“情景伦理”行不通

企业的商业伦理应该在全球范围内保持一致，还是应该根据具体的经营环境进行调整呢？许多人认为，企业的伦理准则应该与经营地的实际情况相契合，推崇“情境伦理”，即根据复杂多变的实际环境，灵活采取相应的实用性伦理准则。     

Analysis of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Maternal Cohort Study: Evidence for Direct Maternal Transmission

In an initial exploratory analysis of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) maternal cohort study data we demonstrate several confounding effects in the study design. Given these effects, we assess a variety of statistical models to determine the relative contributions of direct maternal transmission of the aetiological agent of BSE and of genetic susceptibility to the observed maternally enhanced risk of BSE in the offspring of affected dams. To control for the substantial between-herd variation in the risk of exposure to the BSE agent, it is essential that analyses take into account the matched pair structure of the data. Maternal exposure is estimated to be most important in animals born within 150 days of disease onset in their dams. The analysis of a full survival likelihood model indicates that the hypothesis of maternal transmission with no genetic variation in susceptibility fits the data significantly better than the hypothesis of genetically variable susceptibility with no maternal transmission. However, models incorporating both maternal transmission and genetically variable susceptibility fit the data significantly better than pure maternal transmission models. Although genetic susceptibility cannot be excluded as the cause of the cohort study results in the absence of detailed genotyping, the analysis of these study data suggest that low level maternal transmission of BSE is, at least in part, responsible for the significantly enhanced risk of BSE in the offspring of affected dams. Similar results indicating significant maternal transmission in the later stages of the dam incubation period are obtained from the independent analysis of data on the dam–offspring relationships among confirmed BSE cases.     

RFID‐Enabled Visibility and Retail Inventory Record Inaccuracy: Experiments in the Field

Accurate inventory records are key to effective store execution, affecting forecasting, ordering, and replenishment. Prior empirical research, however, shows that retailer inventory records are inherently inaccurate. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) enables visibility into the movement of inventories in the supply chain. Using two different field experiments, the current research investigates the effectiveness of this visibility in reducing retail store inventory record inaccuracy (IRI). Study 1 used an interrupted time‐series design and involved daily physical counts of all products in one category in 13 stores (8 treatments and 5 controls) of a major global retailer over 23 weeks. Results indicate a significant decrease in IRI of approximately 26% due to RFID‐enabled visibility. Using an untreated control group design with pre‐test and post‐test, Study 2 expands the number of categories to five and the number of stores to 62 (31 treatment and 31 control stores). Results show that the effectiveness of RFID in reducing IRI varies by category (ranging from no statistically significant improvement to 81%). Results also suggest that RFID ameliorates the effects of known determinants of IRI and provide the key insight that the technology is most effective for product categories characterized by these determinants.     

Estimation of long-term trends and variation in avian survival probabilities using random effects models

We obtained banding and recovery data from the Bird Banding Laboratory (operated by the Biological Resources Division of the US Geological Survey) for adults from 129 avian species that had been continuously banded for > 24 years. Data were partitioned by gender, banding period (winter versus summer), and by states/provinces. Data sets were initially screened for adequacy based on specific criteria (e.g. minimum sample sizes). Fifty-nine data sets (11 waterfowl species, the Mourning Dove and Common Grackle) met our criteria of adequacy for further analysis. We estimated annual survival probabilities using the Brownie et al. recovery model {St, ft} in program MARK. Trends in annual survival and temporal process variation were estimated using random effects models based on shrinkage estimators. Waterfowl species had relatively little variation in annual survival probabilities (mean CV = 8.7% and 10% for males and females, respectively). The limited data for other species suggested similar low temporal variation for males, but higher temporal variation for females (CV = 40%). Evidence for long-term trends varied by species, banding period and sex, with no obvious spatial patterns for either positive or negative trends in survival probabilities. An exception was Mourning Doves banded in Illinois/Missouri and Arizona/New Mexico where both males (slope = -0.0122, se = 0.0019 and females (slope = -0.0109 to -0.0128, se = 0.0018 -0.0032) exhibited declining trends in survival probabilities. We believe our approach has application for large-scale monitoring. However, meaningful banding and recovery data for species other than waterfowl is very limited in North America.     

Reports of Conferences, Institutes, and Seminars

Reports on the 2005 North Carolina Serials Conference, the twentieth anniversary conference of the North American Serials Interest Group, the 2005 Acquisitions Institute at Timberline Lodge, and a program on electronic archiving sponsored by the New England Chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries.     

EXPLORING A FOURTH DIMENSION: SPIRITUALITY AS A RESOURCE FOR THE COUPLE THERAPIST

This article explores ways in which the therapist's own spirituality can serve as a resource in couple therapy. Spirituality is defined as subjective engagement with a fourth, transcendent dimension of human experience. This engagement enhances human life and evokes corresponding behavior. Spiritually based therapy may be influenced by three assumptions: that God or a Divine Being exists, that human-kind yearns innately for connection with this Being, and that this Being is interested in humans and acts upon and within their relationships to promote beneficial change. In therapy these assumptions affect how the therapist listens and responds throughout sessions. The authors incorporate a case example illustrating the application of this fourth dimension in couple therapy.