Corporate Social Responsibility: International Perspectives

In this introduction to the special issue, we provide a brief review of the CSR literature with attention to some of the difficulties in globalizing the existing CSR concepts. Following this we provide a brief summary of each of the four papers that comprise the special issue, with emphasis on the unique contribution of each.

Corporate Social Responsibility: Strategic Implications

We describe a variety of perspectives on corporate social responsibility (CSR), which we use to develop a framework for consideration of the strategic implications of CSR. Based on this framework, we propose an agenda for additional theoretical and empirical research on CSR. We then review the papers in this special issue and relate them to the proposed agenda.

Ultrasonic locating devices for central venous cannulation: meta-analysis

OBJECTIVES: To assess the evidence for the clinical effectiveness of ultrasound guided central venous cannulation. DATA SOURCES: 15 electronic bibliographic databases, covering biomedical, science, social science, health economics, and grey literature. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. POPULATIONS: Patients scheduled for central venous access. INTERVENTION REVIEWED: Guidance using real time two dimensional ultrasonography or Doppler needles and probes compared with the anatomical landmark method of cannulation. DATA EXTRACTION: Risk of failed catheter placement (primary outcome), risk of complications from placement, risk of failure on first attempt at placement, number of attempts to successful catheterisation, and time (seconds) to successful catheterisation. DATA SYNTHESIS: 18 trials (1646 participants) were identified. Compared with the landmark method, real time two dimensional ultrasound guidance for cannulating the internal jugular vein in adults was associated with a significantly lower failure rate both overall (relative risk 0.14, 95% confidence interval 0.06 to 0.33) and on the first attempt (0.59, 0.39 to 0.88). Limited evidence favoured two dimensional ultrasound guidance for subclavian vein and femoral vein procedures in adults (0.14, 0.04 to 0.57 and 0.29, 0.07 to 1.21, respectively). Three studies in infants confirmed a higher success rate with two dimensional ultrasonography for internal jugular procedures (0.15, 0.03 to 0.64). Doppler guided cannulation of the internal jugular vein in adults was more successful than the landmark method (0.39, 0.17 to 0.92), but the landmark method was more successful for subclavian vein procedures (1.48, 1.03 to 2.14). No significant difference was found between these techniques for cannulation of the internal jugular vein in infants. An indirect comparison of relative risks suggested that two dimensional ultrasonography would be more successful than Doppler guidance for subclavian vein procedures in adults (0.09, 0.02 to 0.38). CONCLUSIONS: Evidence supports the use of two dimensional ultrasonography for central venous cannulation

Observing mergers of non-spinning black-hole binaries

Advances in the field of numerical relativity now make it possible to calculate the final, most powerful merger phase of binary black-hole coalescence for generic binaries. The state of the art has advanced well beyond the equal-mass case into the unequal-mass and spinning regions of parameter space. We present a study of the nonspinning portion of parameter space, primarily using an analytic waveform model tuned to available numerical data, with an emphasis on observational implications. We investigate the impact of varied mass ratio on merger signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) for several detectors, and compare our results with expectations from the test-mass limit. We note a striking similarity of the waveform phasing of the merger waveform across the available mass ratios. Motivated by this, we calculate the match between our 1:1 (equal mass) and 4:1 mass-ratio waveforms during the merger as a function of location on the source sky, using a new formalism for the match that accounts for higher harmonics. This is an indicator of the amount of degeneracy in mass ratio for mergers of moderate-mass-ratio systems.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

From Small-Scale Dynamo to Isotropic MHD Turbulence

We consider the problem of incompressible, forced, nonhelical, homogeneous, isotropic MHD turbulence with no mean magnetic field. This problem is essentially different from the case with externally imposed uniform mean field. There is no scale-by-scale equipartition between magnetic and kinetic energies as would be the case for the Alfven-wave turbulence. The isotropic MHD turbulence is the end state of the turbulent dynamo which generates folded fields with small-scale direction reversals. We propose that the statistics seen in numerical simulations of isotropic MHD turbulence could be explained as a superposition of these folded fields and Alfven-like waves that propagate along the folds.Comment: kluwer latex, 7 pages, 7 figures; Proceedings of the International Workshop "Magnetic Fields and Star Formation: Theory vs. Observations", Madrid, 21-25 April 2003 -- published version (but the e-print is free of numerous typos introduced by the publisher

LISA Parameter Estimation using Numerical Merger Waveforms

Coalescing supermassive black holes are expected to provide the strongest sources for gravitational radiation detected by LISA. Recent advances in numerical relativity provide a detailed description of the waveforms of such signals. We present a preliminary study of LISA's sensitivity to waveform parameters using a hybrid numerical/analytic waveform describing the coalescence of two equal-mass, nonspinning black holes. The Synthetic LISA software package is used to simulate the instrument response and the Fisher information matrix method is used to estimate errors in the waveform parameters. Initial results indicate that inclusion of the merger signal can significantly improve the precision of some parameter estimates. For example, the median parameter errors for an ensemble of systems with total redshifted mass of 10(exp 6) deg M solar mass at a redshift of z is approximately 1 were found to decrease by a factor of slightly more than two when the merger was included

Fluid resuscitation in adults with severe burns at risk of secondary abdominal compartment syndrome—An evidence based systematic review

Background: Secondary abdominal compartment syndrome (sACS) in adults with severe burns is commonly unsuspected, can be rapidly fatal and seriously compromises the reliability of urine output as an indicator of perfusion and resuscitation status. Current literature lacks an exhaustive, evidence-based review critically appraising all retrieved literature on which clinical decisions may be based. Methods: The evidence on three inter-related concepts was evaluated: fluid-volume management and its contribution to sACS; the role of urinary bladder pressure monitoring; and awareness of the burns community to sACS. Literature published over the last ten years across the major databases was retrieved, and the search strategy was fully reported to reduce the retrieval bias ubiquitous in previous literature. Each article was individually appraised and classified into a framework of evidence, enabling the formulation of specific, graded recommendations. Results: Current best evidence supports recommendations to reduce fluid-volume administered through use of colloids or hypertonic saline especially if the projected resuscitation volume surpasses a ‘volume ceiling’. Continuous intra-vesical monitoring is recommended: to guide fluid resuscitation for early diagnosis of sACS; and as a guide to reliability of urine output as indicator of organ perfusion. A priming volume of 75 cm3 or less is recommended. Conclusion: Fluid resuscitation volume is causative to sACS, especially once a predetermined maxima is reached. Continuous intra-vesical pressure monitoring is a cheap, reliable, userfriendly monitoringmethod recommended in high-risk patients. Poor awareness among the burns community requires urgent dissemination of evidence based information