bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Kovner vs. Kovner: “A Parting from the South” vs. “Combat Page”
Authors: Shoham Reuven
Published: October 2009

The poet Abba Kovner was a partisan and freedom fighter during World War II (1942–1945), made aliyah in 1945, and published his first long poem, ‘Ad lo ’or (“Until There Was No Light”), in 1947. At the outbreak of the Israeli War of Independence he fought on the Egyptian front (1947–48), serving as a cultural officer, or politruk in the Giv'ati Brigade. Preda me-ha-darom (“A Parting from the South”), his second long poem and one of the pivotal works by a modern Hebrew poet, was written against the background of the War of Independence. However, critics have not yet been able to find a fitting place for it in the canon of Hebrew poetry and culture, although several serious attempts have been made. The present study does not refer to every aspect of this complex poem but focuses on one particular point. I contend that “A Parting from the South” implies an attempt by the visionary speaker of the poem to compel the young country, soon after the war, to part from the world of death, from cultic memories of the dead and guilt feelings toward them (the dead in the 1948 war in Israel and the dead in the ghettos of Nazi Europe in World War II). Abba Kovner tries to detach himself, and his readers, from death, to liberate them from the old perspectives.
Jews, Regalian Rights, And The Constitution In Medieval France
Authors: Jordan William Chester
Published: October 2009

It is fashionable to imagine a great dichotomy between the feudal monarchies in the West and the brittle, particularistic entity of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. To Voltaire's mean-spirited gibe that the latter was neither holy, Roman, nor an Empire might be added that it was also not really German, since millions of Netherlanders, Italians, and Slavs, as well as Provencals and Savoyards, lived within its territorial limits. France and England, the stereotype goes, had achieved a precocious unity, at least in the thirteenth century. Nothing could be clearer, one might conclude, than the contrast between the great kingdoms of the West and the so-called Empire. The fashionable cliche even affects our understanding of Jewish life in the Middle Ages. Fritz Backhaus put the commonplace this way: “The territorial division (Zersplitterung) of Germany prevented a comprehensive expulsion [of the Jews] as could be carried out in England, France, and Spain.” This neat dichotomy is inadequate. At best it makes sense in a comparison between England and Germany. Only in England, a few exceptions aside, were the claims of a paramount lord, the king, to the control and exploitation of the Jews more or less uncontested by other secular authorities or by ecclesiastics in the role of secular lords.
On the History of the Interdiction against the Study of Kabbalah before the Age of Forty [לפני גיל אדבעיס לחחולדוח האיסוד ללמוד קבללה]
Authors: Idel Moshe
Published: October 2009

The paper reviews briefly the relevant views on the age of forty as found in the Talmud and in the Arab tradition, views which are the background of the later development in the Middle Ages. Afterwards the philosophical discussions on the age of forty found in the writings of Moses ibn Ezra, Jehuda ibn Abbas, Shem Tov Falaquera, Levi ben Abraham, Nissim of Marseilles, Prat Maimon and Isaac Aboab are analyzed. The views of authors like Falaquera and ibn Abbas might have influenced the first kabbalistic restrictions against divulging secrets to students who had not yet reached the age of forty. Such restrictions occur in a work of R. Moses ben Simeon of Burgos and in the school of Abraham Abulafia. Special emphasis on the interdiction against revealing certain kabbalistic secrets can be found in the works of R. Shem Tov ibn Gaon who related it to his teacher R. Solomon ibn Adret. A number of kabbalists of the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries knew about this interdiction and it was influential also among pupils of R. Isaac Luria. Two last important occurrences of the subject discussed above appear in a document dictated by a court of the rabbis of Frankfurt to R. Moses Hayyim Luzzatto and signed by him, during the polemics against the Frankists.

The appendix deals with some kabbalistic commentaries on the talmudic dictum “Restrain your children from higgayon” (Berakhot 28b).
A Fragment of a Secular Poem of Judah Hallevi [שדיד משיד חול לדבי יהודה הלוי]
Authors: Pagis Dan
Published: October 2009

Among Yehudah Hallevi's poems which have come to light since H. Brody's edition of the Diwan (1894–1930), the great majority are liturgical and only very few are secular poems. Here a new fragment of an unknown secular poem by Hallevi is published according to two Genizah manuscripts, T-S NS 96.18 and MC IV 136. The T-S manuscript, our main source, is a single torn sheet, which contains the first three lines (written as six hemistichs) and traces of the fourth. It explicitly attributes the poem to Yehudah Hallevi. The verso contains the end of a known piyyut by Abraham Ibn Ezra and two anonymous poems (one of them homonymic) whose unusual meter and awkward phrasing seem to point to a later period.

Hallevi's poem, “Shalom lekha shemesh be-'et hillo” (Peace upon you, radiant sun) is a panegyric addressed to a patron or friend. It starts in medias res with highflown eulogies, dispensing with the introduction often found in other poems of this genre. With regard to style and meter the fragment is adroitly written; however, its imagery and attitude are largely conventional. The patron or friend is extolled as a sun, a star, a mast and a cedar tree—all of which are conventional materials in panegyrics. Moreover the images are linked only by their common subject and not at all on the metaphorical level, and the formulation is impersonal. These traits were very common to contemporary panegyrics, one of the more conventional genres of the school, but Yehudah Hallevi usually took care to interweave the images in various subtle ways. Of course, he may also have done this here, in the lines that did not survive—probably the greater part of the poem. The text is printed with a commentary that includes parallels from Hallevi's and Moses Ibn Ezra's poetry illustrating the more conventional imagery
Conflicting international policies in tropical timber trade
Authors: Amilien Caroline
Published: October 2009

Trade in tropical timber, while a minor cause of deforestation in the tropics, can be a substantial factor in promoting forest degradation and deforestation. International organizations and conferences increasingly recognize that adverse environmental effects of international trade can be reduced through regulations and economic incentives. Three international agreements, the GATT, the CITES, and the ITTA, now affect the tropical timber trade and are here reviewed. Adopted at different times, they illustrate different philosophies, pursue different objectives, and develop contradictory trade policy perspectives. Legal conflicts among these agreements reduce their effectiveness, and mitigate a global objective of making international trade in tropical timber more responsive to environmental issues. Harmonization among the GATT, the CITES, and the ITTA, and collaboration among organizations in charge of managing these agreements, should be reinforced in order to establish a coherent and uniform policy for tropical timber trade.
Processes of wetland loss in India
Authors: Foote A. Lee , Pandey Sanjeeva , Krogman Naomi T.
Published: October 2009

Wetlands in India supply crucial human and animal needs such as drinking water, protein production, fodder, water purification, wildlife habitat, and flood storage. Increased appreciation of uses and threats is essential to protect wetlands where justified. Three quarters of India's population is rural, it places great demands on India's wetlands and losses continue to occur. This paper is based on extensive discussions with natural resource managers, government employees, farmers, academicians, and resource users at dozens of sites in India, as well as an extensive literature search. Twelve important kinds of wetland loss are identified and mechanisms believed to be causing them discussed: (1) agricultural conversion, (2) direct deforestation, (3) hydrologie alteration, (4) inundation, (5) defoliation, (6) altered upper watersheds, (7) accumulative water demands, (8) water quality degradation, (9) wetland consolidation, (10) global climate change, (11) ground-water depletion, (12) exotic species and biodiversity. Wetland understanding, management, and Public awareness in India must continue growing if wetland resources are to remain functional.
The world's forests: problems and potentials
Authors: Myers Norman
Published: October 2009

The accelerating decline of many of the world's forests represents one of the greatest problemsandopportunities facing the global community. However little it may be recognized in its full scope, the forests crisis constitutes a profound and often irreversible degradation of both the biosphere and humanity's prospects. If this crisis is not contained and countered, extensive sectors of the world may well lose much, if not most, of their forest cover within the foreseeable future. I have drawn on my 30 years of field research in all three major forest biomes, together with my work with dozens of governments and agencies (FAO, the World Bank, etc.), backed by an in-depth review of the literature, to appraise the forests situation from both natural-science and social-science standpoints. My main finding is that deforestation is due partly to our scientific ignorance of forests' contributions to our welfare, both actually and potentially; partly to our meagre economic understanding of what is at stake; and partly to our lack of institutional capacity to manage forests for everybody's benefit, now and forever. I argue that forests are vital to the sustainable well-being of local communities, national economies and the biosphere. Yet they attract too little attention by governments dealing with the future of forests, also dealing with the future of a world that may eventually find itself with only a fraction as many forests as today.

I urge that we broaden our understanding of what it will take to save remaining forests. Primarily we should recognize that in the main this is no longer a forestry problem alone. While much can still be achieved through traditional forestry practices, also through more protected areas within forests and other ‘defensive’ measures, these activities often do no more than tackle symptoms of deeper problems. In tropical forests, for instance, we must address the source problem of shiftcd-cultivator encroachment. Anything less is akin to building a fence around tropical forests (which would take an awful lot of timber), a fence that would be speedily over-run by multitudes of land-hungry farmers.

There is growing recognition that forests make multiple contributions to the welfare of people throughout forest zones, of people throughout nations concerned, and of people throughout the world. Similarly the forests' survival depends on factors arising throughout the forests themselves, throughout nations concerned, and throughout the world. Fortunately this new recognition has been matched by growing awareness of the rapid decline of the Earth's forests.

Much of the policy programme proposed will be difficult. But it will not be so difficult as living in a world bereft of its forests.
The Mac Sharry Plan and integration of EU policy on agriculture and nature conservation
Authors: Canters Kees J.
Published: October 2009

Over the past few decades the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union (EU) has resulted in major surpluses of agricultural products. However, it has also resulted in severe environmental pollution and degradation. For these reasons, in the early 1990s, the CAP was reformed by means of the Mac Sharry Plan (MSP) (Commission of the EC 1991). This Plan aims to: 1) reduce agricultural surpluses and expenses, 2) adopt a more market-oriented approach, 3) keep a sufficient number of farmers in the countryside, and 4) render agriculture more benign to nature and the environment. The last of these aims has not yet been adequately elaborated in the MSP and it is uncertain whether the adopted measures will really lead to less agricultural pressure on nature and the environment.
Protected areas, people and incentives in the search for sustainable forest conservation in Honduras
Authors: Richards Michael
Published: October 2009

Attitudes and incentives of people living around protected areas are widely considered to constrain successful management of these areas. Two contrasting protected areas in Honduras, a Biosphere Reserve of high biodiversity rainforest, and a cloud forest providing essential environmental services to the capital city, are analyzed in terms of their management problems and the strategies used for their protection. The response at the national level to the issues raised in these case studies is then assessed, focusing on the impact of government policies, legal changes affecting land tenure and use, and the role of state institutions in protected area management. The case studies indicate that while the non-government organizations (NGOs) have tried to promote a more participatory approach to conservation (with mixed success), the Honduras Government has tried to follow a more regulatory approach but without the resources and political will to implement it effectively. Opportunities have been missed to provide positive incentives for protection, for example in the area of eco-tourism and community-based natural forest management in situations where this would appear to be a viable option. The participatory approach has also been complicated by policies and land legislation which have sent out negative or ambiguous signals to local communities. Above all the case studies show how critical local attitudes are to the achievement of conservation objectives, and demonstrate the need for positive economic incentives that link development with conservation in buffer zones and surrounding areas.
Core values for sustainable development
Authors: Westing Arthur H.
Published: October 2009

The cultural norms or core values for sustainable development are an amalgamation of core social values and core environmental values. Widely-shared core social values became strikingly articulated following the Second World War via such instruments as the 1948 Genocide Convention and the 1948 Human Rights Declaration. By contrast, widely-shared core environmental values did not surface until some two decades after the Second World War, being first clearly expressed in the 1972 Stockholm Declaration, to be followed by the 1982 World Charter for Nature and, more recently, by the 1992 Rio Declaration. I find that whereas the emerging core social values have until quite recently been essentially innocent of environmental concerns, the emerging core environmental values have been from the start generally couched in social terms.

Key ethical issues regarding the cultural norms underlying sustainable development include the questions of how to strike a proper balance between anthropocentric and ecocen-tric justifications; and a proper apportionment of the global biosphere between humankind and the other life on earth. Several lines of evidence suggest to me that the environmental and social strands of widely-shared core values for sustainable development are beginning to merge, and that there has begun to occur a slow but progressive development in mainstream thinking toward a recognition of an unbreakable link between social development and environmental conservation.

A number of major stumbling blocks to the achievement of sustainable development exist of course, amongst them the imbalance between human numbers plus needs and available natural resources, the prevalence of totalitarian and corrupt regimes, and the ineffective system of peaceful world governance. Despite obstacles to sustainable development, a trend towards a commitment to it seems evident in such components of society as governments, intergovernmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, academia, religious bodies, and grass-roots movements.
Long-term environmental change in tropical forests: increasing tree turnover
Authors: Phillips Oliver L.
Published: October 2009

Analyzing permanent plot data from 40 tropical forest sites, Phillips and Gentry (1994) found that there has been a significant tendency for tree turnover – as measured by tree mortality and recruitment – to increase since the 1950s. The dataset is now substantially improved, and includes 67 mature forest sites with turnover data representing most of the major tropical forest regions of the world. This paper presents an updated and expanded analysis of the latest data, and confirms that tree turnover has increased in mature tropical forest plots. Several artifactual explanations have been suggested but none are supported by the available data, suggesting that surviving mature tropical forests have been recently affected by large-scale anthropogenic or natural change. The effects of increased turnover may include impacts on future global atmosphere, climate, and biodiversity. Better understanding of the ecological changes in mature tropical forests depends on progress in two critical research areas – a ground-based monitoring network of long-term, fully identified tropical forest plots, and controlled manipulation of atmospheric conditions in forest experiments. Research activity in both areas needs to be substantially increased if we are to understand and predict the complex interactions between tropical forest ecology and global environmental change.
Property rights in protected areas: obstacles to community involvement as a solution in Thailand
Authors: Vandergeest Peter
Published: October 2009

Conflicts between local people and managers of protected areas (PAs) have often undermined conservation goals in Asia. Since the 1970s, conservation planners have tried to address these problems by incorporating rural development into PA planning. More recently, many conservationists have argued for increasing community involvement in PA management, and for allowing traditional resource uses inside PAs. Based on research in Thailand I make three arguments regarding obstacles to implementing the new approach.

In Thailand, laws governing Wildlife Sanctuaries and National Parks enacted in the early 1960s were premised on the idea that human use and nature preservation were incompatible. Rapid expansion of these PAs in recent years has produced endemic conflict with rural people claiming resources inside PAs. To address this problem, the Thai Royal Forestry Department has cooperated with NGOs providing development assistance to rural people living in buffer zones outside of some PAs. I argue that this approach has met limited success because the main source of conflict is not poverty but claims on resources inside PAs.

The second argument is that the Forestry Department has resisted changes to laws making local use inside PAs illegal because these laws are important for consolidating the Department's control over territory and in justifying increasing budgetary allocations. In addition, by redefining itself as an organization devoted to strict defence of forests, the Department has obtained the support of many urban environmentalists. The third argument is that the community forest approach taken by a recent draft Community Forest Bill is an important first step in that it implicitly recognizes community property. At the same time, this approach will also fail to address key problems because it is based on a notion of the traditional village, and does not allow for the commercial nature of rural forest use or the household-based nature of forest tenure.

I suggest that the new expansion of PAs be halted, that land claimed by rural households be taken out of PAs, and that the government recognize community management rights in areas that remain classified as protected. More generally, the goals of conservation would be better achieved by replacing an approach based on the rapid expansion of PAs with one promoting conservation outside PAs.
Dynamic modelling of multispecies fisheries for consensus building and management
Authors: Ruth Matthias , Lindholm James
Published: October 2009

Many factors influence the dynamics of fisheries and feedback mechanisms amongst these factors are poorly understood. The ecological systems are too large and complex to conduct controlled experiments and economic adjustments to changes in fish populations defy traditional equilibrium analysis. New modelling approaches are required to identify the driving forces behind the dynamics of exploited fish populations, assess likely consequences of alternative management measures, and achieve consensus among stakeholders.

We present an interdisciplinary modelling approach that can be used easily to assess dynamic consequences of alternative assumptions for certain key biological and economic parameters, and incorporates the input of various stakeholder groups in the fishery. Contributions of scientists, economists and managers to the model can be augmented with contributions from the fisherfolk.

Our approach is illustrated by a dynamic computer model capturing the interactions of three demersal fish species on Georges Bank, namely Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua), Haddock (Melanogramus aeglefimts) and Pollack (Pollachius virens), population sizes of which are assumed to be density-dependent for the purposes of the model and are significantly affected by management decisions. The model addresses how management measures for one species influence the population dynamics of other commercially exploited species. Various scenarios are run to explore the implications of viable management strategies under alternative assumptions on the driving forces behind complex ecological-economic processes. The analyses indicate that neither small reductions in effort nor mesh size increases are likely to prevent the further demise of the Georges Bank ground fisheries, and, in fact, stocks of the three targeted species may decline. Alternative management measures seem to be necessary to prevent collapse, and might include various strategies, such as effort controls and mesh size reductions, in conjunction with a dramatic change in fishing technology. The assessment and viability of alternative management measures in turn require that consensus is generated among stakeholders about data and models.
On the Rank of Random Sparse Matrices
Authors: COSTELLO KEVIN P. , VU VAN
Published: October 2009

We investigate the rank of random (symmetric) sparse matrices. Our main finding is that with high probability, any dependency that occurs in such a matrix is formed by a set of few rows that contains an overwhelming number of zeros. This allows us to obtain an exact estimate for the co-rank.
John Philip Sousa and “The Menace of Mechanical Music”
Authors: WARFIELD PATRICK
Published: October 2009

In 1906Appleton's Magazinepublished John Philip Sousa's most celebrated—and vitriolic—article, “The Menace of Mechanical Music.” In it Sousa predicts that piano rolls and recordings will end amateur music making in the United States. Modern writers have often condemned Sousa as a hypocrite (the Sousa Band was itself a major recording ensemble) and chastised him for failing to see the cultural and financial benefits of mechanical music. But, in fact, Sousa's article was part of a larger scheme to gain public support for the 1909 copyright revision. It was also just one step in Sousa's lifelong battle for composers' rights, a battle with five distinct phases: (1) the debate over the right of public performance precipitated by the success of Gilbert and Sullivan in the United States, (2) a test of the limits of contractual obligations between performers and managers, (3) the instigation of an international copyright law, (4) the battle over mechanical rights, and (5) the ability of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) to collect royalties as related to public performance.
Sprachentwicklungsstörungen bei Kindern
Authors: Neumann* Katrin , Keilmann* Annerose , Rosenfeld Jochen , Schönweiler Rainer , Zaretsky Yevgen , Kiese-Himmel Christiane
Published: October 2009

Wesentliche Voraussetzung für eine ungestörte Kindesentwicklung ist ein regelrechter Spracherwerb. Sprachentwicklungsstörungen (SES) im Kindesalter sind häufig. Für spezifische (isolierte) Sprachentwicklungsstörungen liegt die Prävalenz bei 6 – 8 %; hinzukommen SES, die mit anderen Störungen assoziiert sind. Da flächendeckende Sprachstandserfassungen im Kindergartenalter, die Kinder mit einem SES-Verdacht einer Diagnostik zuführen sollen, auch in Deutschland in den Blickpunkt rücken und eine erhebliche Unsicherheit in der Diagnosestellung von SES und der Verordnungspraxis für Sprachtherapie besteht, sollen die hier in gekürzter Form vorgestellten, überarbeiteten AWMF-Leitlinien der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Phoniatrie und Pädaudiologie ( Neumann et al., 2008 ) zum Verständnis der Pathogenese von SES, ihrer Begriffsbestimmung, Diagnostik und Therapie beitragen.
Effects of along‐shore wind on DSW formation beneath coastal polynyas: Application to the Sea of Okhotsk
Authors: Kawaguchi Y. , Mitsudera H.
Published: October 2009

It is known that salinity anomaly under a polynya reaches and remains an equilibrium value S* after termination of its initial increase associated with brine rejection at the surface. In this paper, we investigate effect of along‐shore (downwelling‐favorable) wind on the equilibrium salinity anomaly by idealized numerical calculations and scale‐based estimates. Numerical calculations showed that high saline water beneath polynya is advected downstream by wind‐driven circulations over the shelf besides baroclinically developed eddies, which consequently induces a decrease in S* beneath polynya. The downwelling‐favorable wind generates an offshore overturning flow through lower layers, referred to as Ekman Compensation Flow (ECF), which causes a great offshore salinity flux, as well as an along‐shore current. We also constructed an equation for estimation of S* from the viewpoint of salinity budget over the polynya region, in which lateral salinity fluxes caused by ECF, along‐shore wind‐driven current and baroclinic eddies, are scaled. The solution S* was also verified by a series of numerical calculations. Furthermore, we investigated the effects of along‐shore wind on dense water generation beneath the Okhotsk coastal polynyas. We conducted simplified numerical experiments assuming the Okhotsk situation, in which Fs and offshore width b of polynya are predicted by a thermodynamic polynya model with ECMWF meteorological variables. The simulated salinity shows a good agreement with the direct measurements. The theoretical estimates for S* was also applied to two Okhotsk polynyas, northwestern polynya (NWP) and northern polynya (NP). In conclusion, we found that the along‐shore wind causes greater salinity decrease in NP than in NWP, whose variations substantially depend on the Aleutian Low activity.
Shortwave radiative fluxes from MODIS: Model development and implementation
Authors: Wang H. , Pinker R. T.
Published: October 2009

A forward inference scheme driven with satellite‐based information is developed to derive top of the atmosphere, surface, and atmospheric spectral shortwave radiative fluxes at global scale. The model takes into account all major atmospheric constituents, the characteristics of water and ice clouds, and the variation of cloud particle effective radius. The multilayered structure accounts for surface elevation effects and for the vertical distribution of the radiative fluxes. Spectral fluxes such as photosynthetically active radiation and near‐infrared radiation can also be estimated. The model is implemented with products from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor both on Terra and Aqua at 1° spatial resolution for a 3‐year period (2003–2005) and at global scale. The derived surface fluxes are evaluated against the globally distributed Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) measurements and compared with products from independent sources. It is demonstrated that the twice a day MODIS‐based estimates of daily radiative fluxes adjusted for the diurnal cycle and the ground observations have a correlation coefficient greater than 0.96, a relative root‐mean‐square error less than 18%, and a relative bias between 0 and 6% for BSRN sites located in the Antarctic, the Atlantic (islands), North America, Europe, and other continental sites.
Formation of high‐pressure metabasites in the southern Appalachian Blue Ridge via Taconic continental subduction beneath the Laurentian margin
Authors: Anderson Eric Douglas , Moecher David P.
Published: October 2009

Tectonic models that account for the occurrence of eclogite, retrograde eclogite, peridotite, and migmatitic basement gneisses in the southern Blue Ridge invoke closure of a small ocean basin between the eastern Blue Ridge (EBR) and western Blue Ridge (WBR). In this “obducted ophiolite” model, Franciscan‐type, eastward subduction of oceanic crust beneath the Piedmont arc occurred prior to obduction of the arc onto the Laurentian margin. The discovery of kilometer‐scale eclogite bodies near the EBR‐WBR boundary are cited as evidence for obducted ophiolite/accreted island arc models. However, thermobarometric estimates based on mineral chemistry from HP metabasites of the western, central, and eastern Blue Ridge indicate that eclogites and granulites are medium‐temperature type (550–900°C), inconsistent with the obducted ophiolite model. Mid‐ocean ridge basalt subducted beneath continental margins and island arcs rarely reaches temperatures in excess of 550°C. Thermobarometric comparisons of the present study and a reexamination of deep seismic profiles from the Blue Ridge allow for a model of westward subduction of continental material beneath Laurentia during the Taconic orogeny that produced a megamélange now preserved in the central and eastern Blue Ridge tectonic provinces. P‐T paths determined from Blue Ridge HP metabasites are similar to P‐T paths determined previously from Caledonian and Variscan eclogites. Thermobarometric similarities imply a common tectonic history of continental collision, subduction of continental crust to depths of 50–65 km, followed by rapid eduction.
Geodetic measurements of vertical crustal velocity in West Antarctica and the implications for ice mass balance
Authors: Bevis Michael , Kendrick Eric , Smalley Robert , Dalziel Ian , Caccamise Dana , Sasgen Ingo , Helsen Michiel , Taylor F. W. , Zhou Hao , Brown Abel , Raleigh David , Willis Michael , Wilson Terry , Konfal Stephanie
Published: October 2009

We present preliminary geodetic estimates for vertical bedrock velocity at twelve survey GPS stations in the West Antarctic GPS Network, an additional survey station in the northern Antarctic Peninsula, and eleven continuous GPS stations distributed across the continent. The spatial pattern of these velocities is not consistent with any postglacial rebound (PGR) model known to us. Four leading PGR models appear to be overpredicting uplift rates in the Transantarctic Mountains and West Antarctica and underpredicting them in the peninsula north of 65°. This discrepancy cannot be explained in terms of an elastic response to modern ice loss (except, perhaps, in part of the peninsula). Therefore, our initial geodetic results suggest that most GRACE ice mass rate estimates, which are critically dependent on a PGR correction, are systematically biased and are overpredicting ice loss for the continent as a whole.
Observations of ionospheric heating during the passage of solar coronal hole fast streams
Authors: Sojka J. J. , McPherron R. L. , van Eyken A. P. , Nicolls M. J. , Heinselman C. J. , Kelly J. D.
Published: October 2009

Using ionospheric temperature measurements made continuously by the Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar (PFISR) and EISCAT Svalbard Radar (ESR) during the International Polar Year (IPY), we provide evidence for directly driven ionospheric heating associated with the solar wind corotating interaction region (CIR). Both ESR and PFISR operated almost continuously during the IPY, which began on 1 March 2007. During this period 55 CIR events occurred and when ISR observations were available during these events ionospheric heating was observed. This study is the first comprehensive observation of ionospheric heating by CIRs demonstrated through case study comparisons and statistically over the 1‐year IPY period. These multiple‐day heating events are present in both the auroral and polar regions. The quantitative one‐to‐one correlation between ACE‐CIR observations and ISR‐ionosphere observations leads to a database that will enable the ionospheric heating efficiency of CIR events to be determined.
Sources and fate of freshwater exported in the East Greenland Current
Authors: Dodd Paul A. , Heywood Karen J. , Meredith Michael P. , Naveira‐Garabato Alberto C. , Marca Alina D. , Falkner Kelly K.
Published: October 2009

Monitoring the sources and fate of freshwater in the East Greenland Current (EGC) is important, as this water has the potential to suppress deep convection in the Nordic and Labrador Seas if the outflow of freshwater from the Arctic Ocean increases in response to climate change. Here, hydrographic, oxygen isotope ratio and dissolved barium concentration sections across Denmark Strait collected in 1998 and 1999 are used to determine the freshwater composition of the EGC at these times. Comparison of meltwater fluxes at Denmark Strait and Fram Strait indicates a net melting of sea ice into the EGC between these two locations, with a significant proportion of sea ice drifting into the Nordic Seas or on to the East Greenland Shelf. We conclude that the phase of freshwater exiting the Arctic Ocean through Fram Strait is important in determining its possible impact on deep water formation in the Nordic and Labrador Seas.
Three‐dimensional equatorial spread F modeling: Zonal neutral wind effects
Authors: Huba J. D. , Ossakow S. L. , Joyce G. , Krall J. , England S. L.
Published: October 2009

The NRL SAMI3/ESF three‐dimensional simulation code is used to examine the effect of zonal neutral winds on the dynamics and morphology of equatorial spread F (ESF). Three zonal wind models are used: (a) a constant eastward neutral wind of 150 m/s, (b) HWM93, and (c) HWM07. It is shown that the dynamics and morphology of the ESF bubbles depends strongly on the zonal neutral wind. The simulation results are compared with TIMED/GUVI and IMAGE/FUV data. For the conditions studied (F10.7 = 170) it is found that the HWM93 wind model results agree better with the data than those from a constant wind model or HWM07. Specifically, observations of a reversed ‘C’ shaped FUV image, a westward tilt of the plasma bubble, and a decrease in zonal bubble velocity with increasing latitude are reproduced by SAMI3/ESF.
Retrieval of diffuse attenuation coefficient in the Chesapeake Bay and turbid ocean regions for satellite ocean color applications
Authors: Wang Menghua , Son SeungHyun , Harding Lawrence W.
Published: October 2009

There are several empirical and semianalytical models for the satellite‐based estimation of the diffuse attenuation coefficient for the downwelling spectral irradiance at the wavelength 490 nm, Kd(490), or the diffuse attenuation coefficient for the downwelling photosynthetically available radiation (PAR), Kd(PAR). An empirical algorithm has been used to routinely produce NASA standard Kd(490) product from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). However, these models are generally applicable for clear open ocean waters. Our results show that for the Chesapeake Bay, Kd(490) data from the existing models are significantly underestimated by a factor of ∼2–3 compared with the in situ data. In this paper, new Kd(490) models for the Chesapeake Bay and coastal turbid waters are derived using a relationship relating the backscattering coefficient at the wavelength 490 nm, bb(490), to the irradiance reflectance just beneath the surface at the red wavelengths. For coastal turbid ocean waters, bb(490) can be more accurately correlated to the irradiance reflectance at the red bands. Using the in‐situ‐derived bb(490) relationship in the Chesapeake Bay, Kd(490) models are formulated using the semianalytical approach. Specifically, two Kd(490) models using the MODIS‐derived normalized water‐leaving radiances at wavelengths 488 and 667 nm and 488 and 645 nm are proposed and tested over the Chesapeake Bay and other coastal ocean regions. Match‐up comparisons between the MODIS‐derived and in‐situ‐measured Kd(490) and Kd(PAR) products in the Chesapeake Bay show that the satellite‐derived data using the proposed models are well correlated with the in situ measurements. However, the new models are mostly suitable for turbid waters, whereas existing empirical and semianalytical models provide better results in clear open ocean waters. Therefore, we propose to use a combination of the standard (for clear oceans) and turbid Kd(490) models for more accurate retrieval of Kd(490) (or Kd(PAR)) products for both clear and turbid ocean waters.
Laihunite and jarosite in the Yamato 00 nakhlites: Alteration products on Mars?
Authors: Noguchi Takaaki , Nakamura Tomoki , Misawa Keiji , Imae Naoya , Aoki Tomoaki , Toh Shoichi
Published: October 2009

Nakhlites, Martian clinopyroxenites, are believed to have experienced aqueous alteration on the Martian surface, on the basis of the presence of reddish brown “iddingsite” on the rim and along cracks of large olivine crystals. Amorphous to poorly crystalline phyllosilicates (smectites) and carbonates are major products of aqueous alteration of the Yamato 00 nakhlites. The Yamato 000593 nakhlite and its pair Yamato 000749 contain large olivine crystals having opaque black material intimately associated with iddingsite on their rims and along cracks. Synchrotron radiation X‐ray diffraction, micro‐Raman spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy revealed that the opaque material is the nonstoichiometric olivine‐type mineral laihunite □0.42(Mg2+, Fe2+)0.79Fe3+0.79Si1.00O4, typically formed as a high‐temperature oxidation product under nonequilibrium conditions. Because laihunite has been decomposed into a mixture of magnetite and amorphous silicate near the fusion crust, it is preterrestrial in origin. This is the first observation of large olivine crystals in Martian meteorites being replaced by laihunite, although its presence in olivine in the mesostasis of the Miller Range 03346 nakhlite has been suggested by micro‐Raman spectroscopy. Because laihunite in the nakhlites does not form nanometer‐sized intergrowth with iron oxides, fluid‐assisted high‐temperature oxidation may have played an important role in transporting away free Fe2+ cations liberated from olivine during laihunite formation. Although the Yamato 00 nakhlites also contain jarosite, we could not confirm the presence of preterrestrial jarosite based only on its occurrences.
Pyrosequencing reveals contrasting seasonal dynamics of taxa within Baltic Sea bacterioplankton communities
Authors: Andersson Anders F , Riemann Lasse , Bertilsson Stefan
Published: October 2009

Variation in traits causes bacterial populations to respond in contrasting ways to environmental drivers. Learning about this will help us understand the ecology of individual populations in complex ecosystems. We used 454 pyrosequencing of the hypervariable region V6 of the 16S rRNA gene to study seasonal dynamics in Baltic Sea bacterioplankton communities, and link community and population changes to biological and chemical factors. Surface samples were collected from May to October 2003 and in May 2004 at the Landsort Deep in the central Baltic Sea Proper. The analysis rendered, on average, 20 200 sequence reads for each of the eight samples analyzed, providing the first detailed description of Baltic Sea bacterial communities. Community composition varied dramatically over time, supporting the idea of strong temporal shifts in bacterioplankton assemblages, and clustered according to season (including two May samples from consecutive years), suggesting repeatable seasonal succession. Overall, community change was most highly correlated with change in phosphorus concentration and temperature. Individual bacterial populations were also identified that tightly co-varied with different Cyanobacteria populations. Comparing the abundance profiles of operational taxonomic units at different phylogenetic distances revealed a weak but significant negative correlation between abundance profile similarity and genetic distance, potentially reflecting habitat filtering of evolutionarily conserved functional traits in the studied bacterioplankton.
Polyelectrolyte multilayer assembly bearing ketoprofen for transdermal delivery
Authors: Gupta Rachna , Yadav Preeti , Saraf Subhini A.
Published: October 2009

A novel microencapsulation technology based on layer-by-layer assembly has been extensively studied and used for controlled delivery of drug microcrystal having poor aqueous solubility and low bioavailability. A non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ketoprofen (KF)was selected for encapsulation using biodegradable and biocompatible polyions and synergistically the fabricated system was embedded in gel matrix for topical application. Topical application of the drugs at the pathological sites offer potential advantages of delivering the drug directly to the site of action and thus producing high tissue concentrations of the drug.
Gestational Diabetes and Postpartum Physical Activity: Evidence of Lifestyle Change 1 Year After Delivery
Authors: Retnakaran Ravi , Qi Ying , Sermer Mathew , Connelly Philip W. , Zinman Bernard , Hanley Anthony J.
Published: October 2009

Although women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) are advised to incorporate physical activity into their lifestyle in order to reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2DM), it is recognized that new mothers face barriers to postpartum exercise. Thus, we sought to determine whether, following the diagnosis of GDM, women indeed alter their postpartum physical activity patterns, as compared to their peers without GDM. In this prospective observational cohort study, we assessed the physical activity patterns of 238 white women (58 with GDM, 180 without GDM) in the year before pregnancy and in the year following delivery, using the Baecke questionnaire, which evaluates the following three domains of physical activity: work, sport activity, and nonsport leisure‐time activity. Before diagnosis with GDM, women reported lower pregravid sport (P = 0.010) and leisure‐time activity (P = 0.013), compared to their peers without GDM. By 1 year postpartum, however, there were no longer significant differences between the GDM and non‐GDM groups in either sport or leisure‐time activity (P = 0.078 and P = 0.957, respectively). In particular, women with GDM significantly increased their leisure‐time activity over the first year postpartum (F = 10.1, P = 0.002), whereas the non‐GDM group did not (F = 0.00, P = 0.984). Indeed, on multiple linear regression analysis, GDM independently predicted an increase in leisure‐time activity between 1 year pregravid and 1 year postpartum (t = 2.55, P = 0.012). Furthermore, this significant relationship persisted even after adjustment for the finding of prediabetes/diabetes at 3 months postpartum (t = 2.83, P = 0.005). In conclusion, women with GDM successfully increased their leisure‐time activity in the first year postpartum, reflecting an element of lifestyle change following this diagnosis.
Weight Status, Psychological Health, Suicidal Thoughts, and Suicide Attempts in Dutch Adolescents: Results From the 2003 E‐MOVO Project
Authors: van Wijnen Lisa G.C. , Boluijt Petra R. , Hoeven‐Mulder Henriette B. , Bemelmans Wanda J.E. , Wendel‐Vos G.C. Wanda
Published: October 2009

This study describes the association between weight status and psychological health, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts in adolescents from a population‐based study of 21,730 adolescents who responded to a classroom‐based internet questionnaire. It demonstrated clear associations between weight status in adolescents and poor psychological health, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts, especially in obese individuals. Obese boys and girls were more likely to be classified as “psychologically unhealthy” than were normal weight subjects. They also reported more suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts.
Serotonin as a physiological substrate for myeloperoxidase and its superoxide-dependent oxidation to cytotoxic tryptamine-4,5-dione
Authors: Ximenes Valdecir F. , Maghzal Ghassan J. , Turner Rufus , Kato Yoji , Winterbourn Christine C. , Kettle Anthony J.
Published: October 2009

During inflammatory events, neutrophils and platelets interact to release a variety of mediators. Neutrophils generate superoxide and hydrogen peroxide, and also discharge the haem enzyme myeloperoxidase. Among numerous other mediators, platelets liberate serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine), which is a classical neurotransmitter and vasoactive amine that has significant effects on inflammation and immunity. In the present study, we show that serotonin is a favoured substrate for myeloperoxidase because other physiological substrates for this enzyme, including chloride, did not affect its rate of oxidation. At low micromolar concentrations, serotonin enhanced hypochlorous acid production by both purified myeloperoxidase and neutrophils. At higher concentrations, it almost completely blocked the formation of hypochlorous acid. Serotonin was oxidized to a dimer by myeloperoxidase and hydrogen peroxide. It was also converted into tryptamine-4,5-dione, especially in the presence of superoxide. This toxic quinone was produced by stimulated neutrophils in a reaction that required myeloperoxidase. In plasma, stimulated human neutrophils oxidized serotonin to its dimer using the NADPH oxidase and myeloperoxidase. We propose that myeloperoxidase will oxidize serotonin at sites of inflammation. In doing so, it will impair its physiological functions and generate a toxic metabolite that will exacerbate inflammatory tissue damage. Consequently, oxidation of serotonin by myeloperoxidase may profoundly influence inflammatory processes.
SCG10-like protein (SCLIP) is a STAT3-interacting protein involved in maintaining epithelial morphology in MCF-7 breast cancer cells
Authors: Ng Dominic C. H. , Lim Cheh P. , Lin Bao H. , Zhang Tong , Cao Xinmin
Published: October 2009

STAT (signal transducer and activator of transcription) 3 is a key contributor to cancer cell migration and invasion, with excessive STAT3 activity promoting growth arrest, cell–cell dissociation and increased migration of breast cancer epithelial cells. The STAT3-regulated mechanisms involved in this process, however, are not fully defined. Previously, we had revealed SCLIP [SCG10 (superior cervical ganglia protein 10)-like protein] as a novel STAT3-interacting protein. In the present study, we show that STAT3 binds the C-terminal tubulin-associating region of SCLIP. In a search for a function of SCLIP, we show that SCLIP was down-regulated during OSM (oncostatin M) treatment in MCF-7 cells, which also stimulates epithelial morphology loss. SCLIP knockdown likewise triggered a loss of epithelial morphology which included reduced E-cadherin expression. We found that STAT3 was required to maintain SCLIP stability. Furthermore, inhibition of OSM-induced STAT3 activity preserved SCLIP expression and MCF-7 epithelial monolayers. Taken together, we propose that a STAT3–SCLIP interaction is required to preserve SCLIP stability and contributes to the maintenance of normal epithelial morphology. Disruption of the STAT3–SCLIP interaction with OSM may contribute to cytokine-mediated loss in cell–cell attachment and morphology transition in MCF-7 cells.