bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A hybrid method for predicting the microstructure of polymers with complex architecture: Combination of single-chain simulation with density functional theory
Authors: Cao Dapeng , Jiang Tao , Wu Jianzhong
Published: April 2006

A hybrid method is proposed to investigate the microstructure of various polymeric fluids confined between two parallel surfaces. The hybrid method combines a single-chain Monte Carlo (MC) simulation for the ideal-gas part of the Helmholtz energy and a density functional theory (DFT) for the excess part that arises from nonbonded intersegment interactions. The latter consists of a modified fundamental measure theory for excluded-volume effect, the first-order thermodynamics perturbation theory for chain connectivity, and a mean-field approximation for the van der Waals attraction. In comparison with a conventional DFT, the hybrid method avoids calculation of the time-consuming recursive functions and is directly applicable to polymers with arbitrary molecular architecture. Its numerical performance has been validated by extensive comparisons with MC data for the density distributions of totally flexible, semiflexible, or rigid polymers and those with starlike architecture. Special attention is also given to the formation of a nematic monolayer by rigid molecules laying perpendicular to a planar surface. The hybrid method predicts the surface pressure versus surface coverage in good agreement with experiment.
Invariant imbedding theory of mode conversion in inhomogeneous plasmas. II. Mode conversion in cold, magnetized plasmas with perpendicular inhomogeneity
Authors: Kim Kihong , Lee Dong-Hun
Published: April 2006

A new version of the invariant imbedding theory for the propagation of coupled waves in inhomogeneous media is applied to the mode conversion of high frequency electromagnetic waves into electrostatic modes in cold, magnetized, and stratified plasmas. The cases where the external magnetic field is applied perpendicularly to the direction of inhomogeneity and the electron density profile is linear are considered. Extensive and numerically exact results for the mode conversion coefficients, the reflectances, and the wave electric and magnetic field profiles inside the inhomogeneous plasma are obtained. The dependencies of mode conversion phenomena on the magnitude of the external magnetic field, the incident angle, and the wave frequency are explored in detail.
Efficient vacuum ultraviolet light frequency downconversion by thin films of CdSe quantum dots
Authors: Kaplan A. , Sajwani A. , Li Z. Y. , Palmer R. E. , Wilcoxon J. P.
Published: April 2006

Frequency downconversion is an effective method for the detection of ionizing radiation. We demonstrate the utilization of thin films of chemically synthesized CdSe quantum dots for this purpose. A high quantum yield of ∼0.2 is obtained at room temperature, which does not depend on the excitation wavelength in the range from 32 to 114nm. The measured decay time is short, in the nanosecond regime, and the visible light output is stable. A significant advantage of such semiconductor quantum dots is the potential to tune the emission wavelength via selection of the nanoparticle size.
Determination of deformation potentials in strained InSb quantum wells
Authors: Kasturiarachchi T. , Brown F. , Dai N. , Khodaparast G. A. , Doezema R. E. , Chung S. J. , Santos M. B.
Published: April 2006

We use interband exciton transitions in InSb∕AlxIn1−xSb multi-quantum-well samples to determine the heavy-hole and light-hole energy gaps as the strain is varied using Al concentrations up to 25%. The gaps are compared to deformation-dependent calculations of the energy gaps in the presence of biaxial strain to obtain a measure of the deformation potentials α and β.
Prediction of the bulk elastic constant of metals using atomic-level single-lattice analytical method
Authors: Chiang Kuo-Ning , Chou Chan-Yen , Wu Chung-Jung , Yuan Chang-Ann
Published: April 2006

An atomic-level single-lattice method with a closed-form equation is presented to predict the elastic characteristics of bulk metals. In this letter, the interatomic forces of single body-centered-cubic (bcc) and face-centered-cubic (fcc) lattices are described as atomic springs, the single bcc and fcc lattices are therefore constructed as simple spring network models. The analytical result indicates that the calculated single-lattice elastic characteristics and the experimental bulk values are within a reasonable range. This analytical equation also provides a feasible way of taking a second look at the Morse potential coefficients of metallic atoms.
Effect of Al-trace dimension on Joule heating and current crowding in flip-chip solder joints under accelerated electromigration
Authors: Liang S. W. , Chang Y. W. , Chen Chih
Published: April 2006

Three-dimensional thermoelectrical simulation was conducted to investigate the influence of Al-trace dimension on Joule heating and current crowding in flip-chip solder joints. It is found that the dimension of the Al-trace effects significantly on the Joule heating, and thus directly determines the mean time to failure (MTTF). Simulated at a stressing current of 0.6A at 70°C, we estimate that the MTTF of the joints with Al traces in 100μm width was 6.1 times longer than that of joints with Al traces in 34μm width. Lower current crowding effect and reduced hot-spot temperature are responsible for the improved MTTF.
Religion and Spaces of Technology: Constructing and Contesting Nation, Transnation, and Place
Authors: Kong Lily
Published: April 2006

In this paper, I focus on one particular technological development that has come to influence religious practice in significant ways—religious broadcasting. Whereas computer-mediated communications now garner growing research attention, I have chosen to remember the influence of the older technology of broadcasting for its continued influence on myriad lives. In bringing this focus to bear on another major phenomenon, that of transnationalism, I have come to understand how religious broadcasting does not contribute in a straightforward, linear fashion to perpetuating transnational identities and communities, but is instead implicated in the assertion of the national in the face of transnational influences, while simultaneously enabling and challenging the transnational. I am aided in this understanding through an examination of religious broadcasting in multireligious, yet secular Singapore, and its impacts on a significant Muslim minority which is, nevertheless, recognised as deserving of special privileges.
Evaluation of X‐ray beam angulation for successful twin canal identification in mandibular incisors
Authors: KLEIN R. M. F. , BLAKE S. A. , NATTRESS B. R. , HIRSCHMANN P. N.
Published: April 2006

This study was undertaken to determine the most effective horizontal beam angulation for the diagnosis of twin canals in mandibular incisors. Two hundred extracted mandibular incisor teeth, in groups of four, were aligned in the form of a lower dental arch and radiographed using a beam alignment device at 10° intervals between 0° and 50° from both right and left sides. Five observers with varying degrees of experience were asked to assess the number of canals in each of the four teeth from these radiographs. A further radiograph of each individual tooth was taken at 90° through the mesio‐distal plane to identify the number of twin canals present. A random sample of 10% of the radiographs were viewed for a second time 3 months later to assess intra‐observer variation. The 20° right and 30° left horizontal beam angulations showed significantly more accurate diagnosis of twin canals than the ortho‐radial view (0°) by all five observers. Analysis of the inter‐observer results suggests that the experienced viewers were no better but more consistent at identifying twin canals in mandibular incisors.
General obstetrics: Failing pregnancies of unknown location: a prospective evaluation of the human chorionic gonadotrophin ratio
Authors: Condous G , Kirk E , Van Calster B , Van Huffel S , Timmerman D , Bourne T
Published: April 2006

Objective  To assess the performance of the human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) ratio (hCG 48 hours/hCG 0 hour) to predict spontaneous resolution of pregnancies of unknown location (PUL).

Design  Prospective cohort study.

Setting  Teaching Hospital Early Pregnancy Unit.

Population  Women classified as having a PUL.

Methods  The optimal cutoff value for hCG ratio (serum hCG at 48 hours/serum hCG at 0 hours) was calculated from data on 189 consecutive PULs (the ‘training set’). This cutoff was tested prospectively on a further 200 consecutive PULs (the ‘test set’). The hCG ratio was also compared to absolute levels of serum hCG at 0 and 48 hour for the prediction of failing PULs.

Main outcome measures  hCG ratio in spontaneously resolving (‘failing’) PUL compared with those requiring intervention. Optimum cutoff determined and tested to predict spontaneously resolving PUL. Comparison of hCG ratio with absolute levels of serum hCG.

Results  A total of 3996 consecutive women were scanned, of which 438 (11.0%) were classified as PULs. Complete data were available for 389 women: 189 in the training set and 200 in the test set. In the training set, there were 102 (54%) failing PUL, while 109 (55%) in the test set. hCG ratio of <0.87 predicted failing PUL, with a sensitivity of 93.1% (95% CI 85.9–97.0) and a specificity of 90.8% (95% CI 82.2–95.7) in the training set. In the test set, sensitivity was 92.7% (95% CI 85.6–96.5) and specificity was 96.7% (95% CI 90.0–99.1). The hCG ratio outperformed absolute serum hCG levels at 0 and 48 hours.

Conclusions  We have defined the optimal hCG ratio for the prediction of failing PUL. Using this cutoff, clinicians can safely adopt a noninterventional approach in women with PUL.
Road Facilitation of Trematode Infections in Snails of Northern Alaska
Authors: URBAN MARK C.
Published: April 2006

Abstract: Road disturbances can influence wildlife health by spreading disease agents and hosts or by generating environmental conditions that sustain these agent and host populations. I evaluated field patterns of trematode infections in snails inhabiting ponds at varying distances from the Dalton Highway, a wilderness road that intersects northern Alaska. I also assessed the relationships between trematode infections and snail densities and six environmental variables: calcium concentration, aquatic vegetative cover, canopy cover, temperature, pond size, and community structure. Presence of trematode infections and snail density were negatively correlated with distance from the highway. Of the pond characteristics measured, only calcium concentration and vegetation density declined with distance from road. However, neither variable was positively associated with snail density or trematode presence. One potential explanation for observed patterns is that vehicles, road maintenance, or vertebrate vectors attracted to the highway facilitate colonization of snails or trematodes. Emerging disease threats to biological diversity in northern ecosystems highlight the importance of understanding how roads affect disease transmission.
A SIMPLE APPROACH FOR THE TOLERANCE DESIGN OF WATT-I TYPE SIX-BAR HINGE MECHANISM USING TAGUCHI METHOD
Authors: CHEN FU-CHEN , TZENG YIH-FONG
Published: April 2006

This paper uses the Taguchi method on the tolerance design of a hinge mechanism with the aim of obtaining a design that is insensitive to variations in manufacturing tolerance and joint clearance. The contribution of each control factor in the mechanism to the variations was also quantified. From the analysis of the response table and diagram, it was concluded that the dimension r1, r2, r4 and β had a significant effect on the quality of the mechanism, contributing a total of 82.36% to product variation and were consequently named the key dimensions. The tolerance of these factors must therefore be tightened to improve the quality of the mechanism. Through a series of confirmation experiments, it was revealed that tightening the tolerance resulted in an increase in the S/N (signal to noise) ratio by 1.851 db and a reduction in product variation by 19.25% from the original 80.75%. The proposed method does not require complex mathematical derivatives, but simply the input and output relationship of the system. The method proposed in this study can be applied to all types of mechanism.
Estimating the Intelligibility of Speakers with Dysarthria
Authors: Hustad Katherine C.
Published: April 2006

Many speakers with dysarthria have reduced intelligibility[,] and improving intelligibility is often a primary intervention objective. Consequently, measurement of intelligibility provides important information that is useful for clinical decision-making. The present study compared two different measures of intelligibility obtained in audio-only and audio-visual modalities for 4 different speakers with dysarthria (2 with mild-moderate dysarthria; 2 with severe dysarthria) secondary to cerebral palsy. A total of 80 college-aged listeners provided word-by-word transcriptions and made percent estimates of intelligibility which served as dependent variables. Group results showed that transcription measures were higher than percent estimates of intelligibility overall. There was also an interaction between speakers and measures of intelligibility, indicating that the difference between transcription scores and percent estimates varied among individual speakers. Results revealed a significant main effect for presentation modality, with the audio-visual modality having slightly higher scores than the audio-only modality; however, presentation modality did not interact with speakers or with measures of intelligibility. Results suggest that standard clinical measurement of intelligibility using orthographic transcription may be more consistent than the use of more subjective percent estimates.
Prevalence of Psychiatric Disorders in an Italian Town: Low Prevalence Confirmed with Two Different Interviews
Authors: Gigantesco Antonella , Palumbo Gabriella , Mirabella Fiorino , Pettinelli Mario , Morosini Pierluigi
Published: April 2006

Background: In Italy, few studies on the prevalence of psychiatric disorders have considered all of the most common disorders and very few have adopted the most common tools, that is, the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) and the Present State Examination (PSE). The objective of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of psychiatric disorders and its correlates in the town of Jesi, Italy, using the PSE and CIDI, administered 7 years apart. Methods: The two surveys were conducted among adults in Jesi (central Italy), using the PSE in 1993 and the CIDI in 2000. Participants were randomly chosen from the patient lists of general practitioners. Results: The one-month prevalence of persons with a psychiatric disorder was 7.3% (95% CI: 4.4–11.6) in 1993 and 6.0% (95% CI: 3.5–9.5) in 2000. The lifetime and 1-year prevalence rates were 21.0 and 8.2%, respectively. The most common disorders were depressive and anxiety disorders. Mood and anxiety disorders were more common among women and unmarried persons. Conclusions: The prevalence is lower than that in most other areas of the world yet consistent with estimates for Italian populations reported by studies using the same (or similar) tools.
A Simple Multicloud Parameterization for Convectively Coupled Tropical Waves. Part I: Linear Analysis
Authors: Khouider Boualem , Majda Andrew J.
Published: April 2006

Recent observational analysis reveals the central role of three multicloud types, congestus, stratiform, and deep convective cumulus clouds, in the dynamics of large-scale convectively coupled Kelvin waves, westward-propagating two-day waves, and the Madden–Julian oscillation. A systematic model convective parameterization highlighting the dynamic role of the three cloud types is developed here through two baroclinic modes of vertical structure: a deep convective heating mode and a second mode with low-level heating and cooling corresponding respectively to congestus and stratiform clouds. A systematic moisture equation is developed where the lower troposphere moisture increases through detrainment of shallow cumulus clouds, evaporation of stratiform rain, and moisture convergence and decreases through deep convective precipitation. A nonlinear switch is developed that favors either deep or congestus convection depending on the relative dryness of the troposphere; in particular, a dry troposphere with large convective available potential energy (CAPE) has no deep convection and only congestus clouds. The properties of the multicloud model parameterization are tested by linearized analysis in a two-dimensional setup with no rotation with constant sea surface temperature. In particular, the present study reveals new mechanisms for the large-scale instability of moist gravity waves with features resembling observed convectively coupled Kelvin waves in realistic parameter regimes without any effect of wind-induced surface heat exchange (WISHE). A detailed dynamical analysis for the linear waves is given herein and idealized nonlinear numerical simulations are reported in a companion paper. A maximum congestus heating leads during the dry phase of the wave. It is followed by an increase of the boundary layer θe, that is, CAPE, and lower troposphere moistening that precondition the upper troposphere for the next deep convective episode. In turn, deep convection consumes CAPE and removes moisture, thus yielding the dry episode.
Variability of the Overflow Water Transport in the Western Subpolar North Atlantic, 1950–97
Authors: Kieke Dagmar , Rhein Monika
Published: April 2006

One of the major topics in current field research is the question of whether or to what extent the North Atlantic Ocean is subject to changes in water mass transports, and how they are related to atmospheric phenomena like the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). Bottle and CTD data from the 1950s to 1990s are presented to reconstruct spatially and temporally the baroclinic contribution to the deep water transports in the western subpolar North Atlantic. The focus is on the two densest components of North Atlantic Deep Water: the Gibbs Fracture Zone Water (GFZW) and the Denmark Strait Overflow Water (DSOW). Direct velocity measurements in the considered time period are sparse. For this reason it was decided to calculate the geostrophic velocity relative to 1400 dbar. This level is located in the weakly stratified Labrador Sea Water. The combined baroclinic volume transport of GFZW and DSOW during the early 1990s was about 5 Sv (Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1) in the Irminger Sea and 7–8 Sv in the Labrador Sea. Near the Flemish Cap, baroclinic transports reached 16–29 Sv. Because of the impact of the North Atlantic Current on the flow field resulting in steeply sloping isopycnals, the latter estimate is strongly dependent on the choice of the reference level, in contrast to other locations. Time series were obtained from data in the Irminger and Labrador Seas. In the Irminger Sea, the combined baroclinic transport of GFZW and DSOW increased from 4–5 Sv in the mid-1950s to 8–9 Sv in the 1980s, followed by a decrease to 5 Sv in the 1990s. In the Labrador Sea, the temporal variability was stronger (3–11 Sv), with interannual changes of 5–6 Sv. The importance of baroclinic transport variability is not easy to interpret. Results presented herein indicate that relations of the Irminger and Labrador Seas time series to the NAO remain ambiguous. Among other impacts the presence of eddies significantly affects the time series of baroclinic transport. Whether baroclinic variability represents the total variability of the flow (baroclinic and barotropic part) cannot be assessed without knowledge of the variability of the velocity field in the reference level.
Stochastic Forcing of the North Atlantic Wind-Driven Ocean Circulation. Part I: A Diagnostic Analysis of the Ocean Response to Stochastic Forcing
Authors: Chhak Kettyah C. , Moore Andrew M. , Milliff Ralph F. , Branstator Grant , Holland William R. , Fisher Michael
Published: April 2006

At midlatitudes, the magnitude of stochastic wind stress forcing due to atmospheric weather is comparable to that associated with the seasonal cycle. Stochastic forcing is therefore likely to have a significant influence on the ocean circulation. In this work, the influence of the stochastic component of the wind stress forcing on the large-scale, wind-driven circulation of the North Atlantic Ocean is examined. To this end, a quasigeostrophic model of the North Atlantic was forced with estimates of the stochastic component of wind stress curl obtained from the NCAR Community Climate Model. Analysis reveals that much of the stochastically induced variability in the ocean circulation occurs in the vicinity of the western boundary and some major bathymetric features. Thus, the response is localized even though the stochastic forcing occurs over most of the ocean basin. Using the ideas of generalized stability theory, the stochastically induced response in the ocean circulation can be interpreted as a linear interference of the nonorthogonal eigenmodes of the system. This linear interference process yields transient growth of stochastically induced perturbations. By examining the model pseudospectra, it is seen that the nonnormal nature of the system enhances the transient growth of perturbation enstrophy and therefore elevates and maintains the variance of the stochastically induced circulations in the aforementioned regions. The primary causes of nonnormality in the enstrophy norm are bathymetry and the western boundary current circulation.
Temporal Changes in Ocean Eddy Transports
Authors: Stammer Detlef , Wunsch Carl , Ueyoshi Kyozo
Published: April 2006

New estimates from 11 yr of altimetric data are made of the global time-average variability kinetic energy and its decadal-scale variability. Making the approximation that the variability reflects primarily eddy motions, a time-mean, but spatially varying, eddy mixing coefficient is then estimated along with its changes over the last decade. With a record length more than 2 times that previously available, the time-mean variability kinetic energy KE is statistically more reliable and smoother in its spatial pattern. Minimum values of KE are present in the subpolar North Pacific Ocean and in the eastern South Pacific (both less than 100 cm2 s−2). In contrast to the North Pacific, the subpolar North Atlantic Ocean shows relatively enhanced KE. Eddy kinetic energy and eddy mixing appear to have declined during the last decade over large parts of the western Pacific Ocean, in some regions by as much as 50% of the time-mean value. Increased eddy variability can be found in the Kuroshio and Gulf Stream regions, as well as in the Agulhas region, east of Australia, and at several locations along the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Somewhat enhanced eddy variability and eddy mixing are also apparent in the eastern tropical Pacific. A numerical simulation of the ocean circulation at 1° spatial resolution over a 10-yr period suggests that variations in eddy mixing of this order of magnitude measurably affect the deep temperature field in the vicinity of permanent frontal structures on a time scale of less than 4 yr. The meridional overturning circulation also reacts on these time scales. If persistent over longer periods in the ocean, these effects would be important for climate simulations.
The Meridional Flow of Source-Driven Abyssal Currents in a Stratified Basin with Topography. Part II: Numerical Simulation
Authors: Swaters Gordon E.
Published: April 2006

A numerical simulation is described for source-driven abyssal currents in a 3660 km × 3660 km stratified Northern Hemisphere basin with zonally varying topography. The model is the two-layer quasigeostrophic equations, describing the overlying ocean, coupled to the finite-amplitude planetary geostrophic equations, describing the abyssal layer, on a midlatitude β plane. The source region is a fixed 75 km × 150 km area located in the northwestern sector of the basin with a steady downward volume transport of about 5.6 Sv (Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1) corresponding to an average downwelling velocity of about 0.05 cm s−1. The other parameter values are characteristic of the North Atlantic Ocean. It takes about 3.2 yr for the abyssal water mass to reach the southern boundary and about 25 yr for a statistical state to develop. Time-averaged and instantaneous fields at a late time are described. The time-averaged fields show an equatorward-flowing abyssal current with distinct up- and downslope groundings with decreasing height in the equatorward direction. The average equatorward abyssal transport is about 8 Sv, and the average abyssal current thickness is about 500 m and is about 400 km wide. The circulation in the upper layers is mostly cyclonic and is western intensified, with current speeds about 0.6 cm s−1. The upper layer cyclonic circulation intensifies in the source region with speeds about 4 cm s−1, and there is an anticyclonic circulation region immediately adjacent to the western boundary giving rise to a weak barotropic poleward current in the upper layers with a speed of about 0.6 cm s−1. The instantaneous fields are highly variable. Even though the source is steady, there is a pronounced spectral peak at the period of about 54 days. The frequency associated with the spectral peak is an increasing function of the downwelling volume flux. The periodicity is associated with the formation of transient cyclonic eddies in the overlying ocean in the source region and downslope propagating plumes and boluses in the abyssal water mass. The cyclonic eddies have a radii about 100–150 km and propagation speeds about 5–10 cm s−1. The eddies are formed initially because of stretching associated with the downwelling in the source region. Once detached from the source region, the cyclonic eddies are phase locked with the boluses or plumes that form on the downslope grounding of the abyssal current, which themselves form because of baroclinic instability. Eventually, the background vorticity gradients associated with β and the sloping bottom arrest the downslope (eastward) motion, the abyssal boluses diminish in amplitude, the abyssal current flows preferentially equatorward, the upper layer eddies disperse and diminish in amplitude, and westward intensification develops.
An Exact Energy for TRM Theory
Authors: Jacobson Tivon , Aiki Hidenori
Published: April 2006

A time residual mean (TRM) energy is obtained by averaging a transformation of the energy of the Boussinesq hydrostatic incompressible equations of motion. The transformation is the fundamental TRM transformation between level Cartesian coordinates and coordinates that are the mean positions of density surfaces. The TRM energy consists of a sum of mean kinetic, mean potential, wave kinetic, and wave potential energies. It is shown that the interaction between the mean kinetic energy and mean potential energy can be expressed entirely in terms of mean fields. The wave forcing of the mean TRM momentum equations is expressed as a divergence. An explicit and exact form of the TRM equations, with the transformed pressure term expressed in terms of the mean and wave fields, is also noted. It is suggested that the mean domain for the TRM equations and the Cartesian domain may not be the same, which would have consequences for the TRM boundary conditions.
Baroclinic Development in Observations and NASA GSFC General Circulation Models
Authors: Robinson Dennis P. , Black Robert X.
Published: April 2006

Comparative diagnostic analyses of developing synoptic-scale baroclinic disturbances in NCEP–NCAR reanalyses and the NASA–NCAR (NASCAR) and Aries [NASA’s Seasonal-to-Interannual Prediction Project (NSIPP)] general circulation model simulations are performed. In particular, lag composite analyses of wintertime cyclonic and anticyclonic events occurring in the North Pacific and North Atlantic storm tracks are constructed to pursue a synoptic and dynamic characterization of eddy development. The data are also seasonally stratified to study aspects of the North Pacific midwinter suppression phenomenon.

Winter-averaged results indicate that the model-simulated events are generally too weak in amplitude, particularly in the upper troposphere. For the North Pacific storm track, model-simulated events are also anomalously distended in the meridional direction. The existing model biases in eddy structure and magnitude lead to anomalously weak baroclinic energy conversions for both cyclonic and anticyclonic events over the North Pacific. For the North Atlantic storm track the NASCAR model provides a very good representation of the structure of developing cyclonic events. However, growing North Atlantic cyclones in the NSIPP model are anomalously weak and horizontally too isotropic (meridionally retracted). These latter two characteristics are also observed in both models for developing anticyclonic flow anomalies over the North Atlantic. The relative weakness of NSIPP synoptic events over the North Atlantic region is largely responsible for the 50% deficiency in areal-averaged baroclinic energy conversions. Conversely, the NASCAR model climatology features anomalously strong temperature gradients over the western North Atlantic that provide local enhancements to the baroclinic energy conversion field.

A seasonally stratified diagnostic analysis reveals that the simulated climatological storm tracks over the North Pacific undergo larger spatial migrations during the cool season compared to observations. It is further determined that the suppression of synoptic eddy activity observed in the Pacific storm track is associated with a relative midwinter weakness in the magnitude of the growing cyclonic anomalies. Specifically, during midwinter the cyclonic perturbations entering the Pacific storm track are deficient in magnitude compared to their early and late winter counterparts. It is also discovered that the midwinter suppression pattern over the North Pacific region has a clear organized extension upstream into Siberia, the region from which incipient upper-tropospheric short-wave features emanate. This behavior is found in both observations and the model simulations. The results herein support the idea that the North Pacific midwinter suppression phenomenon is linked to a midwinter weakness in the upstream formation of upper-level short waves, leading to anomalously weak “seeding” of baroclinic disturbances in the Pacific storm track.
Interpretation of Enhanced Integrated Water Vapor Bands Associated with Extratropical Cyclones: Their Formation and Connection to Tropical Moisture
Authors: Bao J-W. , Michelson S. A. , Neiman P. J. , Ralph F. M. , Wilczak J. M.
Published: April 2006

Trajectory analysis using a weather prediction model is performed for five cases to interpret the formation of enhanced bands of vertically integrated water vapor (IWV) in the central and eastern Pacific that are frequently seen in satellite images from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager. The connection of these enhanced bands with poleward water vapor transport from the Tropics is also examined. It is shown that the leading end of the enhanced IWV bands (defined as the most eastward and poleward end) is the manifestation of moisture convergence in the warm conveyor belt associated with extratropical cyclones, while the bands away from the leading end result mainly from moisture convergence along the trailing cold fronts. There is evidence that some enhanced IWV bands may be associated with a direct poleward transport of tropical moisture along the IWV bands from the Tropics all the way to the extratropics. The trajectory analysis, together with the seasonal mean sea level pressure analysis, indicates that a favorable condition for the occurrence of a direct, along-IWV band transport of tropical (defined as south of 23.5°N) moisture to the U.S. West Coast in the eastern Pacific is a weakened subtropical ridge in the central Pacific with an enhanced southwesterly low-level flow. The authors hypothesize that the direct poleward transport of tropical moisture within an enhanced IWV band in the eastern Pacific is most possible in the neutral El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phase and is least possible in the El Niño phase.
Azusa-Era Optimism: Bishop J.H. King’s Pentecostal Theology of Religions as a Possible Paradigm for Today
Authors: Richie Tony
Published: April 2006

Even as we celebrate the centennial of the Azusa Street Revival, the ideology and reality of religious pluralism currently challenges Pentecostal Christians to articulate an adequate theology of religions. J.H. King was an important Pentecostal pioneer influenced by the Azusa Street Revival. Well educated and widely traveled, Bishop King had considerable first-hand contact with non-Christian religions and addressed theology of religions often and in depth. King’s theology of religions at its core is characterized by optimism, that is, by a positive and balanced but non-dogmatic sense of hopefulness. Completely consistent with classical Pentecostal values, King’s thought provides important possibilities for a contemporary Pentecostal theology of religions paradigm. This paper surveys salient features of King’s theology of religions before offering suggestions about appropriation and application. Special stress is placed on continuity of Pentecostal heritage with creativity in development of Pentecostal theology of religions today.
Feminist Theory and the Frankfurt School: Introduction
Authors: Brown Wendy
Published: April 2006

wendy brown teaches political theory at the University of California, Berkeley. Recent books include States of Injury: Power and Freedom in Late Modernity (Princeton University Press, 1995), Politics out of History (Princeton University Press, 2001), Left Legalism/Left Critique, coedited with Janet Halley (Duke University Press, 2002), and Edgework: Essays on Knowledge and Politics (Princeton University Press, 2005). Regulating Aversion: Tolerance in the Age of Identity and Empire is forthcoming (Princeton University Press, 2006).
“Adorno avec Sade...”
Authors: Comay Rebecca
Published: April 2006

rebecca comay teaches in the Philosophy Department and the Program in Comparative Literature at the University of Toronto and has published widely on modern European philosophy, literature, and contemporary art. She is currently completing a book on Hegel and the French Revolution titled “Mourning Sickness: Hegel and the Trauma of Modernity” as well as finishing a collection of essays on Walter Benjamin and psychoanalysis.
The Longing for the Material
Authors: Ball Karyn
Published: April 2006

karyn ball is Associate Professor of English and Film Studies specializing in literary and critical theory at the University of Alberta, Edmonton. She writes on Critical Theory, cultural studies, and the Holocaust, is the editor of a volume of essays, Traumatizing Theory: The Cultural Politics of Affect in and beyond Psychoanalysis (forthcoming, The Other Press, 2006), and has guest-edited a special issue of Cultural Critique on “Trauma and Its Cultural Aftereffects” (2000) and an issue of Parallax on the concept of “visceral reason” (2005). Her current project titled The Entropics of Discourse: Climates of Loss in Contemporary Criticism reflects on figures of loss and melancholy in recent cultural theory.
Pontine Atypical Neurocytoma: Case Report
Authors: Swinson Bradley M. , Friedman William A. , Yachnis Anthony T.
Published: April 2006

OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE:

Neurocytomas are typically located within the supratentorial ventricular system. Extraventricular neurocytomas are very rare, and this is only the second reported case of a pontine neurocytoma. We discuss the clinical presentation, histology, and treatment of these rare tumors.

CLINICAL PRESENTATION:

A 58-year-old man presented with a 4-month history of headache and unilateral facial and distal extremity paresthesia. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans demonstrated a 2.6 × 2.2-cm ring-enhancing cystic mass in the right pons.

INTERVENTION:

MRI-guided stereotactic biopsy yielded a diagnosis of atypical neurocytoma. Because of the location and malignant histological features of the tumor, the patient was initially treated with external beam radiation therapy. Several months later, MRI scans demonstrated tumor progression. The patient then underwent three rounds of temozolomide chemotherapy, during and after which his symptoms worsened. Aggressive subtotal resection of the tumor was achieved via a right suboccipital craniectomy.

CONCLUSION:

Twenty-eight months postoperatively, the patient is symptom free, and MRI scans demonstrate no evidence of residual or recurrent tumor.
Representation in Mauritian politics: who speaks for African pasts?
Authors: Prabhu Anjali
Published: April 2006

The island nation of Mauritius is recognized across most disciplines - from anthropology to tourism - as a plural or multi-ethnic country. This essay will show that any attempt to represent the pluralism of Mauritius must contend with the complex history of representation itself within
this postcolonial nation. This complexity, in its turn, is bound up with the intersecting histories of the varied immigrant and diasporic populations that make up this myriad society. The legacy of these tensions in the contemporary era can be symbolized in the public persona of the Mauritian
Prime Minister, Paul Brenger, as he sought to represent various groups of the Mauritian electorate in his bid to be re-elected in September 2005. The various and, at times, contradictory ways in which Africanness and Indianness have made their way into the public sphere will be read through
an analysis of debates in the Legislative Assembly, articles in the contemporary press, and historical sources that draw on these key issues. If, at bottom, diaspora draws both on making ethnic connections that go beyond the political boundaries of the nation state, and on the more immediate
engendering of ethnocultural solidarity within the nation state itself, then these issues are fraught with complex and particular complications for Mauritians of African and/or Malagasy descent.
The haptic codes of Bollywood cinema in New York City
Authors: Dudrah Rajinder , Rai Amit
Published: April 2006

This article draws on theoretical and interdisciplinary developments in film studies (metaphors of the body and skin, haptic codes in the cinematic experience, and Indian rasa theory), cultural geography (the location of places and spaces as informing subjectivity formation), and in
cultural studies (diaspora studies and globalization) to situate and offer an exploration of diasporic South Asian identity formation vis--vis Bollywood cinema-going at two sites in New York City, USA. What is suggested is a complexifying of the sensations of the Bollywood cinematic assemblages
that are consumed and incorporated in the cultural geographies and urban bodies of Bollywood's diasporic audiences in Jackson Heights in the borough of Queens, and in Times Square in the district of Manhattan. The article utilizes fieldwork notes of watching the same Bollywood film at these
two different locations during the summer of 2003 to elaborate on the aforementioned theoretical work.
Enacting the quotidian in Kenyan radio drama: Not Now and the narrative of forced marriage
Authors: Ligaga Dina
Published: April 2006

This article identifies radio in Africa as an important social space for interrogating the everyday lives of its listeners. By focusing on a specific Kenyan radio play Not Now, the article explores the thematic concern of forced marriage and its moral implications on listeners. Importantly,
Not Now is pointed out as part of a larger programme of radio drama in Kenya, Radio Theatre, which engages with issues of the quotidian. The debate on forced marriage is therefore a segment of themes explored in radio drama in Kenya that revolve around the domestic sphere and which
eventually, it is argued, form part of the quotidian debate.
Book Reviews
Authors: Beaman Jim
Published: April 2006

Community Radio in Bolivia: The Miners' Radio Stations, Alan O'Connor (ed.), (2004) Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 150 pp., ISBN 0-7734-6392-5 (hbk), 64.95
Two Native Pools of Phytochrome A in Monocots: Evidence from Fluorescence Investigations of Phytochrome Mutants of Rice
Authors: Sineshchekov Vitaly , Loskovich Alexander , Inagaki Noritoshi , Takano Makoto
Published: April 2006

Fluorescence investigations of phytochrome (phy) in rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. Nipponbare) mutants deficient in phyA, phyB and phyA plus phyB were performed. Total content of the pigment (Ptot) and its spectroscopic and photochemical characteristics were determined in different parts of the dark‐grown and far‐red light (FR)‐grown coleoptiles. Spectroscopically, phyA in the phyB mutant was identical to phyA in the wild‐type (WT) and the extent of the conversion from Pr to lumi‐R at 85 K was the same for phyA in both lines and varied similarly, depending on the part of the coleoptile used. The latter finding proved that phyA in rice is heterogeneous and comprises two phyA populations, phyA′ and phyA″. Functional properties of phyA were also determined. In the dark the phyB mutant had a higher content of phyA, inactive protochlorophyllide (Pchlide633) and active protochlorophyllide (Pchlide655) than WT and its coleoptile was longer, indicating that phyB may affect the development of WT seedlings in the dark. Constant FR drastically reduced the content of phyA, Pchlide633 and Pchlide655 and brought about coleoptile shortening and appearance of the first leaf, whereas pulsed FR of equal fluence was less effective. This suggested that the reactions were primarily of the high irradiance responses type, which are likely to be mediated by phyA′. The effects on protochlorophyllide biosynthesis and growth responses type were more pronounced in the phyB mutant than in the WT seedlings, which can be connected with the higher phyA′ content in the phyB mutant and/or phyB interference with its action in WT seedlings. In the phyA mutant induction of Pchlide633 and Pchlide655 biosynthesis was observed under constant FR, indicating that phyC may be responsible for this effect.
Computational analysis of single-server bulk-service queues,M/GY/ 1
Authors: Brière G. , Chaudhry M. L.
Published: April 2006

Algorithms are proposed for the numerical inversion of the analytical solutions obtained through classical transform methods. We compute steady-state probabilities and moments of the number of customers in the system (or in the queue) at three different epochs—postdeparture, random, and prearrival—for models of the typeM/GY/1, where the capacity of the single server is a random variable. This implies first finding roots of the characteristic equation, which is detailed in an appendix for a general service time distribution. Numerical results, given a service time distribution, are illustrated through graphs and tables for cases covered in this study: deterministic, Erlang, hyperexponential, and uniform distributions. In all cases, the proposed method is computationally efficient and accurate, even for high values of the queueing parameters. The procedure is adaptable to other models in queueing theory (especially bulk queues), to problems in inventory control, transportation, flexible manufacturing process, etc. Exact results that can be obtained from the algorithms presented here will be found useful to test inequalities, bounds, or approximations.
On the waiting time distribution in a generalizedGI/G/1 queueing system
Authors: Loris-Teghem Jacqueline
Published: April 2006

The model considered in this paper describes a queueing system in which the station is dismantled at the end of a busy period and re-established on arrival of a new customer, in such a way that the closing-down process consists ofN1phases of random duration and that a customer 𝒞nwho arrives while the station is being closed down must wait a random timeidn(i= 1, ···,N1) if theith phase is going on at the arrival instant. (For each fixed indexi, the random variablesidnare identically distributed.) A customer 𝒞narriving when the closing-down of the station is already accomplished has to wait a random time(N1+ 1)dncorresponding to the set up time of the station. Besides, a customer 𝒞nwho arrives when the station is busy has to wait an additional random time0dn.We thus have (N1+ 2) types of “delay” (additional waiting time). Similarly, we consider (N2+ 2) types of service time and (N3+ 2) probabilities of joining the queue. This may be formulated as a model with (N+ 2) types of triplets (delay, service time, probability of joining the queue). We consider the general case where the random variables defining the model all have an arbitrary distribution.

The process {wn}, wherewndenotes the waiting time of customer 𝒞nif he joins the queue at all, is not necessarily Markovian, so that we first study (by algebraic considerations) the transient behaviour of a Markovian process {vn} related to {wn}, and then derive the distribution of the variableswn.
On the comparison of a theoretical and an empirical distribution function
Authors: Takács Lajos
Published: April 2006

Let ξ1, ξ2, ···, ξm be mutually independent random variables having a common distribution function P{ξr≦x} = F(x)(r = 1, 2, ···, m). Let Fm(x) be the empirical distribution function of the sample (ξ1, ξ2, ···, ξm), that is, Fm(x) is defined as the number of variables ≦x divided by m.
Finite queues in parallel under a generalized channel selection rule
Authors: Hall William K. , Disney Ralph L.
Published: April 2006

Consider a queueing system of the following type: random arrivals enter the system, where they are assigned to one of r service channels. Each arrival is then serviced and discharged from the system. The classical results for this class of problems are based upon systems where customers join a single queue and then are randomly assigned to an available server from this queue. (See, for instance, Takács (1962).)
On an inequality of Heyde
Authors: Tomkins R. J.
Published: April 2006

In [3] Heyde proposed an extended version of the well-known Hájek-Rényi inequality to include random variables without finite moments. The purpose of this note is to point out that the theorem in [3] is in error, and to prove the following theorem in its stead:

Theorem. Let X1, X2, ··· be any sequence of random variables, and define be independent random variables, each with mean zero and finite variance, and define Zk = Xk - Yk for k ≧ 1. Let c1, c2, ··· be a non-increasing sequence of positive numbers.
A stochastic process whose successive intervals between events form a first order Markov chain — I
Authors: Lampard D. G.
Published: April 2006

In this paper we discuss a counter system whose output is a stochastic point process such that the time intervals between pairs of successive events form a first order Markov chain. Such processes may be regarded as next, in order of complexity, in a hierarchy of stochastic point processes, to “renewal” processes, which latter have been studied extensively. The main virtue of the particular system which is studied here is that virtually all its important statistical properties can be obtained in closed form and that it is physically realizable as an electronic device. As such it forms the basis for a laboratory generator whose output may be used for experimental work involving processes of this kind.

Such statistical properties as the one and two-dimensional probability densities for the time intervals are considered in both the stationary and nonstationary state and also discussed are corresponding properties of the successive numbers arising in the stores of the counter system. In particular it is shown that the degree of coupling between successive time intervals may be adjusted in practice without altering the one dimensional probability density for the interval lengths. It is pointed out that operation of the counter system may also be regarded as a problem in queueing theory involving one server alternately serving two queues. A generalization of the counter system, whose inputs are normally a pair of statistically independent Poisson processes, to the case where one of the inputs is a renewal process is considered and leads to some interesting functional equations.