bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A parallel and distributed discrete event approach for spatial cell-biological simulations
Authors: Jeschke Matthias , Ewald Roland , Park Alfred , Fujimoto Richard , Uhrmacher Adelinde M.
Published: April 2008

As data and knowledge about cell-biological systems increases so does the need for simulation tools to support a hypothesis driven wet-lab experimentation. Discrete event simulation has received a lot of attention lately, however, often its application is hampered by its lack of performance. One solution are parallel, distributed approaches, however, their application is limited by the amount of parallelism available in the model. Recent studies have shown that spatial aspects are crucial for cell biological dynamics and they are also a promising candidate to exploit parallelism. Promises and specific requirements imposed by a spatial simulation of cell biological systems will be illuminated by a parallel and distributed variant of the Next-Subvolume Method (NSM), which augments the Stochastic Simulation Algorithm (SSA) with spatial features, and its realization in a grid-inspired simulation system called Aurora.
Going Digital
Authors: Maurer James
Published: April 2008

Since its founding in March 2003, Queue has addressed the informational needs of the software development community through its printed version and Web site. Each issue has been carefully planned by a working board of prominent computing professionals and guest experts who meet monthly to set the magazine’s editorial agenda and suggest and enlist the most qualified and authoritative authors. Our Queue team has greatly benefited from your feedback over the past five years. You’ve helped us shape a unique magazine, and we thank you for your input and your loyalty.
GPUs: A Closer Look
Authors: Fatahalian Kayvon , Houston Mike
Published: April 2008

A gamer wanders through a virtual world rendered in near- cinematic detail. Seconds later, the screen fills with a 3D explosion, the result of unseen enemies hiding in physically accurate shadows. Disappointed, the user exits the game and returns to a computer desktop that exhibits the stylish 3D look-and-feel of a modern window manager. Both of these visual experiences require hundreds of gigaflops of computing performance, a demand met by the GPU (graphics processing unit) present in every consumer PC.
Scalable Parallel Programming with CUDA
Authors: Nickolls John , Buck Ian , Garland Michael , Skadron Kevin
Published: April 2008

The advent of multicore CPUs and manycore GPUs means that mainstream processor chips are now parallel systems. Furthermore, their parallelism continues to scale with Moore’s law. The challenge is to develop mainstream application software that transparently scales its parallelism to leverage the increasing number of processor cores, much as 3D graphics applications transparently scale their parallelism to manycore GPUs with widely varying numbers of cores.
Solomon’s Sword Beats Occam’s Razor
Authors: Kelly-Bootle Stan
Published: April 2008

I’ve told you a googol times or more: Don’t exaggerate! And, less often, I’ve ever-so-gently urged you not to understate. Why is my advice ignored? Why can’t you get IT... just right, balanced beyond dispute? Lez Joosts Mildews, as my mam was fond of sayin, boxing both my ears with equal devotion. Follow the Middle Way as Tao did in his Middle Kingdom. Or "straight down the middle," as golfer Bing Crosby used to croon. His other golf song was "The Wearing of the Green," but such digressions run counter to my straight, plow-on-ahead advice. I’ve just smoked a cigarette branded Cleopatra, but that’s none of your beeswax neither, and strictly between me and my Egyptian placements sponsor.
Algal Sensory Photoreceptors
Authors: Hegemann Peter
Published: April 2008

Only five major types of sensory photoreceptors (BLUF-proteins, cryptochromes, phototropins, phytochromes, and rhodopsins) are used in nature to regulate developmental processes, photosynthesis, photoorientation, and control of the circadian clock. Sensory photoreceptors of algae and protists are exceptionally rich in structure and function; light-gated ion channels and photoactivated adenylate cyclases are unique examples. During the past ten years major progress has been made with respect to understanding the function, photochemistry, and structure of key sensory players of the algal kingdom.
Crinoid Ecological Morphology
Authors: Baumiller Tomasz K.
Published: April 2008

Recent studies of crinoids reveal that their connective tissue, known to be mutable, is also contractile, and that certain stalked taxa are capable of crawling and subject to predation by cidaroid sea urchin. Aspects of crinoid functional morphology, ecology, and paleobiology are reviewed in the context of these findings. Mutability and contractility of ligament are important to autotomy, posture maintenance, and motility, and those, in turn, are shown to play a role in how crinoids acquire nutrients, select habitats and respond to predation pressure. A review of predation on crinoids supports the view that it is ecologically significant. Motility, a trait critical for handling predation pressure by stalkless crinoids, is shown to play an analogous role in stalked crinoids. The distribution of traits required for motility among extant and fossil crinoids reveals that their frequency increased dramatically following the Permo-Triassic extinction, with low values characterizing the Paleozoic and high values characterizing the post-Paleozoic.
Statins restore ischemic limb blood flow in diabetic microangiopathy via eNOS/NO upregulation but not via PDGF-BB expression
Authors: Fujii Takaaki , Onimaru Mitsuho , Yonemitsu Yoshikazu , Kuwano Hiroyuki , Sueishi Katsuo
Published: April 2008

3-Hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl CoA reductase inhibitors, or statins, have pleiotropic effects and can protect the vasculature in a manner independent of their lipid-lowering effect. The effectiveness of statins in reducing the risk of coronary events has been shown even in patients with diabetes, and their effects on diabetic complications have been reported. Using a model of severe hindlimb ischemia in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice (STZ-DM), we investigated the effects and mechanisms of statin therapy in diabetic angiopathy in ischemic hindlimbs. As a result, STZ-DM mice frequently lost their hindlimbs after induced ischemia, whereas non-DM mice did not. Supplementation with statins significantly prevented autoamputation. We previously showed that diabetic vascular complications are caused by impaired expression of PDGF-BB, but statin therapy did not enhance PDGF-BB expression. Statins helped enhance endogenous endothelial nitric oxide (NO) synthase (eNOS) expression. Furthermore, the inhibition of NO synthesis by the administration of Nω-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester impaired the ability of statins to prevent STZ-DM mouse limb autoamputation, indicating that the therapeutic effect of statins in hindlimb ischemia in STZ-DM mice occurs via the eNOS/NO pathway. A combination therapy of statins and PDGF-BB gene supplementation was more effective for diabetic angiopathy than either therapy alone. In conclusion, these findings indicate that statin therapy might be useful for preventing intractable diabetic foot disease in patients with diabetic angiopathy.
Structure and torsion of the normal and situs inversus totalis cardiac left ventricle. I. Experimental data in humans
Authors: Delhaas Tammo , Kroon Wilco , Decaluwe Wim , Rubbens Mirjam , Bovendeerd Peter , Arts Theo
Published: April 2008

In 1926, the famous American pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Helen B. Taussig, observed that in situs inversus totalis (SIT) main gross anatomical structures and the deep muscle bundles of the ventricles were a mirror image of the normal structure, while the direction of the superficial muscle bundles remained unchanged (H. B. Taussig, Bull Johns Hopkins Hosp 39: 199–202, 1926). She and we wondered about the implication of this observation for left ventricular (LV) deformation in SIT. We used magnetic resonance tagging to obtain information on LV deformation, rotation, and torsion from a series of tagged images in five evenly distributed, parallel, short-axis sections of the heart of nine controls and eight persons with SIT without other structural (cardiac) defect. In the controls, during ejection, the apex rotated counterclockwise with respect to the base, when looking from the apex. Furthermore, the base-to-apex gradient in rotation (torsion) was negative and similar at all longitudinal levels of the LV. In SIT hearts, torsion was positive near the base, indicating mirrored myofiber orientations compared with the normal LV. Contrary to expectations, torsion in the apical regions of SIT LVs was as in normal ones, reflecting a normal internal myocardial architecture. The transition zone with zero torsion, found between the apex and base, suggests that the heart structure in SIT is essentially different from that in the normal heart. This provides a unique possibility to study regulatory mechanisms for myocardial fiber orientation and mechanical load, which has been dealt with in the companion paper by Kroon et al.
Calcium-activated chloride current contributes to action potential alternations in left ventricular hypertrophy rabbit
Authors: Guo Donglin , Young Lindon , Patel Chinmay , Jiao Zhen , Wu Ying , Liu Tengxian , Kowey Peter R. , Yan Gan-Xin
Published: April 2008

T-wave alternans, characterized by a beat-to-beat change in T-wave morphology, amplitude, and/or polarity on the ECG, often heralds the development of lethal ventricular arrhythmias in patients with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). The aim of our study was to examine the ionic basis for a beat-to-beat change in ventricular repolarization in the setting of LVH. Transmembrane action potentials (APs) from epicardium and endocardium were recorded simultaneously, together with transmural ECG and contraction force, in arterially perfused rabbit left ventricular wedge preparation. APs and Ca2+-activated chloride current ( ICl,Ca) were recorded from left ventricular myocytes isolated from normal rabbits and those with renovascular LVH using the standard microelectrode and whole cell patch-clamping techniques, respectively. In the LVH rabbits, a significant beat-to-beat change in endocardial AP duration (APD) created beat-to-beat alteration in transmural voltage gradient that manifested as T-wave alternans on the ECG. Interestingly, contraction force alternated in an opposite phase (“out of phase”) with APD. In the single myocytes of LVH rabbits, a significant beat-to-beat change in APD was also observed in both left ventricular endocardial and epicardial myocytes at various pacing rates. APD alternans was suppressed by adding 1 μM ryanodine, 100 μM 4,4′-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2′-disulfonic acid (DIDS), and 100 μM 4-acetamido-4′-isothiocyanostilbene-2,2′-disulfonic acid (SITS). The density of the Ca2+-activated chloride currents ( ICl,Ca) in left ventricular myocytes was significantly greater in the LVH rabbits than in the normal group. Our data indicate that abnormal intracellular Ca2+ fluctuation may exert a strong feedback on the membrane ICl,Ca, leading to a beat-to-beat change in the net repolarizing current that manifests as T-wave alternans on the ECG.
Inhibitory effect of D1-like and D3dopamine receptors on norepinephrine-induced proliferation in vascular smooth muscle cells
Authors: Li Zhen , Yu Changqing , Han Yu , Ren Hongmei , Shi Weibin , Fu Chunjiang , He Duofen , Huang Lan , Yang Chengming , Wang Xukai , Zhou Lin , Asico Laureano D. , Zeng Chunyu , Jose Pedro A.
Published: April 2008

The sympathetic nervous system plays an important role in the regulation of blood pressure. There is increasing evidence for positive and negative interactions between dopamine and adrenergic receptors; the activation of the α-adrenergic receptor induces vasoconstriction, whereas the activation of dopamine receptor induces vasorelaxation. We hypothesize that the D1-like receptor and/or D3receptor also inhibit α1-adrenergic receptor-mediated proliferation in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). In this study, VSMC proliferation was determined by measuring [3H]thymidine incorporation, cell number, and uptake of 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT). Norepinephrine increased VSMC number and MTT uptake, as well as [3H]thymidine incorporation via the α1-adrenergic receptor in aortic VSMCs from Sprague-Dawley rats. The proliferative effects of norepinephrine were attenuated by the activation of D1-like receptors or D3receptors, although a D1-like receptor agonist, fenoldopam, and a D3receptor agonist, PD-128907, by themselves, at low concentrations, had no effect on VSMC proliferation. Simultaneous stimulation of both D1-like and D3receptors had an additive inhibitory effect. The inhibitory effect of D3receptor was via protein kinase A, whereas the D1-like receptor effect was via protein kinase C-ζ. The interaction between α1-adrenergic and dopamine receptors, especially D1-like and D3receptors in VSMCs, could be involved in the pathogenesis of hypertension.
Cyclooxygenase inhibition attenuates sympathetic responses to muscle stretch in humans
Authors: Cui Jian , Moradkhan Raman , Mascarenhas Vernon , Momen Afsana , Sinoway Lawrence I.
Published: April 2008

Passive muscle stretch performed during a period of post-exercise muscle ischemia (PEMI) increases muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA), and this suggests that the muscle metabolites may sensitize mechanoreceptors in healthy humans. However, the responsible substance(s) has not been studied thoroughly in humans. Human and animal studies suggest that cyclooxygenase products sensitize muscle mechanoreceptors. Thus we hypothesized that local cyclooxygenase inhibition in exercising muscles could attenuate MSNA responses to passive muscle stretch during PEMI. Blood pressure (Finapres), heart rate, and MSNA (microneurography) responses to passive muscle stretch were assessed in 13 young healthy subjects during PEMI before and after cyclooxygenase inhibition, which was accomplished by a local infusion of 6 mg ketorolac tromethamine in saline via Bier block. In the second experiment, the same amount of saline was infused via the Bier block. Ketorolac Bier block decreased prostaglandin synthesis to ∼34% of the baseline. Before ketorolac Bier block, passive muscle stretch evoked significant increases in MSNA ( P < 0.005) and mean arterial blood pressure ( P < 0.02). After ketorolac Bier block, passive muscle stretch did not evoke significant responses in MSNA ( P = 0.11) or mean arterial blood pressure ( P = 0.83). Saline Bier block had no effect on the MSNA or blood pressure response to ischemic stretch. These observations indicate that cyclooxygenase inhibition attenuates MSNA responses seen during PEMI and suggest that cyclooxygenase products sensitize the muscle mechanoreceptors.
Helicobacter pylori Eradication Prevents Progression of Gastric Cancer in Hypergastrinemic INS-GAS Mice
Authors: Lee Chung-Wei , Rickman Barry , Rogers Arlin B. , Ge Zhongming , Wang Timothy C. , Fox James G.
Published: April 2008

Helicobacter pylori infection results in chronic gastritis, which may progress to gastric cancer. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of H. pylori eradication in preventing the progression of gastritis to gastric cancer in H. pylori–infected transgenic INS-GAS mice. H. pylori infection induced severe dysplasia and gastric cancer classified as high-grade and low-grade gastrointestinal intraepithelial neoplasia (GIN) in INS-GAS mice at 28 weeks postinfection (WPI). H. pylori eradication therapy using omeprazole, metronidazole, and clarithromycin was administered p.o. at 8, 12, or 22 WPI. Compared with untreated infected mice, H. pylori eradication at 8, 12, and 22 WPI significantly reduced the severity of dysplasia (P < 0.01). Moreover, H. pylori eradication at 8 WPI completely prevented the development of GIN (P < 0.001). Although not as effective as early antimicrobial treatment, prevention of progression to high-grade GIN was achieved by H. pylori eradication at 12 and 22 WPI (P < 0.05). Consistent with reduced gastric pathology, H. pylori eradication at all time points significantly down-regulated gastric Interferon-γ, tumor necrosis factor-α, inducible nitric oxide synthase, and Reg 1 mRNA levels (P < 0.05) and reduced epithelial proliferation in the corpus (P < 0.01) compared with untreated infected mice. We concluded that H. pylori eradication prevented gastric cancer to the greatest extent when antibiotics are given at an early point of infection, but that eradication therapy given at a later time point delayed the development of severe dysplastic lesions. [Cancer Res 2008;68(9):3540–8]
Regulator of G-Protein Signaling Subtype 4 Mediates Antihypertrophic Effect of Locally Secreted Natriuretic Peptides in the Heart
Authors: Tokudome Takeshi , Kishimoto Ichiro , Horio Takeshi , Arai Yuji , Schwenke Daryl O. , Hino Jun , Okano Ichiro , Kawano Yuhei , Kohno Masakazu , Miyazato Mikiya , Nakao Kazuwa , Kangawa Kenji
Published: April 2008

Background—

Mice lacking guanylyl cyclase-A (GC-A), a natriuretic peptide receptor, have pressure-independent cardiac hypertrophy. However, the mechanism underlying GC-A–mediated inhibition of cardiac hypertrophy remains to be elucidated. In the present report, we examined the role of regulator of G-protein signaling subtype 4 (RGS4), a GTPase activating protein for G
q
and G
i
, in the antihypertrophic effects of GC-A.

Methods and Results—

In cultured cardiac myocytes, treatment of atrial natriuretic peptide stimulated the binding of guanosine 3′,5′-cyclic monophosphate-dependent protein kinase (PKG) I-α to RGS4, PKG-dependent phosphorylation of RGS4, and association of RGS4 and Gα
q
. In contrast, blockade of GC-A by an antagonist, HS-142-1, attenuated the phosphorylation of RGS4 and association of RGS4 and Gα
q
. Moreover, overexpressing a dominant negative form of RGS4 diminished the inhibitory effects of atrial natriuretic peptide on endothelin-1–stimulated inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate production, [
3
H]leucine incorporation, and atrial natriuretic peptide gene expression. Furthermore, expression and phosphorylation of RGS4 were significantly reduced in the hearts of GC-A knockout (GC-A-KO) mice compared with wild-type mice. For further investigation, we constructed cardiomyocyte-specific RGS4 transgenic mice and crossbred them with GC-A-KO mice. The cardiac RGS4 overexpression in GC-A-KO mice significantly reduced the ratio of heart to body weight (
P
<0.001), cardiomyocyte size (
P
<0.01), and ventricular calcineurin activity (
P
<0.05) to 80%, 76%, and 67% of nontransgenic GC-A-KO mice, respectively. It also significantly suppressed the augmented cardiac expression of hypertrophy-related genes in GC-A-KO mice.

Conclusions—

These results provide evidence that GC-A activates cardiac RGS4, which attenuates Gα
q
and its downstream hypertrophic signaling, and that RGS4 plays important roles in GC-A–mediated inhibition of cardiac hypertrophy.
Prevalence, Predictors, and Prognostic Value of Renal Dysfunction in Adults With Congenital Heart Disease
Authors: Dimopoulos Konstantinos , Diller Gerhard-Paul , Koltsida Evdokia , Pijuan-Domenech Antonia , Papadopoulou Sofia A. , Babu-Narayan Sonya V. , Salukhe Tushar V. , Piepoli Massimo F. , Poole-Wilson Philip A. , Best Nicky , Francis Darrel P. , Gatzoulis Michael A.
Published: April 2008

Background—

Renal insufficiency in patients with ischemic heart disease and acquired heart failure is associated with higher mortality and morbidity. We studied the prevalence of renal dysfunction in adult patients with congenital heart disease (ACHD) and its relation to outcome.

Methods and Results—

A total of 1102 adult patients with congenital heart disease (age 36.0±14.2 years) attending our institution between 1999 and 2006 had creatinine concentration measured. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was calculated with the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease equation. Patients were divided into groups of normal GFR (≥90 mL · min
−1
· 1.73 m
−2
), mildly impaired GFR (60 to 89 mL · min
−1
· 1.73 m
−2
), and moderately/severely impaired GFR (<60 mL · min
−1
· 1.73 m
−2
). Survival was compared between GFR groups by Cox regression. Median follow-up was 4.1 years, during which 103 patients died. Renal dysfunction was mild in 41% of patients and moderate or severe in 9%. A decrease in GFR was more common among patients with Eisenmenger physiology, of whom 72% had reduced GFR (<90 mL · min
−1
· 1.73 m
−2
,
P
<0.0001 compared with the remainder), and in 18%, this was moderate or severe (
P
=0.007). Renal dysfunction had a substantial impact on mortality (propensity score–weighted hazard ratio 3.25, 95% CI 1.54 to 6.86,
P
=0.002 for moderately or severely impaired versus normal GFR).

Conclusions—

Deranged physiology in adult patients with congenital heart disease is not limited to the heart but also affects the kidney. Mortality is 3-fold higher than normal in the 1 in 11 patients who have moderate or severe GFR reduction.
Democracy and Ontology
Authors: Flynn Bernard
Published: April 2008

This paper elaborates a conception of the relationship between Philosophy and the Political which would not be one of exteriority but one of an intertwining between them. An analogy with Rémi Brague, who presents the conditions whereby the concept of 'the world' became a thematic object of reflection (The Wisdom of the World), is proposed to show the emergence of the concept of 'the political.' Following Lefort's philosophy, we trace the emergence of modern democracy with that of the political by claiming that there is an ontological dimension of the political. As the concept of the world could not emerge within a conception of the universe that united man and world in an organic whole, so too the concept of the political cannot emerge when the discourse on power is determined theologically (premodern societies). It is argued that there is an ontological dimension to the revolutions that introduced our political modernity. Modern revolutions are not simply a change in a form of governance; they effect a mutation in the symbolic order of a society by which the political, as such, can become visible. The indetermination of modern democracy corresponds to "the disappearance of the markers of certainty" that characterize the modern experience of the world, an experience that reveals a transformed ontological dimension. This dimension of uncertainty, the experience of the place of power as an "empty place," is contrasted with the totalitarian impulse to fill this empty place with a determinate image, e.g., the Party, the Fürher.
Assessment of Cloud Cover Characteristics in Satellite Datasets and Reanalysis Products for Greenland
Authors: Griggs J. A. , Bamber J. L.
Published: April 2008

Clouds have an important controlling influence on the radiation balance, and hence surface melting, over the Greenland ice sheet and need to be classified to derive reliable albedo estimates from visible imagery. Little is known, however, about the true cloud cover characteristics for the largest island on Earth, Greenland. Here, an attempt is made to address this knowledge gap by examining cloud characteristics, as determined by three complementary satellites sensors: the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), the Along Track Scanning Radiometer-2 (ATSR-2), and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). The first provides a multidecadal time series of clouds, albedo, and surface temperature, and is available, in the form of the extended AVHRR Polar Pathfinder dataset (APP-x), as a homogeneous, consistent dataset from 1982 until 2004. APP-x data, however, are also the most challenging to cloud classify over snow-covered terrain, due to the limited spectral capabilities of the instrument. ATSR-2 permits identification and classification using stereophotogrammetric techniques and MODIS has enhanced spectral sampling in the visible and thermal infrared but over more limited time periods. The spatial cloud fractions from the three sensors are compared and show good agreement in terms of both magnitude and spatial pattern. The cloud fractions, and inferred patterns of accumulation, are then assessed from three commonly used reanalysis datasets: NCEP–NCAR, the second NCEP–Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP-II), and the 40-yr ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-40). Poor agreement between the reanalysis datasets is found. NCEP–DOE AMIP-II produces a cloud fraction similar to that observed by the satellites. NCEP–NCAR and ERA-40, however, bear little similarity to the cloud fractions derived from the satellite observations. This suggests that they may produce poor accumulation estimates over the ice sheet and poor estimates of radiation balance. Using these reanalysis data to force a mass balance model of the ice sheet, without appropriate downscaling and correction for the substantial biases present, may, therefore, produce substantial errors in surface melt rate estimates.
Prolonged Dry Episodes over the Conterminous United States: New Tendencies Emerging during the Last 40 Years
Authors: Groisman Pavel Ya , Knight Richard W.
Published: April 2008

A disproportionate increase in precipitation coming from intense rain events, in the situation of general warming (thus, an extension of the vegetation period with intensive transpiration), and an insignificant change in total precipitation could lead to an increase in the frequency of a potentially serious type of extreme events: prolonged periods without precipitation (even when the mean seasonal rainfall totals increase). This paper investigates whether this development is already occurring during the past several decades over the conterminous United States, for the same period when changes in frequency of intense precipitation events are being observed. Lengthy strings of “dry” days without sizeable (>1.0 mm) precipitation were assessed only during the warm season (defined as a period when mean daily temperature is above the 5°C threshold) when water is intensively used for transpiration and prolonged periods without sizable rainfall represent a hazard for terrestrial ecosystem’s health and agriculture. During the past four decades, the mean duration of prolonged dry episodes (1 month or longer in the eastern United States and 2 months or longer in the southwestern United States) has significantly increased. As a consequence the return period of 1-month-long dry episodes over the eastern United States has reduced more than twofold from 15 to 6–7 yr. The longer average duration of dry episodes has occurred during a relatively wet period across the country but is not observed over the northwestern United States.
Interannual Atmospheric Variability Affects Continental Ice Sheet Simulations on Millennial Time Scales
Authors: Pritchard Michael S. , Bush Andrew B. G. , Marshall Shawn J.
Published: April 2008

To inform the ongoing development of earth system models that aim to incorporate interactive ice, the potential impact of interannual variability associated with synoptic variability and El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) on the evolution of a large continental ice sheet is explored through a series of targeted numerical modeling experiments. Global and North American signatures of ENSO at the LGM are described based on a multidecadal paleoclimate simulation using an atmosphere–ocean general circulation model (AOGCM). Experiments in which a thermomechanical North American ice sheet model (ISM) was forced with persistent LGM ENSO composite anomaly maps derived from the AOGCM showed only modest ice sheet thickness sensitivity to ENSO teleconnections. In contrast, very high model sensitivity was found when North American climate variations were incorporated directly in the ISM as a looping interannual time series. Under this configuration, localized transient cold anomalies in the atmospheric record instigated substantial new ice formation through a dynamically mediated feedback at the ice sheet margin, altering the equilibrium geometry and resulting in a bulk 10% growth of the Laurentide ice sheet volume over 5 kyr.
Possible Role of the Indian Ocean in the In-Phase Transition of the Indian-to-Australian Summer Monsoon
Authors: Wu Renguang
Published: April 2008

Analysis of observations shows that in-phase transitions from the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) to the Australian summer monsoon (ASM) have occurred both in El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and non-ENSO years. The present study investigates possible roles of the Indian Ocean in the in-phase ISM-to-ASM transitions. It is shown that an anomalous ISM leads to sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the tropical Indian Ocean through wind–evaporation effects. The resultant Indian Ocean SST anomalies induce an anomalous ASM of the same sign as the ISM through an anomalous east–west circulation over the eastern Indian Ocean and the Maritime Continent–northern Australia. The results indicate that the in-phase ISM-to-ASM transitions in non-ENSO years can be accomplished through monsoon–Indian Ocean interactions. The results of observational analysis are confirmed with numerical model experiments.
Finding the Neutral Position: Patient and Analyst Perspectives
Authors: Baker Ronald
Published: April 2008

In light of current debates between classical and intersubjective schools of psychoanalysis, the challenge posed by the latter to such basic concepts as the analyst's neutrality, anonymity, and abstinence is taken up. It is maintained that the term neutral position is today more germane and meaningful than the term neutrality, which frequently has been taken to prescribe the analyst's posture. It is proposed that for each patient the neutral position is uniquely sited and that it is incumbent on the analyst to find its location. The neutral position is defined within the context of the interaction between analyst and patient. The concept is therefore compatible with—indeed it is essential to—an intersubjective or relational orientation. The manifold reasons, conscious and unconscious, why the analyst is vulnerable to leaving the neutral position are considered. The patient's reaction to the analyst who has left the neutral position and the analyst's clinical use of this reaction are discussed.
Self-Criticism and the Psychic Surface
Authors: Josephs Lawrence
Published: April 2008

It is postulated that the surface of the mind reflects a variety of shifting self-syntonic and self-dystonic contents striving to achieve a stable homeostatic balance. Shifts between self-syntonic and self-dystonic contents are seen to reflect an underlying intrasystemic conflict within the superego between conflicting superego injunctions. These shifts possess a cyclical quality, as self-syntonic contents become self-dystonic and as self-dystonic contents become self-syntonic. This conceptualization of the psychic surface has implications for a comparative study of psychoanalytic technique and for implementing the technical recommendation to work from surface to depth. It is suggested that the analyst's interpretations become assimilated within cyclical processes of superego reaction and repair.
Love in the Therapeutic Alliance
Authors: Novick Jack , Novick Kerry Kelly
Published: April 2008

Volumes have been written about the patient's love for the therapist, but there has been relatively little discussion of the therapist's love for the patient. In an attempt to create a theoretical and technical space for discussing the appropriateness and role of love in the therapeutic relationship, a revised concept of the therapeutic alliance is applied to provide technical guidelines and understanding of two kinds of love between patient and therapist, corresponding to two systems of self-esteem regulation: an open, reality-oriented system and a closed, sadomasochistic system organized according to omnipotent beliefs. Examples of the role of love through the phases of treatment illustrate the interrelationship of love and the accomplishment of therapeutic alliance tasks.
The Analyst's Witnessing and Otherness
Authors: Poland Warren S.
Published: April 2008

The analyst's active though silent witnessing of the patient's self-inquiry is presented as an essential aspect of the analytic process. Witnessing, though rooted in the analyst's empathy and holding, represents a more advanced development of those functions based on relational maturation from union to self-other differentiation. Self-definition and regard for otherness are seen as intrinsically unitary. Psychoanalytic witnessing is first illustrated and defined, then located as a derivative of negation in the unfolding of the analytic process, next considered in relation to current concerns for intersubjectivity, and finally linked to current shifts in philosophical thought.
On Gratitude and Gratification
Authors: Gabbard Glen O.
Published: April 2008

Expressions of gratitude from the patient may be regarded by the analyst as a much-needed validation or affirmation of competence. The analyst's need for gratitude may be a relatively silent presence when things are going smoothly or when the analyst's efforts are openly appreciated by the patient. Ungrateful patients, however, are likely to force the analyst to confront his or her unconscious background wish to enact a longed-for mode of relatedness as part of the daily work of psychoanalysis. The analyst's wish for a specific form of object relationship involving a selfless, devoted helper and an appreciative patient who acknowledges having been helped may be thwarted by certain patients at every turn, knowing they are depriving the analyst of a particular form of gratification in their work. For patients of this type, failure may mean success. The implications of this particular form of clinical stalemate are outlined, and a clinical example illustrates some of the challenges encountered in psychoanalytic work with ungrateful patients.
The Influence of the Gender of Patient and Analyst in the Psychoanalytic Relationship
Authors: Kernberg Otto F.
Published: April 2008

An overview of current explorations of the influence of gender on the psychoanalytic situation is presented. The topic does not lend itself to simple generalizations because the accumulated experience of several generations of psychoanalysts is now merging with newer views of psychoanalytic technique, while at the same time psychoanalytic theory is being influenced by changing ideological crosscurrents and by new knowledge regarding the similarities and differences in the development of both genders. Major issues still open are the relationship between gender and sexuality and between erotic desire and love; the challenges of the boundary of the psychoanalytic relationship as a facilitating and containing frame for the exploration of oedipal conflicts; and the related temptations, prohibitions, and derivatives of the erotic tension in the transference-countertransference.
Letting Go: Some Thoughts About Termination
Authors: Orgel Shelley
Published: April 2008

Termination of analysis is discussed from three perspectives. First, considered as a vicissitude of the analytic relationship, termination contains essential elements of the psychoanalytic process itself. Cycles of attachment, loss, mourning, and internalization mark moments in, as well as overviews of, every analysis from its beginning to well past its termination. Second, Freud's approach to the subject of termination is explored and widened, with an emphasis on its relation to mourning and on the depth and permanence of analytic transference—two dimensions relatively neglected by Freud, perhaps for personal reasons. Finally, clinical issues are presented that are meaningful to the author in his work with analysands, including his work as a training analyst.
Passion, Countertransference Enactment, and Breakdown in the Psychoanalysis of a Young Woman
Authors: Wegner Peter
Published: April 2008

Transference-countertransference involvement with patients the analyst finds “pleasurable” is examined. Analysis of such patients courts the danger that pathological identifications will go unrecognized and the analysis end at a point where the opportunity for decisive change, which to the patient appears physically and psychically catastrophic, is forgone. A presentation of one aspect of the analysis of a young woman reveals the psychic pain experienced by analysand and analyst when the feared breakdown places a pathological identification in doubt, and the difficulties that can ensue in treatment. Other psychodynamic lines of interpretation and differential diagnostic considerations are put aside in favor of an examination of the special role of enactment and countertransference enactment and their impact in promoting development or strengthening defense.
The Femininization of the Female Oedipal Complex, Part I: a Reconsideration of the Significance of Separation Issues
Authors: Holtzman Deanna , Kulish Nancy
Published: April 2008

Freud's insights about the oedipus complex have been universalized to include the psychology of the girl. The authors argue that this crucial developmental phase for girls has uniquely feminine characteristics that have not been fully recognized or cohesively incorporated into psychoanalytic theories. This paper addresses these differences, which are based on characteristic patterns of object relationships, typical defenses, and social considerations. The authors argue that “female oedipal” is an oxymoron, and propose that this constellation be named “the Persephone complex” after the Greek myth of Persephone, which seems to capture better the typical situation of the little girl. They focus on the issue of separation and its complicated and necessary role in the triangular situation of females. Using illustrations from clinical material, the authors argue that the frequent appearance of separation material linked to triangular heterosexual competitive fantasies can and should be differentiated from material in which ideas about separation stem from dyadic and earlier issues. Misunderstanding how these separation conflicts tie into triangular “oedipal” relationships can lead to a “preoedipalization” of the dynamics of girls and women.
The Adam and Eve Story as Exemplar of an Early-Life Variant of the Oedipus Complex
Authors: Osman Marvin P.
Published: April 2008

The Adam and Eve story is construed as having an organizing function that facilitates the analytic understanding of certain patients. In this interpretation, the story epitomizes a psychodynamic in which progressive growth, with separation and individuation, of the young is experienced as perilous—not only to them, but also correspondingly to their procreators. In the myth, the increasing psychic and physical maturation of Adam and Eve produced a crisis. Not only was divine authority flouted, but also apprehensions were aroused that God might be humbled or diminished. This threatened him, evoking his wrath and leading to the punishment by abandonment of his youthful wards. It is suggested that the story depicts an emotional complex of widespread application and is an archaic version of the oedipus complex, continuous with the oedipus complex proper, but from an earlier stage of development. This archaic complex is delineated with clinical vignettes, and a clinical explication of its various components is provided. Clinical management is considered, particularly with reference to the challenge that a closed-system perspective (Fairbairn 1958) presents to a patient's development.
Treatment of the Older Adult: the Impact On the Psychoanalyst
Authors: Plotkin Frieda
Published: April 2008

Work with the elderly challenges analysts in special ways. The author presents clinical material from her practice and from investigative interviews with nine treating analysts who report personal reactions and countertransferences to analytic work with twelve elderly patients. She concludes that the major challenges in work with the elderly come more from the analyst than from the patients. Issues arising from the analyst's unresolved feelings about aging, parents, loss, and death are revived in the treatment of the elderly in an especially intense form. In this paper many aspects of transference are considered, especially those relating to illness, loss, and the problems that flow from identifications of the older analyst with the patient. The affective reverberations in younger and older analysts with regard to the initiation of analytic treatment, the inevitability of moving in and out of real life crises, the sustaining of loss, and, particularly, the impending termination, are presented in the paper.
Infertility in the Age of Technology
Authors: Zalusky Sharon
Published: April 2008

Rapid advances in medical and biological technologies are changing the ways we are born, live, and die. Biotechnology is pushing us in our notion of what is possible, and tapping into our most primitive omnipotent fantasies. For the most part these new techniques have not yet been integrated into a shared social consciousness. This paper examines, in a case study of a woman who eventually got pregnant with a donor egg and in a shorter case vignette, how the new technology impacts upon the analytic process. Attention is focused on the permeability of the boundaries between analyst and patient and between fantasy and action. The study shows how analyst and patient, together and often for the first time, must face the difficult moral and ethical issues stimulated by such procedures, as well as the anxieties and underlying fantasies they evoke. It is the uniqueness and the intensity of this experience that permeates boundaries, stimulates emotion in patient and analyst alike, and has the potential to deepen the analytic bond. The study underlines the need for the analyst to be flexible, moving back and forth between interpreting and creating a needed holding environment. Finally, the paper points out the tension between the traditional roles of motherhood, fatherhood, and family and those being created in this high-tech world.
Mental Representation, Severe Psychopathology, and the Therapeutic Process
Authors: Blatt Sidney J. , Auerbach John S.
Published: April 2008

Mental representation is a central construct in psychological development. A method for assessing the developmental level of representation of self and significant figures is described, and changes in the developmental level of these representations are reported in a sample of forty seriously disturbed, treatment-resistant adolescents and young adults in intensive, psychoanalytically oriented inpatient treatment lasting more than a year. Increased differentiation-relatedness of descriptions of self and significant figures (mother, father, and therapist) was significantly correlated with improved clinical functioning. Over the course of treatment, representations moved from descriptions of self and significant figures dominated by polarization and splitting to representations involving the emergence and consolidation of object constancy. Improved clinical functioning was correlated with more positive descriptions of self, mother, and therapist and, paradoxically, with more negative descriptions of father. Two prototypical case studies of these self- and significant-figure descriptions are presented, one for a borderline patient and one for a schizophrenic. Intense negative affect, predominantly anger, and a relative preservation of self-reflexivity are typical of the self- and object representations of borderline individuals, but representations in schizophrenic individuals are characterized by affective muting and marked disturbance in reflexive self-awareness. The assessment of cognitive-affective schemas of self and significant others provides a method for investigating therapeutic change and for identifying important differences among various forms of psychopathology.
The Columbia Supervision Project: Data From the Dyad
Authors: Cabaniss Deborah L. , Glick Robert A. , Roose Steven P.
Published: April 2008

Anonymous questionnaires were sent to all candidates and supervisors at the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research (hereafter “Columbia”). Questions focused on the four domains most emphasized in the literature on supervision: logistical issues; the “teach or treat” question; the evaluatory function of the supervisor; and the affective experience of supervision. By coding the questionnaires, anonymity of respondents was maintained while allowing for a matched pair of analyses of supervisors and supervisees. Return rate was over 85 percent. In general, rates of satisfaction with supervision were high, and candidates and supervisors agreed on such issues as the “teach or treat” question, as well as the technical and theoretical frame of reference of the supervisor. However, there were striking disagreements between candidates and supervisors as to the role of the supervisor, what candidates find useful in supervision, the evaluatory function, and the relation between supervision and progression to graduation. Although 50 percent of candidates reported anxiety about receiving credit for cases, this was not routinely discussed in supervision, and the supervisory relationship itself was not discussed in over 50 percent of dyads. Despite high overall satisfaction ratings, 25 percent of candidates said they wished they had a different supervisor for the case, and 75 percent believed that a candidate who asked to switch supervisors would be labeled problematic. In contrast, over 75 percent of supervisors reported that switching supervisors carries no stigma. In a follow-up study conducted one year later, many candidates reported that they feared reprisals for switching, and some reported that their training analysts advised against “rocking the boat.” Candidates felt that participating in the study emboldened them to think more openly about supervision and in some cases to make changes.
Diagnosing the English Patient: Schizoid Fantasies of Being Skinless and of Being Buried Alive
Authors: Doidge Norman
Published: April 2008

The psychological world of The English Patient is explored to deepen the understanding of schizoid states. The protagonist, Almásy, is a remote desert explorer whose triangular sadomasochistic affair with the married Katharine destroys them all. His damaged skin is understood as a symbolic representation of his psychological condition. For the schizoid, love consumes and leads to obliteration of the self, represented by the loss of identifying features, and to traumatic permeability (i.e., the loss of boundaries between self and other, and between the ego and repressed desires). Other schizoid themes are the animation of the inanimate, as in the depiction of the desert as a woman; hidden or buried identities; the digital and destructive experience of emotion represented by the conundrum of the bomb defuser; the sense that everything good is imaginary and might suddenly explode; and the moral unevenness of the characters. Almásy collaborates with the Nazis so he can retrieve Katharine's three-year-old corpse, with which he has necrophilic contact in a cave. Fantasies of the lost object buried within the self, of being buried alive, and of being skinned alive are related to the schizoid condition. Hyperpermeability is proposed as a core schizoid state, underlying schizoid withdrawal.
The Mortality of Psychoanalysts
Authors: Jeffery Edward H.
Published: April 2008

The mortality rate for male psychoanalysts was compared to that for the general white male population; for male physicians; and for male psychiatrists and neurologists. For psychoanalysts the rate was found to be significantly lower than for any of the other three groups. Several possible explanations for this low mortality rate are considered. Two major factors may be the careful screening of candidates for psychoanalytic training and their personal analysis. Possible methods of controlling for these factors are suggested.