bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Oxygen-Limiting Conditions Enrich for Fimbriate Cells of UropathogenicProteus mirabilisandEscherichia coli
Authors: Lane M. Chelsea , Li Xin , Pearson Melanie M. , Simms Amy N. , Mobley Harry L. T.
Published: December 2008

MR/P fimbriae of uropathogenicProteus mirabilisundergo invertible element-mediated phase variation whereby an individual bacterium switches between expressing fimbriae (phase ON) and not expressing fimbriae (phase OFF). Under different conditions, the percentage of fimbriate bacteria within a population varies and could be dictated by either selection (growth advantage of one phase) or signaling (preferentially converting one phase to the other in response to external signals). Expression of MR/P fimbriae increases in a cell-density dependent manner in vitro and in vivo. However, rather than the increased cell density itself, this increase in fimbrial expression is due to an enrichment of fimbriate bacteria under oxygen limitation resulting from increased cell density. Our data also indicate that the persistence of MR/P fimbriate bacteria under oxygen-limiting conditions is a result of both selection (of MR/P fimbrial phase variants) and signaling (via modulation of expression of the MrpI recombinase). Furthermore, themrpJtranscriptional regulator encoded within themrpoperon contributes to phase switching. Type 1 fimbriae ofEscherichia coli, which are likewise subject to phase variation via an invertible element, also increase in expression during reduced oxygenation. These findings provide evidence to support a mechanism for persistence of fimbriate bacteria under oxygen limitation, which is relevant to disease progression within the oxygen-restricted urinary tract.
Genome Sequence of the
Wolbachia
Endosymbiont of
Culex quinquefasciatus
JHB
Authors: Salzberg Steven L. , Puiu Daniela , Sommer Daniel D. , Nene Vish , Lee Norman H.
Published: December 2008

Wolbachia
species are endosymbionts of a wide range of invertebrates, including mosquitoes, fruit flies, and nematodes. The
w
Pip strains can cause cytoplasmic incompatibility in some strains of the
Culex
mosquito. Here we describe the genome sequence of a
Wolbachia
strain that was discovered in the whole-genome sequencing data for the mosquito
Culex quinquefasciatus
strain JHB.
COMPETING FOR ENDOGENOUS INFORMATION IN AN IRREVERSIBLE ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCE PROBLEM: A GAME-THEORETIC ANALYSIS
Authors: ATTANASI GIUSEPPE , MONTESANO ALDO
Published: December 2008

The paper analyzes strategic behavior in a two-stage environmental choice problem under different information scenarios. Given uncertainty about environmental cost and irreversibility of development, "learning without destroying" emerges from strategic competition when information is endogenous and publicly available. This happens since agents trade off the higher payoff of being the first-mover against the potentially free acquisition of endogenous information without developing their own environmental endowment. We prove that in a 2X2 dynamic environmental game with payoff uncertainty and irreversibility publicly available endogenous information could lead players to destroy less in aggregate terms with respect to the case in which information is exogenous.
CONFLICT AND COOPERATION IN SYMMETRIC POTENTIAL GAMES
Authors: MALLOZZI LINA , TIJS STEF
Published: December 2008

In this paper we consider a special class of n-person potential games and investigate partial cooperation between a portion of the players that sign a cooperative agreement. Existence results of partial cooperative equilibria are obtained and some possible applications are discussed, particularly a Cournot oligopoly and an international water resources management model.
MODULAR REDUCTION OF THE STEINBERG LATTICE OF THE GENERAL LINEAR GROUP
Authors: SZECHTMAN FERNANDO
Published: December 2008

Each factor of the natural filtration of the modular reduction of the Steinberg representation of the general linear group is shown to be completely reducible and the entire modular reduction is shown to be multiplicity free.
ON THE WITT INDEX OF THE BILINEAR FORM DETERMINED BY A LEONARD PAIR
Authors: TANG GANG , TAN YOUJUN
Published: December 2008

Let a,b,d be nonnegative integers such that a + b = d + 1. Let ℝ be the field of real numbers. We prove that there is always a Leonard pair A, A⋆ of d + 1 by d + 1 matrices over ℝ such that the associated bilinear form of P. Terwilliger on ℝd + 1 has the Witt index a - b.
A λ-CUT APPROXIMATE ALGORITHM FOR GOAL-BASED BILEVEL RISK MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Authors: GAO YA , ZHANG GUANGQUAN , LU JIE , DILLON THARAM , ZENG XIANYI
Published: December 2008

Bilevel programming techniques are developed for decentralized decision problems with decision makers located in two levels. Both upper and lower decision makers, termed as leader and follower, try to optimize their own objectives in solution procedure but are affected by those of the other levels. When a bilevel decision model is built with fuzzy coefficients and the leader and/or follower have goals for their objectives, we call it fuzzy goal bilevel (FGBL) decision problem. This paper first proposes a λ-cut set based FGBL model. A programmable λ-cut approximate algorithm is then presented in detail. Based on this algorithm, a FGBL software system is developed to reach solutions for FGBL decision problems. Finally, two examples are given to illustrate the application of the proposed algorithm.
VEHICLE ROUTE OPTIMIZATION FOR RFID INTEGRATED WASTE COLLECTION SYSTEM
Authors: USTUNDAG ALP , CEVİKCAN EMRE
Published: December 2008

Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) technology has been in use for several decades to track and identify goods, assets, and even living things. Recently, however, RFID has generated widespread corporate interest as a means to waste management performance. In this paper, a vehicle routing model for waste collection is developed. The model not only uses precise data with respect to both quantity and location via RFID technology, but also includes single vehicle with a pre-determined capacity, multiple tours, and locations with deterministic waste quantities. Then a numerical example is solved via Dash Optimization XPress Solver to find an optimal route considering the locations of waste bins and the waste quantities. The impact of changing waste quantity on the operation cost is investigated considering the distance of the waste bins using variance analysis (ANOVA). With this method, municipality authorities can better manage itineraries and manpower, and have a monitoring system for the volume of the waste produced in the region of their responsibility.
BENCHMARKING THE OPERATING EFFICIENCY OF GLOBAL TELECOMMUNICATION FIRMS
Authors: LU WEN-MIN , HUNG SHIU-WAN
Published: December 2008

The rapid development of modern information technology has led to fierce competition in today's telecommunication industry. Telecommunication firms' accountability demands that operating efficiency be measured, maximized, and benchmarked. This study proposes an alternative context-dependent data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique to explore the managerial performance and the benchmarks of 24 global leading telecom operators. The analysis measures the relative attractiveness and progress of global telecom operators on a specific performance level against operators exhibiting poorer and/or better performance. The set operators are grouped into different levels of efficiency frontiers. Each efficiency frontier on a specific performance level is then used as an evaluation context for the relative attractiveness and progress. The performance of the efficient telecoms changes as the inefficient telecoms change their performance. It is shown that the context-dependent DEA can be used to differentiate and benchmark the performance of efficient DMUs. These benchmarks may give a first guideline for performance improvement of global telecommunication operators.
WEB MINING: A SURVEY OF CURRENT RESEARCH, TECHNIQUES, AND SOFTWARE
Authors: ZHANG QINGYU , SEGALL RICHARD S.
Published: December 2008

The purpose of this paper is to provide a more current evaluation and update of web mining research and techniques available. Current advances in each of the three different types of web mining are reviewed in the categories of web content mining, web usage mining, and web structure mining. For each tabulated research work, we examine such key issues as web mining process, methods/techniques, applications, data sources, and software used. Unlike previous investigators, we divide web mining processes into the following five subtasks: (1) resource finding and retrieving, (2) information selection and preprocessing, (3) patterns analysis and recognition, (4) validation and interpretation, and (5) visualization. This paper also reports the comparisons and summaries of selected software for web mining. The web mining software selected for discussion and comparison in this paper are SPSS Clementine, Megaputer PolyAnalyst, ClickTracks by web analytics, and QL2 by QL2 Software Inc. Applications of these selected web mining software to available data sets are discussed together with abundant presentations of screen shots, as well as conclusions and future directions of the research.
A DESCRIPTIVE FRAMEWORK FOR THE FIELD OF DATA MINING AND KNOWLEDGE DISCOVERY
Authors: PENG YI , KOU GANG , SHI YONG , CHEN ZHENGXIN
Published: December 2008

Despite the rapid development, the field of data mining and knowledge discovery (DMKD) is still vaguely defined and lack of integrated descriptions. This situation causes difficulties in teaching, learning, research, and application. This paper surveys a large collection of DMKD literature to provide a comprehensive picture of current DMKD research and classify these research activities into high-level categories using grounded theory approach; it also evaluates the longitudinal changes of DMKD research activities during the last decade.
QUANTUM KEY DISTRIBUTION WITH CLASSICAL ALICE
Authors: LU HUA , CAI QING-YU
Published: December 2008

It seems that quantum key distribution (QKD) may be completely insecure when the message sender Alice always encodes her key bits in a fixed basis. In this paper, we present a QKD protocol with classical Alice, i.e. Alice always encodes her key bit in the {|0〉,|1〉} basis (we call it classical {0,1} basis) and the eavesdropper Eve knows this fact. We prove that our protocol is completely robust against any eavesdropping attack and present the amount of tolerable noise against Eve's individual attack. Next, we present a QKD protocol to demonstrate that secure key bits can be distributed even if neither Alice nor Bob has quantum capacities, and extend this idea to a QKD network protocol with numerous parties who have only classical capacities. Finally, we discuss that quantum is necessary in QKD for security reasons, but both Alice and Bob may be classical.
QUANTUM TELEPORTATION VIA 1D OPTICAL LATTICE CHAINS WITH NONLINEAR COUPLING
Authors: GUO JIN-LIANG , SONG JIE , SONG HE-SHAN
Published: December 2008

We study quantum teleportation by using 1D optical lattice for two particles with nonlinear coupling in an external uniform magnetic field as resources via the standard teleportation protocol T0. The effects of linear coupling J, nonlinear coupling K and magnetic field B on the average fidelity are investigated in detail. It is found that increasing |K| is not only very helpful for enhancing the average fidelity, but also beneficial to improving the critical temperature Tf and magnetic field Bf, beyond which quantum teleportation is inferior to classical communication protocol.
ENHANCING STATIONARY ENTANGLEMENT OF TWO QUBITS OR QUTRITS BY COLLECTIVELY INTERACTING WITH A COMMON THERMAL RESERVOIR
Authors: LI SHANG-BIN , XU JING-BO
Published: December 2008

The stationary entanglement and Bell violation of two qubits collectively interacting with a common thermal reservoir is investigated, and the analytical relations among average thermal photon number of the reservoir, entanglement and Bell violation of two qubits are given in detail. The initial fraction of Bell singlet state determines whether the common thermal reservoir can enhance the entanglement of two qubits or not in this case. Moreover, the stationary maximally entangled mixed state can emerge in the collective decay of two qubits in a thermal reservoir at zero-temperature only if the fraction of Bell singlet state in the initial state is not smaller than 2/3. Furthermore, it is shown that the collective decay can induce the entanglement of two qutrits initially in the maximally mixed state, and induce distillable entanglement from bound entangled states.
PROBABILISTIC REMOTELY PREPARING AN ARBITRARY TWO-PARTICLE ENTANGLED STATE VIA POSITIVE OPERATOR-VALUED MEASURE
Authors: HOU KUI , WANG JING , SHI SHOU-HUA
Published: December 2008

By means of the method of the positive operator-valued measure, two schemes to remotely prepare an arbitrary two-particle entangled state were presented. The first scheme uses a one-dimensional four-particle non-maximally entangled cluster state while the second one uses two partially entangled two-particle states as the quantum channel. For both schemes, if Alice performs two-particle projective measurements and Bob adopts positive operator-valued measure, the remote state preparation can be successfully realized with certain probability. The success probability of the remote state preparation and classical communication cost are calculated. It is shown that Bob can obtain the unknown state with probability 1/4 for maximally entangled state. However, for four kinds of special states, the success probability of preparation can be enhanced to unity.
LIMIT THEOREMS FOR QUANTUM WALKS DRIVEN BY MANY COINS
Authors: SEGAWA ETSUO , KONNO NORIO
Published: December 2008

We obtain some rigorous results on limit theorems for quantum walks driven by many coins introduced by Brun et al. in the long time limit. The results imply that whether the behavior of a particle is quantum or classical depends on the three factors: the initial qubit, the number of coins M, d = [t/M], where t is time step. Our main theorem shows that we can see a transition from classical behavior to quantum one for a class of three factors.
Geometric and quantum methods for information retrieval
Authors: Li Yaoyong , Cunningham Hamish
Published: December 2008

This paper reviews the recent developments in applying geometric and quantum mechanics methods for information retrieval and natural language processing. It discusses the interesting analogies between components of information retrieval and quantum mechanics. It then describes some quantum mechanics phenomena found in the conventional data analysis and in the psychological experiments for word association. It also presents the applications of the concepts and methods in quantum mechanics such as quantum logic and tensor product to document retrieval and meaning of composite words, respectively. The purpose of the paper is to give the state of the art on and to draw attention of the IR community to the geometric and quantum methods and their potential applications in IR and NLP.
A large time-aware web graph
Authors: Boldi Paolo , Santini Massimo , Vigna Sebastiano
Published: December 2008

We describe the techniques developed to gather and distribute in a highly compressed, yet accessible, form a series of twelve snapshot of the .uk web domain. Ad hoc compression techniques made it possible to store the twelve snapshots using just 1:9 bits per link, with constant-time access to temporal information. Our collection makes it possible to study the temporal evolution link-based scores (e.g., PageRank), the growth of online communities, and in general time-dependent phenomena related to the link structure.
Compressed collections for simulated crawling
Authors: Orlandi Alessio , Vigna Sebastiano
Published: December 2008

Collections are a fundamental tool for reproducible evaluation of information retrieval techniques. We describe a new method for distributing the document lengths and term counts (a.k.a. within-document frequencies) of a web snapshot in a highly compressed and nonetheless quickly accessible form. Our main application is reproducibility of the behaviour of focused crawlers: by coupling our collection with the corresponding web graph compressed with WebGraph [3] we make it possible to apply text-based machine learning tools to the collection, while keeping the data set footprint small. We describe a collection based on a crawl of 100 Mpages of the .uk domain, publicly available in bundle with a Java open-source implementation of our techniques.
Report on the SIGIR 2008 workshop on focused retrieval
Authors: Kamps Jaap , Geva Shlomo , Trotman Andrew
Published: December 2008

On July 24, 2008 the SIGIR Workshop on Focused Retrieval was held as part of SIGIR in Singapore. Nine paper were presented in three sessions and in a fourth session--joint with the SIGIR 2008 Workshop on Aggregate Search--there was a panel discussion. The report outlines the events of the workshop and summarizes the major outcomes.
People search in the enterprise
Authors: Balog Krisztian
Published: December 2008

The enormous increase in recent years in the amount of information available online has led to a renewed interest in a broad range of IR-related areas that go beyond plain document retrieval. Some of this new attention has fallen on a subset of IR tasks, in particular on entity retrieval tasks. This emerging area differs from traditional document retrieval in a number of ways. Entities are not represented directly (as retrievable units such as documents), and we need to identify them "indirectly" through occurrences in documents. This brings new, exciting challenges to the fields of Information Retrieval and Information Extraction. In this thesis we focus on one particular type of entity: people.
Low-cost and robust evaluation of information retrieval systems
Authors: Carterette Benjamin A.
Published: December 2008

Research in Information Retrieval has progressed against a background of rapidly increasing corpus size and heterogeneity, with every advance in technology quickly followed by a desire to organize and search more unstructured, more heterogeneous, and even bigger corpora. But as retrieval problems get larger and more complicated, evaluating the ranking performance of a retrieval engine gets harder: evaluation requires human judgments of the relevance of documents to queries, and for very large corpora the cost of acquiring these judgments may be insurmountable. This cost limits the types of problems researchers can study as well as the data they can be studied on.

We present methods for understanding performance differences between retrieval engines in the presence of missing and noisy relevance judgments. The work introduces a model of the cost of experimentation that incorporates the cost of human judgments as well as the cost of drawing incorrect conclusions about differences between engines in both the training and testing phases of engine development. Through adopting a view of evaluation that is more concerned with distributions over performance differences rather than estimates of absolute performance, the expected cost can be minimized so as to reliably differentiate between engines with less than 1% of the human effort that has been used in past experiments.
Server characterisation and selection for personal metasearch
Authors: Thomas Paul
Published: December 2008

A single search interface to all a person's digital resources, such as email archives, corporate databases, websites, and subscription services, is appealing but a central index of all private, corporate, subscription and web data is impractical. A metasearch approach can instead integrate any number of existing search services over a variety of data.
Programming languages in a liberal arts education
Authors: Bruce Kim , Freund Stephen N.
Published: December 2008

Liberal arts curricula emphasize breadth of a student's educational experience, critical reasoning, and intellectual discourse to a greater degree than pre-professional training or engineering programs. This substantially impacts how the topic of programming languages (and computer science in general) is taught. We highlight some key aspects of teaching programming languages in a liberal arts program, and we discuss why we believe this approach prepares students for problems they will encounter throughout their careers.
Programming languages as part of core computer science
Authors: Bruce Kim , Freund Stephen N.
Published: December 2008

While the programming languages course played a key role in Curricula '68, '78, and '91, Curriculum 2001 replaced most of the content in programming languages with sections on learning to program. We argue that the need for a programming languages course has not diminished, but instead increased, especially as we move into an era of many-core computing.
We need more than one
Authors: Fisher Kathleen
Published: December 2008

Over the course of their careers, students will need to master a number of diverse programming languages because different languages are best suited to different tasks and because the set of "popular" languages evolves over time. In addition, sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to invent a little language particular to the task. Students need to be able to evaluate which languages to use for which tasks and whether to design a domain-specific language. Consequently, it is critical that students develop a sophisticated understanding of programming languages during their undergraduate studies.
Languages and performance engineering
Authors: Lea Doug , Bacon David F. , Grove David
Published: December 2008

Programs encounter increasingly complex and fragile mappings to computing platforms, resulting in performance characteristics that are often mysterious to students, practitioners, and even researchers. We discuss some steps toward an experimental methodology that demands and provides a deep understanding of complete systems, the necessary instrumentation and tools to support such a methodology, and a curriculum that teaches the methodology and tools as a fundamental part of the discipline.
Programming language concepts for software developers
Authors: Sestoft Peter
Published: December 2008

This note describes and motivates our current plans for an undergraduate course on programming language concepts for software development students. We describe the competences we expect students to acquire as well as the topics covered by the course. We plan to use C# and Scheme as instruction languages, and will study the implementation of Java and C# with their underlying platforms, the Java Virtual Machine and .NET Common Language Runtime. We emphasize implementation exercises and experiments. This comes at the expense of classical compiler course subjects such as register allocation and optimization of imperative loop-intensive code.
An aspect-oriented approach to the undergraduate programming language curriculum
Authors: Sheldon Mark A. , Turbak Franklyn
Published: December 2008

Three key forces are shaping the modern Computer Science (CS) curriculum: (1) new topics/courses are squeezing out existing ones; (2) a focus on "big picture" and interdisciplinary aspects of CS is leading to curricula in which the traditional core courses + electives model is being superseded by a more flexible approach based on tracks/threads; and (3) project-based courses are increasingly relying on a notion of
just-in-time
teaching in which particular skills are not bundled into a particular course, but are covered at a point when they are needed for particular project work.

The undergraduate programming language curriculum is feeling the pressure of these forces. Core courses on programming languages and compilers are being changed to electives, relegated to a software/systems track, or phased out altogether. Particular programming languages and programming language concepts are being taught in a more piecemeal fashion on an as-needed basis. Unfortunately, these changes make it increasingly likely that CS majors can graduate without being exposed to certain "big ideas" of programming languages.

Programming languages (along with many other subdisciplines of CS) contains ideas that every well-educated computer scientist needs to know and which are relevant to a wide variety of projects/careers. In a CS curriculum based on tracks and projects, how can we ensure that vital intellectual components are not lost in the shuffle?

One way to think about this problem is to view the CS curriculum as a collection of
aspects
that can be combined in different arrangements to produce various projects/courses. In this paper, we consider the benefits and challenges of an aspect-oriented view of the CS curriculum, particularly in regard to programming language concepts.
Programming languages
Authors: Wand Mitchell , Friedman Daniel P.
Published: December 2008

In this white paper, we propose a list of essential concepts of programming languages, and discuss the techniques we have used to teach these concepts.
Basic properties of the IPv6 AS-level topology
Authors: Eddy Wesley M.
Published: December 2008

Several well-known measurement studies have revealed aspects of the Internet's AS-level and router-level topologies, and derived a few important properties. This has yielded graph models and parameter ranges that allow for greater confidence in simulation of new protocols as well as a deeper understanding of the Internet's structure and similarity to other types of technological, biological, economic, and social networks. The majority of Internet topology studies have been focused on the IPv4 portion of the Internet, and at this time relatively few observations of the Internet's IPv6 topology have been published. In this report, we use over three years of data gathered in the Route Views archives to describe some basic properties of the IPv6 AS-level topology. We find similarities with the IPv4 AS graph in several regards, including the small-world nature of the graph. We also find some interesting differences, including the values of the graph's diameter and the criticality of a few well-connected nodes.
Increases in Antihypertensive Prescriptions and Reductions in Cardiovascular Events in Canada
Authors: Campbell Norm R.C. , Brant Rollin , Johansen Helen , Walker Robin L. , Wielgosz Andreas , Onysko Jay , Gao Ru-Nie , Sambell Christie , Phillips Stephen , McAlister Finlay A.
Published: December 2008

The Canadian Hypertension Education Program, an extensive professional education program to improve the management of hypertension, was started in 1999. There were very large increases in diagnosis and treatment of hypertension in the first 4 years after initiation of the program. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between the changes in antihypertensive therapy with changes in hospitalization and death from major hypertension-related cardiovascular diseases in Canada between 1992 and 2003. Using various national databases, Canadian standardized yearly mortality and hospitalization rates per 1000 for stroke, heart failure, and acute myocardial infarction were calculated for individuals aged ≥20 years and regressed against antihypertensive prescription rates. Changes in rates were examined in a time series analysis. There were significant reductions (
P
<0.0001) in the rate of death from stroke, heart failure, and myocardial infarction starting in 1999. There was also a reduction in hospitalization rate from stroke (
P
<0.0001) and heart failure (
P
<0.0001) but not myocardial infarction in 1999. The changes in death (
P
<0.001 for all 3 diseases) and hospitalization (
P
<0.0001 for stroke and heart failure;
P
=0.018 for acute myocardial infarction) were associated with the increases in antihypertensive prescriptions. This study demonstrates that the reduction in cardiovascular death and hospitalization rates is associated with an increase in antihypertensive prescriptions and that it coincides with the introduction of the Canadian Hypertension Education Program. The Canadian Hypertension Education Program educational model for improving health care could be adopted by other countries with well-developed professional and scientific societies.
Sleep Modulates Hypertension in Leptin-Deficient Obese Mice
Authors: Silvani Alessandro , Bastianini Stefano , Berteotti Chiara , Franzini Carlo , Lenzi Pierluigi , Lo Martire Viviana , Zoccoli Giovanna
Published: December 2008

Leptin increases sympathetic activity, possibly contributing to hypertension in obese subjects. Hypertension increases cardiovascular mortality, with nighttime (sleep) blood pressure having a substantial prognostic value. We measured blood pressure in male leptin-deficient obese mice (ob/ob; n=7) and their lean wild-type littermates (+/+; n=11) during wakefulness, non–rapid-eye-movement sleep, and rapid-eye-movement sleep to investigate whether, in the absence of leptin, derangements of blood pressure are still associated with obesity and depend on the wake-sleep state. Mice were implanted with a telemetric pressure transducer and electrodes for discriminating wake-sleep states. Mean blood pressure was significantly higher in ob/ob than in +/+ mice during wakefulness (7.3±2.6 mm Hg) and non–rapid-eye-movement sleep (6.7±2.8 mm Hg) but not during rapid-eye-movement sleep (2.6±2.6 mm Hg). In ob/ob and +/+ mice, mean blood pressure was substantially higher during wakefulness than during non–rapid-eye-movement sleep. On passing from non–rapid-eye-movement sleep to rapid-eye-movement sleep, mean blood pressure decreased significantly in ob/ob but not in +/+ mice. The time spent during wakefulness was lower in ob/ob than in +/+ mice during the dark (active) period, whereas the opposite occurred during the light (rest) period. Consequently, mean blood pressure was significantly higher in ob/ob than in +/+ mice during the light (8.2±2.4 mm Hg) but not during the dark (3.0±2.9 mm Hg) period. These data suggest that, in the absence of leptin, obesity may entail hypertensive derangements of blood pressure, which are substantially modulated by the cardiovascular effects of the wake-sleep states.
The Perspective of Ebina Danjō's Japanized Christianity: A Historical Case Study
Authors: Iwai Shuma
Published: December 2008

This article approaches the topic of Japanese Christianity during the Meiji era (1868-1912). Missionaries introduced Protestant Christianity to the Japanese people after the end of Japanese national seclusion, and many of them converted to Christianity. This paper particularly focuses on Ebina Danjō, a Japanese theologian and a Christian leader. It examines his syncretistic Christianity, in which he combined some Japanese traditional religions with Christianity. This study first presents a historical background of Christianity in Japan during the Meiji era and biographical information of Ebina Danjō. It then explores Ebina's formation of his theological foundation. Finally, it discusses and evaluates how he established syncretistic Christianity.
Local Unity and Global Communion: An Analysis of the Ecumenical Scene in African Roman Catholicism
Authors: Uzochukwu Peter Uche
Published: December 2008

Correlating the general ecumenical directory from Rome and that of the Southern African region, both within the Catholic Church, the current study tends to bring to the fore, once again, the tension that exists between the local and universal spheres of the church. If the tension is not properly balanced up, the pursuit of global vision might tend to dwarf grassroots initiatives; thus engendering a dilemma of interests or a split in fidelities, especially among young churches like those in Africa. To realise their full essence, as I intend to posit here, however, both global policies and local praxis should mutually complement each other; empowering genuine and enriching diversity at the grass roots without disconnecting same from the global goal of the ecumenical movement.
Residents' Perceptions towards the Impacts of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
Authors: Zhou Yong , Ap John
Published: December 2008

The aim of this article is to identify and examine the host residents' perceptions towards a mega event, the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, and its impacts. An impact scale comprising 20 impact items with four factors—social-psychological impacts, urban development impacts, economic development impacts, and social life impacts—was developed. It was found that the majority of respondents perceived the impacts of the 2008 Games very positively, particularly for those related to the social-psychological, urban development, and economic development factors. Residents' perceptions towards some social life impacts (e.g., overcrowding, higher prices) were mixed. Based on their different social representations (i.e., perceptions towards the impacts of the Games), residents were classified into two groups: “embracers” and “tolerators.” The three most significant factors that influenced residents' perceptions towards the Beijing 2008 Olympics were residents' perceptions/attitudes about government performance, their preference of more tourism development, and tourism-industry work experience.
Functional or Fantasy? Examining the Implications of Subjective Temporal Perspective “Trajectories” for Life Satisfaction
Authors: Busseri Michael A. , Choma Becky L. , Sadava Stan W.
Published: December 2008

In a 5-year longitudinal study of young community adults, the authors examined subjective temporal perspective (STP) “trajectories” derived from ratings of past, present, and anticipated future life satisfaction (LS) collected at two time points. Upward STP trajectories (past < present < future LS) were normative at both time points. Opposing hypotheses were derived from the literature concerning the potential positive versus negative implications of upward STP trajectories. Using latent trajectory modeling, individual differences in STP trajectories were examined in relation to mental, physical, and interpersonal functioning as well as future satisfaction bias (over- vs. underestimation of future LS). Steeper upward STP trajectories were associated with less positive functioning, both concurrently and prospectively, as well as greater future satisfaction bias. Therefore, rather than representing a realistic, adaptive form of self-enhancement, steep upward STP trajectories for LS appeared to be a form of fantasizing and wishful thinking, associated with distress, dissatisfaction, and dysfunction.
Information asymmetry and product valuation: an exploratory study
Authors: Afzal Waseem , Roland Daniel , Mohammad Nasser Al-Squri
Published: December 2008

This paper reports on the impact of information asymmetry on product valuation. One group of subjects was provided with symmetric information, while a different group was given asymmetric information; the subjects were then asked to value an information technology product. The study found that there was a significant difference in the valuations of the two groups. The group with the symmetric information valued the product highly and in close proximity to the real worth of the product, while the group with asymmetric information undervalued the product. The current study offers a new perspective for information science and an interesting avenue for future research, which, if pursued, can enrich our understanding of human information interaction and valuation processes.
Blood Pressure Management in Acute Head Injury
Authors: Trivedi Monica , Coles Jonathan P.
Published: December 2008

Head injury remains a major cause of preventable death and serious morbidity in young adults. Based on the available evidence, it appears that a cerebral perfusion pressure of 50 to 70 mm Hg is generally adequate to ensure cerebral oxygen delivery and prevent ischemia. However, evidence suggests that perfusion requirements may not only vary across the injured brain but also differ depending on the time since injury. Such heterogeneity, both within and between subjects, suggests that individualized therapy may be an appropriate treatment strategy. Future studies should aim to assess which groups of patients, and what regional pathophysiological derangements, may benefit with improvements in functional outcome from therapeutic increases or decreases in cerebral perfusion pressure beyond these proposed limits. Such functional improvements may be of immense importance to patients and require formal neurocognitive assessments to discriminate improvements.
Changing Pace
Authors: Burke Valeras Aimee
Published: December 2008

Working with death often results in personal distancing from confronting mortality. This article examines the negotiation of professional and personal experiences with death. Losing a beloved elderly neighbor exposes how being female, single, elderly, childless, and poor makes the dying person vulnerable to the cold harshness of the medicalization of death.
Words Are a Place to Stand
Authors: Swart Elizabeth
Published: December 2008

The study analyzes 5 months of daily journal entries by young women residing in Kibera, the largest slum in sub-Saharan Africa. The findings are similar to previous findings about young women in impoverished urban environments, revealing few female support networks among this population. However, results show many supportive, one-to-one relationships between among women, indicating that poverty and socialization may impede larger networks that could otherwise occur. They also reveal flexible relationships between so-called street and non-street women as well as the use of journals to create a private space in an otherwise completely public existence.
Dyspnea—A Bad Prognosis Symptom at the End of Life
Authors: Cuervo Pinna Miguel Ángel , Mota Vargas Rafael , Redondo Moralo María José , Sánchez Correas Miguel Ángel , Pera Blanco Guillem
Published: December 2008

Purposes: Dyspnea as refractory symptom leading to sedation at the end of life and the place of death. Survival study in population with dyspnea.

Methods: Longitudinal study of terminally ill patients in a year (n = 195). We divided populations as (a) population with dyspnea: prevalent and incident dyspnea and (b) population without dyspnea. We used the statistical program Stata9 (Kaplan-Meier and Cox logistic regression models).

Results: The probability of being sedated was 5 times higher in population with dyspnea. Dying in hospital odds ratio was 2.13 in patients with dyspnea. The average survival time was 52 days in patients with dyspnea and 69 in non-dyspnea patients. The average survival was similar between both groups. Patients with incident dyspnea showed a higher average survival than those with prevalent dyspnea.

Conclusions: The connection between dyspnea and sedation was clearly shown. There were significant differences between prevalent dyspnea and incident dyspnea groups.
Pornography Use as a Risk Marker for an Aggressive Pattern of Behavior Among Sexually Reactive Children and Adolescents
Authors: Alexy Eileen M. , Burgess Ann W. , Prentky Robert A.
Published: December 2008

Sexually reactive children and adolescents (SRCAs), sometimes referred to as juvenile sexual offenders, may be more vulnerable and likely to experience damaging effects from pornography use because they are a high-risk group for a variety of aggressive behaviors. The purpose of this study is to describe the characteristics of those who use pornography and those who do not and to examine the associations between pornography use and aggressive behaviors among SRCAs. This secondary analysis used a descriptive, exploratory design to study 160 SRCAs. Chi-square and individual odds ratio analyses were employed to examine the associations between use of pornography and aggressive behaviors. SRCAs who used pornography were more likely to display aggressive behaviors than their nonusing cohort. Recommendations for nurses and mental health professionals encountering these children and adolescents are offered. J Am Psychiatr Nurses Assoc, 2009; 14(6), 442-453.
A Biobehavioral Model for the Study of Exercise Interventions in Cancer-related Fatigue
Authors: Al-Majid Sadeeka , Gray D. Patricia
Published: December 2008

Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is a multifactorial, biobehavioral phenomenon experienced by the majority of persons with cancer. It has negative consequences on the individual's physical functioning and quality of life. An array of biological, psychobehavioral, and functional mechanisms contributes to its occurrence. A relatively large number of studies have examined the effect of physical exercise on CRF over the past few decades. Most of these studies did not specifically examine the effect of physical exercise on the biobehavioral mechanisms underlying CRF. For the most part, these studies have not been guided by a consistent theoretical model. Consequently, the mechanisms by which exercise may ameliorate CRF are not fully elucidated. A theoretical model incorporating fatigue-related biobehavioral variables that could be affected by physical exercise will allow for effective knowledge development in this area and could lead to the development and refinement of exercise protocols that specifically target these mechanisms. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive theoretical model to guide future research on the effectiveness of exercise interventions in CRF. The proposed model incorporates the biological, psychobehavioral, and functional variables implicated in the induction of CRF.
Some Academics Try to Push Back: Ward Churchill, the War on Truth, and the Improbabilities of Interruption
Authors: King C. Richard
Published: December 2008

In this essay, the author outlines the limits of critical inquiry in the wake of 9/11 through a close reading of public reaction to Ward Churchill and his essay “Some People Push Back.” Following an overview of the public panic and its fallout, the author details the forces and feelings that have converged to contain academic freedom and public intellectuals. Against this background, the author unpacks the key terms and tactics employed to delegitimize Churchill, highlighting the important intersection of the moral rhetoric of the cultural wars with the colonial discourse of the war on terror around the notion of civilization and those hostile to it.
The Pulpless Generation: Why Young People Don't Protest the Iraq War (or Anything Else), and Why It's Not Entirely Their Fault
Authors: Agger Ben
Published: December 2008

Young people today appear politically inactive. Is this so? The Obama phenomenon suggests otherwise. This article examines subpolitical or prepolitical activism on the part of the young—their politics conducted outside traditional political boundaries. I also read young people's frenetic text messaging, instant messaging and MySpacing as literary and even political activities worth considering. Young people have been off the social-science radar for too long, and this article seeks to remedy that.
An Annotated Bibliography of Works by John Beard
Authors: Moss Ralph W.
Published: December 2008

This article provides a bibliography of the scientific publications of John Beard, DSc (1858-1924). Beard was an English embryologist and cancer researcher of the late 19th and early 20th century, who devised the trophoblastic theory of cancer, a forerunner of today's theory of cancer stem cells. Beard was the author of more than 100 scientific articles and monographs, as well as the book The Enzyme Treatment of Cancer (1911). This is the first bibliography ever compiled of his scientific publications.
Proteolytic Enzyme Therapy in Evidence-Based Complementary Oncology: Fact or Fiction?
Authors: Beuth Josef
Published: December 2008

Systemic enzyme therapy was recently subjected to experimental investigations and to rigorous clinical studies in cancer patients. The designs of the relevant clinical cohort studies followed the guidelines of Good Epidemiological Practice and represent level IIB in evidence-based medicine (EBM). Scientifically sound experimental in vitro and in vivo investigations are far advanced and document promising immunological, anti-inflammatory, anti-infectious, and antitumor/antimetastatic activities of proteolytic enzyme mixtures (containing trypsin, chymotrypsin, and papain) or bromelain. EBM level II clinical studies, which are accepted by the European Union to show safety and efficacy of medical treatments, were performed to evaluate the benefit of complementary systemic enzyme therapy in cancer patients suffering from breast and colorectal cancers and plasmacytoma. These studies demonstrated that systemic enzyme therapy significantly decreased tumor-induced and therapy-induced side effects and complaints such as nausea, gastrointestinal complaints, fatigue, weight loss, and restlessness and obviously stabilized the quality of life. For plasmacytoma patients, complementary systemic enzyme therapy was shown to increase the response rates, the duration of remissions, and the overall survival times. These promising data resulted in an “orphan drug status” designation for a systemic enzyme product, which should motivate further studies on this complementary treatment.
The development of a mini-array for estimating the disease state of gastric adenocarcinoma by array CGH
Authors: Furuya Tomoko , Uchiyama Tetsuji , Adachi Atsushi , Okada Takae , Nakao Motonao , Oga Atsunori , Yang Song-Ju , Kawauchi Shigeto , Sasaki Kohsuke
Published: December 2008

Background

The treatment strategy usually depends on the disease state in the individual patient. However, it is difficult to estimate the disease state before treatment in many patients. The purpose of this study was to develop a BAC (bacterial artificial chromosome) mini-array allowing for the estimation of node metastasis, liver metastasis, peritoneal dissemination and the depth of tumor invasion in gastric cancers.

Methods

Initially, the DNA copy number aberrations (DCNAs) were analyzed by array-based comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) in 83 gastric adenocarcinomas as a training-sample set. Next, two independent analytical methods were applied to the aCGH data to identify the BAC clones with DNA copy number aberrations that were linked with the disease states. One of the methods, a decision-tree model classifier, identified 6, 4, 4, 4, and 7 clones for estimating lymph node metastasis, liver metastasis, peritoneal dissemination, depth of tumor invasion, and histological type, respectively. In the other method, a clone-by-clone comparison of the frequency of the DNA copy number aberrations selected 26 clones to estimate the disease states.

Results

By spotting these 50 clones together with 26 frequently or rarely involved clones and 62 reference clones, a mini-array was made to estimate the above parameters, and the diagnostic performance of the mini-array was evaluated for an independent set of 30 gastric cancers (blinded – sample set). In comparison to the clinicopathological features, the overall accuracy was 66.7% for node metastasis, 86.7% for liver metastasis, 86.7% for peritoneal dissemination, and 96.7% for depth of tumor invasion. The intratumoral heterogeneity barely affected the diagnostic performance of the mini-array.

Conclusion

These results suggest that the mini-array makes it possible to determine an optimal treatment for each of the patients with gastric adenocarcinoma.