bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Human and climate impacts on Columbia River hydrology and salmonids
Authors: Naik P. K. , Jay D. A.
Published: June 2010

The Columbia River had until recently the world's largest Chinook salmon runs. Restoration of the system's severely decimated runs requires understanding changes in the hydrologic variables (e.g. flow and sediment transport) important to salmonids. We describe here methods to distinguish the human and climate‐induced contributions to Columbia River hydrologic processes relevant to the crucial seaward spring migration of juveniles through the tidal river and estuary. Flow regulation has caused most of the decrease in peak flow and sediment transport; it has contributed to changes in spring freshet timing. Climate change has reduced peak and average flows and sediment transport, changing spring‐freshet timing by several weeks. Irrigation diversion has reduced the annual average flow as much as climate change. A better understanding of historical changes in hydrologic processes entailed in this paper tells us how management and climate have changed the Columbia River system over time. The separation of the climate and anthropogenic influences used here may assist in policy analyses and strategies aimed at restoration of the Columbia River endangered salmonids, and in management of other systems. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Spiky globalization of venture capital investments: the influence of prior human networks
Authors: Iriyama Akie , Li Yong , Madhavan Ravi
Published: June 2010

We demonstrate a spiky globalization pattern in the cross‐border spread of venture capital: rather than being uniformly distributed, cross‐border venture capital flows are unevenly distributed, in that certain regions of the U.S. display particularly intense linkages with certain foreign nations. We posit that such spiky globalization of venture capital is driven by the spiky globalization pattern of prior human networks between locations, and we provide empirical results supportive of our hypothesis. Specifically, we reason that immigrant entrepreneurs inherently tend to collocate with each other in their host nation, thus advantaging certain regions in the competition to act as sources and destinations of cross‐border venture capital. This study sheds new light on geographical patterns in international venture capital and entrepreneurship. Copyright © 2010 Strategic Management Society.
Learning from experience and learning from others: how congenital and interorganizational learning substitute for experiential learning in young firm internationalization
Authors: Bruneel Johan , Yli‐Renko Helena , Clarysse Bart
Published: June 2010

This article addresses a critical issue for entrepreneurs and managers pursuing internationalization strategies: how firms can accumulate the knowledge and skills required for successful international expansion. Specifically, we examine how young firms may compensate for their lack of firm‐level international experience by utilizing other sources of knowledge. Drawing on organizational learning theory, we develop an integrative framework that looks at the joint and interactive effects of experiential learning by the firm, the management team's pre‐start‐up international experience (i.e., congenital learning), and interorganizational learning from key exchange partners (customers, suppliers, investors, etc.). Utilizing empirical data on 114 young, technology‐based firms in Flanders, Belgium, we find that a firm's level of international experience negatively moderates the effects of congenital and interorganizational learning on the extent of internationalization. That is, the lower a firm's experiential learning, the more significant the effects of the start‐up team's prior international knowledge base and the knowledge and skills acquired through key partners. These results make important theoretical and empirical contributions to the international entrepreneurship and organizational learning literatures by highlighting some of the factors underlying learning advantages of newness that facilitate the internationalization of young firms and by explicating substitutive interrelationships among different learning mechanisms. Copyright © 2010 Strategic Management Society.
A multiple imputation approach to disclosure limitation for high‐age individuals in longitudinal studies
Authors: An Di , Little Roderick J. A. , McNally James W.
Published: June 2010

Disclosure limitation is an important consideration in the release of public use data sets. It is particularly challenging for longitudinal data sets, since information about an individual accumulates with repeated measures over time. Research on disclosure limitation methods for longitudinal data has been very limited. We consider here problems created by high ages in cohort studies. Because of the risk of disclosure, ages of very old respondents can often not be released; in particular, this is a specific stipulation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) for the release of health data for individuals. Top‐coding of individuals beyond a certain age is a standard way of dealing with this issue, and it may be adequate for cross‐sectional data, when a modest number of cases are affected. However, this approach leads to serious loss of information in longitudinal studies when individuals have been followed for many years. We propose and evaluate an alternative to top‐coding for this situation based on multiple imputation (MI). This MI method is applied to a survival analysis of simulated data, and data from the Charleston Heart Study (CHS), and is shown to work well in preserving the relationship between hazard and covariates. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Latent class joint model of ovarian function suppression and DFS for premenopausal breast cancer patients
Authors: Zhang Jenny J. , Wang Molin
Published: June 2010

Breast cancer is the leading cancer in women of reproductive age; more than a quarter of women diagnosed with breast cancer in the US are premenopausal. A common adjuvant treatment for this patient population is chemotherapy, which has been shown to cause premature menopause and infertility with serious consequences to quality of life. Luteinizing‐hormone‐releasing hormone (LHRH) agonists, which inducetemporaryovarian function suppression (OFS), has been shown to be a useful alternative to chemotherapy in the adjuvant setting for estrogen‐receptor‐positive breast cancer patients. LHRH agonists have the potential to preserve fertility after treatment, thus, reducing the negative effects on a patient's reproductive health. However, little is known about the association between a patient's underlying degree of OFS and disease‐free survival (DFS) after receiving LHRH agonists. Specifically, we are interested in whether patients with lower underlying degrees of OFS (i.e. higher estrogen production)aftertaking LHRH agonists are at a higher risk for late breast cancer events. In this paper, we propose a latent class joint model (LCJM) to analyze a data set from International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG) Trial VIII to investigate the association between OFS and DFS. Analysis of this data set is challenging due to the fact that the main outcome of interest, OFS, is unobservable and the available surrogates for this latent variable involve masked event and cured proportions. We employ a likelihood approach and the EM algorithm to obtain parameter estimates and present results from the IBCSG data analysis. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Response‐adaptive randomization for clinical trials with adjustment for covariate imbalance
Authors: Ning Jing , Huang Xuelin
Published: June 2010

In clinical trials with a small sample size, the characteristics (covariates) of patients assigned to different treatment arms may not be well balanced. This may lead to an inflated type I error rate. This problem can be more severe in trials that use response‐adaptive randomization rather than equal randomization because the former may result in smaller sample sizes for some treatment arms. We have developed a patient allocation scheme for trials with binary outcomes to adjust the covariate imbalance during response‐adaptive randomization. We used simulation studies to evaluate the performance of the proposed design. The proposed design keeps the important advantage of a standard response‐adaptive design, that is to assign more patients to the better treatment arms, and thus it is ethically appealing. On the other hand, the proposed design improves over the standard response‐adaptive design by controlling covariate imbalance between treatment arms, maintaining the nominal type I error rate, and offering greater power. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Endoscopic Thyroidectomy via Breast Approach for Patients with Graves’ Disease
Authors: Li Zhi Yu , Wang Ping , Wang Yong , Xu Shao Ming , Cao Li Ping , Que Ri Shen
Published: June 2010

Background

Endoscopic thyroidectomy via breast approach provides excellent results from a cosmetic viewpoint. We applied this procedure to Graves’ disease and evaluated its feasibility and outcomes.

Methods

From May 2006 to November 2009, a total of 37 patients (34 women and 3 men) with Graves’ disease were included in this study. Bilateral subtotal thyroidectomy, which left behind 4–6 g of thyroid remnant, was the standard procedure. For markedly enlarged goiter, fractional resection was performed.

Results

This procedure was performed successfully in all 37 patients. The mean operative time, mean blood loss, and mean excised thyroid weight were 84.7 min, 64 ml, and 51.8 g, respectively. Fractional resection was performed in six cases, where the mean operative time, mean blood loss, and mean excised thyroid weight were 119 min, 138.3 ml, and 102.2 g, respectively. Postoperative transient hypocalcemia occurred in 5 cases (13.5%), and no other complications were noted. The average postoperative hospital stay was 3.4 (range, 3–5) days. One case experienced recurrent hyperthyroidism during a mean follow‐up period of 13 months. All patients were satisfied with the cosmetic result of the procedure.

Conclusions

Endoscopic subtotal thyroidectomy performed via breast approach is a technically feasible and safe procedure with excellent cosmetic results for patients with Graves’ disease. In patients with markedly enlarged thyroid glands, subtotal thyroidectomy can be achieved through a fractional resection strategy.
Current concepts of human azoospermia and its causes
Authors: Miyamoto Toshinobu , Tsujimura Akira , Miyagawa Yasushi , Koh Eitetsu , Sato Hisashi , Namiki Mikio , Sengoku Kazuo
Published: June 2010

Infertility is a serious social problem in advanced nations today. One of the most important causes is the male factor. Striking progress has been achieved in recent years in elucidating the mechanisms of spermatogenesis in mice by experimental methods represented by the knockout mouse. Although many factors associated with male infertility are known in mice, the translation of this information to people has been slow. This is because the knockout mouse phenotype cannot necessarily be reproduced faithfully in humans. However, it is known that environmental factors, chromosomal defects and several specific gene mutations result in human male infertility. In this review, we first discuss the environmental factors considered likely to be involved in male infertility, and secondly we describe the Y chromosome and several important genes on the Y chromosome that play critical roles in spermatogenesis in humans. Then, we demonstrate the three critical genes identified in our laboratory in autosomes involved in human spermatogenesis, the SYCP3, MEI1 and PARP‐2. Finally, we explain the future directionality and possibilities of research in this field.
Social identity change: Shifts in social identity during adolescence
Authors: Tanti Chris , Stukas Arthur A. , Halloran Michael J. , Foddy Margaret
Published: June 2010

This study investigated the proposition that adolescence involves significant shifts in social identity as a function of changes in social context and cognitive style. Using an experimental design, we primed either peer or gender identity with a sample of 380 early‐ (12–13 years), mid‐ (15–16 years), and late‐adolescents (18–20 years) and then measured the effect of the prime on self‐stereotyping and ingroup favouritism. The findings showed significant differences in social identity across adolescent groups, in that social identity effects were relatively strong in early‐ and late‐adolescents, particularly when peer group identity rather than gender identity was salient. While these effects were consistent with the experience of change in educational social context, differences in cognitive style were only weakly related to ingroup favouritism. The implications of the findings for theory and future research on social identity during adolescence are discussed.
Inpatient mother-and-child postpartum psychiatric care: Factors associated with improvement in maternal mental health
Authors: Glangeaud-Freudenthal N.M.-C. , Sutter A.-L. , Thieulin A.-C. , Dagens-Lafont V. , Zimmermann M.-A. , Debourg A. , Massari B. , Cazas O. , Cammas R. , Rainelli C. , Poinso F. , Maron M. , Nezelof S. , Ancel P.-Y. , Khoshnood B.
Published: June 2010

Purpose

This study assessed the underexplored factors associated with significant improvement in mothers’ mental health during postpartum inpatient psychiatric care.

Methods

This study analyzed clinical improvement in a prospective cohort of 869 women jointly admitted with their infant to 13 psychiatric Mother-Baby Units (MBUs) in France between 2001 and 2007. Predictive variables tested were: maternal mental illness (ICD-10), sociodemographic characteristics, mental illness and childhood abuse history, acute or chronic disorder, pregnancy and birth data, characteristics and mental health of the mother's partner, and MBU characteristics.

Results

Two thirds of the women improved significantly by discharge. Admission for 25% was for a first acute episode very early after childbirth. Independent factors associated with marked improvement at discharge were bipolar or depressive disorder, a first acute episode or relapse of such an episode. Schizophrenia, a personality disorder, and poor social integration (as measured by occupational status) were all related to poor clinical outcomes.

Discussion

Most women improved significantly while under care in MBUs. Our results emphasize the importance of the type of disease but also its chronicity and the social integration when providing postpartum psychiatric care.
Chronic kidney disease in pregnancy requiring first‐time dialysis
Authors: Sato Jussara L. , De Oliveira Leandro , Kirsztajn Gianna M. , Sass Nelson
Published: June 2010

Objective

To report on the treatment and outcome of pregnancy in 29 women with chronic kidney disease (CKD), 24 of whom had moderate or severe renal dysfunction.

Methods

Renal dysfunction at the onset of pregnancy was stratified: serum creatinine ≤ 1.4 mg/dL was defined as mild; 1.5–2.5 mg/dL was defined as moderate; and > 2.5 mg/dL was defined as severe renal insufficiency. Clinical complications and perinatal outcomes were evaluated.

Results

The average serum creatinine level at the beginning of pregnancy was 3.32 mg/dL (range, 1.2–7.1 mg/dL), and the average urine protein level was 1.51 g in 24 hours (range, 0.1–5.6 g in 24 hours). Dialysis therapy was necessary for 1 woman with mild renal dysfunction, 4 patients with moderate renal dysfunction, and 17 patients with severe renal dysfunction.

Conclusion

The use of dialysis in pregnancy among women with moderate or severe renal dysfunction proved to be useful, but many patients became dependent on dialysis. It is not known whether this was due to the interaction between pregnancy and advanced CKD.
In vivo modulation of 4E binding protein 1 (4E-BP1) phosphorylation by watercress: a pilot study
Authors: Syed Alwi Sharifah S. , Cavell Breeze E. , Telang Urvi , Morris Marilyn E. , Parry Barbara M. , Packham Graham
Published: June 2010

Dietary intake of isothiocyanates (ITC) has been associated with reduced cancer risk. The dietary phenethyl ITC (PEITC) has previously been shown to decrease the phosphorylation of the translation regulator 4E binding protein 1 (4E-BP1). Decreased 4E-BP1 phosphorylation has been linked to the inhibition of cancer cell survival and decreased activity of the transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF), a key positive regulator of angiogenesis, and may therefore contribute to potential anti-cancer effects of PEITC. In the present study, we have investigated the in vitro and in vivo effects of watercress, which is a rich source of PEITC. We first demonstrated that, similar to PEITC, crude watercress extracts inhibited cancer cell growth and HIF activity in vitro. To examine the effects of dietary intake of watercress, we obtained plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells following the ingestion of an 80 g portion of watercress from healthy participants who had previously been treated for breast cancer. Analysis of PEITC in plasma samples from nine participants demonstrated a mean maximum plasma concentration of 297 nm following the ingestion of watercress. Flow cytometric analysis of 4E-BP1 phosphorylation in peripheral blood cells from four participants demonstrated significantly reduced 4E-BP1 phosphorylation at 6 and 8 h following the ingestion of watercress. Although further investigations with larger numbers of participants are required to confirm these findings, this pilot study suggests that flow cytometry may be a suitable approach to measure changes in 4E-BP1 phosphorylation following the ingestion of watercress, and that dietary intake of watercress may be sufficient to modulate this potential anti-cancer pathway.
Passive trapped modes in the water-wave problem for a floating structure
Authors: FITZGERALD C. J. , MCIVER P.
Published: June 2010

Trapped modes in the linearized water-wave problem are free oscillations of an unbounded fluid with a free surface that have finite energy. It is known that such modes may be supported by particular fixed structures, and also by certain freely floating structures in which case there is, in general, a coupled motion of the fluid and structure; these two types of mode are referred to respectively as sloshing and motion trapped modes, and the corresponding structures are known as sloshing and motion trapping structures. Here a trapped mode is described that shares characteristics with both sloshing and motion modes. These ‘passive trapped modes’ are such that the net force on the structure exerted by the fluid oscillation is zero and so, in the absence of any forcing, the structure does not move even when it is allowed to float freely. In the paper, methods are given for the construction of passive trapping structures, a mechanism for exciting the modes is outlined using frequency-domain analysis, and the existence of the passive trapped modes is confirmed by numerical time-domain simulations of the excitation process.
Reanimation following facial palsy: present and future directions
Authors: Ramakrishnan Y , Alam S , Kotecha A , Gillett D , D'Souza A
Published: June 2010

Background:

An understanding of the management of chronic facial palsy is vital for otolaryngologists, due to its common presentation to ENT surgeons. There is currently a lack of consensus on the optimum management of this condition. This article reviews the existing literature and offers a perspective on current management, as well as an insight into future treatments.

Methods:

A literature search was performed, using the Medline, Embase and Cochrane databases from 1966 to the present, using the keywords listed below. Articles were reviewed. Selection was limited to English language articles on human subjects.

Results and conclusion:

A tailored, multidisciplinary approach using combinatorial therapy should be used for reanimation of the face following facial palsy. Advances in surgical and non-surgical techniques, and the exchange of information from centres of excellence via global databases, will enable objective appraisal of results and the development of an evidence-based approach to facial reanimation.
Between markets and geo-politics: natural resource exploitation on Spitsbergen from 1600 to the present day
Authors: Avango Dag , Hacquebord Louwrens , Aalders Ypie , De Haas Hidde , Gustafsson Ulf , Kruse Frigga
Published: June 2010

What are the driving forces behind large scale natural resource exploitation in the polar regions and how should we understand the relations between these forces? New historical-archaeological research performed during the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007–2009 on whaling, hunting and mining in Spitsbergen (1600–present) show both economic and geopolitical factors driving the development of those industries, both the whaling industries in the 17th century and 1900’s, and the mining industry of the early 20th century. However, the relation between these driving forces has differed, both between time periods and between actors. In most cases economic motives provided the main rationale for utilising resources and for government support for resource exploiters, but in some instances governments would support even unprofitable ventures in order to maintain a foothold on Spitsbergen.
The weirdest people in the world?
Authors: Henrich Joseph , Heine Steven J. , Norenzayan Ara
Published: June 2010

Behavioral scientists routinely publish broad claims about human psychology and behavior in the world's top journals based on samples drawn entirely from Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) societies. Researchers – often implicitly – assume that either there is little variation across human populations, or that these “standard subjects” are as representative of the species as any other population. Are these assumptions justified? Here, our review of the comparative database from across the behavioral sciences suggests both that there is substantial variability in experimental results across populations and that WEIRD subjects are particularly unusual compared with the rest of the species – frequent outliers. The domains reviewed include visual perception, fairness, cooperation, spatial reasoning, categorization and inferential induction, moral reasoning, reasoning styles, self-concepts and related motivations, and the heritability of IQ. The findings suggest that members of WEIRD societies, including young children, are among the least representative populations one could find for generalizing about humans. Many of these findings involve domains that are associated with fundamental aspects of psychology, motivation, and behavior – hence, there are no obviousa priorigrounds for claiming that a particular behavioral phenomenon is universal based on sampling from a single subpopulation. Overall, these empirical patterns suggests that we need to be less cavalier in addressing questions ofhumannature on the basis of data drawn from this particularly thin, and rather unusual, slice of humanity. We close by proposing ways to structurally re-organize the behavioral sciences to best tackle these challenges.
Weird people, yes, but also weird experiments
Authors: Baumard Nicolas , Sperber Dan
Published: June 2010

While we agree that the cultural imbalance in the recruitment of participants in psychology experiments is highly detrimental, we emphasize the need to complement this criticism with a warning about the “weirdness” of some cross-cultural studies showing seemingly deep cultural differences. We take the example of economic games and suggest that the variety of results observed in these games may not be due to deep psychological differences per se, but rather due to different interpretations of the situation.
Weirdness is in the eye of the beholder
Authors: Bennis Will M. , Medin Douglas L.
Published: June 2010

Henrich et al.'s critical review demonstrating that psychology research is over-reliant on WEIRD samples is an important contribution to the field. Their stronger claim that “WEIRD subjects are particularly unusual” is less convincing, however. We argue that WEIRD people's apparent distinct weirdness is a methodological side-effect of psychology's over-reliance on WEIRD populations for developing its methods and theoretical constructs.
WEIRD languages have misled us, too
Authors: Majid Asifa , Levinson Stephen C.
Published: June 2010

The linguistic and cognitive sciences have severely underestimated the degree of linguistic diversity in the world. Part of the reason for this is that we have projected assumptions based on English and familiar languages onto the rest. We focus on some distortions this has introduced, especially in the study of semantics.
What is really wrong with a priori claims of universality? Sampling, validity, process level, and the irresistible drive to reduce
Authors: Rochat Philippe
Published: June 2010

Catchy acronyms such as “WEIRD population” are good mnemonics. However, they carry the danger of distracting us from deeper issues: how to sample populations, the validity of measuring instruments, the levels of processing involved. These need to be considered when assessing claims of universality regarding how the mind works “in general” – a dominant and highly rewarded drive in the behavioral and brain sciences.
Donald Campbell's doubt: Cultural difference or failure of communication?
Authors: Shweder Richard A.
Published: June 2010

The objection, rightfully noted but then dismissed by Henrich et al., that the observed variation across populations “may be due to various methodological artifacts that arise from translating experiments across contexts” is a theoretically profound and potentially constructive criticism. It parallels Donald Campbell's concern that many cultural differences reported by psychologists “come from failures of communication misreported as differences.” Ironically, Campbell's doubt is a good foundation for investigations in cultural psychology.
The weirdest brains in the world
Authors: Chiao Joan Y. , Cheon Bobby K.
Published: June 2010

Henrich et al. provide a compelling argument about a bias in the behavioral sciences to study human behavior primarily in WEIRD populations. Here we argue that brain scientists are susceptible to similar biases, sampling primarily from WEIRD populations; and we discuss recent evidence from cultural neuroscience demonstrating the importance and viability of investigating culture across multiple levels of analysis.
Getting beyond the “convenience sample” in research on early cognitive development
Authors: Fernald Anne
Published: June 2010

Research on the early development of fundamental cognitive and language capacities has focused almost exclusively on infants from middle-class families, excluding children living in poverty who may experience less cognitive stimulation in the first years of life. Ignoring such differences limits our ability to discover the potentially powerful contributions of environmental support to the ontogeny of cognitive and language abilities.
COULD THERE BE A KOREAN–JAPANESE LINGUISTIC RELATIONSHIP THEORY? SCIENCE, THE DATA, AND THE ALTERNATIVES
Authors: Beckwith Christopher I.
Published: June 2010

The ethnolinguistic history of early East Asia depends on the comparative-historical study of the different languages. Scholars have long studied the early interrelationships among the major languages of East Asia, but only rarely according to the theory and methodology of scientific comparative-historical linguistics and linguistic typology, in which theories are expected to conform to the data. Among the many highly contested genetic relationship proposals in the region is the “Korean-Japanese theory”. Despite nearly a century of work by some very prominent scholars, no one has given a convincing demonstration of such a relationship, partly due to the paucity of supporting data, despite the fact that the two languages in question are vibrant and well attested. Now two leading scholars of Japanese and Korean linguistics who are familiar with each other's work, J. M. Unger and A. Vovin, have almost simultaneously published new books on the topic, one in favor of the theory, one against it. The contributions and flaws of the two books, and their position relative to the development of a scientific tradition of comparative-historical linguistics, are discussed. Special attention is paid to Koguryo, the extinct Japanese-related language once spoken on the Korean Peninsula that is crucial to any discussion of the historical relationship of Japanese and Korean.
Across Zomia with merchants, monks, and musk: process geographies, trade networks, and the Inner-East–Southeast Asian borderlands
Authors: Giersch C. Patterson
Published: June 2010

For several decades, theorists have challenged notions of geographical space as fixed, instead arguing that spatial scales and regional configurations respond to transformations in politics and economies. This has raised questions about permanent regional studies configurations (such as Southeast Asia), sparking the proposal of ‘Zomia’, an alternative region focusing on Asia’s highland borderlands. Building on these developments, this article employs ‘process geography’ methodologies to reconstruct trading networks through the mountains and river valleys of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Inner Asia’s Kham, East Asia’s Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces, and Southeast Asia. In doing so, it reveals who traded commodities, on what scales they operated, and how their increasingly complex networks were imbricated with state and local power. These networks linked Zomian communities to Chinese and global transformations and influenced local cultural and political changes, suggesting that studies of mobility can uncover hidden geographies of social, political, and cultural change.
Are the Central Himalayas in Zomia? Some scholarly and political considerations across time and space
Authors: Shneiderman Sara
Published: June 2010

This article examines the applicability of the Zomia concept for social scientific studies of the Himalayan region, with a focus on the Central Himalayas. While for both empirical and political reasons the term Zomia itself may not be entirely appropriate to the Himalayan Massif, the analytical imperatives that underlie James C. Scott’s usage of it – particularly the emphasis on the ethnic, national, and religious fluidity of highland communities, and their intentionality and agency vis-à-vis the states with which they engage – can be of great utility to those working in the Himalayan region. Through a historical review of the area tradition of ‘Himalayan studies’, as well as an ethnographic sketch of the cross-border Thangmi community of Nepal, India, and China’s Tibetan Autonomous Region, I argue that the potential power of the Zomia concept hinges on its ability to provide an additional framework for analysis (and perhaps political struggle), that adds value to, rather than replaces, ‘traditional’ nation-state rubrics.
Dynamics of solar wind protons reflected by the Moon
Authors: Holmström M. , Wieser M. , Barabash S. , Futaana Y. , Bhardwaj A.
Published: June 2010

Solar system bodies that lack a significant atmosphere and significant internal magnetic fields, such as the Moon and asteroids, have been considered passive absorbers of the solar wind. However, ion observations near the Moon by the SELENE spacecraft show that a fraction of the impacting solar wind protons are reflected by the surface of the Moon. Using new observations of the velocity spectrum of these reflected protons by the SARA experiment on board the Chandrayaan‐1 spacecraft at the Moon, we show by modeling that the reflection of solar wind protons will affect the global plasma environment. These global perturbations of the ion fluxes and the magnetic fields will depend on microscopic properties of the object's reflecting surface. This solar wind reflection process could explain past ion observations at the Moon, and the process should occur universally at all atmosphereless nonmagnetized objects.
Weather regimes designed for local precipitation modeling: Application to the Mediterranean basin
Authors: Vrac Mathieu , Yiou Pascal
Published: June 2010

Although weather regimes are often used as a primary step in many statistical downscaling processes, they are usually defined solely in terms of atmospheric variables and seldom to maximize their correlation to observed local meteorological phenomena. This paper compares different clustering methods to perform such a task. The correlation clustering model is introduced to define regimes that are well correlated to local‐scale precipitation observed on seven French Mediterranean rain gauges. This clustering method is compared to other approaches such as thek‐means and “expectation‐maximization” (EM) algorithms. The two latter are applied either to the main principal components of large‐scale reanalysis data (geopotential height at 500 mbar and sea level pressure) covering the Mediterranean basin or to the canonical variates associated with large scale and resulting from a canonical correlation analysis performed on reanalyses and local precipitation. The weather regimes obtained by the different approaches are compared, with a focus on the “extreme content” captured within the regimes. Then, cost functions are developed to quantify the errors due to misclassification, in terms of local precipitation. The different clustering approaches show different misclassification and costs. EM applied to canonical variates appears as a good compromise between the other approaches, with high discrimination, overall for extreme precipitation, while the precipitation costs due to bad classification are acceptable. This paper provides tools to help the users choose the clustering method to be used according to the expected goal and the use of the weather regimes.
Evaluation of a fully coupled large‐eddy simulation–land surface model and its diagnosis of land‐atmosphere feedbacks
Authors: Huang Hsin‐Yuan , Margulis Steven A.
Published: June 2010

Daytime land‐atmosphere interactions are the result of two‐way coupled processes where the land states strongly affect the overlying atmospheric properties and vice versa. This study presents a numerical framework integrating a radiative parameterization, a large‐eddy simulation of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), and a force‐restore land surface model to investigate these coupled processes and the impact of local‐scale atmospheric feedbacks on surface fluxes and states. Using field measurements collected during the Soil Moisture–Atmosphere Coupling Experiment 2002, a 12 h daytime diurnal cycle simulation is performed to evaluate the coupled model performance. The estimates of surface fluxes, near‐surface micrometeorological air properties, surface temperature, and vertical profiles of boundary layer characteristics are compared to the measurements collected by meteorological towers, satellites, and radiosondes. Good agreement is obtained in comparisons between model outputs and observations at both footprint‐ and domain‐averaged scales indicating that such a coupled model can reasonably represent the coupled land‐ABL system. Using the verified model baseline, simulated results for cases with different degrees of coupling show that the estimates of surface fluxes and near‐surface states are mainly dominated by the feedback of air temperature and wind speed, respectively. The feedback of each air property on surface fluxes and states for different vegetation cover can be either positive or negative, with the feedbacks via air temperature and wind speed playing opposite roles in the estimation of sensible heat flux. Thus, the total feedback of multiple air properties increases if all individual impacts are of the same sign; otherwise, the impacts partially cancel each other. Results indicate that the impact of ignoring atmospheric feedbacks (i.e., the local‐scale spatial variability of near‐surface air properties due to coupled interactions) results in a clear error in the estimation of sensible heat flux (up to 18%) and near‐surface soil moisture (up to 10%). The direct impacts of feedbacks on latent heat flux and surface temperature are relatively unimportant for the case examined.
Sensing vegetation growth with reflected GPS signals
Authors: Small Eric E. , Larson Kristine M. , Braun John J.
Published: June 2010

Estimates of vegetation state are required for hydrometeorological modeling and validation of satellite estimates of land surface conditions. A linkage is described between vegetation growth and ground reflected multipath at GPS stations. Reflections are sensitive to conditions over a ∼1000m2 area, larger than typical in situ observations but smaller than space‐based products. At two agricultural test sites, vegetation height and water content are inversely correlated with the magnitude of ground reflected multipath measured by geodetic‐quality GPS stations. This relationship was tested further at Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) network GPS sites, using Normalized Difference Vegetative Index (NDVI) to gauge vegetation status. NDVI is inversely correlated with the magnitude of multipath at nine sites located in grassland, shrubland and cropland. Multipath variations lag NDVI by approximately three weeks. Multipath statistics from existing sites are calculated daily and could be used to estimate biophysical properties in non‐forested regions, which represent ∼80% of land area.
Regional atmospheric emissions determined from measurements at Jeju Island, Korea: Halogenated compounds from China
Authors: Kim Jooil , Li Shanlan , Kim Kyung‐Ryul , Stohl Andreas , Mühle Jens , Kim Seung‐Kyu , Park Mi‐Kyung , Kang Dong‐Jin , Lee Gangwoong , Harth Christina M. , Salameh Peter K. , Weiss Ray F.
Published: June 2010

High‐frequency in‐situ measurements of a wide range of halogenated compounds including chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), halons, hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and other chlorinated and brominated compounds have been made at Gosan (Jeju Island, Korea). Regional emissions of HCFC‐22 (CHClF2) calculated from inverse modeling were combined with interspecies correlation methods to estimate national emissions for China, a major emitter of industrial halogenated gases. Our results confirm the signs of successful phase‐out of primary ozone‐depleting species such as CFCs, halons and many chlorinated or brominated compounds, along with substantial emissions of replacement HCFCs. Emissions derived for HFCs, PFCs, and SF6 were compared to published estimates and found to be a significant fraction of global totals. Overall, Chinese emissions of the halogenated compounds discussed here represent 19(14–17)% and 20(15–26)% of global emissions when evaluated in terms of their Ozone Depletion Potentials and 100‐year Global Warming Potentials, respectively.
Nuclease deficiencies promote end‐stage lupus nephritis but not nephritogenic autoimmunity in (NZB × NZW) F1 mice
Authors: Fismen Silje , Mortensen Elin S , Rekvig Ole P
Published: June 2010

New information has profoundly improved our insight into the processes that account for lupus nephritis. This review summarizes the data proving that secondary necrotic chromatin fragments are generated and retained in kidneys at time‐points when the major renal nuclease Dnase‐1 is selectively and severely downregulated. Second, we discuss data, which may indicate that nuclease deficiencies are not associated with autoimmunity to chromatin. Secondary to downregulation of renal Dnase‐1, large chromatin fragment–immunoglobulin G complexes are accumulated in glomerular basement membranes of patients producing anti‐chromatin autoantibodies. Exposure of chromatin in situ in glomeruli is the factor that renders anti‐chromatin (anti‐dsDNA and anti‐nucleosome) antibodies nephritogenic. Without exposed chromatin, they circulate as non‐pathogenic antibodies. This shows that acquired loss of renal Dnase‐1 enzyme activity is a dominant event responsible for the progression of lupus nephritis into end‐stage disease. Before the loss of Dnase‐1, lupus‐prone (NZB × NZW) F1 mice develop mild or silent nephritis with mesangial immune complex deposits, which correlates solely with onset of anti‐dsDNA antibody production. The principal cellular and molecular requirements needed to produce these autoantibodies have been explained experimentally, but the mechanism(s) accounting for them in vivo in context of lupus nephritis have not yet been determined. However, published data show that defects in nucleases operational in apoptotic or necrotic cell death are not associated with the induction of nephritogenic anti‐dsDNA autoantibodies. The data discussed in this study explain how an unusual exposure of chromatin may be a central factor in the evolution of lupus nephritis in (NZBxNZW) F1 mice, but not in promoting nephritogenic chromatin‐specific autoimmunity.
Mammalian thioredoxin reductase 1: roles in redox homoeostasis and characterization of cellular targets
Authors: Turanov Anton A. , Kehr Sebastian , Marino Stefano M. , Yoo Min-Hyuk , Carlson Bradley A. , Hatfield Dolph L. , Gladyshev Vadim N.
Published: June 2010

The classical Trx (thioredoxin) system, composed of TR (Trx reductase), Trx and NADPH, defines a major pathway of cellular thiol-based redox regulation. Three TRs have been identified in mammals: (i) cytosolic TR1, (ii) mitochondrial TR3 and (iii) testes-specific TGR (Trx-glutathione reductase). All three are selenocysteine-containing enzymes with broad substrate specificity in in vitro assays, but which protein substrates are targeted by TRs in vivo is not well understood. In the present study, we used a mechanism-based approach to characterize the molecular targets of TR1. Cytosolic Trx1 was the major target identified in rat and mouse liver, as well as in rat brain and mouse serum. The results suggest that the main function of TR1 is to reduce Trx1. We also found that TR1-based affinity resins provide a convenient tool for specific isolation of Trxs from a variety of biological samples. To better assess the role of TRs in redox homoeostasis, we comparatively analysed TR1- and TR3-knockdown cells. Although cells deficient in TR1 were particularly sensitive to diamide, TR3-knockdown cells were more sensitive to hydrogen peroxide. To further examine the TR1–Trx1 redox pair, we used mice with a liver-specific knockout of selenocysteine tRNA. In this model, selenocysteine insertion into TR1 was blocked, but the truncated form of this protein was not detected. Instead, TR1 and TR3 levels were decreased in the knockout samples. Diminished hepatic TR1 function was associated with elevated Trx1 levels, but this protein was mostly in the oxidized state. Overall, this study provides evidence for the key role of the TR1–Trx1 pair in redox homoeostasis.
The myeloperoxidase-derived oxidant HOSCN inhibits protein tyrosine phosphatases and modulates cell signalling via the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway in macrophages
Authors: Lane Amanda E. , Tan Joanne T. M. , Hawkins Clare L. , Heather Alison K. , Davies Michael J.
Published: June 2010

MPO (myeloperoxidase) catalyses the oxidation of chloride, bromide and thiocyanate by hydrogen peroxide to HOCl (hypochlorous acid), HOBr (hypobromous acid) and HOSCN (hypothiocyanous acid) respectively. Specificity constants indicate that SCN− is a major substrate for MPO. HOSCN is also a major oxidant generated by other peroxidases including salivary, gastric and eosinophil peroxidases. While HOCl and HOBr are powerful oxidizing agents, HOSCN is a less reactive, but more specific, oxidant which targets thiols and especially low pKa species. In the present study we show that HOSCN targets cysteine residues present in PTPs (protein tyrosine phosphatases) with this resulting in a loss of PTP activity for the isolated enzyme, in cell lysates and intact J774A.1 macrophage-like cells. Inhibition also occurs with MPO-generated HOCl and HOBr, but is more marked with MPO-generated HOSCN, particularly at longer incubation times. This inhibition is reversed by dithiothreitol, particularly at early time points, consistent with the reversible oxidation of the active site cysteine residue to give either a cysteine–SCN adduct or a sulfenic acid. Inhibition of PTP activity is associated with increased phosphorylation of p38a and ERK2 (extracellular-signal-regulated kinase 2) as detected by Western blot analysis and phosphoprotein arrays, and results in altered MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) signalling. These data indicate that the highly selective targeting of some protein thiols by HOSCN can result in perturbation of cellular phosphorylation and altered cell signalling. These changes occur with (patho)physiological concentrations of SCN− ions, and implicate HOSCN as an important mediator of inflammation-induced oxidative damage, particularly in smokers who have elevated plasma levels of SCN−.
Crystal structure and functional characterization of an immunomodulatory salivary cystatin from the soft tick Ornithodoros moubata
Authors: Salát Jiří , Paesen Guido C. , Řezáčová Pavlína , Kotsyfakis Michalis , Kovářová Zuzana , Šanda Miloslav , Majtán Juraj , Grunclová Lenka , Horká Helena , Andersen John F. , Brynda Jiří , Horn Martin , Nunn Miles A. , Kopáček Petr , Kopecký Jan , Mareš Michael
Published: June 2010

The saliva of blood-feeding parasites is a rich source of peptidase inhibitors that help to overcome the host's defence during host–parasite interactions. Using proteomic analysis, the cystatin OmC2 was demonstrated in the saliva of the soft tick Ornithodoros moubata, an important disease vector transmitting African swine fever virus and the spirochaete Borrelia duttoni. A structural, biochemical and biological characterization of this peptidase inhibitor was undertaken in the present study. Recombinant OmC2 was screened against a panel of physiologically relevant peptidases and was found to be an effective broad-specificity inhibitor of cysteine cathepsins, including endopeptidases (cathepsins L and S) and exopeptidases (cathepsins B, C and H). The crystal structure of OmC2 was determined at a resolution of 2.45 Å (1 Å=0.1 nm) and was used to describe the structure–inhibitory activity relationship. The biological impact of OmC2 was demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo. OmC2 affected the function of antigen-presenting mouse dendritic cells by reducing the production of the pro-inflammatory cytokines tumour necrosis factor α and interleukin-12, and proliferation of antigen-specific CD4+ T-cells. This suggests that OmC2 may suppress the host's adaptive immune response. Immunization of mice with OmC2 significantly suppressed the survival of O. moubata in infestation experiments. We conclude that OmC2 is a promising target for the development of a novel anti-tick vaccine to control O. moubata populations and combat the spread of associated diseases.
Bone morphogenetic protein and growth differentiation factor cytokine families and their protein antagonists
Authors: Rider Christopher C. , Mulloy Barbara
Published: June 2010

The BMPs (bone morphogenetic proteins) and the GDFs (growth and differentiation factors) together form a single family of cystine-knot cytokines, sharing the characteristic fold of the TGFβ (transforming growth factor-β) superfamily. Besides the ability to induce bone formation, which gave the BMPs their name, the BMP/GDFs display morphogenetic activities in the development of a wide range of tissues. BMP/GDF homo- and hetero-dimers interact with combinations of type I and type II receptor dimers to produce multiple possible signalling complexes, leading to the activation of one of two competing sets of SMAD transcription factors. BMP/GDFs have highly specific and localized functions. These are regulated in a number of ways, including the developmental restriction of BMP/GDF expression and through the secretion of several specific BMP antagonist proteins that bind with high affinity to the cytokines. Curiously, a number of these antagonists are also members of the TGF-β superfamily. Finally a number of both the BMP/GDFs and their antagonists interact with the heparan sulphate side chains of cell-surface and extracellular-matrix proteoglycans.