bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Care of the fetus/newborn with congenital diaphragmatic hernia
Authors: Wilcox Duncan T , Karamanoukian Hratch L , Glick Philip L
Published: October 2008

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is a simple anatomical defect. The reported incidence is between 1:2000 and 1:5000 live births, with the majority affecting the left side. A defect in the diaphragm allows abdominal viscera to herniate into and stay within the thoracic cavity during crucial stages of lung development. This results in pulmonary hypoplasia, a reduction in pulmonary vascular branching and an alteration in the surfactant system.
Humoral immunology in normotensive and hypertensive pregnancy
Authors: Haeger Magnus , Bengtsson Anders
Published: October 2008

The main function of the immune system is to protect the host from both pathogenic (ie. viruses, bacteria and foreign material) and neoplastic invasion. It is composed of both humoral and cellular factors. The humoral factors comprise the antibodies and the complement system, while the cellular factors comprise the lymphocytes and the phagocytes. These immunological factors remain in a relatively inactive state until activated by foreign molecules. Activation of the immune system under normal circumstances is beneficial to the host. In septic, multiply traumatized, critically ill surgical patients or severe preclamptic women, the host response to stress is more extensive and, as a result, extensive activation of immunological factors could create complications in the host like the adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), multisystem organ failure (MOF) or the syndrome of haemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low platelet count (HELLP) in preeclamptic women. In order to appreciate the later parts of this article regarding immunology and pregnancy, an understanding of the normal immune system is essential.
Maternal cocaine consumption: birth outcome and child development
Authors: Delaney-Black Virginia , Covington Chandice , Sokol Robert J
Published: October 2008

The childhood effects of antenatal exposure to cocaine are largely unknown. While several authors have evaluated the consequences of antenatal cocaine exposure during the neonatal period and early childhood, there are no large, blinded and systematic studies of the effects beyond early childhood and no data at early school age.
Smoking and reproduction
Authors: Mercelina-Roumans Patricia EAM , Ubachs JMH , van Wersch JWJ
Published: October 2008

In the Netherlands, approximately 30% of all women of reproductive age smoke, compared with 36% of men.

Cigarette smoking is associated in women with a dose-related reduction in fecundity and fertility and in men with a reduction in semen quality. Smoking has a negative effect on pregnancy: increased rates of antepartum bleeding and placenta praevia have been described. Smoking is also associated with increases in the rates of spontaneous abortion, low birth weight and perinatal death. Some tobacco-related perinatal deaths are due to an increased risk of serious malformation. Children of mothers who smoke are admitted twice as often to hospital for pulmonary problems. However, studies on maternal smoking and childhood cancer have proved inconclusive.
The UK control programme for the haemoglobin disorders
Authors: Petrou Mary
Published: October 2008

The haemoglobin disorders are a group of recessively inherited conditions of varying severity. In the homozygous state, alpha zero thalassaemia causes hydrops fetalis, beta thalassaemia usually causes a severe transfusion-dependent anaemia and sickle cell anaemia (HbSS), haemoglobin S/C disease, haemoglobin S/D disease and haemoglobin S/beta thalassaemia cause sickling disorders ranging from quite mild to very severe. Haemoglobin disorders are among the commonest inherited diseases in the UK. Management can be very burdensome, but produces good results in many cases. The disorders can also be prevented by a programme of carrier screening, genetic counselling and prenatal diagnosis in populations at risk. The WHO has defined a “haemoglobinopathy control programme” as an integral strategy combining optimal patient care with prevention based on community education, propective carrier diagnosis, genetic counselling and the offer of prenatal diagnosis. The services required for haemoglobin disorders in the UK have recently been reviewed in a report from the Standing Medical Advisory Committee of the Department of Health. This report focuses on genetic counselling and prenatal diagnosis for haemoglobin disorders.
Early amniocentesis
Authors: Byrne Dominic L
Published: October 2008

Although amniocentesis was first reported in 1882, the technique was not in widespread clinical practice until the 1970's. The reason for this slow uptake was that there were few indications for performing the procedure until fetal karyotyping from amniotic fluid cells became possible in 1966. Currently fetal karyotyping is the commonest indication for the technique and amniocentesis has become the mainstay of antenatal diagnosis.
Critical care management of severe pre-eclampsia
Authors: Anthony J , Johanson R , Dommisse J
Published: October 2008

Severe pre-eclampsia is a common disorder in developing countries but still remains a significant problem in developed societies. The management of severe pre-eclampsia in developing countries is frequently hampered by lack of adequate facilities; paradoxically those countries with sufficient resources have a lower incidence of the disease and consequently lack experience in the treatment of severe pre-eclampsia. The management of these patients is further compromised because obstetricians generally lack the necessary knowledge and skills in critical care and conversely critical care specialists may lack appreciation and knowledge of pregnancy physiology and pathophysiology. Patients with severe pre-eclampsia therefore present an interdisciplinary challenge to obstetricians and physicians, who need to be familiar with pregnancy physiology and the current concepts in the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of severe pre-eclampsia. Patients who develop multisystem disease are most appropriately managed by an experienced obstetrician in an obstetric intensive care unit with a physician in consultation.
Worldwide utilization of caesarean section
Authors: Broadhead TJ , James DK
Published: October 2008

Caesarean section (CS) is one of the most common major operations performed around the world, yet operative rates vary considerably. This review will address the variation in caesarean section rates worldwide and changes in these rates over time. In addition we shall try to assess possible explanations for the differences and whether such differences are reflected in outcome.
Antenatal diagnosis and perinatal care of anterior abdominal wall defects
Authors: Karamanoukian Hratch L , O'Toole Stuart J , Glick Philip L
Published: October 2008

Improvements in anaesthetic care and postoperative management over the last two decades have significantly improved survival of neonates with ventral abdominal wall defects, from a dismal 47% in 1971, to 96% for both gastroschisis and isolated omphalocele in two recent series. This increased survival has generally been attributed to result from improvements in the pre and postoperative management of these fragile neonates. Specifically, the routine use of total parenteral nutrition, and staged repairs for cases with severe “viscero-abdominal disproportion” have been implicated in a decreased incidence of sepsis, morbidity and mortality. In addition, an appreciation of the wide spectrum of anomalies uniquely associated with gastroschisis and omphalocele have helped improve survival, as each has unique pathophysiologic features that have prognostic implications for the fetus before, during and after delivery.
Noninvasive assessment of fetal anaemia
Authors: Oepkes Dick , Kanhai Humphrey HH
Published: October 2008

In pregnancies complicated by severe red cell alloimmunization, fetal haemolytic anaemia can lead to intrauterine demise as early as 17 weeks' gestation. Intrauterine intraperitoneal blood transfusion, introduced by Liley in 1963, proved to be the first successful example of fetal therapy. The use of this complex procedure, involving X-ray guided puncture of the fetal peritoneal cavity, was limited to fetuses with a gestational age ranging from 24 to 33 weeks. When performed below 26 weeks, survival rates were as low as 16%. The need for intrauterine transfusion was mainly based on determination of bilirubin levels in amniotic fluid, and plotting the results in a three-zone chart devised by Liley. This chart was based on correlations of amniotic fluid bilirubin concentrations with the degree of neonatal anaemia, and ranged from 27 to 41 weeks' gestation. In the 1980s, with the introduction of ultrasound-guided intravascular transfusion, treatment became possible from 17–18 weeks' gestation onwards. Consequently, there was a need for diagnostic tests to assess the degree of anaemia in the second trimester fetus. The use of the Liley chart was shown to be unreliable in the prediction of disease severity before 27 weeks' gestation. Ultrasonographic detection of fetal hydrops in these pregnancies reliably indicates severe anaemia, but for reasons that are still unclear, a significant number of severely anaemic fetuses do not show ultrasonographic signs of hydrops. In 1988, Nicolaides et al studied the use of several ultrasonographic parameters to predict anaemia in nonhydropic fetuses. Their results were disappointing, and they concluded that the only reliable diagnostic test to assess the degree of fetal disease was fetal blood sampling.
Polymerase chain reaction and its use in obstetrics
Authors: Overton Timothy , Lighten Antony , Bennett Phillip
Published: October 2008

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is composed of a deoxyribose backbone, the three position (3') of each deoxyribose being linked to the five position (5') of the next by a phosphodiester bond. At the two position each deoxyribose is linked to one of four nucleic acids; the purines adenine or guanine or the pyrimadines thymine or cytosine. Each DNA molecule is made up of two such strands in a double helix with the nucleic acid bases on the inside. The bases pair by hydrogen bonding, adenine (A) with thymine (T) and cytosine (C) with guanine (G). Deoxyribonucleic acid is replicated by separation of the two strands and synthesis by DNA polymerases of new complementary strands. With one notable exception, the reverse transcriptase produced by viruses, DNA polymerases always add new bases at the 3' end of the molecule. Ribonucleic acid (RNA) has a structure similar to that of DNA but is always single stranded. The backbone consists of ribose, and uracil is used in place of thymine.
The role of nitric oxide in female reproduction
Authors: Weiner Carl P , Thompson Loren P , Van Voorhis Bradley J.
Published: October 2008

The cardiovascular system undergoes profound changes during pregnancy. Maternal intravascular volume begins to increase in the first trimester rising an average of 45% by term.1Cardiac output increases similarly2and is redistributed to organs whose functions are crucial for a successful pregnancy. In the guinea pig, uterine artery (UA) blood flow increases 3500%, while mesenteric and renal artery blood flows increase only 90% and 10% respectively.3Blood flow to the trunk actually diminishes. The mechanism underlying this redistribution is unknown. Coupled with the rise in cardiac output is a decrease in the systemic pressor response to angiotensin II (AII), norepinephrine(NE), and epinephrine.4–8There is also a decrease in the contraction response among some but not all vascular beds. For example, contraction of UA to NE and thromboxane is characteristically reduced by pregnancy, whereas the response of the carotid artery is unaltered8–10Since pregnancy does not alter neuroeffector mechanisms of NE such as release, receptor sensitivity, and accumulation11, changes in sympathetic control during pregnancy must be dependent on alterations at sites other than the neuroeffector junction. We have hypothesized that the mechanisms which alter vascular reactivity during pregnancy also mediate the redistribution of maternal cardiac output.9We have further hypothesized that many of these mechanisms involve endothelium-dependent factors which are modulated by sex hormones.
Cytokines and preterm labour
Authors: Mazor Moshe , Cohen José , Romero Roberto , Ghezzi Fabio , Tolosa Jorge E , Gomez Ricardo
Published: October 2008

Preterm labour and its consequences are the major contributors to perinatal morbidity and mortality worldwide. The prevention of preterm labour and delivery is the single most important challenge to modern obstetrics today. Progress in this area has been hampered by lack of understanding of the basic mechanisms responsible for preterm labour. The implicit paradigm which has governed the study of parturition, is that term and preterm labour are fundamentally the same processes except for the gestational age at which they occur. Indeed, they share a common terminal pathway composed of uterine contractility, cervical dilatation and rupture of membranes. We proposed that while term labour is the result of physiological activation of this common terminal pathway, preterm labour and delivery is the consequence of pathological activation.1Thus, preterm labour may be considered as the response of the fetomaternal unit to a variety of insults (e.g. chorioamnionitis, ischaemia, fetal growth restriction, etc.) (Fig 1) If these insults cannot be effectively handled in the context of a continuing pregnancy, then labour and delivery may occur.
Prognosis for fetuses with antenatally detected myelomeningocele
Authors: Sturgiss Stephen , Robson Stephen
Published: October 2008

The ultrasound diagnosis of myelomeningocele has been greatly improved by the recognition of associated abnormalities in the fetal skull and brain, potentially leading to an increased number of cases detected during pregnancy. Unfortunately, the counselling of potential parents about the natural history and prognosis of myelomeningocele is frequently based on extrapolations from data in which the diagnosis was made following delivery. Moreover, much of this information predates recent advances in paediatric care. In 1981, Leonard stated “as most children (with myelomeningocele) will grow to be productive, participating adults, then perhaps we should consider myelomeningocele a new disease”1. It is, therefore, appropriate to review recent outcome data for children with myelomeningocele, emphasising those studies where the diagnosis was made before delivery. This review will concentrate on issues of particular concern to the perinatal obstetrician, such as the reliability of sonographic diagnosis, the frequency of karyotypic anomalies, the likely longterm infant outcome and the most appropriate mode of delivery.
Shoulder dystocia
Authors: Yeo GSH , Chang TC
Published: October 2008

Shoulder dystocia is an unpredictable obstetrical emergency that results in serious complications especially to the neonate. Such complications include fracture of the clavicle, brachial plexus injury, fracture of the humerus and asphyxia.1-4 The incidence of shoulder dystocia appears to be increasing5 and its unpredictability continues to be the nightmare of the obstetrician. The following is a review of risk factors which are associated with shoulder dystocia, a critical review of the usefulness of antenatal ultrasound in the prediction of the macrosomic fetus and a discussion of the controversies surrounding the management of shoulder dystocia.
Routine antenatal fetal assessment
Authors: Barry-Kinsella Carole , Dornan James C
Published: October 2008

The purpose of any form of antenatal fetal surveillance must be to recognize accurately fetal and environmental conditions which adversely influence perinatal mortality and morbidity at an early enough stage to use whatever corrective measures may be available. At booking, risk assessment identifies the woman with social or medical predictors of poor pregnancy outcome from the woman in good health who should have a successful pregnancy. Thus the high-risk patient is a woman in whom the chances of an adverse outcome to herself and/or the baby are greater than the incidence of that outcome in the general obstetric population. The corollary of this definition however, is that the “low-risk” obstetric patient still has the chance of an adverse outcome but the incidence of that outcome is that of the general obstetric population. In the absence of information relating specifically to the fetus, this maternal data is then extrapolated to predict the high or low risk fetus. This system however, does not predict the high risk normally formed stillbirth who is often, but not always, smaller than the gestational age-matched liveborn infant but who is commonly delivered of the low risk woman.
Assessment of wellbeing in the preterm fetus
Authors: Challis Daniel E , Trudinger Brian J
Published: October 2008

The unstated aim of preterm fetal welfare surveillance is to enable the obstetrician to delay delivery if a fetus is not at risk of death or permanent damage. Although the penalty for preterm delivery has decreased with advances in neonatal care, the obstetric goals of prolonging pregnancy and minimizing intervention persist. The modern goal of minimizing costs also dictates appropriately timed delivery.
Fetal dysmorphology
Authors: Kerr Bronwyn , Donnai Dian
Published: October 2008

The term “dysmorphology” was coined by Dr David Smith in the 1960s to describe the study of human congenital malformations. Literally, it means “the study of abnormal form”, emphasizing a focus upon structural abnormalities in development.2 As a scientific discipline, dysmorphology combines concepts, knowledge and techniques from paediatrics, clinical genetics and embryology.
Sonography of the fetal neural axis: a practical approach
Authors: Goldstein Ruth B
Published: October 2008

Among serious fetal anomalies currently detectable with ultrasound, defects of the central nervous system (CNS) are among the most common. These congenital anomalies are especially likely to burden not only affected children with severely limiting handicaps, but also their families with long-lasting anguish and financial responsibility. It is appropriate that interest in methods for improving prenatal detection of these abnormalities has intensified. Alphafetoprotein screening programmes are now widely available, and many papers have been written describing useful sonographic observations that enhance prenatal diagnosis. As a consequence, the majority of the most common serious neural axis defects including fetal hydrocephalus, anencephaly, myelomeningocele and encephalocele, previously detected almost exclusively at birth, today can be accurately detected prenatally. A few observations in the fetal brain and spine have proven to be especially useful in this task. This article presents a simplified and effective approach to the general sonographic survey of the neural axis in fetuses at average and increased risk for these anomalies. The aim is to improve not only accuracy of diagnosis of CNS malformations, but the efficiency and confidence of the examiner.
The relationship between Maude Abbott and Helen Taussig: connecting the historical dots
Authors: Evans William N.
Published: October 2008

The literature has scant documentation of the relationship between the important founders of paediatric cardiology, Maude Abbott and Helen Taussig. Recently discovered entries in the diaries kept by Maude Abbott provide evidence for a close connection between them. Further evidence suggests that their association was complex, and influenced by outside factors, such as their difference in age and era-related notoriety. In this review, I attempt to define more clearly the relationship between these two early icons of paediatric cardiology.
The difficulty in diagnosing idiopathic arterial calcification of infancy, its variation in presentation, and the importance of autopsy
Authors: Hault Kathrin , Sebire Neil J. , Ho Siew Y. , Sheppard Mary N.
Published: October 2008

Idiopathic calcification of the coronary arteries is a rare hereditary condition of infancy. Complications include cardiac ischaemia, cardiac failure, and systemic hypertension. We present three patients with this condition, which in each case masqueraded as other cardiac diseases, with no indication of the specific diagnosis prior to autopsy.

A 5 month old female presented with respiratory failure and hypertension and died within 24 hours of admission. All the coronary arteries were thick-walled, with narrow lumens. The aorta, great vessels, and renal arteries also showed thickening of the wall. Histology confirmed calcium in the internal elastic lamina of all vessels. The second patient was a female baby of 2 months, diagnosed with a large ventricular septal defect. She died suddenly prior to surgery. At autopsy, the orifice of the right coronary artery was reduced to a pinhole. The coronary arteries showed white patches of calcification, with associated ventricular infarction. The third patient was an 11 year old female who presented with cardiac failure, and had been diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy. Two weeks later, she died suddenly. The coronary arteries were patent, but firm with calcification and narrowed, with associated ventricular infarction. Our experience shows that idiopathic arterial calcification of infancy should always be considered in infants and children presenting with hypertension, cardiac failure, or sudden death.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Eating Disorders
Authors: Cooper Zafra , Shafran Roz
Published: October 2008

The eating disorders provide one of the strongest indications for cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). This bold claim arises from two sources: first, the fact that eating disorders are essentially cognitive disorders and second, the demonstrated effectiveness of CBT in the treatment of bulimia nervosa, which has led to the widespread acceptance that CBT is the treatment of choice. In this paper the cognitive behavioural approach to the understanding and treatment of eating disorders will be described. A brief summary of the evidence for this account and of the data supporting the efficacy and effectiveness of this form of treatment will be provided. Challenges for the future development and dissemination of the treatment will be identified.
Introduction to language acquisition, bilingualism and copula choice in Spanish
Authors: GUIJARRO-FUENTES PEDRO , GEESLIN KIMBERLY L.
Published: October 2008

In several of the most widely read Spanish grammars an entire chapter is devoted to the two copular verbs in Spanish, ser “to be” and estar “to be”, and their many contexts of use (Bull, 1965; Solé and Solé, 1977; Whitley, 1986; Bosque and Demonte, 1999; King and Suñer, 1999; Butt and Benjamin, 2000). For some, the interest in this structure stems from the range of meanings that can be expressed with these two forms, whereas for others it is the variability in the use of these verbs with adjectives, existing between groups, individuals and particular social contexts, that generates inquiry. The combination of these two traits makes the contrast difficult to acquire and likely to be lost or weakened in contexts of language attrition or language contact (Silva-Corvalán, 1986; Geeslin, 2002) and this complexity makes the copula contrast in Spanish an excellent mechanism for exploring broader issues such as theories of acquisition and language change, which are of value to a readership well beyond those working directly on Spanish. After a brief description of the distribution of ser and estar, we provide an overview of the various theoretical descriptions of the copula contrast that exist and their implications for research on bilingualism. Next, we provide a description of the papers in this volume, and outline the areas of interest for readers whose research extends beyond Spanish grammar.
From theory to research: Contextual predictors of “estar+ adjective” and the study of the SLA of Spanish copula choice
Authors: WOOLSEY DANIEL
Published: October 2008

The current study addresses the challenge of investigating the SLA ofestarwith adjectives when highlighting two specific contextual meanings: comparisons within an individual frame of reference and speaker reactions as a result of immediate experience with the referent.Estaris examined within these contexts using a picture-description task and a contextualized preference task specifically designed to create clear and unambiguous contexts of comparison and immediate experience. One hundred and eleven English-speaking Spanish students at four different levels of proficiency participated in the research. Findings from the study are examined in relation to recent predictive models as well as future directions for the study of the SLA of Spanish copula choice.
The role of language contact in semantic change:Serandestar– a response to Geeslin and Guijarro-Fuentes
Authors: KLEE CAROL A.
Published: October 2008

The role of language contact in linguistic change remains a polemic issue in the field of contact linguistics. Many researchers (Weinreich, 1953; Lefebvre, 1985; Prince, 1988; Silva-Corvalán, 1994; King, 2000; Sankoff, 2002; Labov, 2007) believe that there are limits on the types of linguistic patterns that can be transmitted across languages, while others (Thomason and Kaufman, 1988, p. 14) deem that “any linguistic feature can be transferred from any language to any other language”. Regardless of the differences of opinion on this issue, there is widespread recognition that the social context, including such features as the size and characteristics of the bilingual groups, the attitudes toward the languages spoken, and the intensity and duration of language contact, play an important role in determining the linguistic outcomes of language contact.
Epilogue: A tale of two copulas
Authors: ZYZIK EVE , GASS SUSAN
Published: October 2008

The five papers in this issue cover a range of perspectives on the acquisition and use of the Spanish copulasserandestarin a variety of contexts, including language contact, bilingual language acquisition, and classroom second language learning. The fact that these papers cite work in this area as far back as the early part of the 20th century with each subsequent decade being represented suggests the continual importance and complexity of the distinction between the two copular forms and shows how this complexity is played out in acquisition and bilingual use. Over the past century different perspectives have been taken on this multifaceted issue with linguistic explanations and the role of the native language being primary. In this epilogue, we focus on some of these same issues, but expand our commentary to include the new dimensions represented in this collection of papers: (i) context of learning (input), (ii) prior knowledge as represented by other language(s) known, (iii) item-learning and lexical development, and (iv) innovations in methodology.
Brian Wilson’s Pet Sounds
Authors: LAMBERT PHILIP
Published: October 2008

Pet Sounds, the landmark Beach Boys album of 1966, has received wide acclaim as one of rock’s first ‘concept albums’. It also represents a milestone in the artistic evolution of the group’s primary creative force, Brian Wilson. A thorough examination of the texts and music of the songs of Pet Sounds reveals a unified art work projecting a coherent textual narrative. Songs are associated and interrelated via recurrent motives and harmonic patterns, expressing extremely personal themes of romance and heartbreak. The musical ideas are mostly culminations of Brian Wilson’s earlier work – they are the ‘pet sounds’ that he had been raising and nurturing since the early 1960s – but they appear here in an unprecedented artistic context. Despite Wilson’s continued, if sporadic, productivity in the decades that followed, including the ill-fated Smile project, Pet Sounds stands as his crowning artistic achievement, an album with vast appeal and broad influence.
Genotypic identification and diversity evaluation of a sweet potato ( Ipomoea batatas (L). Lam) collection using microsatellites
Authors: Arizio C. M. , Hompanera N. , Suarez E. Y. , Manifesto M. M.
Published: October 2008

Characterization and genotype identification are essential for rational conservation, management and genetic diversity evaluation. In this work, simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used to identify 57 accessions of sweet potato kept at the ‘in vitro’ Gene Bank of INTA, Argentina. This collection includes primitive materials from primary zones of dispersion, commercial varieties, breeding clones and foreign materials from different parts of the world (Africa, Asia and USA). Average similarity between the materials evaluated was 0.367. Grouping analysis revealed six clusters and a strong association with skin colour of storage roots. The set of selected SSR markers allowed us to verify identity, detect duplicates and estimate the genetic similarity of the materials analysed. This characterization complements morphological data and provides tools to estimate the variation of diversity between local and foreign germplasm groups.
Molecular diversity in the Ukrainian melon collection as revealed by AFLPs and microsatellites
Authors: Nimmakayala Padmavathi , Tomason Yan R. , Jeong Jooha , Vajja Gopinath , Levi Amnon , Gibson Paul , Reddy Umesh K.
Published: October 2008

Thirty-eight melon accessions, which are of primary breeding importance in the Ukraine, were analysed for diversity. These collections represent a major non-US and non-western Europe source of melon germplasm that have not yet been subjected to molecular characterization. Molecular diversity was estimated based on a robust set of 465 polymorphisms gathered by amplified fragment length polymorphisms and simple sequence repeats (SSR). In this paper, we report 12 newly developed polymorphic SSR primer pairs, and their use for molecular characterization in the Ukrainian melon collections. Based on these polymorphisms, we estimated similarity indices that ranged from 0.70 to 1.00 among various accessions. The phylogenetic tree based on the similarity indices and a three-dimensional plot of the first three vectors of the principal component analysis corresponded fairly well with the existing three classical morphotypes namelyaestivalis,europeusandhiemalis, under theconvarEuropeus, which is also known asadana. The polymorphisms generated in the current study, which are specific to the grouping of fruit types and days to maturity will be very useful for further genetic studies and marker-assisted selections.
«...dann wird er halt operiert und es ist keine Blutgruppe da!» Interprofessionelle Kommunikation von Pflegenden einer internistischen Intensivstation
Authors: Knoll Martin , Lendner Ilka
Published: October 2008

Das Ziel dieser qualitativen Studie war es, die Erfahrungen Pflegender einer Intensivstation bezüglich der interdisziplinären/interprofessionellen Kommunikation zu untersuchen sowie die Kommunikationsstrukturen und beeinflussenden Faktoren aus Sicht der Pflegenden darzustellen und zu interpretieren. Befragt wurden Pflegende einer internistischen Intensivstation eines akademischen Lehrkrankenhauses in Mitteldeutschland mithilfe eines problemorientiert erarbeiteten, teilstrukturierten Gesprächsleitfadens. Als ein Hauptergebnis zeigte sich, dass aus Sicht der Pflegenden die Kommunikationskultur der Untersuchungsstation von hierarchischen Strukturen seitens der Ärzte geprägt ist. Diese Dominanz konnte in allen Bereichen der pflegerischen Tätigkeiten nachgewiesen werden, woraus eine erhebliche Beeinträchtigung des gesamten, die Patienten betreffenden Informationsflusses zwischen Ärzten und Pflegenden resultiert. Vor allem im Rahmen der täglichen Visiten erfahren Pflegende Barrieren beim Einbringen ihres Wissens und ihrer fachlichen Kompetenz und erleben eine sehr eingeschränkte Partizipation am Entscheidungsfindungsprozess. Die hier dargestellte Problematik ist vielen Pflegenden in ihrer täglichen Praxis bekannt und wurde vor allem in der englischsprachigen wissenschaftlichen Literatur häufig bearbeitet. Jedoch sollten mit dieser Untersuchung die vorhandenen Erkenntnisse dargestellt, zusammengefasst und auf ein ausgewähltes Arbeitsfeld praxisorientiert übertragen werden. In nachfolgenden Arbeitsschritten sind Lösungsmöglichkeiten für die hier aufgezeigten Probleme der Kommunikationsschnittstellen zwischen den Berufsgruppen im Hinblick auf eine bessere Patientenversorgung zu finden.
Glacial‐interglacial variations in marine phosphorus cycling: Implications for ocean productivity
Authors: Tsandev I. , Slomp C. P. , Van Cappellen P.
Published: October 2008

Using a box model of organic carbon (C) and phosphorus (P) cycling in the global ocean, we assess the effects of changes in the continental supply of reactive P, oceanic mixing, and sea level on the marine P cycle on glacial‐interglacial timescales. Our model results suggest that mixing is a dominant forcing during early glaciation, causing retention of P in the deep ocean, thereby lowering primary production and associated organic C and P burial. Sea level fall is the dominant forcing during late glaciation, when reduced coastal trapping of reactive P enhances its transfer to the open ocean, restoring primary production and P burial. During postglacial periods, changes in circulation and weathering dominate open ocean processes and oceanic primary production peaks. As primary production is reduced upon glaciation, changes in the marine P cycle are unlikely to drive enhanced primary production and CO2 drawdown during glaciation.
Modeling the impact of polar mesocyclones on ocean circulation
Authors: Condron Alan , Bigg Grant R. , Renfrew Ian A.
Published: October 2008

Subsynoptic polar mesoscale cyclones (or mesocyclones) are underrepresented in atmospheric reanalysis data sets and are subgrid scale processes in most models used for seasonal or climate forecasting. This lack of representation, particularly over the Nordic Seas, has a significant impact on modeled ocean circulation due to a consequent underestimation of atmospheric forcing at the air–sea boundary. Using Rankine vortices and a statistically significant linear relationship between mesocyclone diameter and maximum wind speed, a novel parameterization is developed that allows the bogusing in of missing or underrepresented vortices by exploiting a satellite‐derived mesocyclone database. From October 1993 to September 1995, more than 2500 cyclones known to be missing from reanalysis data over the northeast Atlantic are parameterized into the forcing fields for a global ocean‐only numerical modeling experiment. A comparison of this perturbed forcing simulation to a control simulation shows enhanced surface latent and sensible heat fluxes and a dramatic increase in the cyclonic rotation of the Nordic Seas gyre by four times the average interannual variability. In response to these changes, Greenland Sea Deep Water (GSDW) formation generally increases by up to 20% in 1 month, indicating more active open ocean convection. However such enhancements are smaller than the considerable monthly variability in GSDW production. An accompanying increase in the volume transport of intermediate and deep water overflowing the Denmark Strait highlights an important coupling between short‐lived, intense atmospheric activity and deep ocean circulation. The parameterization scheme has the potential to be adapted for use in coupled climate models.
The potential impacts of pollution on a nondrizzling stratus deck: Does aerosol number matter more than type?
Authors: Andrejczuk M. , Reisner J. M. , Henson B. , Dubey M. K. , Jeffery C. A.
Published: October 2008

In this paper results from a cloud‐resolving model that can efficiently examine the impact of aerosol on nondrizzling stratus clouds will be shown. Because the model tracks aerosol and cloud droplets in a Lagrangian framework, it does not suffer from numerical errors associated with advection, and unlike most Eulerian approaches, the method can track cloud boundaries as they move across a grid cell. After illustrating the capability of the model to reproduce various observed cloud statistics such as the cloud water mixing ratio and the mean cloud droplet radius from the DYCOMS‐II field program, the ability of the model to assess the impact of changes in aerosol number and composition on a stratus deck will be highlighted. Specifically, by using activation curves appropriate for soluble, insoluble, or a mixture of both types of aerosol and for certain extreme aerosol regimes, i.e., a majority of the aerosol are hydrophobic carbon aerosol, limiting situations were examined to bound their impact on clouds. However, though these situations may be somewhat extreme, they could occasionally occur in the atmosphere, e.g., an oceanic stratus field downwind of a large ship or an urban area. Not unexpectedly, results from these simulations support previous ship track observations that for increasing aerosol numbers, cloud droplet number concentrations increase, whereas cloud droplet radii decrease. However, these simulations also suggest that the correlation between cloud droplet number concentration and aerosol number concentration may be not only a function of aerosol number concentration but also aerosol types and/or cloud dynamics.
Biogenic nitric oxide emission from saline sodic soils in a semiarid region, northeastern China: A laboratory study
Authors: Yu Junbao , Meixner Franz X. , Sun Weidong , Liang Zhengwei , Chen Yuan , Mamtimin Buhalqem , Wang Guoping , Sun Zhigao
Published: October 2008

It is well‐known that nitric oxide (NO) is an important component in nitrogen biogeochemical cycling produced through biological process of nitrification and denitrification in soils, but the production and the consumption processes of NO in sodic saline soil are less understood. Through a series of laboratory experiments focusing on NO biogenic emissions from four kinds of saline sodic soils of different land use in western Songnen Plain northestern China, we found that the optimum soil moisture for the maximum NO production and emission were 14.0%, 9.0%, 9.5%, and 18% water‐filled pore space (WFPS) for soil samples from natural pasture, man‐made pasture, paddy field of saline sodic soil mixed sandy soil, and paddy field of pure saline sodic soil, respectively. For a given moisture, NO fluxes increased exponentially with soil temperature at any given soil moisture. The optimum soil moisture for the maximum NO emission for a certain soil type, however, was constant and independent of soil temperature. The NO consumption processes for different land uses were similar in all studied saline sodic soils since the difference of NO consumption rate constant in these soils was small (ranged from 1.07 × 10−6 to 7.45 × 10−6 m3 kg−1 s−1). The NO emission potential for paddy field soils was about 1.2–2‐fold higher than pasture soils. On the basis of laboratory results and field monitoring data of soil water content and soil temperature, the average NO fluxes from these saline sodic soils in the region were estimated to be 1.3–4.9 ng m−2 s−1 for an entire plant growth period. NO fluxes for pastures mainly occurred in the dry season and were about threefold higher than that for paddy fields, which was strongly influenced by field management.
Estimate of higher order ionospheric errors in GNSS positioning
Authors: Hoque M. Mainul , Jakowski N.
Published: October 2008

Precise navigation and positioning using GPS/GLONASS/Galileo require the ionospheric propagation errors to be accurately determined and corrected for. Current dual‐frequency method of ionospheric correction ignores higher order ionospheric errors such as the second and third order ionospheric terms in the refractive index formula and errors due to bending of the signal. The total electron content (TEC) is assumed to be same at two GPS frequencies. All these assumptions lead to erroneous estimations and corrections of the ionospheric errors. In this paper a rigorous treatment of these problems is presented. Different approximation formulas have been proposed to correct errors due to excess path length in addition to the free space path length, TEC difference at two GNSS frequencies, and third‐order ionospheric term. The GPS dual‐frequency residual range errors can be corrected within millimeter level accuracy using the proposed correction formulas.
Variability in the scale properties of high‐resolution precipitation data in the Alpine climate of Switzerland
Authors: Molnar Peter , Burlando Paolo
Published: October 2008

We explore the variability of scale‐related point precipitation properties on a large data set of high‐resolution 10‐min data from 62 stations across Switzerland. The focus is on the seasonal and spatial variability in basic scaling, correlation, and breakdown distribution parameters in the subdaily scaling range and their interdependency. Seasonal variability is found to be dominant. The summer season shows more structure in precipitation; a shorter autocorrelation range due to convective activity, high intermittency, and variance; and a multiscaling behavior in statistical moments. Winter events are longer, with smoother, less variable and strongly autocorrelated precipitation, and with a simple scaling behavior caused by larger‐scale frontal events. Some coherent regional differences are also apparent. The high Alpine region shows less variability and a stronger autocorrelation than other regions and a tendency toward simple scaling. The results also show that some scale‐related precipitation parameters are correlated and that snowfall has a discernible impact on high‐resolution properties such as smoothness and correlation. The results have an important practical significance for the extrapolation of parameters of scaling‐based precipitation models to ungauged sites.
Assessment of structural evolution of aggregated soil using neutron tomography
Authors: Koliji A. , Lehmann P. , Vulliet L. , Laloui L. , Carminati A. , Vontobel P. , Hassanein R.
Published: October 2008

The advanced nondestructive method of neutron tomography, together with image analysis, is used to evaluate the structural evolution of an aggregated soil during one‐dimensional compression tests. Aggregation of primary particles is a commonly observed phenomenon in natural and compacted soils that causes an open soil structure with two dominant pore sizes corresponding to macropores (interaggregates) and micropores (intra‐aggregates). The evolution of macroporosity and the degradation of structures are evaluated by means of morphological parameters such as volume fraction, size distribution, and chord length. Change in the structure is then linked to the macroscopic soil response. It is observed that the major structural modifications are associated with irreversible strains in soil.
Climatic control of sediment yield in dry lands following climate and land cover change
Authors: Collins D. B. G. , Bras R. L.
Published: October 2008

Long‐term climate and short‐term environmental change both affect catchment sediment yield, yet isolating the respective contributions has been difficult. To help separate the different roles, a numerical ecogeomorphic model has been used to explore the erosional impacts of different environmental changes across a gradient of annual rainfall in water‐limited fluvial landscapes. Results demonstrate that following vegetation disturbances, sediment yield is a maximum in arid to semiarid climates, decreasing in dryer climates owing to a paucity of vegetation to disturb and in wetter climates owing to increasingly rapid postdisturbance recovery. The case of sustained changes in annual rainfall is more complicated owing to trade‐offs between changes in vegetation cover and runoff. As climates abruptly become wetter, the barren, arid landscapes produce the greatest sediment, but a secondary peak occurs in semiarid climates where a high proportional increase in runoff coincides with runoff‐limited erosion. Sediment yield drops relative to prechange conditions between these two maxima, where vegetation cover substantially increases and runoff drops. Conversely, as climates become dryer, the effects of vegetation and runoff are transposed: sediment yield peaks become troughs, and troughs become peaks. Together, these results suggest that sediment yield depends both on the nature of the disturbance and on the landscape and climatic contexts in which the disturbance acts. Prechange landscapes and climate set the stage by prescribing whether sediment yield is vegetation limited or runoff limited. Environmental changes then affect erosion by augmenting or diminishing the prevailing geomorphic limitation.
Enrichment of surface‐active compounds in coalescing cloud drops
Authors: Taraniuk Ilya , Kostinski Alex B. , Rudich Yinon
Published: October 2008

Surfactants often found in tropospheric aerosols, can affect the onset and development of clouds. Due to high dilution during droplet growth, the effects of surfactants on cloud microphysical processes have been mostly neglected. However, while cloud growth by coalescence conserves the combined volume of all cloud droplets, it reduces the combined surface area. This could lead to enrichment of water‐insoluble surfactants (WIS) and to reduced surface tension of droplets forming in warm processes. Measurements of individual raindrops reveal the presence of water insoluble surfactants. Our field and laboratory studies as well as simple theoretical arguments suggest that by causing varying and size‐dependent surface tension, WIS can affect cloud microphysics.
Predicted reversal and recovery of surface creep on the Hayward fault following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake
Authors: Schmidt D. A. , Bürgmann R.
Published: October 2008

Offset cultural features suggest that creep rates along the Hayward fault have remained constant since 1920 until the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake despite evidence in the earthquake record of an enduring stress shadow after 1906. We re‐construct the stressing history on the Hayward fault in order to predict when creep, assumed to have slowed, likely resumed at historical rates. The resumption of creep is dependent on the stressing history imposed from postseismic processes. Basic viscoelastic models produce stress histories that allow creep to resume within a couple decades. A detachment zone model for the Bay Area predicts that creep would not resume for 70+ years after the 1906 earthquake, in disagreement with historical creep observations. The recovery of creep is also advanced by potential left‐lateral slip that could have been induced by the 1906 earthquake. Calculations for a friction‐less fault suggest that 30–210 mm of left‐lateral slip could have occurred.
A nonparametric test for change in variability using a proxy record with an application to ENSO
Authors: Solow Andrew R. , Beet Andrew R.
Published: October 2008

A common problem in climate science is determining whether the pattern of variability in a particular process or variable has changed over time. When the modern observational record is short, this problem can be addressed by comparing its variability to that of an historical proxy record. In doing so, it is important to recognize that the statistical properties of the modern and proxy records are different. Here, a nonparametric test for a change in variability in this situation is described that accounts for this difference. The method is illustrated by testing for a change in ENSO variability using a record of an ENSO index over the period 1871–2007 and oxygen isotope records extracted from corals at Palmyra Island that cover four different periods spanning the past millennium. The results are mixed.