bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Negotiating Knightly Piety: The Cult of the Warrior-Saints in the West, ca. 1070–ca. 1200
Authors: MacGregor James B.
Published: July 2009

Around 1184, Alan de Lille composed a sermon addressed to Europe's knights (Ad milites) as part of a treatise on the art of preaching (Ars praedicandi). In it, Alan condemned the felonious and violent behavior of Western warriors and reproached them for their mistreatment of the poor and the Church—the very groups that knights ought to protect in an ideal Christian society. According to Alan, such actions must cease and knightly behavior must be reformed. Using scriptural precedent, he encouraged knights to consider their spiritual welfare by articulating a difference between internal and external military service. Knights, if they wish to be soldiers of God, must wield both temporal and spiritual arms: the former to protect the Church and their homelands, the latter to combat the enemies of their souls. Balance between the two was essential since external service (earthly combat) was empty and meaningless without its internal counterpart (spiritual combat). By ensuring the proper equilibrium, knights could fulfill their assigned role in the world while actively working to ensure their own salvation.
The Scottish Witchcraft Act
Authors: Goodare Julian
Published: July 2009

Few acts of the Scottish parliament can have had such deadly consequences as the following, passed on June 4, 1563: Anentis Witchcraftis.

ITEM Forsamekill as the Quenis Majestie and thre Estatis in this present Parliament being informit, that the havy and abominabill superstitioun usit be divers of the liegis of this Realme, be using of Witchcraftis, Sorsarie and Necromancie, and credence gevin thairto in tymes bygane aganis the Law of God: And for avoyding and away putting of all sic vane superstitioun in tymes tocum: ¶ It is statute and ordanit be the Quenis Majestie, and thre Estatis foirsaidis, that na maner of persoun nor persounis, of quhatsumever estate, degre or conditioun thay be of, tak upone hand in ony tymes heirefter, to use ony maner of Witchcraftis, Sorsarie or Necromancie, nor gif thame selfis furth to have ony sic craft or knawlege thairof, thairthrow abusand the pepill: Nor that na persoun seik ony help, response or cosultatioun at ony sic usaris or abusaris foirsaidis of Witchcraftis, Sorsareis or Necromancie, under the pane of deid, alsweill to be execute aganis the usar, abusar, as the seikar of the response or consultatioun.
The Cult of Martyrs in Asterius of Amaseia's Vision of the Christian City
Authors: Driver Lisa D. Maugans
Published: July 2009

For what is worth as much as these festival assemblies? And what is so august and all-beautiful as to see the whole city with one's whole race issuing from the town, occupying a holy place to perform pure mysteries of the most genuine devotion?

Few Romans of any era would have disagreed with these exclamations, though earlier generations might have been astonished that such familiar sentiments could issue from the mouth of a Christian bishop. The ideal of civic solidarity through worship and celebration was a familiar concept from ancient times, one which Asterius felt to be entirely in keeping with the practice of Christianity at the end of the fourth century. Asterius's festival homilies reveal part of the process whereby views on society and citizens became informed by Christian belief. First he offers a critique of traditional society and religion. Second he promotes Christianpoliteia, by means of martyr festivals, as the true foundation for social harmony. Three conceptual strategies emerge in Asterius's program for transforming classicalpoliteia: recommending distinctly Christian philosophic virtue, depicting citizenship in terms of familial relationships, and employing an eschatological dimension to patronage.
Geneva's “Enlightened Orthodoxy”: The Middle Way of Jacob Vernet (1698–1789)
Authors: Sorkin David
Published: July 2009

Jacob Vernet (1698–1789) numbers among those eighteenth-century theologians whose relationships to the philosophes have saved them from being forgotten but at the cost of being misrepresented. Vernet is usually remembered for editing the first edition of Montesquieu's De l'esprit des lois, helping to restore Rousseau to Calvinism, and corresponding and then crossing swords with D'Alembert and Voltaire: it is especially the controversy with D'Alembert surrounding the article on “Geneva” in the seventh volume of the Encyclopédie (1757), as well as a sustained conflict with Voltaire over many issues, that have secured him scholarly attention. The scholars who have noticed Vernet have accordingly concentrated on aspects of his person: ascertaining whether he was mendacious, conniving, and hypocritical, as some of the philosophes, especially Voltaire contended, or the figure of impeccable behavior and conscience suggested by his office and his hagiographers. This one-sided emphasis on his person obscures the fact that Vernet wrote a shelf of books and was such an influential figure that he was the representative Genevan theologian of his day. The neglect of his thought is hardly astounding, however, since it is characteristic of the treatment accorded eighteenth-century theology in general. Theologians and students of religion have for long dismissed eighteenth-century theology as derivative; students of the Enlightenment have considered it outside the canon of Enlightenment literature and thus beyond their purview. Both these assumptions should be challenged.
Making Doctors and Nurses for Jesus: Medical Missionary Stories and American Children
Authors: Schoepflin Rennie B.
Published: July 2009

The December 1899 issue ofOur Little Friend, a Seventh-day Adventist Sabbath school paper containing moral instruction, missionary stories, and the upcoming week's Bible study lessons, related the following story to its young readers:
Pastoral Care East of Eden: The Consistory of Geneva, 1568–82
Authors: Manetsch Scott M.
Published: July 2009

Reformed churches in early modern Europe gave special prominence to moral discipline and created institutions to oversee public behavior and promote personal sanctification. These moral tribunals—known variously as consistories, kirk sessions, presbyteries, or Kirchenrat—have been of particular interest to social historians, who have found in disciplinary records a rich deposit for understanding popular belief and daily life in the age of Reformations. Today a veritable “cottage industry” (to use Judith Pollman's apt phrase) of specialized studies exists exploring the form and function of reformed discipline throughout sixteenth-century Europe, from Emden to the French Midi, from the Scottish lowlands to Transylvania. Accordingly, perceptions of these disciplinary institutions have changed significantly. Whereas consistories were once often portrayed as repressive agents of social control concerned primarily with punishing misbehavior and promoting a kind of puritan moral austerity, recent scholarship has shown that these disciplinary institutions played an important role in defining confessional boundaries and preserving the sacral unity (and witness) of the eucharistic community. The importance of Calvinist social discipline in the process of confessionalization and state-formation in early modern Europe is now widely acknowledged. At the same time, specialists have gained new awareness of the penitential and pastoral dimensions of reformed discipline. Consistories concerned themselves not simply with supervising and controlling public behavior and belief, but also with educating the unlearned, defending the weak, and mediating interpersonal conflicts. As Robert Kingdon recently commented regarding John Calvin's consistory in Geneva, “Discipline to these early Genevans meant more than social control. It also meant social help.”
Biblical Authority and the Impact of Higher Criticism in Irish Presbyterianism, ca. 1850–1930
Authors: Holmes Andrew R.
Published: July 2009

The decades between 1850 and 1930 saw traditional understandings of Christianity subjected to rigorous social, intellectual, and theological criticism across the transatlantic world. Unprecedented urban and industrial expansion drew attention to the shortcomings of established models of church organization while traditional Christian beliefs concerning human origins and the authority of Scripture were assailed by new approaches to science and biblical higher criticism. In contradistinction to lower or textual criticism, higher criticism dealt with the development of the biblical text in broad terms. According to James Strahan, professor of Hebrew at Magee College, Derry, from 1915 to 1926, textual criticism aimed “at ascertaining the genuine text and meaning of an author” while higher “or historical, criticism seeks to answer a series of questions affecting the composition, editing and collection of the Sacred Books.” During the nineteenth century, the controversy over the use of higher critical methods focused for the most part upon the Old Testament. In particular, critics dismissed the Mosaic authorship and unity of the Pentateuch, arguing that it was the compilation of a number of early documentary fragments brought together by priests after the Babylonian Exile in the sixth century B.C. This “documentary hypothesis” is most often associated with the German scholar, Julius Wellhausen. Indeed, higher criticism had been fostered in the extensive university system of the various German states, which encouraged original research and the emergence of a professional intellectual elite. It reflected the desire of liberal theologians to adapt the Christian faith to the needs and values of modern culture, particularly natural science and history.
John Dury, Advocate of Christian Reunion
Authors: Batten J. M.
Published: July 2009

Richard Baxter correctly described the seventeenth century as a “contentious, dividing Age”. Divisive tendencies had been dominant in the preceding century. But the Protestant leaders in the Age of the Reformation had generally maintained that there was but one universal church. Their protests against Roman Catholic abuses and the consequent counter-charges of a revived Roman Catholicism produced the cleavage of Western Christendom and broke the formal unity of the church. Despite the inevitable differences of opinion which emerged amid the storm and stress of the time, the Protestant leaders often expressed their interest in the promotion of the visible unity of the church and they shared a common hope for the ultimate establishment of a new catholicity expressed in terms of universal free communion in place of the old Catholicism under the headship of the pope. But tendencies which the reformers failed to curb soon produced a succession of divisions. The separatists from Rome showed a marked inclination to form separate communions which, at first, followed territorial and national lines. Due to territorial, national, personal, political, and theological differences, the lines of demarcation between the groups into which Christendom was being divided gradually became defined with more pronounced clearness. In the latter part of the sixteenth century new lines of cleavage appeared. The development of rigid types of Protestant scholasticism intensified the strife over confessional differences and the Wars of Religion increased the hatreds of the age.
Deistic Piety in the Cults of the French Revolution
Authors: Lyttle Charles
Published: July 2009

Apart from the democratized Catholicism of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (July 12, 1790) the French Revolution occasioned four phenomena of novel significance: (a) The so-called “Cult of Reason” established in effect though not in name by decree of the Convention in November, 1793; (b) The nationalist Decadal fêtes, provided for that same autumn, when the church calendar was replaced by the republican; (c) the “Cult of the Supreme Being” originating in legislation of May 1794 and culminating in the Fête of the Supreme Being on June 8 following; (d) the Cult of Theophilanthropism whose prayerbook, called a Manuel at first, was composed in the summer of 1796, printed in the fall, adapted to the needs of public worship as well as domestic in December, and actually used in the former way for the first time on January 15, 1797. Following the precedent of the Abbé Grégoire, whose great History of the Sects of the Revolution appeared in 1814, these four phenomena have been classed together, with the obvious implication that all were tarred with the same stick, the ingredients of the tar consisting of infidel fatuity and political chicanery. Such indeed was the general impression that had already been conveyed by the hostile comments of conservative critics outside France. Consequently it became almost a tradition for decades to consider the four phenomena together as brilliant illustrations of the Deistic philosophy of religion, with the overt or implicit suggestion that they stand as incontrovertible proof of the infatuation of radical doctrinaires and of their folly in supposing that the religious impulse could be suffocated, or that its forms of expression nonchalantly improvised, or its nature changed from that of faith, mystery and revelation to that of reason and morality. Only recently have the researches of Aulard, Mathiez and others served to set before us accurate pictures of the actual ceremonies of these novel cults, as well as careful analyses of the sources and motives of their inception. These researches and revaluations justify a review of the traditional conceptions. Omitting the nationalistic Decadal fêtes as purely secular, our study will be devoted to the Cults of Reason, of the Supreme Being and of Theophilanthropism.
Late Wenlock sequence stratigraphy in central England
Authors: RAY DAVID C. , BRETT CARLTON E. , THOMAS ALAN T. , COLLINGS ADRIAN V. J.
Published: July 2009

The late Wenlock Series (Homerian Stage) of the northern Midland Platform (central England) comprises silty mudstones and limestones of the upper part of the Coalbrookdale and overlying Much Wenlock Limestone formations. Based on outcrop studies and borehole data, the sequence stratigraphical interpretation developed for the inliers of the West Midlands is slightly revised, and extended to the stratotype sections along Wenlock Edge. A single third-order cycle of sea-level change is identified, punctuated by a regressive–transgressive episode associated with a higher-order glacioeustatic cycle, allowing the upper Wenlock Series of the area to be divided into two subsequences (A and B). Subsequence A and the early transgressive systems tract began with regression associated with the basal sequence boundary in late Cyrtograptus lundgreni Biozone times. This was followed by a period of slow transgression or stillstand, allowing shallower water carbonate environments to prograde. A minor phase of regression followed, resulting in the generation of the shallowest water deposits of both the Lower Quarried Limestone and Farley members (of the Much Wenlock Limestone and Coalbrookdale formations, respectively). The overlying Subsequence B and the late transgressive systems tract are marked by transgression and a period of rapid sea-level fluctuation and are likely contained within the Gothograptus nassa Biozone. A minor highstand is widely recognizable at this time. The rest of Subsequence B consists of an initial phase of weak progradation (highstand systems tract), followed by a marked regression (falling stage systems tract) culminating in an erosive upper sequence boundary at or close to the top of the Monograptus ludensis Biozone, but within the uppermost Much Wenlock Limestone Formation. Above Subsequence B is a marked transgression into the Lower Elton Formation and the Ludlow Series. Both late Wenlock lowstands and the succeeding flooding events have been recognized on other palaeocontinents, reflecting the eustatic nature of sea-level changes reported here.
Rethinking burgeoning political consciousness: student activists, the Class of ‘99 and political intent in Sierra Leone
Authors: Bolten Catherine
Published: July 2009

This article uses interviews with former student activists in Sierra Leone to explore what ideals motivate students to participate in political action. In Sierra Leone, students used the military as a cover for their own democratic programme, initially by encouraging a coup that they wanted to partake in, later by joining the officer corps themselves. I challenge the notion that student interactions with the urban lumpenproletariat and ‘militariat’ serve as evidence for their desire to cloak a lack of ideals in popular violence; rather I argue that coalitions are built as needs must to push a particular agenda, whether or not the agenda is known to all participants. In this case, that agenda was to ensure that an idealistic intelligentsia had economic and political futures that they had been denied under a paternalistic dictatorship. In essence student activism was elitist, not popular.
A constructed (un)reality on China's re-entry into Africa: the Chinese online community perception of Africa (2006–2008)
Authors: Shen Simon
Published: July 2009

China's 21st-century re-entry into Africa has been made with considerable new fanfare and in a manner that contrasts sharply with the Maoist ideologist policy of the 1960s. However, how the Chinese perceive Africa, as expressed by the online community, has been little studied. In a country where full democracy and complete freedom of expression are still lacking, online communication arguably plays a particularly significant role. When it comes to topics in China which are not frequently addressed in the public domain, the flow of information among the online community is paramount in shaping public perceptions. The result of systematic qualitative research on the online community in China, this paper aims to bridge the gap between formal studies of Sino-African relations and online perceptions. Reconstructing the online image of Africa is essential in understanding not only contemporary Sino-African relations from the popular perspective but also the distorted nature of information that circulates in Chinese cyberspace.
Still standing: neighbourhood wars and political stability in Guinea
Authors: Arieff Alexis
Published: July 2009

The Republic of Guinea is located in a particularly turbulent region. However, while several conflicts in neighbouring countries – Guinea-Bissau, Liberia and Sierra Leone – have spilled over Guinea's borders, the country's central government has displayed a seemingly unlikely stability. Until a bloodless coup in December 2008 brought a military junta to power, the country had had only two presidents since independence, both of whom died of natural causes while still in office. Ahmed Sékou Touré, Guinea's first leader, deftly used the anti-colonial insurgency in neighbouring Guinea-Bissau to enhance his political credentials and control domestic and international opposition. The administration of the late President Lansana Conté leveraged regional warfare to solidify its command over remote provinces, increase government revenues, bolster military capacity, and improve regional diplomatic relations. This paper supports the analysis of civil wars as regional phenomena, while shedding light on mechanisms that may interact in counter-intuitive ways with the dynamics of state strength.
Impaired financial capacity in late life depression is associated with cognitive performance on measures of executive functioning and attention
Authors: MACKIN R. SCOTT , AREÁN PATRICIA A.
Published: July 2009

Few studies have evaluated the prevalence of impairments of financial capacity among individuals with psychiatric disorders. Late life depression (LLD) is a common psychiatric disorder associated with significant disability and cognitive impairment. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the prevalence and cognitive correlates of impairments of financial capacity among individuals with LLD. Participants included 65 LLD individuals and 32 comparison subjects. Assessments included measures of financial capacity, cognitive functioning, and depression symptom severity. Individuals with LLD exhibited a significantly higher rate of impaired financial capacity (22%) than the comparison group (6%). Results of a multiple regression analysis indicated that performance on measures of executive functioning and attention, but not depression severity, were most strongly associated with financial capacity performance in LLD. Our results suggest impairments of financial capacity in LLD are largely explained by cognitive functioning in these domains. (JINS, 2009, 15, 793–798.)
The diagnostic utility of multiple-level likelihood ratios
Authors: BOWDEN STEPHEN C. , LORING DAVID W.
Published: July 2009

Clinicians are accustomed to interpreting diagnostic test scores in terms of sensitivity and specificity. Many clinicians also appreciate that sensitivity and specificity need to be interpreted in terms of local base rates (i.e., pretest probability). However, most neuropsychological tests contain a wide range of scores. Important diagnostic information may be sacrificed when valid test scores are reduced to the simple dichotomy of “positive” or “negative” diagnosis that underlies sensitivity and specificity analysis. The purpose of this study is to provide an introduction to multiple-level likelihood ratios, a method for preserving the information in a wider range of scores. These statistics are first described using a hypothetical example of dementia screening, then with patient data from an epilepsy surgery sample. Multiple-level likelihood ratios have several advantages over sensitivity and specificity analysis because they are applied across a wider range of diagnostic scores, and generalize to settings with different base rates. We suggest that the diagnostic validity of many psychological tests may be underestimated by relying solely on traditional dichotomous sensitivity and specificity analysis. (JINS, 2009,15, 769–776.)
INECO Frontal Screening (IFS): A brief, sensitive, and specific tool to assess executive functions in dementia–CORRECTED VERSION
Authors: TORRALVA TERESA , ROCA MARÍA , GLEICHGERRCHT EZEQUIEL , LÓPEZ PABLO , MANES FACUNDO
Published: July 2009

Although several brief sensitive screening tools are available to detect cognitive dysfunction, few have been developed to quickly assess executive functioning (EF) per se. We designed a new brief tool to evaluate EF in neurodegenerative diseases. Patients with an established diagnosis of behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD; n = 22), Alzheimer disease (AD; n = 25), and controls (n = 26) were assessed with a cognitive screening test, the INECO Frontal Screening (IFS), and EF tests. Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR) scores were obtained for all patients. Internal consistency of the IFS was very good (Cronbach’s alpha = .80). IFS total (out of 30 points) was 27.4 (SD = 1.6) for controls, 15.6 (SD = 4.2) for bvFTD, and 20.1 (SD = 4.7) for AD. Using a cutoff of 25 points, sensitivity of the IFS was 96.2%, and specificity 91.5% in differentiating controls from patients with dementia. The IFS correlated significantly with the CDR and executive tasks. The IFS total discriminated controls from demented patients, and bvFTD from AD. IFS is a brief, sensitive, and specific tool for the detection of executive dysfunction associated with neurodegenerative diseases. The IFS may be helpful in the differential diagnosis of FTD and AD. (JINS, 2009, 15, 777–786.)
A new whistler inversion method
Authors: Lichtenberger J.
Published: July 2009

A new whistler inversion method has been developed to obtain plasmaspheric electron densities and propagation paths deduced from measured whistler data. It is based on the exact Appleton‐Hartree dispersion relation and recent experimental density distribution models, comprising the following components: a longitudinal whistler wave propagation model; an empirical electron density distributions model along the field lines based on Polar spacecraft data; and dipole and International Geomagnetic Reference Field approximation of the Earth's magnetic field. The new method predicts electron densities and propagation paths different from the earlier methods. The validation of the method is difficult owing to lack of in situ measurements. A multiple‐path whistler group model was introduced in addition to the whistler inversion method assuming a simplified (logarithmic) dependence of equatorial electron density. A new, time‐frequency domain transformation of multiple path groups led us to validate the components of the whistler inversion method, and it adds a major extension to the inversion method in the case of multiple‐path whistler groups. Beside that, the method is capable of providing electron density profiles for the plasmasphere by the analysis of multiple‐path propagation whistlers.
THEMIS observations of an earthward‐propagating dipolarization front
Authors: Runov A. , Angelopoulos V. , Sitnov M. I. , Sergeev V. A. , Bonnell J. , McFadden J. P. , Larson D. , Glassmeier K.‐H. , Auster U.
Published: July 2009

We report THEMIS observations of a dipolarization front, a sharp, large‐amplitude increase in the Z‐component of the magnetic field. The front was detected in the central plasma sheet sequentially at X = −20.1 RE (THEMIS P1 probe), at X = −16.7 RE (P2), and at X = −11.0 RE (P3/P4 pair), suggesting its earthward propagation as a coherent structure over a distance more than 10 RE at a velocity of 300 km/s. The front thickness was found to be as small as the ion inertial length. Comparison with simulations allows us to interpret the front as the leading edge of a plasma fast flow formed by a burst of magnetic reconnection in the midtail.
Atypical influence of the 2007 La Niña on rainfall and temperature in southeastern Australia
Authors: Gallant Ailie J. E. , Karoly David J.
Published: July 2009

Interannual climate variations associated with El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) dominate rainfall and temperature variability in southeastern Australia's Murray‐Darling Basin (MDB), an important region for agricultural productivity. Following a decade‐long dry period, a La Niña during 2007 failed to provide above average rainfall and cool temperatures in the southern half of the MDB, typical of most La Niña events for the region. Instead, annual (winter half‐year) rainfall was 17% (35%) below average and maximum temperatures 0.91°C (1.26°C) above average. Based on the past variability between La Niña events, the combined probability of such anomalies is less than 2%. It is likely that these anomalies contain some contribution from a positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). However, the IOD and other large‐scale circulation features are unlikely to explain the atypical conditions that occurred in the southern MDB during the 2007 La Niña.
Modes of multi‐decadal oceanic precipitation variations from a reconstruction and AR4 model output for the 20th century
Authors: Smith T. , Sapiano M. , Arkin P.
Published: July 2009

Monthly oceanic precipitation variations are available from satellite observations beginning 1979 and from models for earlier periods, and both the observations and models indicate increasing global‐average precipitation with warming global temperatures. Recently the authors developed an indirect data‐based reconstruction of precipitation beginning 1900, which is used here to analyze near‐global average multi‐decadal oceanic variations through the 20th century. We compare this new reconstruction to oceanic coupled‐model precipitation from AR4 models beginning 1900, and to GPCP precipitation beginning 1979. Both the reconstruction and AR4 models indicate increasing precipitation over the 20th century. The reconstruction increase is stronger than the AR4 increase largely due to a climate shift in the 1970s that is resolved by the reconstruction but absent in the AR4 ensemble. The reconstruction climate shift has an ENSO‐like spatial pattern and in the reconstruction the shift is associated with an ENSO mode, consistent with work done by others. The influence of this mode indicates the need for coupled models to accurately simulate the tropical Pacific in order to resolve that region's influence on multi‐decadal variations.
Observation and modeling of the Earth‐ionosphere cavity electromagnetic transverse resonance and variation of the D‐region electron density near sunset
Authors: Simões F. , Berthelier J.‐J. , Godefroy M. , Yahi S.
Published: July 2009

In the frame of the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses campaign, measurements of very low frequency electric fields were performed onboard a stratospheric balloon launched on 7 August 2006 from Niamey, Niger. During flight, numerous sferics were observed associated to lightning from active convective cells a few hundred kilometers from the balloon. Lightning data analysis shows the transverse mode mean frequency of the Earth‐ionosphere cavity decreasing from ∼2.4 to 2 kHz over a period of 1 h about sunset. The observed change of the transverse resonance near dusk can be fairly reproduced by an electromagnetic wave propagation model, which takes into account the D‐region electron density variation predicted by the International Reference Ionosphere model.
BFO/DOLCE Primitive Relation Comparison
Authors: Seyed A. Patrice
Published: July 2009

This paper examines the primitive relations (dependence, quality, and constitution) of the BFO and DOLCE upper ontologies, employed in developing domain ontologies of the biomedical sciences. The strengths in both upper ontologies are examined, which sets a framework for developing a common upper ontology that utilizes the assets of both.
Improvement of PubMed Literature Searching using Biomedical Ontology
Authors: Xiang Zuoshuang , He Yongqun
Published: July 2009

PubMed articles are annotated using the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) to increase search efficiency. However, MeSH contains limited information on many biomedical domains (e.g., vaccine). Biomedical ontologies may be used to improve PubMed searching capability. This study demonstrates that Vaccine Ontology (VO) can be used to significantly improve PubMed searching efficacy in the vaccine domain. The recall and precision of the ontology-based literature mining approach are analyzed and discussed.
Communicative Acts of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders in the Second Year of Life
Authors: Shumway Stacy , Wetherby Amy M.
Published: July 2009

Purpose

To examine the communicative profiles of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in the second year of life.

Method

Communicative acts were examined in 125 children 18 to 24 months of age: 50 later diagnosed with ASD; 25 with developmental delays (DD); and 50 with typical development (TD). Precise measures of rate, functions, and means of communication were obtained through systematic observation of videotaped behavior samples from the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales Developmental Profile (A. Wetherby & B. Prizant, 2002).

Results

Children with ASD communicated at a significantly lower rate than children with DD and TD. The ASD group used a significantly lower proportion of acts for joint attention and a significantly lower proportion of deictic gestures with a reliance on more primitive gestures compared with the DD and TD groups. Children with ASD who did communicate for joint attention were as likely as other children to coordinate vocalizations, eye gaze, and gestures. Rate of communicative acts and joint attention were the strongest predictors of verbal outcome at age 3.

Conclusion

By 18 to 24 months of age, children later diagnosed with ASD showed a unique profile of communication, with core deficits in communication rate, joint attention, and communicative gestures.
Long-Term Effects of Early-Life Otitis Media on Language Development
Authors: Zumach Anne , Gerrits Ellen , Chenault Michelene , Anteunis Lucien
Published: July 2009

Purpose

The aim of the present study was to examine the long-term consequences of early-life otitis media (OM) and the associated hearing loss (HL) on language skills of school-aged children.

Method

In a prospective study, the middle-ear status of 65 Dutch healthy-born children was documented every 3 months during their first 2 years of life; language comprehension and production were evaluated at 27 months and again at 7 years.

Results

The positive relation that was found between OM-related HL and language development at 27 months could no longer be discerned at school age. Accordingly, parent-reported HL between 2 and 7 years had no effect on scores at school age.

Conclusion

The present study shows that negative consequences of early-life OM or the underlying HL on language comprehension and production appear to be resolved by the age of 7. It also shows that parent-reported HL between 2 and 7 years is not related to language skills at school age.
Theoretical analysis of acoustic waves propagating in materials with continuous variations of near-surface elastic constants
Authors: Yuan Ling , Shen Zhonghua , Ni Xiaowu , Lu Jian
Published: July 2009

The near-surface elastic properties (NSEPs) of materials take on continuous distribution after surface modification such as surface polishing. In this paper, the influence of the continuous variations of NSEPs on the ultrasonic waves propagating in finite-thick and semi-infinite-thick plates is investigated. An orthogonal polynomial extended method is presented to study the acoustic waves propagating in metals with continuous distribution of NSEPs. By this method, the near-surface layer of the materials does not need to be discrete sublayers, which can avoid the presence of pseudoacoustic waves. The velocities of different ultrasonic wave modes in finite-thick and semi-infinite-thick plates with continuous distributions of NSEPs are obtained. In addition, the influence of the near-surface layer’s thickness and the distribution of the NSEPs on the relative velocity dispersion of Lamb waves and surface acoustic waves are discussed, providing further theoretical foundation for the inversion of near-surface properties.
Transport and control in one-dimensional systems
Authors: Santos Lea F.
Published: July 2009

We study transport of local magnetization in a Heisenberg spin-1/2 chain at zero temperature. The system is initially prepared in a highly excited pure state far from equilibrium and its evolution is analyzed via exact diagonalization. Integrable and nonintegrable regimes are obtained by adjusting the parameters of the Hamiltonian, which allows for the comparison of transport behaviors in both limits. In the presence of nearest-neighbor interactions only, the transport behavior in the integrable clean system contrasts with the chaotic chain with on-site defects, oscillations in the first suggesting ballistic transport, and a fast decay in the latter indicating diffusive transport. The results for a nonintegrable system with frustration are less conclusive, similarities with the integrable chain being verified. We also show how methods of quantum control may be applied to chaotic systems to induce a desired transport behavior, such as that of an integrable system.
Thermal expansion and memory effect in the ferroelectric-semiconductor TlGaSe2
Authors: Seyidov MirHasan Yu. , Suleymanov Rauf A. , Yakar Emin
Published: July 2009

The effect of thermal annealing within the incommensurate phase (memory effect) on thermal expansion of ferroelectric-semiconductor crystal TlGaSe2 has been investigated. Strong transformation of linear expansion coefficients both in the layers plane and in the direction perpendicular to the layers has been observed for the first time as a result of annealing. It is supposed that internal electric fields (electret states) activated during the annealing greatly effect the dimension of the crystal via electrostriction.
An explicitly spin-free compact open-shell coupled cluster theory using a multireference combinatoric exponential ansatz: Formal development and pilot applications
Authors: Datta Dipayan , Mukherjee Debashis
Published: July 2009

In this paper, we present a comprehensive account of an explicitly spin-free compact state-universal multireference coupled cluster (CC) formalism for computing the state energies of simple open-shell systems, e.g., doublets and biradicals, where the target open-shell states can be described by a few configuration state functions spanning a model space. The cluster operators in this formalism are defined in terms of the spin-free unitary generators with respect to the common closed-shell component of all model functions (core) as vacuum. The spin-free cluster operators are either closed-shell-like n hole-n particle excitations (denoted by Tμ) or involve excitations from the doubly occupied (nonvalence) orbitals to the singly occupied (valence) orbitals (denoted by Seμ). In addition, there are cluster operators with exchange spectator scatterings involving the valence orbitals (denoted by Sreμ). We propose a new multireference cluster expansion ansatz for the wave operator with the above generally noncommuting cluster operators which essentially has the same physical content as the Jeziorski–Monkhorst ansatz with the commuting cluster operators defined in the spin-orbital basis. The Tμ operators in our ansatz are taken to commute with all other operators, while the Seμ and Sreμ operators are allowed to contract among themselves through the spectator valence orbitals. An important innovation of this ansatz is the choice of an appropriate automorphic factor accompanying each contracted composite of cluster operators in order to ensure that each distinct excitation generated by this composite appears only once in the wave operator. The resulting CC equations consist of two types of terms: a “direct” term and a “normalization” term containing the effective Hamiltonian operator. It is emphasized that the direct term is almost quartic in the cluster amplitudes, barring only a handful of terms and termination of the normalization term depends on the valence rank of the effective Hamiltonian operator and the excitation rank of the cluster operators at which the theory is truncated. Illustrative applications are presented by computing the state energies of neutral doublet radicals and doublet molecular cations and ionization energies of neutral molecules and comparing our results with the other open-shell CC theories, benchmark full CI results (when available) in the same basis, and the experimental results. Highly encouraging results show the efficacy of the method.
Surface Bloch waves in metamaterial and metal-dielectric superlattices
Authors: Vukovic Slobodan M. , Shadrivov Ilya V. , Kivshar Yuri S.
Published: July 2009

We study the properties of electromagnetic Bloch waves in semi-infinite periodic structures created by alternating metamaterial and dielectric layers. We derive and analyze the dispersion relations in the long-wavelength limit for both TE- and TM-polarized surface Bloch modes for magnetic metamaterials with negative refraction and metal-dielectric plasmonic superlattices. We reveal that in the subwavelength regime, the bulk modes are characterized by three different refractive indices (“trirefringence”), while the surface modes can propagate parallel to the Bloch wavevector and along the interface between superlattice and semi-infinite dielectric.
Damping of the tunneling mechanism in high-order harmonic generation processes induced by femtosecond visible laser pulses
Authors: Simoncig A. , Caretta A. , Ressel B. , Poletto L. , Parmigiani F.
Published: July 2009

The high-order harmonic generation (HHG) of coherent light pulses in gases is strictly dependent on the ionization dynamics that delocalizes the electron wave function in the laser field continuum. Here we report on the investigation of such dynamics by varying the energy of a 400 nm, 60 fs driving laser pulse. The experimental data provide the unambiguous evidence of a hybrid dynamical region, not described by the full-tunneling approximation models, where the HHG photon number exponentially decays when the Keldysh parameter is varied from 1 to 3. Finally, a phenomenological model, suitable to account for this hybrid regime, is reported.
Phase diagram of Hertzian spheres
Authors: Pàmies Josep C. , Cacciuto Angelo , Frenkel Daan
Published: July 2009

We report the phase diagram of interpenetrating Hertzian spheres. The Hertz potential is purely repulsive, bounded at zero separation, and decreases monotonically as a power law with exponent 5/2, vanishing at the overlapping threshold. This simple functional describes the elastic interaction of weakly deformable bodies and, therefore, it is a reliable physical model of soft macromolecules, like star polymers and globular micelles. Using thermodynamic integration and extensive Monte Carlo simulations, we computed accurate free energies of the fluid phase and a large number of crystal structures. For this, we defined a general primitive unit cell that allows for the simulation of any lattice. We found multiple re-entrant melting and first-order transitions between crystals with cubic, trigonal, tetragonal, and hexagonal symmetries.
Born–Oppenheimer and Renner–Teller coupled-channel quantum dynamics of the N(D2)+HD reactions
Authors: Gamallo Pablo , Defazio Paolo
Published: July 2009

We present the Born–Oppenheimer (BO) and Renner–Teller (RT) coupled-channel dynamics of the N(D2)+HD→NH+D and N(D2)+HD→ND+H reactions, considering the X̃ A2″ and Ã A2′ states and RT and Coriolis couplings. We use the best available potential energy surfaces and obtain initial-state-resolved probabilities, cross sections, and rate constants via the real wave packet and flux methods for both electronic states. In contrast with the RT results of BO-X̃ A2″ ones, we point out the role of RT and Coriolis interactions for both reactions and discuss the importance of the excited state on the initial-state-resolved dynamics and on the thermal kinetic rate. Moreover the competition for the formation of two products is discussed, showing some snapshots of the RT wave-packet density on the ground state. However, the BO approximation gives thermal rates that are smaller than those obtained via full RT calculation, especially at 300 K. Our calculated RT rate constants at room temperature are in good agreement with the experimental ones. The branching ratio is also calculated at T=150–300 K at BO and RT levels. At 300 K the calculated value overestimates slightly the experimental data.
Superconducting double spin valve with extraordinary large tunable magnetoresistance
Authors: Giazotto Francesco
Published: July 2009

A superconducting double spin valve device is proposed. Its operation takes advantage of the interplay between the spin-filtering effect of ferromagnetic insulators and superconductivity-induced out-of-equilibrium transport. Depending on the degree of nonequilibrium, extraordinary large tunnel magnetoresistance as large as 102%–106% can be obtained for realistic material parameters, and it can be tuned over several orders of magnitude under proper voltage biasing and temperature. The relevance of this setup for low-temperature applications is further discussed.
High efficiency light emitting diode with anisotropically etched GaN-sapphire interface
Authors: Lo M. H. , Tu P. M. , Wang C. H. , Hung C. W. , Hsu S. C. , Cheng Y. J. , Kuo H. C. , Zan H. W. , Wang S. C. , Chang C. Y. , Huang S. C.
Published: July 2009

We report the fabrication and study of high efficiency ultraviolet light emitting diodes with inverted micropyramid structures at GaN-sapphire interface. The micropyramid structures were created by anisotropic chemical wet etching. The pyramid structures have significantly enhanced the light output efficiency and at the same time also improved the crystal quality by partially relieving the strain and reducing the dislocation defects in GaN. The electroluminescent output power at normal direction was enhanced by 120% at 20 mA injection current and the output power integrated over all directions was enhanced by 85% compared to a reference sample.
Nonlinear interaction of electron plasma waves with electron acoustic waves in plasmas
Authors: Chakrabarti Nikhil , Sengupta Sudip
Published: July 2009

An analysis of interaction between two temperature electron species in the presence of static neutralizing ion background is presented. It is shown that electron plasma waves can nonlinearly interact with electron acoustic wave in a time scale much longer than ωp−1, where ωp is electron plasma frequency. A set of coupled nonlinear differential equations is shown to exist in such a scenario. Propagating soliton solutions are demonstrated from these equations.
Ratios of double-to-single photoionization cross sections of helium atom embedded in dense quantum plasmas at high nonrelativistic photon energies
Authors: Ghoshal Arijit , Ho Y. K.
Published: July 2009

An investigation on the asymptotic ratios of double-to-single photoionization cross sections of the helium atom (He) embedded in dense quantum plasmas at very high nonrelativistic photon energies has been made. Exponential cosine-screened Coulomb potential has been used to represent the effective potential of a test charge in a dense quantum plasma. Making use of highly correlated wave functions for the ground states of He, results of the asymptotic ratios (R) of double-to-single photoionization cross sections for the screening parameter in the range [0,0.5] a.u. are reported. The reported value of R for the unscreened case confirms its established value. A comparative study of the behavior of R in weakly coupled plasmas and in dense quantum plasmas has also been made.
Demographic variation between populations of Caladenia orientalis - a fire-managed threatened orchid
Authors: Coates Fiona , Duncan Michael
Published: July 2009

Caladenia orientalis (G.W.Carr) Hopper & A.P.Br. is a critically endangered orchid. The largest known populations are confined to fire-managed coastal heathland in southern Victoria. Trends in population dynamics at two closely occurring sites were evaluated against time since fire and rainfall, between 2000 and 2008, to provide ecological and biological information relevant to population management. At both sites, decreased plant size was inversely correlated with time since fire and the number of non-reproductive plants was positively correlated with time since fire. Rates of flowering were inversely correlated with time since fire at only one site (Population 2). The vegetation at this site rapidly accumulated after fire, whereas recovery was relatively slow at the other site. Rainfall was not correlated with rates of flowering or leaf width at either of the study sites, although there was a weak inverse relationship between rainfall and the number of non-reproductive plants at one site (Population 1). Rates of pollen transport and fruit set were within reported ranges for deceptive species. Fruiting plants were significantly smaller in the following year, whereas non-reproductive plants remained the same size. The results suggest that there may be costs associated with reproductive effort, and that hand-pollinating plants to boost seed production may lead to decreased plant size in the following year. Annual variation in rates of flowering may be influenced by previous reproductive effort. However, long-term population trends are better explained by competition from dominant shrubs, which become increasingly abundant with a lack of fire. Future management prescriptions should include site-specific fire regimes to maintain an open heathland.