bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Monocular‐SLAM–based navigation for autonomous micro helicopters in GPS‐denied environments
Authors: Weiss Stephan , Scaramuzza Davide , Siegwart Roland
Published: October 2011

Autonomous micro aerial vehicles (MAVs) will soon play a major role in tasks such as search and rescue, environment monitoring, surveillance, and inspection. They allow us to easily access environments to which no humans or other vehicles can get access. This reduces the risk for both the people and the environment. For the above applications, it is, however, a requirement that the vehicle is able to navigate without using GPS, or without relying on a preexisting map, or without specific assumptions about the environment. This will allow operations in unstructured, unknown, and GPS‐denied environments. We present a novel solution for the task of autonomous navigation of a micro helicopter through a completely unknown environment by using solely a single camera and inertial sensors onboard. Many existing solutions suffer from the problem of drift in the xy plane or from the dependency on a clean GPS signal. The novelty in the here‐presented approach is to use a monocular simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) framework to stabilize the vehicle in six degrees of freedom. This way, we overcome the problem of both the drift and the GPS dependency. The pose estimated by the visual SLAM algorithm is used in a linear optimal controller that allows us to perform all basic maneuvers such as hovering, set point and trajectory following, vertical takeoff, and landing. All calculations including SLAM and controller are running in real time and online while the helicopter is flying. No offline processing or preprocessing is done. We show real experiments that demonstrate that the vehicle can fly autonomously in an unknown and unstructured environment. To the best of our knowledge, the here‐presented work describes the first aerial vehicle that uses onboard monocular vision as a main sensor to navigate through an unknown GPS‐denied environment and independently of any external artificial aids. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Development of leg‐track hybrid locomotion to traverse loose slopes and irregular terrain
Authors: Nagatani Keiji , Kinoshita Hiroaki , Yoshida Kazuya , Tadakuma Kenjiro , Koyanagi Eiji
Published: October 2011

A track mechanism has high mobility on irregular terrain and is typically used as a locomotion mechanism for all‐terrain robots. To increase its traversal ability, subtracks (additional actuated tracks that change its mounting angles) are effective, and recently many small‐sized tracked vehicles have used such mechanisms. The performance of track mechanisms is also typically much better than that of wheeled mechanisms on loose soil. However, they sometimes slip while traversing slopes composed of loose soil. To realize high mobility on weak soil, we developed a new locomotion mechanism, referred to as surface‐contact‐type locomotion. It uses a simple legged mechanism that has a wide contact area with the ground so as not to corrupt the contact surface. However, it has the disadvantage of low mobility on irregular terrain. To solve the problem of the above trade‐off, we developed the leg‐track hybrid locomotion mechanism by fusing the two locomotion mechanisms. It consists of three track modules. It mounts six actuators: three motors for standard tracked locomotion, two motors for subtrack motion to change mounting angles, and one motor for simple legged motion. To validate the mechanism, we conducted indoor and outdoor experiments. In this paper, we introduce the simple legged mechanism and discuss its stability, detail the developed leg‐track hybrid mechanism, and report some experimental results. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Shared autonomy system for tracked vehicles on rough terrain based on continuous three‐dimensional terrain scanning
Authors: Okada Yoshito , Nagatani Keiji , Yoshida Kazuya , Tadokoro Satoshi , Yoshida Tomoaki , Koyanagi Eiji
Published: October 2011

Tracked vehicles are frequently used as search‐and‐rescue robots for exploring disaster areas. To enhance their ability to traverse rough terrain, some of these robots are equipped with swingable subtracks. However, manual control of such subtracks also increases the operator's workload, particularly in teleoperation with limited camera views. To eliminate this trade‐off, we have developed a shared autonomy system using an autonomous controller for subtracks that is based on continuous three‐dimensional terrain scanning. Using this system, the operator has only to specify the direction of travel to the robot, following which the robot traverses rough terrain using autonomously generated subtrack motions. In our system, real‐time terrain slices near the robot are obtained using two or three LIDAR (laser imaging detection and ranging) sensors, and these terrain slices are integrated to generate three‐dimensional terrain information. In this paper, we introduce an autonomous controller for subtracks and validate the reliability of a shared autonomy system on actual rough terrains through experimental results. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
XPS analysis of bio‐organic systems
Authors: Rouxhet Paul G. , Genet Michel J.
Published: October 2011

A survey of the literature is made for the XPS analysis of food products (mainly spray‐dried powders, which reveal a considerable surface enrichment in lipids) and of microorganisms and related systems (extracellular polymer substances and biofilms). This survey is used as a background for discussions and recommendations regarding methodology. Sample preparation methods reviewed are freeze drying, analysis of frozen hydrated specimens and adsorption of surface‐active biocompounds on model substrates. Peak decomposition is a way to increase the wealth of information provided by the XPS spectra. It should be performed after a check that sample charge stabilization is satisfactory. Moreover, ensuring the precision needed to make comparisons within sets of samples may involve a trade‐off between imposing constraints and generating information. The examination of correlations between spectral data in the light of chemical guidelines is useful to validate or improve peak decomposition and component assignment, and may also upgrade the chemical information regarding speciation. Further upgrading may be achieved by expressing marker XPS data in terms of concentrations of compounds of interest. Different methods of computation are discussed, providing a composition in terms of ingredients, classes of biochemical compounds, or various organic and inorganic compounds. As an alternative or complement to this deterministic approach, multivariate analysis of suitable spectral windows provides spectral components, which may be used for comparing samples, and which may have a direct chemical relevance or be used to identify features of interest. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The search for asterisks: Compromised statistical tests and flawed theories
Authors: Bettis Richard A.
Published: October 2011

This paper discusses repeated tests and the resultant reporting of statistical significance when it is actually not present. These errors interact with professional norms such as biases against both replication studies and ‘non‐results’ to undermine the efficacy of our base of empirically tested theory. This raises serious issues for the future of strategic management research. Suggestions are made for dealing with these issues substantively and in terms of professional norms. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Efficacy of Lateral Neck Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma
Authors: Lee Se Kyung , Kim Sung Hoon , Hur Sung Mo , Choe Jun‐Ho , Kim Jung‐Han , Kim Jee Soo
Published: October 2011

Background

Although occult lymph node metastasis to the lateral neck compartment is common in papillary thyroid carcinoma, the incidence and patterns of lateral neck node metastasis in papillary carcinoma are not known. We hypothesized that sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) with radioisotope in the detection of occult lateral neck node metastasis would be useful in characterizing metastasis in papillary carcinoma.

Methods

Ninety‐four patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma were included from June 2009 to March 2010 for lateral neck SLNB. Preoperative lymphoscintigraphy was obtained after intratumoral injection of a 99mTc‐tin colloid under ultrasound guidance. Total thyroidectomy or lobectomy preceded SLN detection to avoid radioactivity interference with the primary tumor, after which SLNB was performed in the lateral neck nodes. In the cases where metastasis was detected in SLNs upon frozen biopsy, an immediate modified radical neck node dissection was performed.

Results

A total of 174 SLNs were identified in 60 patients (63.8%). The identification rate of the SLNs with isotope increased with time. Sentinel lymph node metastasis was found in 19 patients (31.7%). This clinically occult metastasis was only related to the total number of metastatic LNs in the central compartment. Patient age, gender, tumor size, location, extent of tumor invasion, multiplicity, and presence of thyroiditis were not related to metastasis in the lateral compartment. Detection of lateral neck SLNs upon biopsy with radioisotope was also feasible in level II and contralateral neck.

Conclusions

Sentinel lymph node biopsy is a useful method for evaluating the occult lateral neck lymph node status in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma, especially in the cases of central neck node metastasis.
Contributions of phonological and verbal working memory to language development in adolescents with fragile X syndrome
Authors: Pierpont Elizabeth I. , Richmond Erica Kesin , Abbeduto Leonard , Kover Sara T. , Brown W. Ted
Published: October 2011

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common inherited cause of intellectual disability. Although language delays are frequently observed in FXS, neither the longitudinal course of language development nor its cognitive predictors are well understood. The present study investigated whether phonological and working memory skills are predictive of growth in vocabulary and syntax in individuals with FXS during adolescence. Forty-four individuals with FXS (mean age = 12.61 years) completed assessments of phonological memory (nonword repetition and forward digit recall), verbal working memory (backward digit recall), vocabulary, syntax, and nonverbal cognition. Vocabulary and syntax skills were reassessed at a 2-year follow-up. In a series of analyses that controlled for nonverbal cognitive ability and severity of autism symptoms, the relative contributions of phonological and working memory to language change over time were investigated. These relationships were examined separately for boys and girls. In boys with FXS, phonological memory significantly predicted gains in vocabulary and syntax skills. Further, verbal working memory was uniquely associated with vocabulary gains among boys. In girls with FXS, phonological and working memory skills showed no relationship with language change across the 2-year time period. Our findings indicate that, for adolescent boys with FXS, acquisition of vocabulary and syntax may be constrained by the ability to maintain and manipulate phonological representations online. Implications for the identification and treatment of language disorders in this population are discussed. The present study is the first to identify specific cognitive mechanisms contributing to language growth over time in individuals with FXS.
The impact of home-prepared diets and home oral hygiene on oral health in cats and dogs
Authors: Buckley Catherine , Colyer Alison , Skrzywanek Michal , Jodkowska Katarzyna , Kurski Grzegorz , Gawor Jerzy , Ceregrzyn Michal
Published: October 2011

Many factors influence the oral health status of cats and dogs. The present study aimed to elucidate the influence of feeding home-prepared (HP) foodv.commercial pet food on oral health parameters in these animals and to investigate the effect of home oral hygiene on oral health. The study surveyed 17 184 dogs and 6371 cats visiting over 700 Polish veterinary surgeries in 2006–7 during a Pet Smile activity organised by the Polish Small Animal Veterinary Association. All animals underwent conscious examinations to assess dental deposits, size of mandibular lymph nodes and gingival health. An oral health index (OHI) ranging from 0 to 8 was calculated for each animal by combining examination scores, where 0 indicates good oral health and 8 indicates poorest oral health. Information was collected on age, diet and home oral hygiene regimens. There was a significant effect of diet on the OHI (P < 0·001) whereby feeding the HP diet increased the probability of an oral health problem in both cats and dogs. There was a significant beneficial effect of feeding only commercial pet food compared with the HP diet when at least part of the diet was composed of dry pet food. Daily tooth brushing or the offering of daily dental treats were both effective in significantly reducing the OHI in both cats and dogs compared with those receiving sporadic or no home oral hygiene. Feeding only a dry diet was beneficial for oral health in cats and dogs. Tooth brushing and the offering of dental treats were very effective in maintaining oral health, provided they were practised daily.
Genetic differences in the serum proteome of horses, donkeys and mules are detectable by protein profiling
Authors: Henze Andrea , Aumer Franziska , Grabner Arthur , Raila Jens , Schweigert Florian J.
Published: October 2011

Although horses and donkeys belong to the same genus, their genetic characteristics probably result in specific proteomes and post-translational modifications (PTM) of proteins. Since PTM can alter protein properties, specific PTM may contribute to species-specific characteristics. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to analyse differences in serum protein profiles of horses and donkeys as well as mules, which combine the genetic backgrounds of both species. Additionally, changes in PTM of the protein transthyretin (TTR) were analysed. Serum protein profiles of each species (five animals per species) were determined using strong anion exchanger ProteinChips® (Bio-Rad, Munich, Germany) in combination with surface-enhanced laser desorption ionisation-time of flight MS. The PTM of TTR were analysed subsequently by immunoprecipitation in combination with matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation-time of flight MS. Protein profiling revealed species-specific differences in the proteome, with some protein peaks present in all three species as well as protein peaks that were unique for donkeys and mules, horses and mules or for horses alone. The molecular weight of TTR of horses and donkeys differed by 30 Da, and both species revealed several modified forms of TTR besides the native form. The mass spectra of mules represented a merging of TTR spectra of horses and donkeys. In summary, the present study indicated that there are substantial differences in the proteome of horses and donkeys. Additionally, the results probably indicate that the proteome of mules reveal a higher similarity to donkeys than to horses.
Postprandial glucose and insulin profiles following a glucose-loaded meal in cats and dogs
Authors: Hewson-Hughes Adrian K. , Gilham Matthew S. , Upton Sarah , Colyer Alison , Butterwick Richard , Miller Andrew T.
Published: October 2011

Data from intravenous (i.v.) glucose tolerance tests suggest that glucose clearance from the blood is slower in cats than in dogs. Since different physiological pathways are activated following oral administration compared with i.v. administration, we investigated the profiles of plasma glucose and insulin in cats and dogs following ingestion of a test meal with or without glucose. Adult male and female cats and dogs were fed either a high-protein (HP) test meal (15 g/kg body weight; ten cats and eleven dogs) or a HP+glucose test meal (13 g/kg body-weight HP diet+2 g/kg body-weightd-glucose; seven cats and thirteen dogs) following a 24 h fast. Marked differences in plasma glucose and insulin profiles were observed in cats and dogs following ingestion of the glucose-loaded meal. In cats, mean plasma glucose concentration reached a peak at 120 min (10·2, 95 % CI 9·7, 10·8 mmol/l) and returned to baseline by 240 min, but no statistically significant change in plasma insulin concentration was observed. In dogs, mean plasma glucose concentration reached a peak at 60 min (6·3, 95 % CI 5·9, 6·7 mmol/l) and returned to baseline by 90 min, while plasma insulin concentration was significantly higher than pre-meal values from 30 to 120 min following the glucose-loaded meal. These results indicate that cats are not as efficient as dogs at rapidly decreasing high blood glucose levels and are consistent with a known metabolic adaptation of cats, namely a lack of glucokinase, which is important for both insulin secretion and glucose uptake from the blood.
Plasma oestrogen changes in adult male cats after orchiectomy, body-weight gain and low-dosage oestradiol administration
Authors: Backus Robert
Published: October 2011

The physiological relevance of oestradiol (E2) on post-orchiectomy (OX) food intake control was evaluated in six adult, male, domestic, short-hair cats. Jugular venous plasma E2 and oestrone (E1) concentrations were determined weekly before OX and immediately after OX in a cross-over trial of two 3-week periods in which E2 (0·5 μg) or vehicle (0·1 ml/kg) was subcutaneously injected daily and blood was sampled 4 h later. Plasma E1 and E2 concentrations before OX were 32 (se 8·3) and 4·3 (se 1·0) pg/ml, respectively. Following OX, plasma concentrations of E2 were decreased (P = 0·04) while those of E1 were unchanged. Injections of E2 increased (P = 0·02) plasma E2 towards pre-OX concentrations. In a second cross-over trial, plasma E1 and E2 were determined weekly during the last 3 weeks of two 8-week periods in which food was continuously presented or restricted to 110 % of pre-OX amounts. Continuous food presentation compared with restricted food presentation resulted in greater body weight (6·4 (se 0·4) v. 5·4 (se 0·4) kg, P = 0·02) and body fat percentage (29 (se 3) v. 23 (se 2) %, P = 0·09) but no significant changes were observed in plasma E1 and E2 concentrations. Hence, circulating E2 appears to be reduced by OX, while it is not significantly changed by body-fat gain. The amount of E2 injected after OX was not supraphysiological; it restored plasma E2 to pre-OX concentrations and reduced food intake in five of the six cats by a mean of 14 (se 3) %.
Effect of dietary water intake on urinary output, specific gravity and relative supersaturation for calcium oxalate and struvite in the cat
Authors: Buckley Catherine M. F. , Hawthorne Amanda , Colyer Alison , Stevenson Abigail E.
Published: October 2011

It has been reported that daily fluid intake influences urinary dilution, and consequently the risk of urolithiasis in human subjects and dogs. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of dietary moisture on urinary parameters in healthy adult cats by comparing nutritionally standardised diets, varying only in moisture content. A total of six cats were fed a complete dry food (6·3 % moisture) hydrated to 25·4, 53·2 and 73·3 % moisture for 3 weeks in a randomised block cross-over design. Urinary specific gravity (SG), urine volume, water drunk and total fluid intake were measured daily; relative supersaturation (RSS) for calcium oxalate (CaOx) and struvite was calculated using the SUPERSAT computer program. Cats fed the 73·3 % moisture diet produced urine with a significantly lower SG (P < 0·001) compared with diets containing 53·2 % moisture or lower. Mean RSS for CaOx was approaching the undersaturated zone (1·14 (sem0·21);P = 0·001) for cats fed the diet with 73·3 % moisture and significantly lower than the 6·3 % moisture diet (CaOx RSS 2·29 (sem 0·21)). The effect of diet on struvite RSS was less clear, with no significant difference between treatment groups. Total fluid intake was significantly increased (P < 0·001) in the 73·3 % moisture diet (144·7 (sem 5·2) ml, or 30 ml/kg body weight per d) compared with the 6·3 % (103·4 (sem 5·3) ml), 25·4 % (98·6 (sem 5·3) ml) and 53·3 % (104·7 (sem 5·3) ml) moisture diets, despite voluntary water intake decreasing as dietary moisture intake increased. Cats fed the 73·3 % moisture diet had a higher total daily fluid intake resulting in a more dilute urine with a lower risk of CaOx when compared with the lower-moisture diets.
Cross-sectional study to investigate the association between vitamin D status and cutaneous mast cell tumours in Labrador retrievers
Authors: Wakshlag Joseph J. , Rassnick Kenneth M. , Malone Erin K. , Struble Angela M. , Vachhani Priyanka , Trump Donald L. , Tian Lili
Published: October 2011

Epidemiological data indicate that low serum vitamin D concentrations are associated with an increased risk of a variety of human tumours. Cutaneous mast cell tumours (MCT) occur more frequently in dogs than in any other species. Canine MCT express the vitamin D receptor, and vitamin D derivatives have in vitro and in vivo anti-tumour activity. We sought to examine the association between vitamin D serum level and MCT in Labrador retrievers, a dog breed predisposed to MCT development. To examine this association, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D3) concentrations were examined in eighty-seven Labrador retrievers, including thirty-three with MCT and fifty-four unaffected controls. The relationship between cases and controls and 25(OH)D3 level, age and body condition score were evaluated using univariate and multivariate analyses. Potential differences in vitamin D oral intake, calculated on the basis of a dietary questionnaire, were also evaluated between groups. Mean 25(OH)D3 concentration (104 (sd 30) nmol/l) in dogs with MCT was significantly lower than that of unaffected dogs (120 (sd 35) nmol/l; P = 0·027). The mean calculated vitamin D intake per kg body weight in Labrador retrievers with MCT was not statistically different from that of unaffected Labrador retrievers (0·38 (sd 0·25) and 0·31 (sd 0·22) μg/kg body weight, respectively; P = 0·13). These findings suggest that low levels of 25(OH)D3 might be a risk factor for MCT in Labrador retrievers. Prospective cohort studies are warranted.
Birth weight and postnatal growth of pure-bred kittens
Authors: Moik Katja , Kienzle Ellen
Published: October 2011

Data on body weight of pure-bred kittens (Maine Coon, Norwegian Forest Cat, Birman, Persian, Siamese/Oriental Shorthair Cat) from birth (n 245) to 12 weeks of age (n 135) were obtained from breeders. Absolute birth weight (in g) was higher in larger breeds than in smaller breeds, whereas relative birth weight (in % of mature female weight) tended to be higher in smaller breeds (Maine Coon 115 g, 2·3 %; Norwegian Forest Cat 106 g, 2·7 %; Birman 97 g, 2·8 %; Siamese 92 g, 2·8 %; Persian 82 g, 3·2 %). Relative birth weight was lower than that described in the literature for colony cats. Relative litter weight was highest in Norwegian Forest Cats (14·6 (sd 1·8) %; n 10) and lowest in Birmans (8·8 (sd 3·1) %, n 7; P < 0·05); the other breeds were in-between (11·9 (sd 2·0) %; n 19). Absolute growth was faster in larger breeds than in smaller breeds. In relation to expected mature weight, there was good agreement with data from colony cats but no clear-cut effect of breed size. There appeared to be a trend to an earlier onset of sexual dimorphism in larger breeds.
Effects on nutrient intake of a family-based intervention to promote increased consumption of low-fat starchy foods through education, cooking skills and personalised goal setting: the Family Food and Health Project
Authors: Curtis Peter J. , Adamson Ashley J. , Mathers John C.
Published: October 2011

Reducing the prevalence of fat-rich, energy-dense diets is a public health priority. The present parallel-designed randomised study compared three interventions aimed to increase intakes of low-fat starchy foods and to reduce fat intakes among 589 individuals from 169 families in the Family Food and Health Project (FFHP). Intervention A was education only, intervention B provided ‘cook and eat’ sessions only, whereas intervention C included personalised goal setting, ‘cook and eat’ and education. Diet was assessed at baseline (T0) and at 3 months (T1), 6 months (T2) and 18 months (T3) post-intervention. Retention rates were 75 % atT1, 63 % atT2and 40 % atT3. ANCOVA (baseline intake as covariate) was assessed between intervention differences atT1,T2andT3. AtT1, individuals in intervention C consumed less fat (P = 0·02) and more total carbohydrate (P = 0·001), starch (P = 0·04) vitamin C (P = 0·002) and NSP (P = 0·01) than those in intervention A. Whereas similar dietary intakes were reported across interventions atT2, participants in intervention C had less energy-dense diets that contained more NSP and vitamin C atT3than intervention A (P < 0·0001,P = 0·002 andP = 0·01, respectively). Across all intervention groups, the more socially deprived participants in the FFHP (n119) consumed less fat (P = 0·01) and more total carbohydrate (P = 0·02) atT2than the least socially deprived (n240). These data demonstrate the importance of personalised goal setting to translate knowledge and practical cooking skills into healthier food choices, suggesting that low-fat starchy food-focused interventions may be effective in reducing fat intake.
Alterations of the extracellular matrix of lung during zinc deficiency
Authors: Biaggio Verónica S. , Salvetti Natalia R. , Pérez Chaca María V. , Valdez Susana R. , Ortega Hugo H. , Gimenez María S. , Gomez Nidia N.
Published: October 2011

Suboptimal intake of Zn is one of the most common nutritional problems worldwide. Previously, we have shown that Zn deficiency (ZD) produces oxidative and nitrosative stress in the lung of rats. We analyse the effect of moderate ZD on the expression of several intermediate filaments of the cytoskeleton, as well as the effect of restoring Zn during the refeeding period. Adult male rats were divided into three groups: Zn-adequate control (CO) group; ZD group; Zn-refeeding group. CerbB-2 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression was increased in the ZD group while the other parameters did not change. During the refeeding time, CerbB-2, cytokeratins, vimentin and PCNA immunostaining was higher than that in the CO group. The present findings indicate that the overexpression of some markers could lead to the fibrotic process in the lung. Perhaps ZD implications must be taken into account in health interventions because an inflammation environment is associated with ZD in the lung.
The first reported treatment of Nager syndrome associated hearing loss with bone-anchored hearing aids: case report
Authors: Davies G P , Johnson I J M
Published: October 2011

Objective:

To report the first case of treatment of Nager syndrome associated conductive hearing loss with bone-anchored hearing aids, in a three-year-old boy.

Method:

Clinical case report and current literature review regarding the use of bone-anchored hearing aids in the treatment of conductive hearing loss in children.

Results:

A three year eight month old boy with Nager syndrome was successfully treated for conductive hearing loss using bilateral bone-anchored hearing aids.

Conclusion:

This is the first case report of the use of bone-anchored hearing aids to treat Nager syndrome associated conductive hearing loss. Treatment was safe and successful in this case.
FromScotiato ‘Operation Tabarin’: developing British policy for Antarctica
Authors: Dudeney John R. , Walton David W.H.
Published: October 2011

The roots of a British Antarctic policy can be traced, paradoxically, back to the establishment of a meteorological station by the Scottish Antarctic Expedition in the South Orkneys, in 1903, and the indifference of the British Government to its almost immediate transfer to the Argentine Government. It was from that modest physical presence upon Laurie Island that Argentina came increasingly to challenge British claims to the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands Dependencies (FID), first in the late 1920s and then more extensively in the second world war. This challenge shaped British policy for the next forty years, with further complications caused by overlapping territorial claims made by Chile and the possible territorial ambitions of the USA. Britain's eventual response, at the height of World War II, was to establish permanent occupation of Antarctica from the southern summer of 1943–1944. This occupation was given the military codename Operation Tabarin. However, it was never a military operation as such, although monitoring the activities of enemy surface raiders and submarines provided a convenient cover story, as did scientific research once the operation became public. Whilst successive parties, rich in professional scientists, considerably expanded the pre-war survey and research of the Discovery Investigations Committee, their physical occupancy of the Antarctic islands and Peninsula was essentially a political statement, whereby the Admiralty and Colonial Office (CO) strove to protect British territorial rights, whilst the Foreign Office (FO) endeavoured to minimise disruption to Britain's long-standing economic and cultural ties with Argentina, and most critically, the shipment of war-time meat supplies. In meeting that immediate need, Tabarin also provided the basis from which Britain's subsequent post-war leadership in Antarctic affairs developed.
Sorted
Authors: SWIERSTRA WOUTER
Published: October 2011

The problem of the Dutch national flag was formulated by Dijkstra (1976) as follows:

There is a row of buckets numbered from 1 to n. It is given that:

P1:

each bucket contains one pebble

P2:

each pebble is either red, white, or blue.

A minicomputer is placed in front of this row of buckets and has to be programmed in such a way that it will rearrange (if necessary) the pebbles in the order of the Dutch national flag.

The minicomputer in question should perform this rearrangement using two commands:

•

swapi j for 1≤i≤n and 1≤j≤n exchanges the pebbles stored in the buckets numbered i and j;

•

read (i) for 1≤i≤n returns the colour of the pebble currently lying in bucket number i. Dijkstra originally named this operation buck.
Role of Frontotemporal Fiber Tract Integrity in Task-Switching Performance of Healthy Controls and Patients with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
Authors: Kucukboyaci N. Erkut , Girard H.M. , Hagler D.J. , Kuperman J. , Tecoma E.S. , Iragui V.J. , Halgren E. , McDonald C.R.
Published: October 2011

The objective of this study is to investigate the relationships among frontotemporal fiber tract compromise and task-switching performance in healthy controls and patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). We performed diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) on 30 controls and 32 patients with TLE (15 left TLE). Fractional anisotropy (FA) was calculated for four fiber tracts [uncinate fasciculus (UncF), arcuate fasciculus (ArcF), dorsal cingulum (CING), and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF)]. Participants completed the Trail Making Test-B (TMT-B) and Verbal Fluency Category Switching (VFCS) test. Multivariate analyses of variances (MANOVAs) were performed to investigate group differences in fiber FA and set-shifting performances. Canonical correlations were used to examine the overall patterns of structural-cognitive relationships and were followed by within-group bivariate correlations. We found a significant canonical correlation between fiber FA and task-switching performance. In controls, TMT-B correlated with left IFOF, whereas VFCS correlated with FA of left ArcF and left UncF. These correlations were not significant in patients with TLE. We report significant correlations between frontotemporal fiber tract integrity and set-shifting performance in healthy controls that appear to be absent or attenuated in patients with TLE. These findings suggest a breakdown of typical structure-function relationships in TLE that may reflect aberrant developmental or degenerative processes. (JINS, 2012,18, 57–67)
JUXTAPOSITION: A NEW WAY TO COMBINE LOGICS
Authors: SCHECHTER JOSHUA
Published: October 2011

This paper develops a new framework for combining propositional logics, called “juxtaposition.” Several general metalogical theorems are proved concerning the combination of logics by juxtaposition. In particular, it is shown that under reasonable conditions, juxtaposition preserves strong soundness. Under reasonable conditions, the juxtaposition of two consequence relations is a conservative extension of each of them. A general strong completeness result is proved. The paper then examines the philosophically important case of the combination of classical and intuitionist logics. Particular attention is paid to the phenomenon of collapse. It is shown that there are logics with two stocks of classical or intuitionist connectives that do not collapse. Finally, the paper briefly investigates the question of which rules, when added to these logics, lead to collapse.
Toward a reliable decomposition of predictive uncertainty in hydrological modeling: Characterizing rainfall errors using conditional simulation
Authors: Renard Benjamin , Kavetski Dmitri , Leblois Etienne , Thyer Mark , Kuczera George , Franks Stewart W.
Published: October 2011

This study explores the decomposition of predictive uncertainty in hydrological modeling into its contributing sources. This is pursued by developing data‐based probability models describing uncertainties in rainfall and runoff data and incorporating them into the Bayesian total error analysis methodology (BATEA). A case study based on the Yzeron catchment (France) and the conceptual rainfall‐runoff model GR4J is presented. It exploits a calibration period where dense rain gauge data are available to characterize the uncertainty in the catchment average rainfall using geostatistical conditional simulation. The inclusion of information about rainfall and runoff data uncertainties overcomes ill‐posedness problems and enables simultaneous estimation of forcing and structural errors as part of the Bayesian inference. This yields more reliable predictions than approaches that ignore or lump different sources of uncertainty in a simplistic way (e.g., standard least squares). It is shown that independently derived data quality estimates are needed to decompose the total uncertainty in the runoff predictions into the individual contributions of rainfall, runoff, and structural errors. In this case study, the total predictive uncertainty appears dominated by structural errors. Although further research is needed to interpret and verify this decomposition, it can provide strategic guidance for investments in environmental data collection and/or modeling improvement. More generally, this study demonstrates the power of the Bayesian paradigm to improve the reliability of environmental modeling using independent estimates of sampling and instrumental data uncertainties.
Effects of measurement resolution on the analysis of temperature time series for stream‐aquifer flux estimation
Authors: Soto‐López Carlos D. , Meixner Thomas , Ferré Ty P. A.
Published: October 2011

From its inception in the mid‐1960s, the use of temperature time series (thermographs) to estimate vertical fluxes has found increasing use in the hydrologic community. Beginning in 2000, researchers have examined the impacts of measurement and parameter uncertainty on the estimates of vertical fluxes. To date, the effects of temperature measurement discretization (resolution), a characteristic of all digital temperature loggers, on the determination of vertical fluxes has not been considered. In this technical note we expand the analysis of recently published work to include the effects of temperature measurement resolution on estimates of vertical fluxes using temperature amplitude and phase shift information. We show that errors in thermal front velocity estimation introduced by discretizing thermographs differ when amplitude or phase shift data are used to estimate vertical fluxes. We also show that under similar circumstances sensor resolution limits the range over which vertical velocities are accurately reproduced more than uncertainty in temperature measurements, uncertainty in sensor separation distance, and uncertainty in the thermal diffusivity combined. These effects represent the baseline error present and thus the best‐case scenario when discrete temperature measurements are used to infer vertical fluxes. The errors associated with measurement resolution can be minimized by using the highest‐resolution sensors available. But thoughtful experimental design could allow users to select the most cost‐effective temperature sensors to fit their measurement needs.
Fibrinogen-Induced Increased Pial Venular Permeability in Mice
Authors: Muradashvili Nino , Qipshidze Natia , Munjal Charu , Givvimani Srikanth , Benton Richard L , Roberts Andrew M , Tyagi Suresh C , Lominadze David
Published: October 2011

Elevated blood level of Fibrinogen (Fg) is commonly associated with vascular dysfunction. We tested the hypothesis that at pathologically high levels, Fg increases cerebrovascular permeability by activating matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). Fibrinogen (4 mg/mL blood concentration) or equal volume of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) was infused into male wild-type (WT; C57BL/6J) or MMP-9 gene knockout (MMP9-/-) mice. Pial venular leakage of fluorescein isothiocyanate-bovine serum albumin to Fg or PBS alone and to topically applied histamine (105mol/L) were assessed. Intravital fluorescence microscopy and image analysis were used to assess cerebrovascular protein leakage. Pial venular macromolecular leakage increased more after Fg infusion than after infusion of PBS in both (WT and MMP9-/-) mice but was more pronounced in WT compared with MMP9-/-mice. Expression of vascular endothelial cadherin (VE-cadherin) was less and plasmalemmal vesicle-associated protein-1 (PV-1) was greater in Fg-infused than in PBS-infused both mice groups. However, in MMP9-/-mice, VE-cadherin expression was greater and PV-1 expression was less than in WT mice. These data indicate that at higher levels, Fg compromises microvascular integrity through activation of MMP-9 and downregulation of VE-cadherin and upregulation of PV-1. Our results suggest that elevated blood level of Fg could have a significant role in cerebrovascular dysfunction and remodeling.
Cunningham: a BLAST Runtime Estimator
Authors: White James , Matalka Malcolm , Fricke W. Florian , Angiuoli Samuel
Published: October 2011

BLAST is arguably the single most important piece of software ever written for the biological sciences. It is the core of most bioinformatics workflows, being a critical component of genome homology searches and annotation. It has influenced the landscape of biology by aiding in everything from functional characterization of genes to pathogen detection to the development of novel vaccines. While BLAST is very popular, it is also often one of the most computationally intensive parts of bioinformatics analysis. In our workflows, BLAST typically takes the majority of cpu time, and we need to parallelize to finish in a reasonable time frame. Waiting for BLAST to finish without having any clue of how long it’s going to take is kind of depressing, and you could waste a day of work trying to run a job that would never finish. If you feel the same way we do, then check out Cunningham, a tool we designed to estimate BLAST runtimes for shotgun sequence datasets using sequence composition statistics. We’ve trained its models on real metagenomic sequence data using the Amazon EC2 cloud, and it will provide a relatively quick estimate for datasets with up to tens of millions of sequences. It’s not perfect, but it’ll give you at least some idea of expected runtime, how large a cluster you’re going to need, how much you’ll need to partition your data, etc. We use it all the time now, so we hope it’ll be useful to someone else out there. Cunningham has been implemented in CloVR for efficient autoscaling in the cloud and is freely available at http://clovr.org.
CloVR-16S: Phylogenetic microbial community composition analysis based on 16S ribosomal RNA amplicon sequencing – standard operating procedure, version 1.0
Authors: Fricke W. Florian , White James , Arze Cesar , Matalka Malcolm , Team The CloVR , White Owen , Angiuoli Samuel
Published: October 2011

The CloVR-16S pipeline employs several well-known phylogenetic tools and protocols for the analysis of 16S rRNA sequence datasets:A) Mothur – a C++-based software package used for clustering 16S rRNA sequences into operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Mothur creates OTUs using a matrix that describes pairwise distances between representative aligned sequences and subsequently estimates within-sample diversity (alpha diversity);B) The Ribosomal Database (RDP) naïve Bayesian classifier assigns each 16S sequence to a reference taxonomy with associated empirical probabilities based on oligonucleotide frequencies;C) Qiime – a python-based workflow package, allowing for sequence processing and phylogenetic analysis using different methods including phylogenetic distance (UniFrac) for within-(alpha diversity) and between-(beta diversity) sample analysis;D) Metastats and custom R scripts used to generate additional statistical and graphical evaluations.Though some of the different protocols used in CloVR-16S overlap in purpose (e.g. OTU clustering), the end-user benefits from their overall complementary nature as they focus on different aspects of the phylogenetic analysis. CloVR-16S accepts as input raw multiplex 454-pyrosequencer output, i.e. pooled pyro-tagged sequences from multiple samples, or alternatively, pre-processed sequences from multiple samples in separate files. This protocol is available in CloVR beta versions 0.5 and 0.6.
Azlactone-functionalized polymers as reactive platforms for the design of advanced materials: Progress in the last ten years
Authors: Buck Maren E. , Lynn David M.
Published: October 2011

Polymers bearing azlactone groups are useful as reactive platforms for the design, fabrication, and functionalization of soluble polymers, insoluble supports, and reactive surfaces and interfaces.
Supervision: Assessing Diagnostic Report Writing
Authors: Van Gilder Jennifer P. , Street-Tobin Sherry L.
Published: October 2011

One of the most time-consuming tasks for clinical educators is reading and editing first drafts of clinical reports prepared by students. Clinical educators at Appalachian State University (ASU) devised a tool that would make this task more efficient for clinical educators without sacrificing student learning. In the fall of 2008, the authors participated in a workshop series about using rubrics for student assessment. Participants from across the university were asked to bring existing rubrics to revise or be prepared to develop new rubrics. We modified an existing general tool into a five-level rubric specific to diagnostic reports, with detailed examples and explanations for each level, a qualitative rating scale, and a quantitative rating scale. After using the rubric for two semesters, we determined that the rubric feedback was of benefit to the students, who were consequently better able to discuss their individual writing strengths and weaknesses. The question remains whether the benefit to the students outweighs the amount of time required for the clinical educators to complete the rubric.
Current Issues: Camp JumpStart: Clinical Training in Prevention
Authors: Agee Peggy C.
Published: October 2011

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) has expanded the scope of practice in speech-language pathology to include a focus on prevention (2007). Similarly, the knowledge and skills required of speech-language pathologists have broadened to include the prevention, assessment, and treatment of written language disorders. University training programs have a responsibility to provide graduate student clinicians with a wide range of clinical training opportunities that prepare them to enter the profession of speech-language pathology with the requisite knowledge and skills. Therefore, university programs must be creative in designing training opportunities that fulfill this mandate. This article explores one clinical training approach for the prevention of written language disorders through a systematic focus on emergent literacy.
Transport bifurcation induced by sheared toroidal flow in tokamak plasmas
Authors: Highcock E. G. , Barnes M. , Parra F. I. , Schekochihin A. A. , Roach C. M. , Cowley S. C.
Published: October 2011

First-principles numerical simulations are used to describe a transport bifurcation in a differentially rotating tokamak plasma. Such a bifurcation is more probable in a region of zero magnetic shear than one of finite magnetic shear, because in the former case the component of the sheared toroidal flow that is perpendicular to the magnetic field has the strongest suppressing effect on the turbulence. In the zero-magnetic-shear regime, there are no growing linear eigenmodes at any finite value of flow shear. However, subcritical turbulence can be sustained, owing to the existence of modes, driven by the ion temperature gradient and the parallel velocity gradient, which grow transiently. Nonetheless, in a parameter space containing a wide range of temperature gradients and velocity shears, there is a sizeable window where all turbulence is suppressed. Combined with the relatively low transport of momentum by collisional (neoclassical) mechanisms, this produces the conditions for a bifurcation from low to high temperature and velocity gradients. A parametric model is constructed which accurately describes the combined effect of the temperature gradient and the flow gradient over a wide range of their values. Using this parametric model, it is shown that in the reduced-transport state, heat is transported almost neoclassically, while momentum transport is dominated by subcritical parallel-velocity-gradient-driven turbulence. It is further shown that for any given input of torque, there is an optimum input of heat which maximises the temperature gradient. The parametric model describes both the behaviour of the subcritical turbulence (which cannot be modelled by the quasi-linear methods used in current transport codes) and the complicated effect of the flow shear on the transport stiffness. It may prove useful for transport modelling of tokamaks with sheared flows.
Effect of wall permittivity on electroviscous flow through a contraction
Authors: Berry J. D. , Davidson M. R. , Bharti R. P. , Harvie D. J. E.
Published: October 2011

The electroviscous flow at low Reynolds number through a two-dimensional slit contraction with electric double-layer overlap is investigated numerically for cases where the permittivity of the wall material is significant in comparison with the permittivity of the liquid. The liquid-solid interface is assumed to have uniform surface-charge density. It is demonstrated that a finite wall permittivity has a marked effect on the distribution of ions in and around the contraction, with a significant build-up of counter-ions observed at the back-step. The development length of the flow increases substantially as the wall permittivity becomes significant, meaning that the electric double-layers require a longer distance to develop within the contraction. Consequently, there is a corresponding decrease in the hydrodynamic and electro-potential resistance caused by the contraction. The effect of wall-region width on the flow characteristics is also quantified, demonstrating that the development length increases with increasing wall-region width for widths up to 5 channel widths.