Measuring Inflation Expectations in the Euro Area

This article provides an overview of the main measures of expectations for the euro area and outlines the caveats that must be taken into account when analysing each one.

Perceptions of masculinity and career specific gender stereotypes

Career gender bias is the tendency for men or women to resist work in careers that tend to be dominated by individuals of a specific gender (nursing, public relations, elementary education, child-care, police, fire, manufacturing). This study posits that current university students exhibit career gender bias and classify certain Bureau of Labor Statistics job classifications as male, female or unisex occupations. Furthermore, with use of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (Bem, 1974) scale, this study attempted to understand if masculinity, femininity, or androgyny gender identity influences college students’ perceptions of career gender stereotypes and ultimately their view about the growing or declining Bureau of Labor Statistics listed professions. Participants in this study designated growing and declining occupations within male and female subgroups with several careers being viewed as unisex by students scoring high in femininity. Furthermore, data from this study indicate that female participants continue to feel open to male, female, and unisex careers; however, male participants appear to be uncomfortable pursuing unisex or female dominated careers

Theorizing Technological Adaptation as a Trigger for Institutional Change

Institutional pressures and technological adaptation have frequently been expressed as contrasting forces that explain organizational processes and actions. Institutional arguments suggest that environmental pressure, deriving from regulative, cognitive, and normative forces predict organizational action (or inaction), and impel organizations to favor legitimacy over efficiency. Theories addressing the use of technology view technological adaptation as the organizationís response to competitive and efficiency demands. We argue here that structuration theory, by incorporating a temporal dimension, reveals an important intersection between institutional theory and a theory of technology use. Specifically, we develop a theoretical model that reveals interactions between technology, organizations, and institutions. Further, we suggest that institutional forces and technological adaptation are related by virtue of their common structurational foundations, within varying, but interrelated, time scales, and that both impact organizational behavior. In doing so, we seek to develop a hybrid theoretical perspective integrating the fields of organizational theory and information systems with the hope that it suggests new ways of analyzing technological and organizational change

Social capital in distributed system development: A case of grid development in particle physics

No organisation, no matter how large, can remain totally reliant on the stocks of new knowledge it generates itself. In order to keep abreast of the latest scientific and technological developments, R&D organisations must continuously import knowledge from beyond the organisations boundaries. How does this external knowledge which is critical to success then become absorbed and integrated into the firm? Our paper addresses this question through the lens of the influential technological gatekeeper theory. Drawing on social network analysis (SNA) and interview evidence from a medical devices R&D group, we find that the gatekeeper role is still vital, but no longer needs to be performed by a single individual. Instead, the modern R&D group can keep abreast of the latest technological advances through a combination of Web-enabled internal and external communication specialists. A unique contribution this paper makes to the IT-enable social network literature is the development of an updated conceptual framework of how the gatekeeper role is performed in the modern R&D group

Managing Lean Supply and Innovation: Cross-cultural Knowledge Transfer in an Multi-national Company

There is growing evidence that organisations are increasingly using the concept of lean supply to foster innovation. This paper considers key factors that influence this management approach in the context of the cross-cultural transfer of both codified and tacit knowledge embedded in a manufacturing process. It reports current empirical research on a multi-national company American Power Conversion (APC) s production line transfer from Galway, Ireland to Suzhou, P. R. China. It aims to explore the key factors influencing APC s lean manufacturing and knowledge transfer, and further provide a base-line from which pragmatic advice can be given to companies pursuing manufacturing or supply strategies. The research proposes to make a contribution on examining the key factors that influence the effective transfer of knowledge between two important countries in the global manufacturing landscape

Managing Lean Supply and Innovation: Cross-cultural Knowledge Transfer in an Multi-national Company

There is growing evidence that organisations are increasingly using the concept of lean supply to foster innovation. This paper considers key factors that influence this management approach in the context of the cross-cultural transfer of both codified and tacit knowledge embedded in a manufacturing process. It reports current empirical research on a multi-national company American Power Conversion (APC) s production line transfer from Galway, Ireland to Suzhou, P. R. China. It aims to explore the key factors influencing APC s lean manufacturing and knowledge transfer, and further provide a base-line from which pragmatic advice can be given to companies pursuing manufacturing or supply strategies. The research proposes to make a contribution on examining the key factors that influence the effective transfer of knowledge between two important countries in the global manufacturing landscape

Distributive Politics around the World

Abstract We inventory more than 150 studies of distributive politics in more than three dozen countries other than the United States. We organize existing studies under two theories: theories of democratic accountability and theories of government responsiveness. Studies that concern democratic accountability conceptualize distributive allocations as attempts by politicians to protect themselves electorally by targeting specific groups of voters. We identify four subsets: (a) studies of whether politicians target goods to core or swing voters; (b) studies of general political favoritism in targeting government goods; (c) studies of whether goods are disbursed according to the electoral cycle; and (d ) studies of whether elected officials gain votes from the disbursement of government goods. We illustrate each with examples from the literature. We then discuss distributive politics as responsiveness to the median voter. This perspective entails a focus on the redistributive consequences of government policy and investigates whether special interests capture a disproportionate share of goods coming from government. To illustrate the utility of both perspectives, we analyze original data on electricity provision in India's largest state

Serious Bacterial Infections Acquired During Treatment of Patients Given a Diagnosis of Chronic Lyme Disease - United States.

The term "chronic Lyme disease" is used by some health care providers as a diagnosis for various constitutional, musculoskeletal, and neuropsychiatric symptoms (1,2). Patients with a diagnosis of chronic Lyme disease have been provided a wide range of medications as treatment, including long courses of intravenous (IV) antibiotics (3,4). Studies have not shown that such treatments lead to substantial long-term improvement for patients, and they can be harmful (1,5). This report describes cases of septic shock, osteomyelitis, Clostridium difficile colitis, and paraspinal abscess resulting from treatments for chronic Lyme disease. Patients, clinicians, and public health practitioners should be aware that treatments for chronic Lyme disease can carry serious risks

Site-specific Mutants of Oncomodulin: 1H NMR and optical stopped-flow studies of the effect on the metal binding properties of an Asp59 → Glu59 substitution in the calcium-specific site

Abstract High resolution 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and optical stopped-flow techniques have been used to study the metal binding properties of a site-specific mutant of bacterial recombinant oncomodulin in which glutamate has replaced a liganding aspartate at position 59 in the CD calcium-binding site. In particular we have followed the replacement of calcium by lutetium in bacterial recombinant oncomodulin and D59E oncomodulin to provide a measure of the protein's preferences for metal ions of different ionic radii. The result of the Asp----Glu substitution is to make the mutant oncomodulin more similar to rat parvalbumin in terms of its relative CD- and EF-domain affinities for lutetium(III), that is to increase its affinity for metal ions with smaller ionic radii. This finding supports the original hypothesis that the presence of Asp at sequence position 59 is an important factor in the reduced preference of the CD site of oncomodulin for smaller metals such as magnesium (Williams, T. C., Corson, D. C., Sykes, B. D., and MacManus, J. P. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 6248-6256). However, our studies show that both the CD and the EF sites are affected by this single residue substitution suggesting that many factors play a role in the metal binding affinity and interaction between the two sites

Budesonide Foam Has a Favorable Safety Profile for Inducing Remission in Mild-to-Moderate Ulcerative Proctitis or Proctosigmoiditis.

BackgroundBudesonide foam, a rectally administered, second-generation corticosteroid with extensive hepatic first-pass metabolism, is efficacious for the treatment of mild-to-moderate ulcerative proctitis and ulcerative proctosigmoiditis.AimThe aim of this study was to comprehensively assess the safety and pharmacokinetic profile of budesonide foam.MethodsData from five phase III studies were pooled to further evaluate safety, including an open-label study (once-daily treatment for 8 weeks), an active-comparator study (once-daily treatment for 4 weeks), and two placebo-controlled studies and an open-label extension study (twice-daily treatment for 2 weeks, then once daily for 4 weeks). Data from the placebo-controlled studies and two phase I studies (i.e., patients with mild-to-moderate ulcerative colitis and healthy volunteers) were pooled to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of budesonide foam.ResultsA similar percentage of patients reported adverse events in the budesonide foam and placebo groups, with the majority of adverse events being mild or moderate in intensity (93.3 vs 96.0%, respectively). Adverse events occurred in 41.4 and 36.3% of patients receiving budesonide foam and placebo, respectively. Mean morning cortisol concentrations remained within the normal range for up to 8 weeks of treatment; there were no clinically relevant effects of budesonide foam on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Population pharmacokinetic analysis demonstrated low systemic exposure after budesonide foam administration.ConclusionsThis integrated analysis demonstrated that budesonide foam for the induction of remission of distal ulcerative colitis is safe overall, with no clinically relevant effects on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis