Publications ethics

The editor of any medical journal has to be aware of the ethical and legal framework within which medical research is conducted. When research and publications relate to children, then particularly high standards are required in the design, conduct, and reporting of research in order to protect the rights of children and their families. Authors have a number of duties and responsibilities that are mirrored by those of editors and publishers. Of particular importance are the principles of transparency and integrity. Authors should be explicit about who carried out the work and who funded the study. They should declare whether the work has been published before and is not being considered for publication elsewhere. The authors must protect the rights of research participants including their anonymity. Editors and publishers have a duty to ensure high editorial standards and efficient and effective peer review systems. They should follow ethical and responsible publication practices and should safeguard the intellectual property of the authors. This review discusses in detail the duties and responsibilities of authors, editors, and publishers in modern medical publishing

Emile Borel's difficult days in 1941

The German forces occupying Paris arrested Emile Borel and three other members of the Acad\'emie des Sciences in October 1941 and released them about five weeks later. Why? We examine some relevant German and French archives and other sources and propose some hypotheses. In the process, we review how the Occupation was structured and how it dealt with French higher education and some French mathematicians

PRICE AND VALUE EFFECTS OF PECAN CROP FORECASTS, 1971-1987

Price equations incorporating USDA October crop forecasts and June pecan stocks provided reasonable formulations for pecan price explanation and forecasting. USDA crop forecasts exceeded final reported production in 12 of the 18 seasons from 1970 to 1987, probably resulting in slightly lower prices and crop values. Large crop forecast errors in both direction and level in 1986 and 1987 confounded the price determination process. Nevertheless, producer prices may have been lower absent the October crop forecasts, which somewhat reduce buyers' uncertainty regarding supply. Early crop estimates provided a better explanation of price behavior than postseason revised production data.Demand and Price Analysis,

PECAN SUPPLY FACTORS AND 1996/7 SEASON PRICE FORECASTS

Equations for forecasting US improved and native pecan prices were reasonably successful for one season ahead forecasts. USDA October pecan crop forecasts, June cold storage stocks, and a GNP price deflator were the explanatory variables. These variables are readily available early in the pecan harvesting season (September - December). Data in first differences appeared to explain price behavior and forecast better than data in levels. Forecasts for the 1996 season prices reflected 70 percent of the large drop in price from the 1995 season. Unprecedented carryin stocks may have been responsible for the larger than forecast drop in prices.Demand and Price Analysis,

Dynamic Organizations: Achieving Marketplace and Organizational Agility with People

Driven by dynamic competitive conditions, an increasing number of firms are experimenting with new, and what they hope will be, more dynamic organizational forms. This development has opened up exciting theoretical and empirical venues for students of leadership, business strategy, organizational theory, and the like. One domain that has yet to catch the wave, however, is strategic human resource management (SHRM). In an effort to catch up, we here draw on the dynamic organization (DO) and human resource strategy (HRS) literatures to delineate both a process for uncovering and the key features of a carefully crafted HRS for DOs. The logic is as follows. DOs compete through marketplace agility. Marketplace agility requires that employees at all levels engage in proactive, adaptive, and generative behaviors, bolstered by a supportive mindset. Under the right conditions, the essential mindset and behaviors, although highly dynamic, are fostered by a HRS centered on a relatively small number of dialectical, yet paradoxically stable, guiding principles and anchored in a supportive organizational infrastructure. This line of reasoning, however, rests on a rather modest empirical base and, thus, is offered less as a definitive statement than as a spur for much needed additional research

Flight investigation of various control inputs intended for parameter estimation

An experiment assessing the stability and control derivatives resulting from various control inputs was undertaken using the F-8 digital fly by wire aircraft. Improved control inputs have been proposed as a means of making stability and contol derivative estimation more efficient, thus reducing the cost of flight testing and data analysis. The subject inputs were either generated by the pilot or preprogrammed in a remote ground computer and telemetered to the aircraft. Nine preprogrammed inputs and three pilot generated inputs were assessed at subsonic and supersonic flight conditions, and both unaugmented and highly augmented flight control systems were used. Effects of input amplitude were also assessed. The inputs were divided into two general types - sinusoidal or with corners (a rapid and distinct change in slope). The inputs with corners, performed in the unaugmented mode, produced the best sets of stability and control derivatives. The simplest of these inputs, the pilot generated doublet, produced sets of derivatives as good as those produced by the more complex inputs. Small inputs produced worse derivatives than the unaugmented mode, and sinusoidal inputs produced worse derivatives than corner containing inputs