bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
New developments in lupus-associated antiphospholipid syndrome
Authors: Lockshin MD , Derksen RHWM
Published: May 2008

Systemic lupus erythematosus is the disease in which the antiphospholipid syndrome was first described more than 20 years ago and which is the most frequent underlying disorder in secondary antiphospholipid syndrome. With respect to pathogenic concepts and treatment, the subjects of this review, no clear distinction between primary and secondary antiphospholipid syndrome can be made.
Childhood Maltreatment and Cluster B Personality Pathology in Female Serious Offenders
Authors: Loper Ann Booker , Mahmoodzadegan Negar , Warren Janet I.
Published: May 2008

The authors examined early maltreatment among serious female offenders at a maximum-security correctional facility, contrasting the maltreatment histories of inmates with and without Cluster B personality pathology. Women were interviewed regarding the frequency of 13 indicators of psychological or physical abuse perpetrated by maternal or paternal caregivers and the frequency of 10 types of sexual abuse perpetrated by persons at least 5 years older. Reports were based on inmates' recollected worst years of maltreatment before age 16. Women in both diagnostic groups reported substantial early maltreatment. Cluster B inmates reported higher levels and a greater variety of maternal and paternal physical and psychological abuse but were not distinguished from non—Cluster B inmates on levels of childhood sexual abuse. Inmates reported more physical and psychological abuse from maternal than paternal caregivers. The results document the high levels of childhood maltreatment of female prisoners and the relevance of this history to personality pathology.
The Relationship Between Developmental Variables, Personality Disorder, and Risk in Sex Offenders
Authors: Craissati Jackie , Webb Liane , Keen Sarah
Published: May 2008

Previous research on the evaluation of the Challenge Project, a community treatment program for sex offenders in southeast London, identified the potential role of key developmental variables as enhancing actuarial risk measures to identify individuals at highest risk for community failure. The aim of the current study was to assess the relationship between developmental variables and later personality dysfunction in adult-hood, and the contribution of these factors to assessing risk for sexual recidivism, in a wider group of sex offenders managed in the community by the probation service. Over an 8-month period, 241 participants were assessed, including 162 child molesters and 79 rapists. A wide range of background data were collected, including the administration of several psychometric measures. A strong relationship was found between key developmental variables and adult mental health and personality difficulties, as well as a range of risk measures. The implications of the findings for further research are discussed.
Initial Psychometric Properties of a Treatment Planning and Progress Inventory for Adolescents Who Sexually Abuse
Authors: Oneal Brent J. , Burns G. Leonard , Kahn Timothy J. , Rich Phil , Worling James R.
Published: May 2008

This article presents the initial psychometric properties of a treatment planning and progress inventory for adolescents with sexual behavior problems, the Treatment Progress Inventory for Adolescents Who Sexually Abuse (TPI-ASA). The TPI-ASA was designed to monitor common elements of specialized treatment for youth with sexual behavior problems. The TPI-ASA measures nine dimensions relevant to the evaluation and treatment of adolescents with sexual behavior problems (inappropriate sexual behavior, healthy sexuality, social competency, cognitions supportive of sexual abuse, attitudes supportive of sexual abuse, victim awareness, affective/behavioral regulation, risk prevention awareness, and positive family caregiver dynamics). Members of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers completed the TPI-ASA with 90 male adolescents with sexual behavior problems as part of a psychosexual evaluation. The preliminary findings provided support for the internal consistency and convergent and discriminant validity of the dimensions. Suggestions are offered for additional research on the TPI-ASA and its potential as a clinical tool.
The Impact of Specialized Sex Offender Legislation on Community Reentry
Authors: Mercado Cynthia Calkins , Alvarez Shea , Levenson Jill
Published: May 2008

The authors sought to examine the impact of notification and residence restriction statutes on sex offender reintegration. Although previous research has primarily sampled sex offenders receiving treatment, the authors examined the impact of these policies on a broad sample of registered sex offenders subject to notification via the Internet. Findings from a survey of 138 community sex offenders revealed that a high percentage perceived residence restriction and community notification legislation to negatively affect employment, housing, and social relations. Consistent with prior research in this area, these findings suggest that such policies might hamper offenders' efforts toward community reintegration, which ultimately could serve to inflate rates of recidivism. Directions for future research and implications for practice and policy evaluation are discussed.
A Mathematical Proof and Example That Bayes's Theorem Is Fundamental to Actuarial Estimates of Sexual Recidivism Risk
Authors: Donaldson Theodore , Wollert Richard
Published: May 2008

Expert witnesses in sexually violent predator (SVP) cases often rely on actuarial instruments to make risk determinations. Many questions surround their use, however. Bayes's Theorem holds much promise for addressing these questions. Some experts nonetheless claim that Bayesian analyses are inadmissible in SVP cases because they are not accepted by the relevant scientific community. This position is illogical because Bayes's Theorem is simply a probabilistic restatement of the way that frequency data are combined to arrive at whatever recidivism rates are paired with each test score in an actuarial table. This article presents a mathematical proof and example validating this assertion. The advantages and implications of a logic model that combines Bayes's Theorem and the null hypothesis are also discussed.
Tracking Industrial Land Use Conversions
Authors: Frickel Scott , Elliott James R.
Published: May 2008

Research on urban development and environmental hazards has focused attention on problems associated with current industrial facilities, derelict industrial brownfields, and government-listed hazardous waste sites. Yet we continue to know very little about environmental contaminants remaining on past industrial sites that have since converted to other uses. This article develops a methodology for examining the prevalence of such sites and their historical conversion and then presents an illustrative case study of this methodology for New Orleans, Louisiana, from 1955 to 2006. Contrary to expectations, results show that most sites occupied by polluting industries in the past have since converted to other uses and that this conversion is most common in predominantly White neighborhoods. These findings extend and complicate extant research on urban industrial hazards and environmental justice, calling attention to the potential accumulation of historically generated contaminants not just in identifiable brownfields and lingering industrial corridors but also in neighborhoods throughout older cities.
Durkheim on the Environment
Authors: Rosa Eugene A. , Richter Lauren
Published: May 2008

Pioneer environmental sociologists, Riley E. Dunlap and William R. Catton Jr., successfully laid the foundation of environmental sociology by pointing out the anthropocentric bias of mainstream sociology. The exemplary intellectual source of this bias could be found in the works of French sociologist Émile Durkheim whose methodological dictum stated that social facts could only be explained by other social facts. Here we call for a re-evaluation of Durkheim's role as perpetrator of the anthropocentric bias behind the Human Exemptionalist Paradigm dominating mainstream sociology. We do this from several directions but mostly by re-visiting his foundational writing on the topic, his inaugural lecture in sociology given at the University of Bordeaux in 1887. Our critical examination of that lecture makes it clear that Durkheim's idea of “social facts” was far richer, more nuanced, and more mindful of biological and other environmental factors than typically recognized in the sociology literature. We conclude that it might profit scholars to re-visit Durkheim, not as the party guilty for dismissing the environment, but as a foundation for understanding the dynamics between human and environmental systems.
Modern Institutions, Phenomenal Dissociations, and Destructiveness Toward Humans and the Environment
Authors: Worthy Kenneth
Published: May 2008

Environmental theorists frequently argue that human—nature alienations are to blame for the increasingly severe global environmental crisis. This article offers empirical evidence that supports such claims. Data and theory presented here show that phenomenal dissociation— defined as the lack of immediate, sensual engagement with the consequences of our everyday actions and with the human and nonhuman others that we affect with our actions—increases destructive tendency and that awareness is not enough to curb destructiveness. This study begins to reveal some of the psychodynamics by which phenomenal dissociations lead to destructive tendency; discusses how modern institutions, organizational structures, and technologies propagate harms by mediating between actor and consequences; and argues that environmental psychology, which commonly focuses on attitudinal variables such as awareness and concern, must expand its reach to account for the pervasive phenomenal dissociations of contemporary life.
The Palestinian—Israeli peace process and transnational issue networks: the complicated place of the Israeli NGO
Authors: Rogers Richard , Ben-David Anat
Published: May 2008

Israeli non-governmental organizations (NGOs) resisting the security fence and other Israeli security measures are in `virtual isolation' in networks dedicated to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and especially to the criticism of Israeli governmental policies and the construction of the security fence. The research reported is a hyperlink and term analysis of select issue networks on the web assembled around the security fence and other conflict issues. It shows that attempts by left-leaning Israeli NGO network actors to frame the issue in their own critical terms are ignored by networked transnational actors working in the Palestinian-Israeli issue space, even though it may be that both kinds of organizations campaign against it. The Israeli organizations, it was found, are largely in an issue space of their own making, distinct from the human rights frame that dominates the transnational networks. In putting forward the notion of the separation fence, theirs is also a particular local `peace process' approach to issue settlement, different not only from that of the dominant trans-national issue networks on the web, but also from official Israeli as well as certain Western governmental positions. The article concludes by finding that, according to the web, the local peace process is not a trans-national issue network affair.
The internet's impact on international knowledge
Authors: Beaudoin Christopher E.
Published: May 2008

With data from a national telephone survey, the current study examines the comparative and synergistic influence of the internet on international knowledge. Independent and interactive media effects are considered in terms of four medium-specific measures of international news attention. Internet news attention had the most positive effect on international knowledge of any of the news measures. In terms of the other three news attention measures, the effects of newspapers and cable TV were positive, while that of network TV was non-significant. In addition, the interaction of internet news attention and network TV news attention positively predicted international knowledge. In contrast, the interaction of newspaper news attention and network TV news attention negatively predicted international knowledge. These findings indicate the positive comparative and synergistic influence that the internet can have on international knowledge development in the United States.
Voluntary adopters versus forced adopters: integrating the diffusion of innovation theory and the technology acceptance model to study intra-organizational adoption
Authors: Yuqiong Zhou
Published: May 2008

This study extends diffusion research to the intra-organizational level and integrates the classic diffusion of innovation theory (DIT) with the relatively new technology acceptance model (TAM) to empirically explore Chinese journalists' adoption of the internet. It makes a theoretical contribution by proposing four adoption categories — voluntary adopters, forced adopters, resistant non-adopters, and dormant non-adopters — according to the voluntariness of organizational members' innovation decision-making. Based on data from a nationwide survey of 813 journalists in China, this study demonstrates that the DIT and TAM are respectively related to voluntary and forced adoption of the internet.Young, male journalists who perceive the internet positively (i.e., relative advantage and ease of use) and think it to be popular in society are most likely to be voluntary adopters. High-ranking journalists who believe the internet can enhance their job performance and who work in large and technologically sophisticated organizations are most likely to be forced adopters.
Mediatization or mediation? Alternative understandings of the emergent space of digital storytelling
Authors: Couldry Nick
Published: May 2008

This article reviews the social potential of digital storytelling, and in particular its potential to contribute to the strengthening of democracy. Through answering this question, it seeks to test out the relative strengths and weaknesses of two competing concepts for grasping the wider consequences of media for the social world: the concept of mediatization and the concept of mediation. It is argued that mediatization (developed, for example, by Stig Hjarvard and Winfried Schulz) is stronger at addressing aspects of media textuality, suggesting that a unitary media-based logic is at work. In spite of its apparent vagueness, mediation (developed in particular by Roger Silverstone) provides more flexibility for thinking about the open-ended and dialectical social transformations which, as with the printed book, may come in time to be articulated with the new form of digital storytelling.
Taking risky opportunities in youthful content creation: teenagers' use of social networking sites for intimacy, privacy and self-expression
Authors: Livingstone Sonia
Published: May 2008

The explosion in social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Bebo and Friendster is widely regarded as an exciting opportunity, especially for youth.Yet the public response tends to be one of puzzled dismay regarding a generation that, supposedly, has many friends but little sense of privacy and a narcissistic fascination with self-display. This article explores teenagers' practices of social networking in order to uncover the subtle connections between online opportunity and risk. While younger teenagers relish the opportunities to recreate continuously a highly-decorated, stylistically-elaborate identity, older teenagers favour a plain aesthetic that foregrounds their links to others, thus expressing a notion of identity lived through authentic relationships. The article further contrasts teenagers' graded conception of `friends' with the binary classification of social networking sites, this being one of several means by which online privacy is shaped and undermined by the affordances of these sites.
Can filesharers be triggered by economic incentives? Results of an experiment
Authors: Quiring Oliver , Von Walter Benedikt , Atterer Richard
Published: May 2008

Illegal filesharing on the internet leads to considerable financial losses for artists and copyright owners as well as producers and sellers of music. Thus far, measures to contain this phenomenon have been rather restrictive. However, there are still a considerable number of illegal systems, and users are able to decide quite freely between legal and illegal downloads because the latter are still difficult to sanction. Recent economic approaches account for the improved bargaining position of users. They are based on the idea of revenue-splitting between professional sellers and peers. In order to test such an innovative business model, the study reported in this article carried out an experiment with 100 undergraduate students, forming five small peer-to-peer networks. The networks were confronted with different economic conditions. The results indicate that even experienced filesharers hold favourable attitudes towards revenue-splitting. They seem to be willing to adjust their behaviour to different economic conditions.
Racial/Ethnic Disparities and Culturally Competent Health Care Among Youth and Young Men
Authors: Vo Dzung X. , Park M. Jane
Published: May 2008

Racial/ethnic disparities in health and health care are receiving increasing national attention from the fields of public health and medicine. Efforts to reduce disparities should adopt a life-span approach and recognize the role of gender. During adolescence, young people make increasingly independent decisions about health-related behavior and health care, while developing gender identity. Little is known about how cultural context shapes gender identity and gender identity's influence on health-related behavior and health care utilization. The authors review disparities in health status and health care among adolescents, especially young men, by reviewing health care access, clinical services, and issues related to culture, identity, and acculturation. Significant differences in health status by gender exist in adolescence, with young men faring worse on many health markers. This article discusses gaps in research and offers recommendations for improving health care quality and strengthening the research base on gender and disparities during adolescence.
Reconstructing the ancestral butterfly eye: focus on the opsins
Authors: Briscoe Adriana D.
Published: May 2008

The eyes of butterflies are remarkable, because they are nearly as diverse as the colors of wings. Much of eye diversity can be traced to alterations in the number, spectral properties and spatial distribution of the visual pigments. Visual pigments are light-sensitive molecules composed of an opsin protein and a chromophore. Most butterflies have eyes that contain visual pigments with a wavelength of peak absorbance, λmax, in the ultraviolet (UV, 300–400 nm), blue (B, 400–500 nm) and long wavelength (LW, 500–600 nm) part of the visible light spectrum,respectively, encoded by distinct UV, B and LW opsin genes. In the compound eye of butterflies, each individual ommatidium is composed of nine photoreceptor cells (R1–9) that generally express only one opsin mRNA per cell, although in some butterfly eyes there are ommatidial subtypes in which two opsins are co-expressed in the same photoreceptor cell. Based on a phylogenetic analysis of opsin cDNAs from the five butterfly families,Papilionidae, Pieridae, Nymphalidae, Lycaenidae and Riodinidae, and comparative analysis of opsin gene expression patterns from four of the five families, I propose a model for the patterning of the ancestral butterfly eye that is most closely aligned with the nymphalid eye. The R1 and R2 cells of the main retina expressed UV–UV-, UV–B- or B–B-absorbing visual pigments while the R3–9 cells expressed a LW-absorbing visual pigment. Visual systems of existing butterflies then underwent an adaptive expansion based on lineage-specific B and LW opsin gene multiplications and on alterations in the spatial expression of opsins within the eye. Understanding the molecular sophistication of butterfly eye complexity is a challenge that,if met, has broad biological implications.
A false killer whale adjusts its hearing when it echolocates
Authors: Nachtigall Paul E. , Supin Alexander Y.
Published: May 2008

The use of auditory evoked potential (AEP) measurements has added considerably to knowledge of the hearing mechanisms of marine mammals. We have recently measured the hearing of a stranded infant Risso's dolphin, the audiograms of white-beaked dolphins temporarily caught and released, and the hearing of anaesthetized polar bears. Most small toothed whales echolocate and hear very high frequency sounds underwater. While much has previously been learned about the echolocation performance and characteristics of the outgoing signals of echolocating dolphins and small whales, the hearing processes occurring while these animals actively echolocate have not previously been examined. Working with a well-trained echolocating false killer whale(Pseudorca crassidens) wearing latex surface suction cup electrodes,we have measured echolocation hearing AEPs in response to outgoing echolocation clicks, returning echoes, and comparable simulated whale clicks and echoes in a variety of situations. We have found that: (1) the whale may hear her loud outgoing clicks and much quieter returning echoes at comparable levels, (2) the whale has protective mechanisms that dampen the intensity of her outgoing signals – she hears her outgoing signals at a level about 40 dB lower than similar signals presented directly in front of her, (3) when echo return levels are lowered either by making the targets smaller or by placing the targets farther away – without changing the levels of her outgoing signals – the hearing of these echoes remains at almost the same level, (4) if targets are made much smaller and harder to echolocate, the animal will modify what she hears of her outgoing signal – as if to heighten overall hearing sensitivity to keep the echo level hearable, (5) the animal has an active `automatic gain control' mechanism in her hearing based on both forward masking that balances outgoing pulse intensity and time between pulse and echo, and active hearing control. Overall, hearing during echolocation appears to be a very active process.
A review of cuttlefish camouflage and object recognition and evidence for depth perception
Authors: Kelman Emma J. , Osorio Daniel , Baddeley Roland J.
Published: May 2008

Cuttlefishes of the genus Sepia produce adaptive camouflage by regulating the expression of visual features such as spots and lines, and textures including stipples and stripes. They produce the appropriate pattern for a given environment by co-ordinated expression of about 40 of these`chromatic components'. This behaviour has great flexibility, allowing the animals to produce a very large number of patterns, and hence gives unique access to cuttlefish visual perception. We have, for instance, tested their sensitivity to image parameters including spatial frequency, orientation and spatial phase. One can also ask what features in the visual environment elicit a given coloration pattern; here most work has been on the disruptive body pattern, which includes well-defined light and dark features. On 2-D backgrounds, isolated pale objects of a specific size, that have well-defined edges, elicit the disruptive pattern. Here we show that visual depth is also relevant. Naturally, cuttlefish probably use the disruptive pattern amongst discrete objects, such as pebbles. We suggest that they use several visual cues to `identify' this type of background (including: edges, contrast, size,and real and pictorial depth). To conclude we argue that the visual strategy cuttlefish use to select camouflage is fundamentally similar to human object recognition.
The sensory ecology of ocean navigation
Authors: Lohmann Kenneth J. , Lohmann Catherine M. F. , Endres Courtney S.
Published: May 2008

How animals guide themselves across vast expanses of open ocean, sometimes to specific geographic areas, has remained an enduring mystery of behavioral biology. In this review we briefly contrast underwater oceanic navigation with terrestrial navigation and summarize the advantages and constraints of different approaches used to analyze animal navigation in the sea. In addition, we highlight studies and techniques that have begun to unravel the sensory cues that underlie navigation in sea turtles, salmon and other ocean migrants. Environmental signals of importance include geomagnetic, chemical and hydrodynamic cues, perhaps supplemented in some cases by celestial cues or other sources of information that remain to be discovered. An interesting similarity between sea turtles and salmon is that both have been hypothesized to complete long-distance reproductive migrations using navigational systems composed of two different suites of mechanisms that function sequentially over different spatial scales. The basic organization of navigation in these two groups of animals may be functionally similar, and perhaps also representative of other long-distance ocean navigators.
Molecular evolution of communication signals in electric fish
Authors: Zakon Harold H. , Zwickl Derrick J. , Lu Ying , Hillis David M.
Published: May 2008

Animal communication systems are subject to natural selection so the imprint of selection must reside in the genome of each species. Electric fish generate electric organ discharges (EODs) from a muscle-derived electric organ(EO) and use these fields for electrolocation and communication. Weakly electric teleosts have evolved at least twice (mormyriforms, gymnotiforms)allowing a comparison of the workings of evolution in two independently evolved sensory/motor systems. We focused on the genes for two Na+channels, Nav1.4a and Nav1.4b, which are orthologs of the mammalian muscle-expressed Na+ channel gene Nav1.4. Both genes are expressed in muscle in non-electric fish. Nav1.4b is expressed in muscle in electric fish, but Nav1.4a expression has been lost from muscle and gained in the evolutionarily novel EO in both groups. We hypothesized that Nav1.4a might be evolving to optimize the EOD for different sensory environments and the generation of species-specific communication signals. We obtained the sequence for Nav1.4a from non-electric, mormyriform and gymnotiform species, estimated a phylogenetic tree, and determined rates of evolution. We observed elevated rates of evolution in this gene in both groups coincident with the loss of Nav1.4a from muscle and its compartmentalization in EO. We found amino acid substitutions at sites known to be critical for channel inactivation; analyses suggest that these changes are likely to be the result of positive selection. We suggest that the diversity of EOD waveforms in both groups of electric fish is correlated with accelerations in the rate of evolution of the Nav1.4a Na+ channel gene due to changes in selection pressure on the gene once it was solely expressed in the EO.
Integrative biology of an embryonic respiratory behaviour in pond snails:the `embryo stir-bar hypothesis'
Authors: Goldberg Jeffrey I. , Doran Shandra A. , Shartau Ryan B. , Pon Julia R. , Ali Declan W. , Tam Rose , Kuang Shihuan
Published: May 2008

Embryos of freshwater snails undergo direct development from single cell to juvenile inside egg masses that are deposited on vegetation and other substratum in pond, lake and stream habitats. Helisoma trivolvis, a member of the Planorbidae family of basommatophoran snails, has served as a model for studying the developmental and physiological roles for neurotransmitters during embryogenesis. Early studies revealed that H. trivolvis embryos from stage E15 to E30, the period between gastrulation and the trochophore–juvenile transition, display a cilia-driven behaviour consisting of slow basal rotation and transient periods of rapid rotation. The discovery of a bilateral pair of early serotonergic neurons,named ENC1, which project an apical process to the embryo surface and basal neurites to ciliated cells, prompted the hypothesis that each ENC1 is a dual-function sensory and motor neuron mediating a physiological embryonic response. This article reviews our past and present studies and addresses questions concerning this hypothesis, including the following. (1) What environmental signal regulates ENC1 activity and rotational behaviour? (2)Does ENC1 function as both a primary sensory and motor neuron underlying the rotational behaviour? (3) What are the sensory transduction mechanisms? (4)How does ENC1 regulate ciliary beating? (5) Do other basommatophoran species have similar neural–ciliary pathways and behavioural responses? (6) How is the behaviour manifest in the dynamic natural environment? In this review,we introduce the `embryo stir-bar hypothesis', which proposes that embryonic rotation is a hypoxia-sensitive respiratory behaviour responsible for mixing the egg capsule fluid, thereby enhancing delivery of environmental oxygen to the embryo.
Computational mechanisms of mechanosensory processing in the cricket
Authors: Jacobs Gwen A. , Miller John P. , Aldworth Zane
Published: May 2008

Crickets and many other orthopteran insects face the challenge of gathering sensory information from the environment from a set of multi-modal sensory organs and transforming these stimuli into patterns of neural activity that can encode behaviorally relevant stimuli. The cercal mechanosensory system transduces low frequency air movements near the animal's body and is involved in many behaviors including escape from predators, orientation with respect to gravity, flight steering, aggression and mating behaviors. Three populations of neurons are sensitive to both the direction and dynamics of air currents:an array of mechanoreceptor-coupled sensory neurons, identified local interneurons and identified projection interneurons. The sensory neurons form a functional map of air current direction within the central nervous system that represents the direction of air currents as three-dimensional spatio-temporal activity patterns. These dynamic activity patterns provide excitatory input to interneurons whose sensitivity and spiking output depend on the location of the neuronal arbors within the sensory map and the biophysical and electronic properties of the cell structure. Sets of bilaterally symmetric interneurons can encode the direction of an air current stimulus by their ensemble activity patterns, functioning much like a Cartesian coordinate system. These interneurons are capable of responding to specific dynamic stimuli with precise temporal patterns of action potentials that may encode these stimuli using temporal encoding schemes. Thus, a relatively simple mechanosensory system employs a variety of complex computational mechanisms to provide the animal with relevant information about its environment.
Ion channels in mammalian vestibular afferents may set regularity of firing
Authors: Eatock Ruth Anne , Xue Jingbing , Kalluri Radha
Published: May 2008

Rodent vestibular afferent neurons offer several advantages as a model system for investigating the significance and origins of regularity in neuronal firing interval. Their regularity has a bimodal distribution that defines regular and irregular afferent classes. Factors likely to be involved in setting firing regularity include the morphology and physiology of the afferents' contacts with hair cells, which may influence the averaging of synaptic noise and the afferents' intrinsic electrical properties. In vitro patch clamp studies on the cell bodies of primary vestibular afferents reveal a rich diversity of ion channels, with indications of at least two neuronal populations. Here we suggest that firing patterns of isolated vestibular ganglion somata reflect intrinsic ion channel properties,which in vivo combine with hair cell synaptic drive to produce regular and irregular firing.
Linear and nonlinear processing in hair cells
Authors: Roberts William M. , Rutherford Mark A.
Published: May 2008

Mechanosensory hair cells in the ear are exquisitely responsive to minute sensory inputs, nearly to the point of instability. Active mechanisms bias the transduction apparatus and subsequent electrical amplification away from saturation in either the negative or positive direction, to an operating point where the response to small signals is approximately linear. An active force generator coupled directly to the transducer enhances sensitivity and frequency selectivity, and counteracts energy loss to viscous drag. Active electrical amplification further enhances gain and frequency selectivity. In both cases, nonlinear properties may maintain the system close to instability,as evidenced by small spontaneous oscillations, while providing a compressive nonlinearity that increases the cell's operating range. Transmitter release also appears to be frequency selective and biased to operate most effectively near the resting potential. This brief overview will consider the resting stability of hair cells, and their responses to small perturbations that correspond to soft sounds or small accelerations.
Percolation-type Photoswitching Behavior in Conductance of Diarylethene–Silver Nanoparticle Networks
Authors: Sakano Takeshi , Yamaguchi Hidehiro , Tanifuji Naoki , Irie Masahiro , Matsuda Kenji
Published: May 2008

A silver nanoparticle network interlinked by photochromic diarylethene dithiophenols was fabricated and its photoreactive and conductive properties were investigated. The network showed reversible changes in absorption spectra and conductance by photoirradiation. The results indicate the percolation-type behavior.
Liquid-phase Electrodeposition of Diamond-like Carbon Films on Conducting Glass Substrates Using a Low Deposition Voltage at Room Temperature
Authors: Wang Yi , Yang Wensheng , Chen Chen
Published: May 2008

By using formamide as the carbon source, an attempt was made to electrodeposit diamond-like carbon (DLC) films on indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated glass plate substrates at a low constant voltage and room temperature. The structures and morphologies of the films were analyzed by Raman spectroscopy and field-emission scanning electron microscopy.
Oxygen Absorption Capability of YBaCo4O7+δ
Authors: Räsänen Samuli , Yamauchi Hisao , Karppinen Maarit
Published: May 2008

Various powerful oxygenation approaches were tested in order to find the limits of the oxygen-storage capability of YBaCo4O7+δ. By means of extreme solid-medium high-pressure oxygenation employing KClO3 as an oxygen generator the phase was successfully loaded with excess oxygen up to δ≈1.56.
Modulation of Solid-state Luminescence Quantum Efficiency Based on CH–O Intermolecular Interaction
Authors: Hinoue Tomoaki , Mizobe Yuji , Hisaki Ichiro , Miyata Mikiji , Tohnai Norimitsu
Published: May 2008

Solid-state luminescence quantum efficiency is modulated drastically by CH–O interaction and packing rigidity of secondary ammonium anthracene-2,6-disulfonate. Appropriate alkyl chains of amines gave small free space and long CH–O distance, resulting in strong luminescence due to suppression of nonradiative decay. This is the first demonstration that CH–O intermolecular interaction has great influence on solid-state luminescence quantum efficiency.
Solvothermal Preparation of Silicon Nanocrystals
Authors: Qiu Jun , Shen Wanqing , Yu Ruijie , Yao Baodian
Published: May 2008

Silicon nanocrystals have been produced successfully by using silicon monoxide as the starting material via a simple solvothermal preparation method. The temperature needed in the solvothermal preparation is found to be as low as 220 °C when ethylenediamine is used as the solvent. The as-prepared silicon samples are of single-crystal nature with diameters around 5 nanometers and dispersed in an amorphous silica. The silicon nanocrystals became a little larger in size after removing the amorphous silica, according to the results of transmission electron microscope (TEM) characterization.
Copper-catalyzed Oxidative Desulfurization-promoted Intramolecular Cyclization of Thioamides Using Molecular Oxygen as an Oxidant: An Efficient Route to Five- to Seven-membered Nitrogen-containing Heterocycles
Authors: Shibahara Fumitoshi , Yoshida Atsunori , Murai Toshiaki
Published: May 2008

Copper-catalyzed oxidative desulfurization-promoted intramolecular cyclization reactions of thioamides take place under neutral and mild conditions by using molecular oxygen as an oxidant. The process yields a wide variety of nitrogen-containing heterocycles with high efficiency.
Injuries in Norwegian Ski Resorts the Winter Seasons of 2005 and 2006
Authors: Ekeland Arne , Rødven Andreas
Published: May 2008

A central ski patrol-based registration of skiing and boarding injuries was performed by the Norwegian Ski Lift Association during the winter seasons 2004/2005 and 2005/2006. Totals of 8130 injured skiers/boarders and 5.466 million skier/boarder days were recorded during the two seasons, giving an injury rate of 1.5 injured per 1000 skier/boarder days. Most of the injuries occurred during alpine skiing (58 %) and snowboarding (35 %), compared to telemark skiing (3 %) and skiboarding (4 %). Wrist injuries were common among injured snowboarders (26 %) compared to only 5 % each for the others (P<0.001). The knee was the main injury location in alpine skiers (24 %) compared to 23 % among skiboarders, 14 % among telemarkers and only 7 % among snowboarders (P<0.001). The percentage of knee injuries in females (28 %) was almost twice as high as for males (P<0.001), whereas shoulder injuries were twice as high in males (17 %) as in females (8 %) (P<0.001). As a percentage of all injuries, skiboarders suffered more fractures (34 %) than snowboarders (33 %), telemarkers (26 %), and alpine skiers (22 %) (P<0.001), but fracture of the lower leg was uncommon among snowboarders (1 %) and telemarkers (3 %) compared to alpine skiers (6 %) and skiboarders (13 %) (P<0.001). Lower leg fractures accounted for 4 % of the injured alpine skiers 20 years and older, 3 % for adolescents aged 13 – 19 years compared to 13 % for children 12 years and younger (P<0.001). Twenty percent of the skiers/boarders were injured in terrain parks. They suffered more fractures, head, and back injuries than those injured on groomed slopes (P<0.01). In conclusion, injured alpine skiers were most prone to knee injuries, and skiboarders to lower leg fractures. This fracture was still a common injury for children in these two disciplines. Injured snowboarders were most prone to suffer wrist injuries. The prevalence of knee injuries among females was almost twice that of males, whereas the reverse was observed for shoulder injuries.
Juvenile Coho Salmon Leaping Ability and Behavior in an Experimental Culvert Test Bed
Authors: Mueller Robert P. , Southard Susan S. , May Christopher W. , Pearson Walter H. , Cullinan Valerie I.
Published: May 2008

As part of a research program aimed at identifying the culvert configurations and associated hydraulic conditions that foster the successful upstream movement of juvenile salmon, we investigated the ability of hatchery‐raised juvenile coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch to leap into an experimental culvert under varying hydraulic conditions. Five outfall drops ranging from 0 to 32 cm were tested to represent differing degrees of culvert outfall drop. Trials were run at a culvert discharge of 0.028 m3/s and a tailwater pool depth of 30 cm. The median success rate was highest (85%) for the 0‐cm drop, followed by 34% at 12 cm, 20% at 20 cm, 2% at 26 cm, and 0% at 32 cm. When overcoming the 0‐cm (streaming flow) and 12‐cm drops, fish predominantly used swimming behavior. For the outfall drops of 20 and 26 cm, leaping behavior predominated. In a typical leaping event, fish initiated the leap near the floor of the tailwater tank and used burst swimming to propel their bodies from near the standing wave (produced by the fall of water exiting the culvert) into the culvert entrance. Both high‐ and low‐trajectory leaps were observed; some fish attained a height up to 5.2 times their body length. The average fork length of fish that were successful at culvert entry was 103 mm (SD, 1.4), compared with 101 mm (1.3) for those that remained in the tailwater pool. Within the size range of the test population, 60‐135 mm (mean, 103 mm), fish size did not affect ability to enter the culvert under the test conditions. These results indicate that juvenile coho salmon are capable of overcoming some degree of culvert perch to move upstream if tailwater pool water depth and pool size are sufficient and hydraulic passage conditions inside the culvert are favorable.
Response of Corn Genotypes to Weed Interference and Nitrogen in Nigeria
Authors: Chikoye David , Lum Ayeoffe F. , Abaidoo Robert , Menkir Abebe , Kamara Alpha , Ekeleme Friday , Sanginga Nteranya
Published: May 2008

The effects of nitrogen (N) rate and weed interference on the grain yield of four corn genotypes were investigated in 2002 and 2003 at Ikenne (7°38′N, 3°42′E), Shika (11°11′N, 7°38′E), and Samaru (10°24′N, 7°42′E) in Nigeria. Nitrogen (N) at 0, 30, 60, and 90 kg N ha−1were the main plot treatments. Weed-free (weeded weekly), low (intrarow weeds only), and high (zero weeding) weed pressure were the subplot treatments. Four corn genotypes (ACR8328 BN C7, Low-N-Pool C2, Oba Super II, TZB-SR) were the sub-subplot treatments. Weed density was higher at Shika and Samaru than at Ikenne, and the order of average weed biomass 8 to 10 weeks after planting was Samaru (271 g m−2) > Ikenne (236 g m−2) > Shika (161 g m−2). Corn genotype and N rate had no effect on weed biomass except at Samaru where fertilized treatments had higher weed biomass than the unfertilized treatments. Corn leaf area (LA) increased with increasing N rate at all locations regardless of weed pressure and genotype, except at Shika where ACR8328 BN C7, Oba Super II, and TZB-SR did not show any clear N response; LA was highest in the weed-free and lowest in the unfertilized treatments for all genotypes and locations, and weed pressure treatments. Low-N-Pool C2had the highest LA, which was 1.3 times larger than in Oba Super II, which had the lowest LA. Nitrogen rate, weed pressure, and genotypes significantly affected corn leaf chlorophyll content. Chlorophyll content was higher in the fertilized treatments than the unfertilized treatments, and higher in the weed-free treatments than the low or high weed pressure treatments. ACR8328 BN C7and Oba Super II had significantly more chlorophyll than the other genotypes. Low-N-Pool C2showed a linear grain yield response with the increase in N rates. ACR8328 BN C7did not respond to N application. Compared with the results in the weed-free treatment, high weed pressure reduced grain yield in all genotypes by more than 65% at Samaru, 50% at Shika, and 35% at Ikenne.
Translocation and Absorption of Glyphosate in Flowering Sicklepod (Senna obtusifolia)
Authors: Walker Eric R. , Oliver Lawrence R.
Published: May 2008

Sicklepod is a competitive and prolific weed that emerges throughout the crop season. Glyphosate applications to flowering sicklepod greatly reduce seed production, but there is limited information on glyphosate translocation in flowering weeds. Therefore, a laboratory study was conducted to document the absorption and translocation of14C-glyhosate in flowering sicklepod. Flowering sicklepod plants were treated with a14C-glyphosate solution, and14C-glyphosate absorption and translocation was quantified by scintillation spectrometry. Absorption and translocation of14C-glyphosate in flowering sicklepod were similar for both 0.21 and 0.42 kg ae ha−1glyphosate. Although the treated leaflets retained approximately 50% of the recovered14C-glyphosate, movement of the herbicide was both acropetal and basipetal, with the highest14C-glyphosate concentrations in the shoot below the treated leaf and the roots. By 96 h after treatment, sicklepod buds and flowers had abscised, but analysis of the structures revealed accumulation of 2% of the recovered14C-glyphosate. Based on results of the study, effects of glyphosate accumulation in buds and flowers combined with plant stress associated with the primary and secondary effects of glyphosate result in bud and flower abscission, drastically reducing sicklepod seed production.
Crop Rotation, Cover Crop, and Weed Management Effects on Weed Seedbanks and Yields in Snap Bean, Sweet Corn, and Cabbage
Authors: Brainard Daniel C. , Bellinder Robin R. , Hahn Russell R. , Shah Denis A.
Published: May 2008

Three major hypotheses were examined in this study: (1) the density of summer annual weeds is reduced in crop rotation systems that include winter wheat compared to those with strictly summer annual crops, (2) the integration of a red clover in cropping systems reduces weed seedbank densities, and (3) changes in weed seedbanks due to crop rotation system have greater impact on future crops that are managed with cultivation alone, compared to those managed with herbicides. To test these hypotheses, five 3-yr rotation sequences were examined in central New York state: continuous field corn (FC); field corn with red clover (FC + CL); field corn–oats–wheat (FC/O/W); sweet corn–peas–wheat (SC/P/W), and SC/P/W with red clover (SC/P/W + CL). In the fourth year, sweet corn, snap beans, and cabbage were planted in subplots with three levels of weed management as sub-subplots: cultivation alone, reduced-rate herbicides (1/2×), and full-rate herbicides (1×). The trial was carried out in two separate cycles, from 1997 to 2000 (cycle 1) and from 1998 to 2001 (cycle 2). Crop rotations with strictly summer annual crops (FC) did not result in consistently higher weed seedbank densities of summer annual weeds compared to rotations involving winter wheat (FC/O/W; SC/P/W; SC/P/W + CL). Integration of red clover in continuous field corn resulted in higher weed seedbanks (cycle 1) or emergence (cycle 2) of several summer annual weeds compared to field corn alone. In contrast, integration of red clover in the SC/P/W rotation led to a 96% reduction in seedbank density of winter annuals in cycle 1, although this effect was not detected in cycle 2. Observed changes in weed seedbank density and emergence due to crop rotation resulted in increased weed biomass in the final year in only one case (sweet corn, cycle 2), and did not result in detectable differences in crop yields. In contrast, final year weed management had a strong effect on weed biomass and yield; cultivation alone resulted in yield losses for sweet corn (32 to 34%) and cabbage (0 to 7%), but not snap beans compared to either 1/2× or 1× herbicides.