bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Session focuses on subsurface thermal studies
Authors: Sakura Yasuo , Taniguchi Makoto , Cermak Vladimir
Published: October 2011

Temperature, along with pressure, is the most important parameter that governs the behavior of rock material. Deep in the Earth, the temperature field is controlled by the outflow of heat from depth. Thus, the Temperature is stable and does not vary much locally. But in the shallow subsurface, temperature may be substantially disturbed.
FLUXNET Evaluates “Breathing patterns” of diverse ecosystems
Authors: Gu Lianhong , Baldocchi Dennis , Kiang Nancy
Published: October 2011

Despite the diversity of the Earth's terrestrial ecosystems in structure and function, all obey similar biophysical and meteorological principles in their exchange of carbon dioxide, water, and energy with the overlying atmosphere. This conclusion was drawn from new data presented by Earth, atmospheric,and ecological scientists attending a recent workshop on the global flux network (FLUXNET) project.

The FLUXNET project, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, consolidates existing regional networks of research sites around the world that measure fluxes of carbon dioxide, water vapor, and energy between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere.These sites directly measure net ecosystem exchange (NEE) using a micro‐meteorological technique known as the eddy covariance method. The information collected is used to generate and validate algorithms that will be used by the Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites to compute net primary productivity at the global scale. The data collected through FLUXNET will also help explain how carbon, water, and nutrient cycles of terrestrial ecosystems respond to global environmental and climate change.
Pre‐Mesozoic Ice Ages: Their Bearing on Understanding the Climate System
Authors: Crowley Thomas J.
Published: October 2011

It is a pleasure to read a book that summarizes a well‐respected scientist's lifetime experience with a subject. In this particular case the subject involves pre‐Mesozoic glaciations, and the author, John Crowell, has played a key role over the last few decades in both fundamental research and synthesizing our understanding of this interesting and important topic.

Crowell's book, which is a monograph in the true sense of the word, summarizes in considerable detail the various types of geologic evidence for glaciations in the Late Paleozoic (256–338 Ma), Late Devonian‐Early Carboniferous (353–363 Ma), Late Ordovician‐Early Silurian (429–445 Ma), Early Cambrian/Neoproterozoic (∼520–950 Ma), Early Proterozoic (2200–2400 Ma), and the earliest glaciation recognized so far, in the Archean of South Africa (∼2950 Ma). There is also a brief but valuable discussion of the nature of evidence for cooling in the Cretaceous.
Project targets mantle dynamics and Tethyan hazard mitigation
Authors: Flower Martin , Zongjin Ma , Mocanu Victor , Russo Ray , Yem Nguyen Trong , Chi Cung Thuong , Cuong Nguyen Quoc , Jinfu Deng , Dilek Yildirim , Dinu Corneliu , Futian Liu , Liu Mian , Hoang Nguyen , Robinson Paul , Xuanxei Mo , Punongbayan Ray , Wenzel Friedmann , Yumul Graciano , Widom Elisabeth
Published: October 2011

More than half of the Earth's population lives within the confines of the Tethyan tectonic collision belt (Figure 1), a high‐risk zone that contains at least 20 of the world's “mega‐cities.” During the 20th century alone, collision‐related seismicity and explosive volcanism (Figure 2) caused over a million deaths and catastrophic economic losses in this region. Destructive volcanism results mostly from the eruption of viscous, volatile‐rich magma generated near converging or colliding plate margins, while the most damaging earthquakes are produced by post‐collision tectonic thrusting and strike‐slip faulting. An exploratory program has been initiated to coordinate research in the Tethyan region, appraise the role of collision‐related mantle‐dynamics in seismicity and volcanism, and assess their potential significance in mitigating seismic and volcanic hazards across the entire Tethyan belt.
NASA creates global archive of ortho‐rectified Landsat data
Authors: Kalluri Satya , Grant Denelle , Tucker Compton , Policelli Fritz , Dykstra Jon , Bearden Phil
Published: October 2011

High spatial resolution imagery from the Landsat satellites has provided us with the longest record of terrestrial observations since 1972. Recognizing the need to provide high‐resolution satellite data to the scientific community, NASA's Commercial Remote Sensing Program Office has been working to assemble the first wall‐to‐wall global coverage of ortho‐rectified Landsat Thematic Mapper and Multi Spectral Scanner data to support scientific studies. This database is expected to be of great value to researchers studying a variety of problems.

The need for high‐resolution data sets arises from the low spatial autocorrelation of land surface properties [Townshend and Justice, 1988; Townshend and Justice, 1990]. Even in areas with near‐natural land cover, spatial variability can exist at the finest scales due to local terrain variability and associated microclimatic influences on vegetation types and associations. Human‐induced changes, such as deforestation, are the source of many of the finest‐scale alterations and can significantly drive global change. Currently, we have very poor data on where land cover is being changed, what changes are occurring, and the land cover properties of the altered land [Townshend et al., 1991].
Asian students excel in science testing
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

Asian countries claimed four of the five top spots in science achievement for eighth grade students, according to a December 5 report on the Third International Mathematics and Science Study ‐ Repeat (TIMSS‐R). The top five are: Chinese Taipei, Singapore, Hungary, Japan, and the Republic of Korea.

In mathematics, Asian countries scored a clean sweep. The top five are: Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong SAR,and Japan.
North Pacific subduction process research benefits from new initiatives
Authors: Larsen Jessica F. , Freymueller Jeffrey , Dehn Jonathan , Gordeev Eugenii
Published: October 2011

The North Pacific is ringed by a convergent boundary that is segmented into active volcanic arcs that stretch from Japan through the Kuriles and Kamchatka to the Aleutians and mainland Alaska. The abundant volcanic eruptions and earthquakes and the complex tectonic problems offer an unparalleled opportunity to study arc processes.

The North Pacific subduction zones are large, spanning three nations, and the solid Earth problems are widely varied. Studying arc processes in this region requires strong international collaborations across the different scientific disciplines, and a recent international workshop generated recommendations that will facilitate such research. International student and researcher exchange programs, accessible archives of geodetic data, and identification of key scientific problems will help remove the barriers to research imposed by international boundaries and the size and remoteness of the region.
Asteroids: A History
Authors: Britt Dan
Published: October 2011

I finished reading Curtis Peebles' book Asteroids: A History with mixed emotions, but overall I was very disappointed. I enjoyed, with some reservations, the first few chapters, which describe the early days of asteroid astronomy. One thing that makes asteroid science enjoyable today is the rich collection of interesting and eccentric characters that share this profession.

The 19th and early 20th centuries were no different. The story of these dedicated and sometimes strange individuals makes for lively reading. There was Hermann Goldschmidt, a German‐born artist living over the Café Procope in Paris. In 1852, he caught the asteroid bug after attending a public lecture on astronomy, bought a telescope, and over the next 9 years discovered 14 asteroids by observing out of his apartment window with a 2‐inch telescope! In those days, before astronomical photography, observers searched for asteroids by hand‐drawing the starfield as seen through the telescope and then comparing it with another hand‐drawn starfield done hours or nights later. Keen eyesight, steady hands, and the ability to draw accurately in the dark—and cold—were major advantages.
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Yoshiyuki Nozaki died on 4 January 2003, at age 56. He had been an AGU member (Ocean Sciences) since 1975.
Integrated data on key river basins
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

A new reference tool provides the most comprehensive data base of 154 of the world's river basins and sub‐basins; representing those that cover most of Earth's land surface. It lists indicators and variables for each of these basins and, where appropriate, provides links and references to additional, relevant information.

The “Watersheds of the World” compact disk and Web site was released on 18 March by the World Conservation Union (IUCN). The resource provides information on land cover and land use; population density; basin indicators, including degree of river fragmentation and number of dams; and biodiversity information. It also contains 20 global maps portraying critical water resources issues.
Carbon entrapment field testing
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

The U.S. Department of Energy currently is field‐testing geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide, to determine whether this technique could be a viable option in the “tool kit” of the Bush administration's Climate Change Initiative.

In the first major field experiment to entrap carbon gases in the United States, researchers are monitoring the movement of a plume of about 2,100 tons of carbon dioxide that the agency purposely injected into an underground geologic formation near Hobbs, New Mexico. The amount injected is comparable to the daily emission from an average‐sized coalfired power plant.
Hurricane season could be active
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

Storm activity during the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season likely will be above average, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration noted on 19 May.

The outlook could include 11 to 15 tropical storms, as well as 6 to 9 hurricanes, of which 2 to 4 could be classified as major hurricanes rated as category 3 or higher on the Saffir‐Simpson Hurricane Scale.
WMO sets priorities
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

The fourteenth World Meteorological Congress, which met in Geneva, Switzerland on 5–24 May, has adopted a new, 4‐year plan for the World Meteorological Organization, which includes a major program on natural disaster prevention and mitigation, WMO announced on 24 May.

The aim of the program is to enhance international cooperation and collaboration in the field of natural disaster activities. In initiating the program, WMO recognized that nearly 80% of the loss of life from natural disasters are of meteorological or hydrological origin.
WMO reiterates concern about extreme weather events
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

Public concern about a spate of well‐publicized, extreme weather events around the world this year has prompted the World Meteorological Organization to issue a statement that, as global temperatures continue to rise due to climate change, the number and intensity of extreme events might increase. The 2 July statement is based on scientific assessments by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and others, rather than on any new studies, according to Ken Davidson, director of the WMO's World Climate Program Department. The statement cites record high temperatures so far this summer in southern France and in Switzerland, an abnormally high number of tornadoes in the U.S. in May, and particularly heavy rains from tropical cyclones in Sri Lanka.
Asian dust storms' intensity, scale grow
Authors: Jacobs Judith
Published: October 2011

Large‐scale, destructive dust and sand storms that originate in the dry regions of northern China and Mongolia are plaguing the Korean peninsula, Japan, and other parts of northeast Asia nearly five times more frequently than in the 1950s, participants in a meeting sponsored by the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) learned on 30 March.

Korean scientists at the meeting said they are concerned that the sand and dust are binding with man‐made airborne pollutants such as soot to form atmospheric “brown clouds.”
IODP update
Authors: Jacobs Judy
Published: October 2011

In the past 10 weeks there has been a flurry of activity among the various partner organizations and other entities that will be involved in the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program

On 22 April, the US. National Science Foundation—representing the United States—and the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science, and Technology (MEXT)—representing Japan—signed a memorandum of understanding at the headquarters of the National Science Foundation in Arlington,Virginia, to formalize their commitments to the project. The NSF and MEXT are the two lead agencies for the 10‐year IODP
Inquiry into Beagle 2
Authors: Jacobs Judith
Published: October 2011

A commission of inquiry into the failure of the Beagle 2 Mars lander last December, led by the inspector general of the European Space Agency, released its findings on 24 May. Because the inquiry is not considered public, not all of its deliberations were released. However, the commission did release its list of “lessons learned” and recommendations to avoid future failures of this type.

In general, the commission attributed the failure to “a collective institutional underestimate” by the partner institutions “of the corresponding means to identify and mitigate [the] risks” of such a complex venture. More specifically, it referred to the very tight time schedule within which the Mars lander had to be developed, and also to “tight budget constraints.”
Honors
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Rheology and Deformation of the Lithosphere at Continental Margins is a collection of well written and interesting papers that provide a good overview of the current cutting edge in seismically oriented deformation studies. The book is, unfortunately, somewhat misnamed. It really should be titled something akin to “A review of seismogenic behavior in different plate tectonic settings (and some partially molten mantle deformation experiments).” Perhaps it sounds less impressive, but that is really what you get in this book: a series of excellent review papers, most of which focus on our current understanding of seismogenic behavior.
Climate change and inuits
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: October 2011

The Inuit Circumpolar Conference will seek a declaration from the Inter‐American Commission on Human Rights that emissions of greenhouse gases, which the conference says, are destroying the Inuit way of life, are a violation of human rights, conference chair Sheila Watt‐Cloutier announced on 15 December.

Her announcement comes shortly after the mid‐November release of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, a scientific study by an international team of 300 scientists. That assessment noted, “The Arctic is now experiencing some of the most rapid and severe climate change on Earth. Over the next 100 years, climate change is expected to accelerate, contributing to major physical, ecological, social, and economic changes, many of which have already begun. Changes in Arctic climate will also affect the rest of the world through increased global warming and rising sea levels.”
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Doak C. Cox, 87, Retired Life Member, Hydrology, 1945.

John D. Hewlett, 82, 19 July 2004, Hydrology, 1963.
Geophysicists
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Meltwater drainage from glacial Lake Agassiz has been implicated for nearly 15 years as a trigger for thermohaline circulation changes producing the abrupt cold period known as the Younger Dryas. On the basis of initial field reconnaissance to the lake's proposed outlets, regional geomorphic mapping, and preliminary chronological data, an alternative hypothesis may be warranted.

Should ongoing data collection continue to support preliminary results, it could be concluded that Lake Agassiz did not flood catastrophically into the Lake Superior basin preceding the Younger Dryas (Figure 1). All preliminary findings imply a retreating ice sheet margin approximately 1000 years younger than previously thought, which would have blocked key meltwater corridors at the start of the Younger Dryas.
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

William M. Cameron, Ocean Sciences, 1949

Ernest L. Hendricks, Hydrology, 1940
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Kevin Beurle, 53, 29 May 2009, Planetary Sciences, 2003

George W. Housner, 97, 10 November 2008, Fellow, Seismology
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

Robert A. Baltzer, 78, 19 August 2009, Hydrology, 1976

Geoffrey Bartington, 60, 13 December 2008, Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism, 2006
In Memoriam
Authors: Anonymous
Published: October 2011

William E Hanson, 98, 7 September 2009, Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology, 1947
Research Spotlight: Is the weekend effect anthropogenic or natural?
Authors: Kumar Mohi , Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

It has been suggested that human activity causes a “weekend effect” in which meteorological variables show weekly cycles. For instance, researchers have observed that the difference between daily maximum and minimum temperatures (diurnal temperature range) increases during the weekends. Precipitation, wind, and cloud cover have also been shown to have weekly cycles in some locations. However, some studies have suggested that weekly changes in atmospheric conditions may have natural, not anthropogenic, causes.
Research Spotlight: Visible lightning imaged on Saturn
Authors: Kumar Mohi , Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

Lightning, common on Earth, has also been detected on Jupiter, and previous studies have reported indirect evidence of lightning on Saturn. Visible lightning has now been imaged on Saturn for the first time.

Dyudina et al. report that on 17 August 2009, the Cassini spacecraft detected visible lightning flashes on Saturn.
Research Spotlight: Ozone recovery and climate change will affect the atmosphere near Earth's surface
Authors: Kumar Mohi , Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

Ozone in the stratosphere (∼10–50 kilometers in altitude) helps protect life on Earth from harmful solar ultraviolet radiation. But at the lower altitudes in the troposphere, (0–10 kilometers in altitude), ozone is a major constituent of smog and has detrimental health effects. The stratospheric ozone layer had been depleted but recently has started to recover due to efforts to limit emissions of ozone‐ depleting chemicals.
Research Spotlight: Conditions in the stratosphere influence the ionosphere
Authors: Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

Variations in the ionosphere, the charged upper portion of Earth's atmosphere (about 100–1000 kilometers in altitude), can affect radio communications and navigation systems. Solar activity is known to strongly influence the ionosphere; recently, though, scientists have recognized that lower levels of the atmosphere can also affect ionospheric conditions. These effects have been hard to see because the ionosphere varies so rapidly in response to solar and geomagnetic activity.
Research Spotlight: Realistic models of aquifer conduits
Authors: Kumar Mohi , Ofori Leslie , Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

The spatial distribution of underground rock units and geologic structures governs the flow of groundwater and thus any pollutant plumes within this groundwater. Such information is critical to water resources managers and to those drilling for oil and natural gas. However, simulating these units and structures in fine detail is difficult, relying on a knowledge of basic geology, erosion, and the physical processes that produce sedimentary deposits in a given space.
Research Spotlight: Why is the density of the thermosphere abnormally low?
Authors: Ofori Leslie , Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

The total mass density of the upper thermosphere (∼200–600 kilometers in altitude) was lower during the 2008 solar minimum than at any other time during the space age. Using historical records of thermospheric density, Emmert et al. compared the behavior of the thermosphere during the recent solar minimum with its
Research Spotlight: The melting of floating ice causes sea levels to rise
Authors: Kumar Mohi , Ofori Leslie , Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

In recent years, the volume of ice floating in the world's oceans has changed significantly. Some believe that these changes do not affect sea level, and floating ice loss has often been neglected in studies of sea level rise. However, because ice is fresher (less salty) than seawater, floating ice causes the ocean to become less dense as it melts, and so the ocean expands.
Research Spotlight: New observations of blue sprite spectra
Authors: Kumar Mohi , Ofori Leslie , Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

Sprite lightning, a striking and unusual type of lightning that occurs in the upper atmosphere above thunderclouds, consists of a main portion, usually red, and thin tendril‐like streamers that emanate from the main portion. These have a streamer head, followed by a column‐shaped glow. Kanmae et al. captured several images of sprite streamers using a high‐speed spectrograph at 10,000 frames per second in August 2009. The new observations have greater spatial, temporal, and spectral resolution than previous studies.
Research Spotlight: Identifying oceanic sources of continental precipitation
Authors: Ofori Leslie , Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

Ninety percent of water that evaporates from the oceans precipitates back to the oceans. The remaining 10% is transported to the continents and plays an important role in the land branch of the hydrological cycle. Studies have suggested that rising global temperatures will lead to increased evaporation and precipitation, altering the hydrological cycle. To identify regions that will be vulnerable to these changes in the hydrological cycle, Gimeno et al. used a model to detect major oceanic moisture source areas and the continental regions significantly influenced by each moisture source.
Research Spotlight: Measuring the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic ash plume over Europe
Authors: Ofori Leslie , Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

The 14 April eruption of Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull sent enormous plumes of thick ash over Europe, disrupting air travel for days. Ansmann et al. report lidar (light detection and ranging) and photometer observations of the ash plume over central Europe. Their measurements, made at Leipzig, Germany, on 16 April and Munich, Germany, on the following day, provide some of the first quantitative data on the optical properties of the plume, which is the thickest volcanic ash plume ever measured.
Research Spotlight: El Niño intensity increasing in the central equatorial Pacific
Authors: Ofori Leslie , Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

El Niño is the dominant year‐to‐year climate fluctuation on the planet, influencing patterns of weather variability worldwide. Recently, a new type of El Niño has been documented, the so‐called “central Pacific” El Niño. These El Niños exhibit maximum warming primarily in the central equatorial Pacific, in contrast to classical El Niños, which have maximum warming in the eastern equatorial Pacific. It has been hypothesized that the increasing frequency of central Pacific El Niños in recent decades may be due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas forcing.
Research Spotlight: Characterizing channels for transport of melt in mantle
Authors: Kumar Mohi , Ofori Leslie , Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

Rock in the Earth's mantle, for example, beneath mid‐ocean ridge spreading centers, melts as it upwells toward the surface. This buoyant melt rises through the mantle to the surface, where it solidifies and becomes part of the Earth's crust. However, the pathways through which mantle melt migrates have not been well understood. It had been suggested that channels through highly porous dunite rock provided pathways for mantle melt, but the depth and other features of these channels have not been known.
Research Spotlight: Extensive relict coral reef found in southern Pacific
Authors: Ofori Leslie , Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

Coral reefs are sensitive to climate change and have a direct correlation to sea level. New observations show that an extensive coral reef existed in the southern Pacific Ocean thousands of years ago. Woodroffe et al. used multibeam sonar, coring, and dating to examine a relict reef discovered in water about 20–25 meters deep around Lord Howe Island in the southern Pacific Ocean.
Research Spotlight: Oxygen and hydrogen escape differently from Venus's atmosphere
Authors: Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

In the upper atmosphere of Venus, ions are exposed to magnetic and electric fields created by the solar wind. These electric and magnetic fields enable oxygen and hydrogen ions, the components of water, to escape from the atmosphere. Previous studies have focused mainly on oxygen escape from Venus. Jarvinen et al. used a simulation to study both oxygen and hydrogen ion escape from Venus.
Research Spotlight: How do compliant fault zones respond to nearby earthquakes?
Authors: Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

Compliant fault zones are weaker than surrounding rocks and are more responsive to small stress changes caused by nearby earthquakes. Duan modeled how compliant fault zones around existing faults respond to nearby earthquakes. He found that some portions of the fault zone undergo inelastic deformation, while other areas deform elastically. Inelastic deformation occurs if the preexisting stress level in the rock is close to the rock strength.
Research Spotlight: Has the ozone hole caused Antarctic sea ice extent to increase?
Authors: Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

While sea ice extent has declined dramatically in the Arctic in recent years, it has increased slightly in the Antarctic. Some scientists have suggested that increased Antarctic sea ice extent can be explained by the ozone hole over Antarctica. Previous simulations have indicated that the ozone hole induces a large change in atmospheric circulation in austral summer and that this change in circulation could contribute to the changing Antarctic sea extent.
Research Spotlight: Record warming in South Pacific associated with central Pacific El Niño
Authors: Kumar Mohi , Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

In 2009–2010, record warming occurred in the South Pacific and western Antarctica. To document the oceanic and atmospheric conditions associated with the sea surface temperature anomalies, Lee et al. analyzed satellite and in situ observations.

The anomalous warming in the south central Pacific region began in September 2009 and reached a record high in December, around the same time that the 2009–2010 central Pacific El Niño peaked. The amplitude of the South Pacific warming was more than 5 times larger than the usual variability in the region and was substantially stronger than the concurrent El Niño. The spatial extent of the South Pacific warming was comparable to the size of the continental United States and was associated with an unusually strong and persistent high‐pressure system.
Research Spotlight: Atmospheric dynamics could drive El Niño events
Authors: Kumar Mohi , Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

Scientists generally believe that ocean dynamics are the primary factor controlling El Niño sea surface temperature variability. However, new simulations show that atmospheric dynamics can account for many of the features of El Niño that were previously thought to be controlled by ocean dynamics. Dommenget used a series of atmospheric model simulations coupled to a simple ocean model that contained no ocean dynamics.
Research Spotlight: New method for assessing uncertainty in groundwater models
Authors: Kumar Mohi , Tretkoff Ernie
Published: October 2011

Groundwater models used to predict flow and transport through aquifers often have many parameters and take a significant amount of computational time. Because of this, it has been challenging to assess the uncertainty in these models. Keating et al. propose a method for analyzing the uncertainty of such models by selecting and analyzing a simpler surrogate model that has many of the characteristics of the process model to be evaluated. They compared two different methods for estimating the uncertainty of predictions made by the model and found them to be consistent.
Efficient laser-overdense plasma coupling via surface plasma waves and steady magnetic field generation
Authors: Bigongiari A. , Raynaud M. , Riconda C. , Héron A. , Macchi A.
Published: October 2011

The efficiency of laser overdense plasma coupling via surface plasma wave excitation is investigated. Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations are performed over a wide range of laser pulse intensity from 1015 to 1020 W cm−2 μm2 with electron density ranging from 25 to 100nc to describe the laser interaction with a grating target where a surface plasma wave excitation condition is fulfilled. The numerical studies confirm an efficient coupling with an enhancement of the laser absorption up to 75%. The simulations also show the presence of a localized, quasi-static magnetic field at the plasma surface. Two interaction regimes are identified for low (Iλ2 < 1017 W cm−2 μm2) and high (Iλ2 > 1017 W cm−2 μm2) laser pulse intensities. At “relativistic” laser intensity, steady magnetic fields as high as ∼580 MG μm/λ0 at 7 × 1019 W cm−2 μm2 are obtained in the simulations.
Providing a diet containing only maintenance levels of energy and protein during the latter stages of pregnancy resulted in a prolonged delivery time during parturition in rats
Authors: Tanaka Y. , Kadokawa H.
Published: October 2011

In mammals, a prolonged delivery time during parturition is dangerous for both mother and fetus, although the mechanisms that prolong delivery are unclear. To investigate whether nutrition affects delivery time, we administered two feeds containing maintenance (L-feed) or higher (H-feed) levels of energy and protein at different points during the latter half of pregnancy and compared the effects of the various treatments on delivery time in rats. After the rats had been maintained on the L-feed and then copulated on pro-oestrus (Day 0), pregnant females were randomly allocated to one of three groups: (1) the no-improvement group, which was fed L-feed throughout gestation; (2) the early group, which was fed L-feed until Day 11 of gestation and then switched to H-feed; and (3) the late group, which was fed L-feed until Day 16 of gestation and then switched to H-feed. There was no significant difference in the number of pups among the three groups. However, delivery time was significantly longer in the no-improvement group (73.7 ± 5.2 min) than the early (46.9 ± 5.6 min) and late (55.4 ± 5.5 min) groups. Consuming a maintenance diet during the latter half of pregnancy resulted in a prolonged delivery time.
Conclusions
Authors: MacFarquhar Roderick
Published: October 2011

This chapter sums up the key findings of this study on Mao Zedong's launch of the Cultural Revolution in China. It suggests that Mao's success in collectivization served as the launch pad for his vision to transform China economically, which came in the form of the Cultural Revolution. He had accomplished the social fabric of the nation without the massive upheaval that had occurred in the Soviet Union and served as the architect of national renewal.
Emaciated Poetry and the Imaginative Diet
Authors: Prunty Wyatt
Published: October 2011

Symbol, allegory, irony, paradox, and ambiguity were handled by the New Critics in a complex way that made a matrix of the text, with the tradition standing behind as the ultimate context. One of the first problems for poets schooled by the New Critics was not to sound like the property of a thorough New Critical reading. To many of those writing during the fifties and early sixties, symbol, allegory, irony, paradox, and ambiguity seemed to exist as much by their presence in the readings made by followers of the New Criticism as they did for their appearance in contemporary poems. The use of these devices seemed to repeat old patterns, rather than to create new and independent work. In this light, a “traditional” poet was someone standing belatedly inadequate before the present. This chapter focuses on one type of poetry that has been created as a substitute for the aesthetics presented to us through the New Critical reading of modernism and the poetic tradition —the emaciated poem. The trades in modes of thought made by those who adopted this kind of poetry give us an important outline to our contemporary literary economy, in which serious gains and losses have resulted from aesthetic shifts. There are numerous practitioners of this poetry. Two of the most interesting and useful examples are Robert Creeley and A. R. Ammons.
Patterns of Similitude in the Poetry of Justice, Hecht, Van Duyn, Bishop, Wilbur, Hollander, Pack, and Pinsky
Authors: Prunty Wyatt
Published: October 2011

In successful poems written over the last forty years, the play of similitude has been a matter of degree, neither blind acceptance nor rejection of either the unifying or separating, uncovering or covering-over properties of language. This chapter examines the poetry of Donald Justice, Anthony Hecht, Mona Van Duyn, Elizabeth Bishop, Richard Wilbur, John Hollander, Robert Pack, and Robert Pinsky.
Introduction
Authors: Peabody Sue
Published: October 2011

In this work, the author presents the origins, manifestations, and consequences of France's “Freedom Principle” — the notion that any slave who sets foot on French soil becomes free — during a period when France was becoming involved in the Atlantic slave system and developing a radical new political discourse based on notions of freedom, equality, and citizenship. One of the key themes of this work is that France's commitment to the Freedom Principle, the notion that “There are no slaves in France,” yielded two responses. One is the liberal notion of individual or human rights and the second response is the formulation of conservative ideologies that validate hierarchy and the status quo.
Notions of Race in the Eighteenth Century
Authors: Peabody Sue
Published: October 2011

In 1759, the Parlement of Paris made a decision that established the status of slaves who sued for their freedom within the jurisdiction of this court and, consequently, the Admiralty Courts within its domain. This was the case of Francisque, which set an important example for the suits that would follow it in the same jurisdiction, as well as across the channel in England's Somerset case. It also provided an opportunity for French thinking on racial difference in the middle of the eighteenth century. The lawyers revealed assumptions about the meaning of the term negre and the foundations of racism in eighteenth-century France due to their attempts to argue that Francisque was not a negre, and thus not subject to the laws of 1716 and 1738.
“Littery Man”: The Rhetoric of Authorship
Authors: Lowry Richard S.
Published: October 2011

A fundamental reason for Mark Twain's struggles in writing stems from his writerly strategies. Mark Twain was more of an intuitive writer than someone who was conscious about literary form. His sense of authorial identity was connected to his practical problems of writing, especially because he had a sense of his audience. He searched this “sole form” to differentiate his works from others. In two of his writings, Mark Twain presents language as an image itself. Rather than speaking literally, language is spoken signifying the literary. The use of literary quotations in his works demands that he and his readers negotiate about the divide. Moreover, Twain's direct pursuit of authorship's “money side” distinguished him from the concerns of his peers.
The Third Linguistic Turn and the Inscrutability of Literal Sense
Authors: Atlas Jay David
Published: October 2011

The neo- and post-Gricean movements and programs initiated in 1967 had already obtained their canonical form and could already be applied in linguistics. Aside from how thoughts started to veer away from the traditional Gricean program during 1981, Sadock came up with “Whither Radical Pragmatics” which also poses a challenge to classical Gricean thought. While Sadock was able to introduce two kinds of pragmatic views — the discourse-functional and the Gricean — the author attempts to discuss a Gricean idea which he refers to as “excessive pragmatism.” The author points out that some analyses that entail Gricean thought exhibit too great a reduction of semantic properties to Gricean aspects while looking into problems regarding numerical adjectives and noun phrases and performing tests for ambiguity.
Science and Musical Skills
Authors: Lehmann Andreas C. , Sloboda John A. , Woody Robert H.
Published: October 2011

This chapter explains the basic concepts employed in the study of the psychology of music. Assumptions and ideas are clarified, including the linkage between musical activity and its milieu. The chapter highlights several related points. First, the scientific method is adopted, in conjunction with traditional approaches, to examine and discuss the important issues in music education and psychology. Second, it is proposed that musical ability and talent are culture-specific, vary across time and space, and have much in common with the skills involved in other areas of human behavior, such as sports and science. Lastly, musical learning is defined as the generation of mental representations and complementary cognitive adaptations, and is posited to be crucial to the development of skills in music creation and listening. The effectiveness of an individual's mental representation of the outside world as it translates into music differentiates the novices from the experts.
Development
Authors: Lehmann Andreas C. , Sloboda John A. , Woody Robert H.
Published: October 2011

This chapter further expounds on the scientific approach to musical ability, which treats music as a skill. This same approach is applied to the development of musical skills and helps refute various beliefs and opinions, especially regarding musical genius as an accident of birth. The evidence presented suggests that even babies display a diverse set of musically related aptitudes which exhibit a typical developmental progression throughout childhood. This development is independent of training and education. Other studies reveal that there are environments that can accelerate the rate of acquisition of music skills and that these can be provided by parents and caregivers. Predicting future musical success based on aptitude tests and “early signs of talent” is also found to be difficult, since this does not apply to some accomplished musicians. Lastly, parental support and dedicated practice are found to be more important than inherent talent.
The Teacher
Authors: Lehmann Andreas C. , Sloboda John A. , Woody Robert H.
Published: October 2011

This chapter discusses the second musical role—that of the teacher. A study of the factors affecting teaching methods, behaviors, and qualities is vital, since a musician's life is shaped by his mentors and since he may himself assume the same role later on in his career. Several conclusions are revealed by research on the subject. First, a musician's learning process is affected by the type of relationship he has with his teacher. Second, students rely heavily on their mentors for quality musical models and performance feedback. Third, the strategies and behaviors of effective teachers are enumerated. An example is the clear communication of concrete music properties through imagery and metaphors. Fourth, musical achievement is tied to the completion of the instruction cycle which involves the presentation of a task, the student's application of the instruction, and feedback. Lastly, good teaching is learned through experience and proper training.
Prologue
Authors: Atkinson Charles M.
Published: October 2011

This introductory chapter first sets out the purpose of the book, which is to examine Pseudo-Odo's statement, in his Dialogus de musica (ca. 1000 ad), regarding the effect that the placement of tones and semitones in a chant has on the determination of its mode. An overview of the subsequent chapters is then presented.
Hucbald of St. Amand and Regino of Prüm
Authors: Atkinson Charles M.
Published: October 2011

This chapter addresses the writings of Hucbald of St. Amand and Regino of Prüm. Hucbald's work represents the first attempt to fuse Boethian theory with chant theory, and it is, in many ways, a remarkable accomplishment. Two rather different kinds of music theory were current in the later 9th century, one deriving its terminology and approach from the practice of singing plainchant—often called cantus theory—and the other strongly influenced by ancient Greek harmonic theory as transmitted into the Middle Ages by writers such as Boethius. The dichotomy that obviously existed around 900 is both reflected and acknowledged by Regino of Prüm in his Epistola de harmonica institutione.
Ideas in Exile
Authors: Gigerenzer Gerd
Published: October 2011

Influenced by Karl Buhler’s biologically motivated concern with the success of organisms in their world, Brunswik’s research in the 1920s and 1930s aimed at studying “perceptual achievement” in the presence of ambiguous cues. The three traditional perceptual constancies — size, shape, and color — were the prototype for achievement. There is a sophisticated image in which Brunswik’s ideas basically boil down to three correlations and one unorthodoxy. The correlations are functional validities, ecological validities, and cue utilization coefficients. However, there is another view of Brunswik: opposition by neglect. The opposition takes the form of silence and a lack of understanding of what the fuss is all about. This chapter describes Egon Brunswik, not thinking of correlations, but rather on the struggles of an upright man.
Rationality and Selection in Asset Markets
Authors: Blume Lawrence E. , Easley David
Published: October 2011

This chapter examines the implications of trader rationality for the price behavior of financial assets. It argues that rationality imposes few constraints on asset prices. Nonetheless, the market as a whole may in effect learn by transferring wealth across traders with different beliefs, and this market learning may have long-run asset price implications. This finding complements the contribution of Farmer et al. by arguing that it is the interaction mechanism rather than specific agent behaviors that drive the general features of asset price processes.
Reflection, Planning, and Temporally Extended Agency
Authors: Bratman Michael E.
Published: October 2011

Any reasonably complete theory of human action will need, in some way, to advert to our reflectiveness, planfulness, and our conception of our agency as temporally extended. This chapter explores the connections between strong forms of agency, the planning theory, and Lockean cross-temporal organization. It introduces the idea of higher-order self-governing policies concerning what to treat as reason providing. It also draws on a version of Harry G. Frankfurt's idea of satisfaction with such an attitude. What is basic is that these self-governing policies play relevant Lockean organizing roles in cross-temporal identity, not that their contents are explicitly a conception of one's “practical identity.” In addition, there is also room in the theory to accord agential authority to attitudes that play these cross-temporal roles but are not, strictly speaking, policies. Such attitudes would be “quasi-policies.”
LABOR
Authors: Maher Neil M.
Published: October 2011

Chapter Three examines the everyday experiences of the more than three million working-class male youths who enrolled in the CCC between 1933 and 1942. It illustrates how Corps conservation work altered the American landscape while transforming CCC enrollees physically through weight gain, muscle development, and an increase in overall bodily health. This chapter links these corporeal changes, which helped convert many working-class enrollees to the conservationist cause, to an expansion of the movement's composition beyond progressive elites. It also argues that these same bodily changes broadened the conservationist philosophy to include a new concern for “human resources,” in this case young, American men. These same physical transformations also influenced New Deal politics in two important ways. First, the rejuvenation of young, poor men from America's cities helped raise political support for Roosevelt among the nation's urban working class. As important, at a time when New Deal opponents blamed immigrants for causing and exacerbating the Great Depression, Chapter Three argues that the CCC's promotion of work in nature as having an Americanizing influence also appealed to foreign-born urbanites. By rebuilding enrollee bodies, this chapter concludes, the CCC transformed the conservation movement while raising political support, particularly in urban America, for the New Deal.
NATION
Authors: Maher Neil M.
Published: October 2011

This chapter explores how the debate over Corps conservation work, introduced as a local problem in Chapter Four, spread to the national level during the late 1930s. It begins by illustrating how positive media coverage during the early and mid-1930s made the CCC the New Deal's most popular program, and perhaps more importantly, synonymous with conservation. Yet Chapter Five also examines an increasingly vocal group of Americans who during the late-1930s publicly criticized Corps conservation work, and Roosevelt's New Deal, for threatening American nature. While others like Bob Marshall faulted CCC conservation projects such as the building of roads in national parks for destroying wilderness, biological scientists followed Aldo Leopold's lead by claiming that seemingly benign Corps work such as the planting of trees in national forests actually upset ecological balance. Chapter Five examines how this growing opposition to the CCC sparked a public, national debate about the role of wilderness preservation and ecological balance within the conservation movement. The chapter concludes that while the widespread popularity of the CCC helped make the conservation movement a truly grassroots phenomenon, the public debate over Corps work indicated that the very meaning of conservation was in flux during the Great Depression era.
Word
Authors: Collins John N.
Published: October 2011

In a much more confined ambit—and with fewer stories to tell, although with one or two longish ones, beginning with an alluring tale about Hermes—we now move into the field of “deed”, where we encounter usage about agents and their activities. Star-crossed lovers are the stuff of the ancient Greek novel. Heliodorus was only half-way through his Ethiopian romance when Theagenes, his clean Greek boy, concluded from a truly bitter experience that the gods would never allow him to be united with his chaste Charicleia. We have had occasion to emphasize that the word group associated with “diakonia” sits easily in talk about the kind of communication that ancients conceived of as going on with the other world whether by way of message, entreaty, or the transient thrill of love. In such contexts, as in the passage from Heliodorus discussed in the preceding section, the notion of mediation at times suggests itself.