer, mesothelioma and AIDS-related Burkitt's lymphoma.

The Single Category Implicit Association Test as a measure of implicit social cognition.

Abstract: The Single Category Implicit Association Test (SC-IAT) is a modification of the Implicit Association Test that measures the strength of evaluative associations with a single attitude object. Across 3 different attitude domains--soda brand preferences, self-esteem, and racial attitudes--the authors found evidence that the SC-IAT is internally consistent and makes unique contributions in the ability to understand implicit social cognition. In a 4th study, the authors investigated the susceptibility of the SC-IAT to faking or self-presentational concerns. Once participants with high error rates were removed, no significant self-presentation effect was observed. These results provide initial evidence for the reliability and validity of the SC-IAT as an individual difference measure of implicit social cognition.

Length-dependent prediction of protein intrinsic disorder

Abstract: Due to the functional importance of intrinsically disordered proteins or protein regions, prediction of intrinsic protein disorder from amino acid sequence has become an area of active research as witnessed in the 6th experiment on Critical Assessment of Techniques for Protein Structure Prediction (CASP6). Since the initial work by Romero et al. (Identifying disordered regions in proteins from amino acid sequences, IEEE Int. Conf. Neural Netw., 1997), our group has developed several predictors optimized for long disordered regions (>30 residues) with prediction accuracy exceeding 85%. However, these predictors are less successful on short disordered regions (≤30 residues). A probable cause is a length-dependent amino acid compositions and sequence properties of disordered regions. We proposed two new predictor models, VSL2-M1 and VSL2-M2, to address this length-dependency problem in prediction of intrinsic protein disorder. These two predictors are similar to the original VSL1 predictor used in the CASP6 experiment. In both models, two specialized predictors were first built and optimized for short (≤30 residues) and long disordered regions (>30 residues), respectively. A meta predictor was then trained to integrate the specialized predictors into the final predictor model. As the 10-fold cross-validation results showed, the VSL2 predictors achieved well-balanced prediction accuracies of 81% on both short and long disordered regions. Comparisons over the VSL2 training dataset via 10-fold cross-validation and a blind-test set of unrelated recent PDB chains indicated that VSL2 predictors were significantly more accurate than several existing predictors of intrinsic protein disorder. The VSL2 predictors are applicable to disordered regions of any length and can accurately identify the short disordered regions that are often misclassified by our previous disorder predictors. The success of the VSL2 predictors further confirmed the previously observed differences in amino acid compositions and sequence properties between short and long disordered regions, and justified our approaches for modelling short and long disordered regions separately. The VSL2 predictors are freely accessible for non-commercial use at http://www.ist.temple.edu/disprot/predictorVSL2.php

PARP-1 and Ku compete for repair of DNA double strand breaks by distinct NHEJ pathways

Abstract: Poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase 1 (PARP-1) recognizes DNA strand interruptions in vivo and triggers its own modification as well as that of other proteins by the sequential addition of ADP-ribose to form polymers. This modification causes a release of PARP-1 from DNA ends and initiates a variety of responses including DNA repair. While PARP-1 has been firmly implicated in base excision and single strand break repair, its role in the repair of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) remains unclear. Here, we show that PARP-1, probably together with DNA ligase III, operates in an alternative pathway of non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) that functions as backup to the classical pathway of NHEJ that utilizes DNA-PKcs, Ku, DNA ligase IV, XRCC4, XLF/Cernunnos and Artemis. PARP-1 binds to DNA ends in direct competition with Ku. However, in irradiated cells the higher affinity of Ku for DSBs and an excessive number of other forms of competing DNA lesions limit its contribution to DSB repair. When essential components of the classical pathway of NHEJ are absent, PARP-1 is recruited for DSB repair, particularly in the absence of Ku and non-DSB lesions. This form of DSB repair is sensitive to PARP-1 inhibitors. The results define the function of PARP-1 in DSB repair and characterize a candidate pathway responsible for joining errors causing genomic instability and cancer.

Acid-Mediated Tumor Invasion: a Multidisciplinary Study

Abstract: The acid-mediated tumor invasion hypothesis proposes altered glucose metabolism and increased glucose uptake, observed in the vast majority of clinical cancers by fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography, are critical for development of the invasive phenotype. In this model, increased acid production due to altered glucose metabolism serves as a key intermediate by producing H(+) flow along concentration gradients into adjacent normal tissue. This chronic exposure of peritumoral normal tissue to an acidic microenvironment produces toxicity by: (a) normal cell death caused by the collapse of the transmembrane H(+) gradient inducing necrosis or apoptosis and (b) extracellular matrix degradation through the release of cathepsin B and other proteolytic enzymes. Tumor cells evolve resistance to acid-induced toxicity during carcinogenesis, allowing them to survive and proliferate in low pH microenvironments. This permits them to invade the damaged adjacent normal tissue despite the acid gradients. Here, we describe theoretical and empirical evidence for acid-mediated invasion. In silico simulations using mathematical models provide testable predictions concerning the morphology and cellular and extracellular dynamics at the tumor-host interface. In vivo experiments confirm the presence of peritumoral acid gradients as well as cellular toxicity and extracellular matrix degradation in the normal tissue exposed to the acidic microenvironment. The acid-mediated tumor invasion model provides a simple mechanism linking altered glucose metabolism with the ability of tumor cells to form invasive cancers.

Leptin and cancer

Abstract: The prevalence of obesity has markedly increased over the past two decades, especially in the industrialized countries. While the impact of excess body weight on the development of cardiac disease and diabetes has been well documented, the link between obesity and carcinogenesis is just being recognized. This review will focus on the link between leptin, a cytokine that is elevated in obese individuals, and cancer development. First, we briefly discuss the biological functions of leptin and its signaling pathways. Then, we summarize the effects of leptin on different cancer types in experimental cellular and animal models. Next, we analyze epidemiological data on the relationship between obesity and the presence of cancer or cancer risk in patients. Finally, leptin as a target for cancer treatment and prevention will be discussed.

Creativity: Understanding Innovation in Problem Solving, Science, Invention, and the Arts

Abstract: Preface. Acknowledgments. Credits. CHAPTER 1: Two Case Studies in Creativity. Beliefs about Creativity. Two Case Studies in Creativity. Creativity in Science: Discovery of the Double Helix. Conclusions: Watson and Crick's Discovery of the Double Helix. Artistic Creativity: Development of Picasso's Guernica. Structure in Creative Thinking: Conclusions from the Case Studies. Revisiting the Question of Artistic Creativity versus Scientifi c Discovery. Beyond Case Studies: Outline of the Book. CHAPTER 2: The Study of Creativity. Outline of the Chapter. Creative Product, Creative Process, and Creative Person: Questions of Defi nition. Method versus Theory in the Study of Creativity. Methods of Studying Creativity. An Introduction to Theories of Creativity. CHAPTER 3: The Cognitive Perspective on Creativity, Part I: Ordinary Thinking, Creative Thinking, and Problem Solving. Outline of the Chapter. Basic Cognitive Components of Ordinary Thinking. General Characteristics of Ordinary Thinking. Creative Thinking and Ordinary Thinking: Conclusions. The Cognitive Analysis of Problem Solving. An Example of Problem Solving. Solving a Problem: Questions of Defi nition. A Brief History of the Cognitive Perspective on Problem Solving. Problem Solving: Processes of Understanding and Search. Strategies for Searching Problem Spaces. Weak Heuristic Methods of Problem Solving and Creative Thinking: Conclusions. CHAPTER 4: The Cognitive Perspective on Creativity, Part II: Knowledge and Expertise in Problem Solving. Outline of the Chapter. Use of Knowledge in Problem Solving: Studies of Analogical Transfer. Strong Methods in Problem Solving: Studies of Expertise. Outline of a Cognitive- Analytic Model of Problem Solving: Strong and Weak Methods in Problem Solving. The Cognitive Perspective on Problem Solving and Creativity: Conclusions and Implications. The Creative Cognition Approach: A Bottom- Up Analysis of Creative Thinking. Skepticism about Expertise and Creativity. Practice or Talent? Expertise and Achievement: Reproductive or Productive? Expertise, Knowledge, and Experience versus Creativity: The Tension View. The Cognitive Perspective on Problem Solving and Creativity: Conclusions. CHAPTER 5: Case Studies of Creativity: Ordinary Thinking in the Arts, Science, and Invention. Outline of the Chapter. Basic Components of Ordinary Thinking. The 10- Year Rule in Creative Development. Case Studies of Creativity in the Visual Arts. Case Studies of Creativity in Science. Scientifi c Creativity: Scientifi c Discovery as Problem Solving. The Wright Brothers' Invention of the Airplane. Thomas Edison as a Creative Thinker: Themes and Variations Based on Analogy. James Watt's Invention of the Steam Engine. Eli Whitney's Cotton Gin. Ordinary Thinking in Invention: Summary. Case Studies of Creativity: Conclusions. CHAPTER 6: The Question of Insight in Problem Solving. Outline of the Chapter. The Gestalt Analysis of Insight: Problem Solving and Perception. Evidence to Support the Gestalt View. The Neo- Gestalt View: Heuristic- Based Restructuring in Response to Impasse. Challenges to the Gestalt View. An Elaboration of the Cognitive- Analytic Model to Deal with Restructuring and Insight. A Critical Reexamination of Evidence in Support of the Gestalt View. Insight in Problem Solving: Conclusions and Implications. CHAPTER 7: Out of One's Mind, Part I: Muses, Primary Process, and Madness. Outline of the Chapter. Messengers of the Gods. Primary Process and Creativity. Genius and Madness: Bipolarity and Creativity. Mood Disorders and Creativity: The Question of Causality. The Role of Affect in Creativity. Genius and Madness: Schizophrenia and Creativity. Social Factors and Genius and Madness. A Reconsideration of Some Basic Data. Genius and Madness: Conclusions. CHAPTER 8: Out of One's Mind, Part II: Unconscious Processing, Incubation, and Illumination. Outline of the Chapter. Unconscious Associations and Unconscious Processing. Poincare's Theory of Unconscious Creative Processes. Wallas's Stages of the Creative Process. Hadamard's Studies of Unconscious Thinking in Incubation. Koestler's Bisociation Theory. Campbell's Evolutionary Theory of Creativity: Blind Variation and Selective Retention. Simonton's Chance Confi guration Theory. Csikszentmihalyi's Theory of the Unconscious in Creative Thinking. Unconscious Thinking in Creativity: Conclusions. Laboratory Investigations of Incubation and Illumination. Evidence for Incubation and Illumination: A Critique. Illumination without Unconscious Processing? Incubation, Illumination, and the Unconscious: Conclusions. CHAPTER 9: The Psychometric Perspective, Part I: Measuring the Capacity to Think Creatively. Outline of the Chapter. Guilford and the Modern Psychometric Perspective on Creativity. Methods of Measuring Creativity. Cognitive Components of the Creative Process: Testing for Creative- Thinking Ability. Testing the Tests: The Reliability and Validity of Tests of Creative-Thinking Capacity. The Generality versus Domain Specifi city of Creative- Thinking Skills. Testing Creativity: Conclusions. CHAPTER 10: The Psychometric Perspective, Part II: The Search for the Creative Personality. Creative versus Comparison or Control Groups. Questions about Method in Studies of the Creative Personality. A Model of the Role of Creative Personality in Creative Achievement in Science. Is It Futile to Search for The Creative Personality in the Arts and the Sciences? Creativity and the Need to Be Original: A Reexamination of Divergent Thinking and Creativity. Personality, Cognition, and Creativity Reconsidered: The Question of Openness to Experience and Creativity. Divergent Thinking and the Creative Personality: Conclusions. CHAPTER 11: Confl uence Models of Creativity. Outline of the Chapter. The Social Psychology of Creativity: Amabile's Componential Model. Economic Theory of Creativity: Buy Low, Sell High. The Darwinian Theory of Creativity. Confl uence Models of Creativity: Summary. CHAPTER 12: Understanding Creativity: Where Are We? Where Are We Going? Outline of the Chapter. Ordinary versus Extraordinary Processes in Creativity. Ordinary Thinking in Creativity. Extraordinary Processes in Creativity? On Using Case Studies to Study Creativity. Is It Possible to Test the Hypothesis That "Ordinary Thinking" Is the Basis for Creativity? On Creative Ideas and Creative People. References. Index.

An Overview of Drug Combination Analysis with Isobolograms

Abstract: Drugs given in combination may produce effects that are greater than or less than the effect predicted from their individual potencies. The historical basis for predicting the effect of a combination is based on the concept of dose equivalence; i.e., an equally effective dose (a) of one will add to the dose (b) of the other in the combination situation. For drugs with a constant relative potency, this leads to linear additive isoboles (a-b curves of constant effect), whereas a varying potency ratio produces nonlinear additive isoboles. Determination of the additive isobole is a necessary procedure for assessing both synergistic and antagonistic interactions of the combination. This review discusses both variable and constant relative potency situations and provides the mathematical formulas needed to distinguish these cases.

The identification of 100 ecological questions of high policy relevance in the UK

Abstract: 1. Evidence-based policy requires researchers to provide the answers to ecological questions that are of interest to policy makers. To find out what those questions are in the UK, representatives from 28 organizations involved in policy, together with scientists from 10 academic institutions, were asked to generate a list of questions from their organizations. 2. During a 2-day workshop the initial list of 1003 questions generated from consulting at least 654 policy makers and academics was used as a basis for generating a short list of 100 questions of significant policy relevance. Short-listing was decided on the basis of the preferences of the representatives from the policy-led organizations. 3. The areas covered included most major issues of environmental concern in the UK, including agriculture, marine fisheries, climate change, ecosystem function and land management. 4. The most striking outcome was the preference for general questions rather than narrow ones. The reason is that policy is driven by broad issues rather than specific ones. In contrast, scientists are frequently best equipped to answer specific questions. This means that it may be necessary to extract the underpinning specific question before researchers can proceed. 5. Synthesis and applications. Greater communication between policy makers and scientists is required in order to ensure that applied ecologists are dealing with issues in a way that can feed into policy. It is particularly important that applied ecologists emphasize the generic value of their work wherever possible.

Alternative splicing in concert with protein intrinsic disorder enables increased functional diversity in multicellular organisms

Abstract: Alternative splicing of pre-mRNA generates two or more protein isoforms from a single gene, thereby contributing to protein diversity. Despite intensive efforts, an understanding of the protein structure–function implications of alternative splicing is still lacking. Intrinsic disorder, which is a lack of equilibrium 3D structure under physiological conditions, may provide this understanding. Intrinsic disorder is a common phenomenon, particularly in multicellular eukaryotes, and is responsible for important protein functions including regulation and signaling. We hypothesize that polypeptide segments affected by alternative splicing are most often intrinsically disordered such that alternative splicing enables functional and regulatory diversity while avoiding structural complications. We analyzed a set of 46 differentially spliced genes encoding experimentally characterized human proteins containing both structured and intrinsically disordered amino acid segments. We show that 81% of 75 alternatively spliced fragments in these proteins were associated with fully (57%) or partially (24%) disordered protein regions. Regions affected by alternative splicing were significantly biased toward encoding disordered residues, with a vanishingly small P value. A larger data set composed of 558 SwissProt proteins with known isoforms produced by 1,266 alternatively spliced fragments was characterized by applying the pondr vsl1 disorder predictor. Results from prediction data are consistent with those obtained from experimental data, further supporting the proposed hypothesis. Associating alternative splicing with protein disorder enables the time- and tissue-specific modulation of protein function needed for cell differentiation and the evolution of multicellular organisms.

The Superiority of Analyst Forecasts as Measures of Expectations: Evidence from Earnings

Abstract: If both producers and consumers demand forecasts based solely on their forecasting ability, then the equilibrium employment of analysts, a higher cost factor than time series models, implies that analysts must produce better forecasts than time series models. Past studies of comparative earnings forecast accuracy have concluded otherwise. Using nonparametric statistics that provide proper yet powerful tests, we find that Box-Jenkins time series models consistently produce better forecasts than martingale and submartingale earnings models; but Value Line Investment Survey consistently makes significantly better earnings forecasts than the Box-Jenkins models.

Cross-Functional 'Coopetition': The Simultaneous Role of Cooperation and Competition within Firms

Abstract: Extant marketing literature tends to view cross-functional relationships as primarily cooperative or competitive in nature, but not both. In contrast, this research focuses on cross-functional coopetition” (i.e., the joint occurrence of cooperation and competition across functional areas within a firm). Using responses from midlevel managers and top executives, the authors find that cross-functional coopetition enhances a firm’s customer and financial performance. The authors further show that this influence is mediated by market learning, indicating that performance returns to cross-functional coopetition occurs through an underlying learning mechanism.

The Value of Outside Directors: Evidence from Corporate Governance Reform in Korea

Abstract: This paper examines the valuation impacts of outside independent directors in Korea, where a regulation requiring outside directors was instituted after the Asian financial crisis. In contrast to studies of U.S. firms, the effects of independent directors on firm performance are strongly positive. Foreigners also have positive impacts. The effects of indigenous institutions such as chaebol or family control are insignificant or negative. This implies that the effect of outsiders depends on board composition as well as the nature of market in which the firm operates.

Prospective incidence of first onsets and recurrences of depression in individuals at high and low cognitive risk for depression.

Abstract: Do negative cognitive styles provide similar vulnerability to first onsets versus recurrences of depressive disorders, and are these associations specific to depression? The authors followed for 2.5 years prospectively college freshmen (N = 347) with no initial psychiatric disorders at high-risk (HR) versus low-risk (LR) for depression on the basis of their cognitive styles. HR participants had odds of major, minor, and hopelessness depression that were 3.5-6.8 times greater than the odds for LR individuals. Negative cognitive styles were similarly predictive of first onsets and recurrences of major depression and hopelessness depression but predicted first onsets of minor depression more strongly than recurrences. The risk groups did not differ in incidence of anxiety disorders not comorbid with depression or other disorders, but HR participants were more likely to have an onset of anxiety comorbid with depression.

Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of oral oxycodone in healthy human subjects: Role of circulating active metabolites

Abstract: Background In vitro experiments suggest that circulating metabolites of oxycodone are opioid receptor agonists. Clinical and animal studies to date have failed to demonstrate a significant contribution of the O-demethylated metabolite oxymorphone toward the clinical effects of the parent drug, but the role of other putative circulating active metabolites in oxycodone pharmacodynamics remains to be examined. Methods Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of oxycodone were investigated in healthy human volunteers; measurements included the time course of plasma concentrations and urinary excretion of metabolites derived from N-demethylation, O-demethylation, and 6-keto-reduction, along with the time course of miosis and subjective opioid side effects. The contribution of circulating metabolites to oxycodone pharmacodynamics was analyzed by pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic modeling. The human study was complemented by in vitro measurements of opioid receptor binding and activation studies, as well as in vivo studies of the brain distribution of oxycodone and its metabolites in rats. Results Urinary metabolites derived from cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A-mediated N-demethylation of oxycodone (noroxycodone, noroxymorphone, and α- and β-noroxycodol) accounted for 45% ± 21% of the dose, whereas CYP2D6-mediated O-demethylation (oxymorphone and α- and β-oxymorphol) and 6-keto-reduction (α- and β-oxycodol) accounted for 11% ± 6% and 8% ± 6% of the dose, respectively. Noroxycodone and noroxymorphone were the major metabolites in circulation with elimination half-lives longer than that of oxycodone, but their uptake into the rat brain was significantly lower compared with that of the parent drug. Pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic modeling indicated that the time course of pupil constriction is fully explained by the plasma concentration of the parent drug, oxycodone, alone. The metabolites do not contribute to the central effects, either because of their low potency or low abundance in circulation or as a result of their poor uptake into the brain. Conclusions CYP3A-mediated N-demethylation is the principal metabolic pathway of oxycodone in humans. The central opioid effects of oxycodone are governed by the parent drug, with a negligible contribution from its circulating oxidative and reductive metabolites. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (2006) 79, 461–479; doi: 10.1016/j.clpt.2006.01.009

Searching for the Future: Challenges Faced by Destination Marketing Organizations

Abstract: Threats in the external environment and changes in the industry’s markets and structures have challenged destination marketing organizations to change in fundamental ways. The strategic responses to these developments are essentially decisions to proactively shape, adapt to, or passively struggle through a crisis. Envisioning the future of tourism and examining possible ways of reaching various future scenarios are essential exercises in this process of deciding which strategic approach to adopt. In response to the increasing need for new visions of the future of tourism and particularly destination marketing, leading destination marketers from the midwestern United States were invited to participate in a large focus group to discuss the specific challenges encountered by their organizations. This article summarizes the issues raised and their implications for destination marketing organizations as well as tourism research.

New Frontiers in Network Theory Development

Abstract: This special topic forum, commissioned to stimulate theory development on building effective networks, contains eleven papers spanning the micro, meso, macro, and meta levels of analysis. Each paper breaks new ground; collectively, they suggest that we are at a crossroads in network research. Important opportunities remain, however, for further work in network theory development, and we highlight major gaps relating to network theory's scope and mission, accessibility, integration with other perspectives, and attention to process and internationalization issues.

Relations Between Neighborhood Factors, Parenting Behaviors, Peer Deviance, and Delinquency Among Serious Juvenile Offenders

Abstract: The present study examined relations among neighborhood structural and social characteristics, parenting practices, peer group affiliations, and delinquency among a group of serious adolescent offenders. The sample of 14-18-year-old boys (N=488) was composed primarily of economically disadvantaged, ethnic-minority youth living in urban communities. The results indicate that weak neighborhood social organization is indirectly related to delinquency through its associations with parenting behavior and peer deviance and that a focus on just 1 of these microsystems can lead to oversimplified models of risk for juvenile offending. The authors also find that community social ties may confer both pro- and antisocial influences to youth, and they advocate for a broad conceptualization of neighborhood social processes as these relate to developmental risk for youth living in disadvantaged communities.

Pregnancy outcomes in solid organ transplant recipients with exposure to mycophenolate mofetil or sirolimus.

Abstract: Background Animal and limited human studies have raised concerns as to the safety of in utero exposure to mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and sirolimus (SRL) in transplant recipients. This study examined the outcomes of pregnancies with exposure to MMF or SRL from 30 female transplant recipients (39 pregnancies) who have reported pregnancies to the National Transplantation Pregnancy Registry. Methods Data were collected via questionnaires, phone interviews and medical records. Results There were 18 kidney recipients reporting 26 pregnancies with exposure to MMF: 15 livebirths (LB), 11 spontaneous abortions (SA). Structural malformations were reported in four of the 15 children (26.7%) including: hypoplastic nails and shortened fifth fingers (one), microtia with cleft lip and palate (one), microtia alone (one), and neonatal death with multiple malformations (one). One kidney/pancreas (K/P) recipient reported one SA. Three liver recipients reported three pregnancies; two LB (no malformations), and one second trimester SA. Two heart recipients reported one LB (no malformations) and two SA. SRL exposures included seven recipients (four kidney, one K/P and two liver) reporting four LB (one infant whose mother was switched from MMF to SRL during late pregnancy had cleft lip and palate and microtia) and three SA. Conclusions A higher incidence of structural malformations was seen with MMF exposures during pregnancy compared to the overall kidney transplant recipient offspring, while no structural defects have as yet been reported with early pregnancy sirolimus exposures. Centers are encouraged to report all pregnancy exposures in transplant recipients.

Plant information systems, manufacturing capabilities, and plant performance

Abstract: Firms have been investing over $5 billion a year in recent years on new information technology and software in their manufacturing plants. In this study, we develop a conceptual model based on the theory of dynamic capabilities to study how manufacturing plants realize improvements in plant performance by leveraging plant information systems to enable implementation of advanced manufacturing capabilities. We develop hypotheses about relationships between information systems, their impact on manufacturing practices, and the overall impact on plant performance. Analysis of survey data from 1,077 U.S. manufacturing plants provides empirical support for the dynamic capabilities model and suggests that manufacturing capabilities mediate the impact of information systems on plant performance. Our results underscore the importance of manufacturing and organizational capabilities in studying the impact of IT on manufacturing plant productivity, and provide a sharper theoretical lens to evaluate their impact.

Business Ethics and Social Responsibility Education: Shifting the Worldview

Abstract: While the topics of business ethics and social responsibility education have received much attention in scholarly and pedagogical literature (although less in the pedagogical literature), the autho...

The reverse shoulder prosthesis for glenohumeral arthritis associated with severe rotator cuff deficiency. a minimum two-year follow-up study of sixty patients surgical technique.

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Patients who have pain and dysfunction from glenohumeral arthritis associated with severe rotator cuff deficiency have few treatment options. The goal of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the short-term results of arthroplasty with use of the Reverse Shoulder Prosthesis in the management of this problem. METHODS: We report the results for sixty patients (sixty shoulders) with a rotator cuff deficiency and glenohumeral arthritis who were followed for a minimum of two years. Thirty-five patients had no previous shoulder surgery, whereas twenty-three had had either an open or arthroscopic rotator cuff repair, one had had a subacromial decompression, and one had had a biceps tendon repair. All patients were assessed preoperatively and postoperatively with the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons scoring system for pain and function and with visual analog scales for pain and function. They were also asked to rate their satisfaction with the outcome. The shoulder range of motion was measured preoperatively and postoperatively. RESULTS: The average age of the patients was seventy-one years. The average duration of follow-up was thirty-three months. All measures improved significantly (p < 0.0001). The mean total score on the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons system improved from 34.3 to 68.2; the mean function score, from 16.1 to 29.4; and the mean pain score, from 18.2 to 38.7. The score for function on the visual analog scale improved from 2.7 to 6.0, and the score for pain on the visual analog scale improved from 6.3 to 2.2. Forward flexion increased from 55.0° to 105.1°, and abduction increased from 41.4° to 101.8°. Forty-one of the sixty patients rated the outcome as good or excellent; sixteen were satisfied, and three were dissatisfied. There were a total of thirteen complications in ten patients (17%). Seven patients (12%) had eight failures, requiring revision surgery to another Reverse Shoulder Prosthesis in five patients (one shoulder had two revisions) and revision to a hemiarthroplasty in two patients because of deep infection. CONCLUSIONS: The data from this study suggest that arthroplasty with the Reverse Shoulder Prosthesis may be a viable treatment for patients with glenohumeral arthritis and a massive rotator cuff tear. However, future studies will be necessary to determine the longevity of the implant and whether it will provide continued improvement in function.