bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Decision Making Concepts for the Remote, Personalized Evaluation of COPD Patients’ Health Status
Authors: Colantonio S. , Govoni L. , Dellacà R. L. , Martinelli M. , Vitacca M. , Salvetti O.
Published: December 2014

Introduction: This article is part of the Focus Theme of Methods of Information in Medicine on “Biosignal Interpretation: Advanced Methods for Neural Signals and Images”.

Objectives: This paper presents the main concepts of a decision making approach for the remote management of COPD patients based on the early detection of disease exacerbation episodes.

Methods: An e-diary card is defined to evaluate a number of physiological variables and clinical parameters acquired remotely by means of wearable and environmental sensors deployed in patients’ long-stay settings. The automatic evaluation of the card results in a so-called Chronic Status Index (CSI) whose computation is tailored to patients’ specific manifestation of the disease (i.e., patient’s phenotype). The decision support method relies on a parameterized analysis of CSI variations so as to early detect worsening changes, identify exacerbation severity and track the patterns of recovery.

Results: A preliminary study, carried out in real settings with 30 COPD patients monitored at home, has shown the validity and sensitivity of the method proposed, which was effectively able to timely and correctly identify patients’ critical situation.

Conclusion: The preliminary results showed that the proposed e-diary card, which presents several novel features with respect to other solutions presented in the literature, can be practically used to remotely monitor COPD patients.
Tympanometry Screening Criteria in Children Ages 5‐7 Yr
Authors: Swanepoel De Wet , Eikelboom Robert H. , Margolis Robert H.
Published: December 2014

Background:Despite its value as a diagnostic measure of middle-ear function, recommendations for tympanometry as a screening test for middle-ear disorders have been tentative. This is primarily due to concerns related to over-referrals, cost-effectiveness, variability in referral
criteria and protocols, variable reported screen performance, and influence of demographic and environmental factors.Purpose:The current study assessed tympanometry in a large population of children between 5‐7 yr old in terms of normative ranges, performance of current recommended
referral criteria, and associations with independent demographic and environmental variables.Research Design:Retrospective cohort study.Study Sample:A total of 2868 children and their families were originally enrolled in the Raine Cohort Study in Western Australia. Of these,
1469 children between 5‐7 yr old (average age = 5.97 yr, SD = 0.17 yr) were evaluated with tympanometry and pure-tone audiometry screening.Data Collection and Analysis:Tympanometry was conducted using a 226 Hz probe tone with screening ipsilateral acoustic reflexes recorded using
a 1000 Hz stimulus. Hearing screening was conducted using pure tones at 20 dB HL for 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz. Relationships among normative ranges (90% and 95% ranges) for tympanometric indices, age, gender, and month of test were determined. Associations were also explored between tympanometry
referrals and month of test, gender, and absence of acoustic reflexes.Results:Normative 90% ranges for tympanometric peak pressure was ‐275 to 15 daPa, 60‐150 daPa for peak compensated tympanometric width, 0.2 and 1.0 mmho for peak compensated static admittance, and 0.7‐1.3
cm3 for ear canal volume. Current screening guidelines result in high referral rates for children 5‐7 yr old (13.3% and 11.5% using the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association [ASHA] and American Academy of Audiology [AAA] guidelines, respectively). The subgroup of children
6‐7 yr old had referral rates (for ears tested) of only 3.3% and 2.7%, respectively, according to ASHA and AAA guidelines. The prevalence of middle-ear effusion (admittance <0.1 mmho) was significantly different across seasons, with the highest (13.5%) in September and lowest (3.8%)
in January. Month of test was associated with a general decrease in tympanometric peak pressure across the population.Conclusions:An 80% reduction in tympanometry referrals for children ages 6 and 7 yr compared with children age 5 yr argues for tympanometry as a first-tier screening
method in older children only. The impact of regional seasonal influences, representing an increase in referrals as high as 3.5 times from one month to another, should also inform and direct pediatric screening programs for middle-ear functioning and/or hearing loss.
Validation of a Screening Test of Auditory Function Using the Telephone
Authors: Williams-Sanchez Victoria , McArdle Rachel A. , Wilson Richard H. , Kidd Gary R. , Watson Charles S. , Bourne Andrea L.
Published: December 2014

Background:Several European countries have demonstrated successful use of telephone screening tests for auditory function. The screening test consists of spoken three-digit sequences presented in a noise background. The speech-to-noise ratios of the stimuli are determined by
an adaptive tracking method that converges on the level required to achieve 50% correct recognition.Purpose:A version of the three-digit telephone screening protocol for the United States was developed: the US National Hearing Test (NHT). The objective of the current study was to determine
the sensitivity and specificity as well as the feasibility of the NHT for use within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).Research Design and Study Sample:Using a multisite study design with convenience sampling, we used the NHT to collect data from 693 participants (1379 ears) from
three geographical areas of the United States (Florida, Tennessee, and California).Data Collection and Analysis:The NHT procedures were as follows: the participants (1) called a toll-free telephone number, (2) entered their assigned ear-specific identification code, (3) listened to
40-sets of digit triplets presented in speech-spectrum background noise, and (4) entered in the numbers that they heard on the telephone key pad. The NHT was performed on each ear, either at home or in a VA clinic. In addition to collecting data from the experimental task, we gathered demographic
data and the data from other standard-of-care tests (i.e., audiometric thresholds and speech recognition tests in quiet and in noise).Results:A total of 505 participants completed the NHT at a VA clinic, whereas 188 completed the test at home. Although the ear-specific NHT and mean
pure-tone threshold all correlated significantly (p < 0.001), there were more modest correlations in the low- and high-frequency ranges with the highest correlation seen with the 2000 Hz mean pure-tone threshold. When the NHT 50% point or threshold was compared with the three-frequency
PTA at 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz, the sensitivity was 0.87 and specificity was 0.54. When comparing the NHT with the four-frequency PTA at 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz, the sensitivity was 0.81 and specificity increased to 0.65. The NHT also correlated strongly with other speech-in-noise measures.Conclusions:The
NHT was found to correlate with other audiometric measures, including pure-tone thresholds and speech recognition tests in noise, at sufficiently high correlation values to support its use as a screening test of auditory function.
Paired Comparisons of Nonlinear Frequency Compression, Extended Bandwidth, and Restricted Bandwidth Hearing Aid Processing for Children and Adults with Hearing Loss
Authors: Brennan Marc A. , McCreery Ryan , Kopun Judy , Hoover Brenda , Alexander Joshua , Lewis Dawna , Stelmachowicz Patricia G.
Published: December 2014

Background:Preference for speech and music processed with nonlinear frequency compression (NFC) and two controls (restricted bandwidth [RBW] and extended bandwidth [EBW] hearing aid processing) was examined in adults and children with hearing loss.Purpose:The purpose of
this study was to determine if stimulus type (music, sentences), age (children, adults), and degree of hearing loss influence listener preference for NFC, RBW, and EBW.Research Design:Design was a within-participant, quasi-experimental study. Using a round-robin procedure, participants
listened to amplified stimuli that were (1) frequency lowered using NFC, (2) low-pass filtered at 5 kHz to simulate the RBW of conventional hearing aid processing, or (3) low-pass filtered at 11 kHz to simulate EBW amplification. The examiner and participants were blinded to the type of processing.
Using a two-alternative forced-choice task, participants selected the preferred music or sentence passage.Study Sample:Participants included 16 children (ages 8‐16 yr) and 16 adults (ages 19‐65 yr) with mild to severe sensorineural hearing loss.Intervention:All
participants listened to speech and music processed using a hearing aid simulator fit to the Desired Sensation Level algorithm v5.0a.Results:Children and adults did not differ in their preferences. For speech, participants preferred EBW to both NFC and RBW. Participants also preferred
NFC to RBW. Preference was not related to the degree of hearing loss. For music, listeners did not show a preference. However, participants with greater hearing loss preferred NFC to RBW more than participants with less hearing loss. Conversely, participants with greater hearing loss were
less likely to prefer EBW to RBW.Conclusions:Both age groups preferred access to high-frequency sounds, as demonstrated by their preference for either the EBW or NFC conditions over the RBW condition. Preference for EBW can be limited for those with greater degrees of hearing loss,
but participants with greater hearing loss may be more likely to prefer NFC. Further investigation using participants with more severe hearing loss may be warranted.
Electrophysiological Gap Detection Thresholds: Effects of Age and Comparison with a Behavioral Measure
Authors: Palmer Shannon B. , Musiek Frank E.
Published: December 2014

Background:Temporal processing ability has been linked to speech understanding ability and older adults often complain of difficulty understanding speech in difficult listening situations. Temporal processing can be evaluated using gap detection procedures. There is some research
showing that gap detection can be evaluated using an electrophysiological procedure. However, there is currently no research establishing gap detection threshold using the N1-P2 response.Purpose:The purposes of the current study were to 1) determine gap detection thresholds in younger
and older normal-hearing adults using an electrophysiological measure, 2) compare the electrophysiological gap detection threshold and behavioral gap detection threshold within each group, and 3) investigate the effect of age on each gap detection measure.Design:This study utilized
an older adult group and younger adult group to compare performance on an electrophysiological and behavioral gap detection procedure.Study Sample:The subjects in this study were 11 younger, normal-hearing adults (mean = 22 yrs) and 11 older, normal-hearing adults (mean = 64.36 yrs).Data
Collection:All subjects completed an adaptive behavioral gap detection procedure in order to determine their behavioral gap detection threshold (BGDT). Subjects also completed an electrophysiologic gap detection procedure to determine their electrophysiologic gap detection threshold (EGDT).Results:Older
adults demonstrated significantly larger gap detection thresholds than the younger adults. However, EGDT and BGDT were not significantly different in either group. The mean difference between EGDT and BGDT for all subjects was 0.43 msec.Conclusions:Older adults show poorer gap detection
ability when compared to younger adults. However, this study shows that gap detection thresholds can be measured using evoked potential recordings and yield results similar to a behavioral measure.
The Ling 6(HL) Test: Typical Pediatric Performance Data and Clinical Use Evaluation
Authors: Glista Danielle , Scollie Susan , Moodie Sheila , Easwar Vijayalakshmi , ‡
Published: December 2014

Background:The Ling 6(HL) test offers a calibrated version of naturally produced speech sounds in dB HL for evaluation of detection thresholds. Aided performance has been previously characterized in adults.Purpose:The purpose of this work was to evaluate and refine the
Ling 6(HL) test for use in pediatric hearing aid outcome measurement.Research Design:This work is presented across two studies incorporating an integrated knowledge translation approach in the characterization of normative and typical performance, and in the evaluation of clinical feasibility,
utility, acceptability, and implementation.Study Sample:A total of 57 children, 28 normally hearing and 29 with binaural sensorineural hearing loss, were included in Study 1. Children wore their own hearing aids fitted using Desired Sensation Level v5.0. Nine clinicians from The Network
of Pediatric Audiologists participated in Study 2.Data Collection and Analysis:A CD-based test format was used in the collection of unaided and aided detection thresholds in laboratory and clinical settings; thresholds were measured clinically as part of routine clinical care. Confidence
intervals were derived to characterize normal performance and typical aided performance according to hearing loss severity. Unaided-aided performance was analyzed using a repeated-measures analysis of variance. The audiologists completed an online questionnaire evaluating the quality, feasibility/executability,
utility/comparative value/relative advantage, acceptability/applicability, and interpretability, in addition to recommendation and general comments sections.Results:Ling 6(HL) thresholds were reliably measured with children 3‐18 yr old. Normative and typical performance ranges
were translated into a scoring tool for use in pediatric outcome measurement. In general, questionnaire respondents generally agreed that the Ling 6(HL) test was a high-quality outcome evaluation tool that can be implemented successfully in clinical settings.Conclusions:By actively
collaborating with pediatric audiologists and using an integrated knowledge translation framework, this work supported the creation of an evidence-based clinical tool that has the potential to be implemented in, and useful to, clinical practice. More research is needed to characterize performance
in alternative listening conditions to facilitate use with infants, for example. Future efforts focused on monitoring the use of the Ling 6(HL) test in daily clinical practice may help describe whether clinical use has been maintained across time and if any additional adaptations are necessary
to facilitate clinical uptake.
« Le développement ? C'est du passé ». Une lecture historique des récits du progrès dans la Tanzanie du Sud
Authors: Ahearne Rob
Published: December 2014

Alors que l’idée de « développement » est très largement débattue dans les cercles académiques, les analyses critiques de l’impact de l’aide au développement sur les communautés locales sont rares, et celles intégrant une perspective historique le sont davantage encore. En s’appuyant sur des récits de vie récoltés dans le Sud de la Tanzanie, cet article met en lumière les liens entre les expériences vécues du « développement » et les réalités subjectives que recouvre la notion de « progrès ». Le ressentiment éprouvé par de nombreux aînés à l’égard de la villagisation ujamaa coïncide avec des souvenirs positifs de projets plus anciens comme le Groundnut Scheme ? le « programme arachide » colonial. Cette juxtaposition est décrite ici comme une forme de « nostalgie du développement » qui transpose les perceptions du « passé » sur le temps présent, révélant ainsi les aspirations sociales, politiques et économiques des Tanzaniens du Sud aujourd’hui. Ainsi, la complexité inhérente à ces récits de vie nous permet de dresser un tableau plus nuancé de l’historiographie tanzanienne.
Improving Program Documentation Quality Through the Application of Continuous Improvement Processes
Authors: Lovlien Cheryl A. , Johansen Martha , Timm Sandra , Eversman Shari , Gusa Dorothy , Twedell Diane
Published: December 2014

Maintaining the integrity of record keeping and retrievable information related to the provision of continuing education credit creates challenges for a large organization. Accurate educational program documentation is vital to support the knowledge and professional development of nursing staff. Quality review and accurate documentation of programs for nursing staff development occurred at one institution through the use of continuous improvement principles. Integration of the new process into the current system maintains the process of providing quality record keeping.
Reply to: Clinical Evaluation of the Ability of a Proprietary Scoliosis Traction Chair to De-Rotate the Spine: 6-month Results of Cobb Angle and Rotational Measurements
Authors: Morningstar Mark W.
Published: December 2014

Thank you for the opportunity to allow us to address the comments and concerns raised by Woggon and Woggon. [...]
Impact of synthetic surfactants and oil dispersants on the gills of juvenile gilthead (Sparus aurata L.)
Authors: Masini Maria Angela , Prato Paola , Giacco Elisabetta , Mariottini Gian Luigi , Pane Luigi
Published: December 2014

Histological, scanning electron microscopic and immunohistochemical studies were performed on the gills of juvenile gilthead (Sparus aurata L.) exposed to various concentrations of three anionic detergents: sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), safety sea cleaner 2 (SSC2), and FINASOL OSR2, in short term (96 h) and chronic (28 days) experiments. The mortality rate, median lethal concentration (LC50) and the no observed effect concentration (NOEC), were calculated. At concentrations above 10 mg/L, mortality was from 50 to 100% after exposure to SDS and SSC2, both in short term and chronic experiments. Gills were spongiotic and there were many lamellar fusions, membrane disruptions, hydropic degenerations and exfoliations of lamellar and interlamellar epithelium after 96 h of treatment and more markedly after chronic experiment. Microridges of the cell surface were less evident or absent. The enzymes of ion transport were down regulated. Exposure to FINASOL OSR2 (100 mg/L) showed no evident branchial alteration.
Seeking Suggestions for Future JATS-Con Events
Authors: Beck Jeff
Published: December 2014

This Impromptu JATS Users Group meeting is helping to fill the gap created by the shutdown of the US Government. However, it is not a replacement for JATS-Con. The attendees will discuss possible futures for JATS-Con.
The Challenges and Benefits of Automating NLM-to-ePub3 File Conversion
Authors: Dean Mike
Published: December 2014

While converting NLM book tag XML to an ePub seems like a relatively straightforward process (hey, an ePub is mostly just HTML, right?), setting up a workflow to do just that is quite challenging. It turns out writing the XSLT could be considered the "easy" part. Other problems, such as dealing with ePub display issues across ebook readers (anything from minor CSS differences to major MathML display problems), deciding what tagging makes the most sense semantically, and figuring out how to give semantic meaning to visual formatting such as table cell shading add a layer of complexity to the process. This paper discusses the challenges, rewards, and as-yet unresolved problems encountered in the process of creating an NLM to ePub3 workflow.
mPach: Integrated Publishing and Archiving of Journals in HathiTrust
Authors: Hawkins Kevin S. , Johnson Seth , Rogers Carrick , Smith Bryan
Published: December 2014

mPach is a package of tools being developed to provide a modular platform to enable the publication of born-digital open-access journals in HathiTrust, a digital library created by a partnership of major research institutions. One of the chief technological challenges in creating such a toolkit is enabling the conversion of edited manuscripts to JATS, which was chosen as the preservation-quality format. This paper provides a technical overview of the mPach platform, with special attention paid to the design and functionality of Norm, a tool being developed to convert Microsoft Word documents to JATS.
Inconsistent XML as a barrier to reuse of Open Access Content
Authors: Mietchen Daniel , Maloney Chris , Moskopp Nils Dagsson
Published: December 2014

In this paper, we will describe the current state of some of the tagging of articles within the PMC Open Access subset. As a case study, we will use our experiences developing the Open Access Media Importer, a tool to harvest content from the OA subset for automated upload to Wikimedia Commons.

Tagging inconsistencies stretch across several aspects of the articles, ranging from licensing to keywords to the media types of supplementary materials. While all of these complicate large-scale reuse, the unclear licensing statements had the greatest impact, requiring us to implement text mining-like algorithms in order to accurately determine whether or not specific content was compatible with reuse on Wikimedia Commons.

Besides presenting examples of incorrectly tagged XML from a range of publishers, we will also explore past and current efforts towards standardization of license tagging, and we will describe a set of recommendations related to tagging practices of certain data, to ensure that it is both compatible with existing standards, and consistent and machine-readable.
In pursuit of streamable stylesheet functions in XSLT 3.0
Authors: Braaksma Abel
Published: December 2014

With the XSLT Working Draft being in Last Call since December 2013 and the XSL Working Group working hard to get the latest bugs fixed, it is only a matter of time that the XSLT 3.0 Draft becomes a Candidate Recommendation, locked for changes and suitable for implementors to adopt.

One of the bugs the Working Group received was about the inability to create stylesheet functions that take streamable nodes as an argument. The group considered the omission and decided to ask me to write up a proposal. We discussed several iterations of the proposal until recently it was adopted and added to the internal Working Draft.

This paper investigates the ways in which stylesheet functions can be made streamable and why it is such a complex to task to make them so. It summarizes the rules that have been adopted so far according to the public bug entry and shows the possibilities it gives for stylesheet and package authors. While the impact on the specification is minimal, the impact for authors of packages and stylesheet authors in general is potentially big and opens up a whole world of new possibilities in streaming.
RELAX NG and DITA: An Almost Perfect Match
Authors: Kimber Eliot , Bina George
Published: December 2014

The DITA vocabulary architecture defines a formal and controlled mechanism for configuring and extending the base DITA vocabulary. The architecture is independent of any XML document grammar facility in that DITA only requires that document instances exhibit specific attributes that serve to declare the document's effective document type (set of vocabulary and constraint modules) and each element's relationship to its base element types (specialization hierarchy). However, practical authoring and management of DITA documents requires the use of some form of document grammar, e.g. a DTD, XML schema, etc. While the DITA standard defines specific coding patterns for implementing DITA vocabulary and constraint modules and for integrating those modules into document type shells, DITA users find both the DTD and XSD implementation details difficult and challenging due to the syntax and semantics of both grammar facilities. Through DITA version 1.2, the DITA standard recognized only DTDs and XSDs as conforming DITA grammar languages and the DITA Technical Committee provided both DTD and XSD versions of the DITA modules and document type shells. One the authors (George Bina) discovered that RELAX NG provided significant advantages over both DTD and XSD grammars, significantly simplifying both the task of integrating modules into working document types and defining vocabulary and constraint modules. Specific features of RELAX NG make it the best match to DITA's vocabulary architecture of any current XML document grammar facility. This paper discusses the general requirements defined by the DITA vocabulary architecture, the challenges presented by the DTD and XSD grammar facilities, and how RELAX NG addresses all those requirements. We also present some suggestions for improvements in RELAX NG that would remove the few places where RELAX NG is not optimal for DITA's requirements.
Standard Change Tracking for XML
Authors: La Fontaine Robin
Published: December 2014

XML is generally accepted as the default markup language for structured document and data management systems worldwide. But, in spite of the fact that XML document standards have matured over the past decade and despite its widespread use, XML still has a significant shortcoming that limits its usefulness in this role. It has no native ability to track changes. There is rudimentary support for change tracking in some document formats, but a full solution is not available. The consensus emerging is that this is an XML problem rather than a DITA, DocBook or XHTML problem.

A generic change-tracking standard would transform the utility of XML. It would allow documents to be moved from one XML editor to another, complete with change history and the ability to roll back to previous versions; it would allow editing applications to track changes in any XML document type; and software designed to handle change in XML could be applied to many different XML document types.

The W3C now has a Community Group (W3C Change Community Group http://www.w3.org/community/change/) looking into developing a standard solution. This paper outlines one proposed solution to this important problem.

The purpose of the proposed change tracking format is to represent successive changes or edits to an XML document, typically in one or more editing sessions. This paper describes how such changes may be represented in XML markup or in Processing Instructions. The tracked changes are designed to be used either as an independent addition to a file or integrated into the applicable schema.
NoXML: Extending the relevance of XPath by breaking the chains of the DOM
Authors: Lee David
Published: December 2014

XPath is an ingenious invention and the core strength, if not the foundation, of the success of XML. Through its life it has been enhanced, redefined, specified, extended and embedded into nearly every XML technology. XPath and XDM (the data model of XPath 2.0 and XQuery 1.0) intricately bind XML (the serialization format) and XML technologies (the languages) into a powerful and successful set of Data Specific Languages (DSLs) that power the XML Ecosystem. It is this very success, however, that is both pushing the original boundaries of XML Processing and holding them back from the prominence they once claimed. The elegance and power of XPath is at risk as we push the use cases of what-was XML Only languages but are held back by an XML Only data model for XPath.
Multilevel Versioning
Authors: Nordström Ari
Published: December 2014

“Straight” versioning systems for XML documents that produce a new version for every save, such as eXist DB's versioning extension, aren't as useful as they could be. They produce far too many versions, of which far too few are significant, and so each significant version is very hard to find or use. An old version, for example, cannot be easily located or reliably referenced. Adding check-out and check-in functionality would help alleviate some of the problems but not solve them.

In this paper, I propose adding a multilevel, XML-based versioning abstraction on top of this “straight” versioning system, where any new versions are placed on different levels or stages, based on check-out and check-in operations that move the resources up or down in the versioning structure.

The multilevel versioning is achieved using several different areas within the system, each of which in themselves is version handled using the system's “straight” versioning extension and where each save produces a system address to a specific (straight) version in that area. These addresses are kept track of and mapped to the multilevel versions in an XML-based version mapping file when a resource is checked in or out, as defined by the business rules for the abstraction.
Markup Formats In Context
Authors: Quin Liam R. E.
Published: December 2014

There are a number of popular text markup formats in use today. Some of these, such as JSON and Markdown, have risen in popularity recently; others, such as SGML or troff, have waned. Whenever a format becomes more popular it gains proponents who seem to want to see it used everywhere, for everything, for ever, right away. A fairly simple (and possibly over-simplistic) analysis of the rhetorical nature of some of these various formats is presented in this paper. The results of this analysis suggest areas of use for the different formats and demonstrate that, rather than being in competition with one another, the formats complement one another.
Document lattices
Authors: Sperberg-McQueen C. M. , Marcoux Yves , Huitfeldt Claus
Published: December 2014

If the information conveyed by the markup in a document can be identified with the set of inferences we can draw from that markup, as has been proposed in earlier work, then the sets of inferences licensed by documents form an infinitely large lattice, by means of which the relative information content of any two documents (equivalence, subsumption, contradiction, consistency) can be displayed visually. The sets of inferences licensed by markup can be used to test translations from one markup language to another for equivalence or information loss; a simple example using XHTML and CALS table markup illustrates the process.
Meeting the Twin Challenges of Open Data for DATA Act compliance and Delivering next generation Industry Services
Authors: Webber David R. R.
Published: December 2014

The Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act) was signed into law in May, 2014. A legislative mandate for data transparency, the act requires the US Department of the Treasury and the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to change the recording of U.S. federal spending into open standardized data formats that must be published online. Disclosure that can currently take months or years must now be available directly. New tools and methodologies will be required to meet this challenge, hopefully based on open public semantic techniques, shared vocabularies, and common service specifications. Implementations of the NIEM model (National Information Exchange Model) have lessons and techniques that may help, and open source and public tool sets are available. Illustrations from health care services, financial reporting, emergency preparedness, election management, and municipal services across the United States, Europe, and Asia show these new techniques successfully utilized.
Extending XQuery with pattern matching over XML, HTML and JSON, and its usage for data mining
Authors: van der Zander Benito
Published: December 2014

Pattern matching in a broad sense is a common feature of modern functional programming languages, answering the question, if one complex structured object has a form that is the same as another complex structured object, for some definition of “the same”. In XQuery path expressions, switch, and typeswitch statements are often described as performing pattern matching, but these are merely impoverished flavors of matching when compared to the real thing. We describe a syntax for general pattern matching based on regular expressions for XML/HTML/JSONiq trees, how these patterns are matched against input data, and how this pattern matching can be integrated into the syntax and semantics of the XQuery language. At the end we summarize real-world experience using it for large-scale data mining of library webcatalogs.
Mending Fences and Saving Babies
Authors: Berjon Robin
Published: December 2014

The harshest squabbles are fraternal, and as fraternal squabbles go, the one between the proponents of XML and HTML has been at times quite brutal. This kerfuffle has opened large rifts in what is largely a like-minded community. The differences between XML and HTML are genuine, especially when considering not just the markup but the full family of technologies that have grown around them. But do they really justify animosity? Both XML and HTML have created strong solutions to varied problems often ignored by other angle bracketists. Their many commonalities mean that the XML and HTML communities need not throw away one another’s babies in a big slosh of bathwater. It is time for a candid conversation about flaws and limitations, and from there to mend fences.

In this paper we look at some mythical preconceptions that each community has about the other, go through a number of topics that show where there is value in “looking over the fence”, and reach what is hopefully a pragmatic conclusion as to what each community needs to do.
The Historical Present
Authors: Kudrycz Walter
Published: December 2014

Medievalism has become a central concern for those studying and teaching medieval history. It can be distinguished from traditional medieval history because it is not directly concerned with the study of the Middle Ages themselves, but rather it looks at how ideas about the medieval era operate in modern culture. This volume breaks new ground by moving beyond the arena of contemporary popular culture by interpreting modern academic attitudes towards the Middle Ages as themselves forms of medievalism. What is presented as refined historical truth is no more than a construction of truth derived from the larger philosophical and cultural trends of our own day. This volume argues that modernity's sense of the medieval past is the product of the dominant intellectual movements of the nineteenth century, Romanticism and Idealism, and that nineteenth century attitudes have continued to inform current understandings of the Middle Ages. This is a narrative that combines the main themes of modern scholarship on the medieval age with a subtly portrayed picture of the philosophical culture which produced them.
A joint data assimilation system (Tan-Tracker) to simultaneously estimate surface CO2 fluxes and 3-D atmospheric CO2 concentrations from observations
Authors: Tian X. , Xie Z. , Liu Y. , Cai Z. , Fu Y. , Zhang H. , Feng L.
Published: December 2014

Abstract. We have developed a novel framework ("Tan-Tracker") for assimilating observations of atmospheric CO2 concentrations, based on the POD-based (proper orthogonal decomposition) ensemble four-dimensional variational data assimilation method (PODEn4DVar). The high flexibility and the high computational efficiency of the PODEn4DVar approach allow us to include both the atmospheric CO2 concentrations and the surface CO2 fluxes as part of the large state vector to be simultaneously estimated from assimilation of atmospheric CO2 observations. Compared to most modern top-down flux inversion approaches, where only surface fluxes are considered as control variables, one major advantage of our joint data assimilation system is that, in principle, no assumption on perfect transport models is needed. In addition, the possibility for Tan-Tracker to use a complete dynamic model to consistently describe the time evolution of CO2 surface fluxes (CFs) and the atmospheric CO2 concentrations represents a better use of observation information for recycling the analyses at each assimilation step in order to improve the forecasts for the following assimilations. An experimental Tan-Tracker system has been built based on a complete augmented dynamical model, where (1) the surface atmosphere CO2 exchanges are prescribed by using a persistent forecasting model for the scaling factors of the first-guess net CO2 surface fluxes and (2) the atmospheric CO2 transport is simulated by using the GEOS-Chem three-dimensional global chemistry transport model. Observing system simulation experiments (OSSEs) for assimilating synthetic in situ observations of surface CO2 concentrations are carefully designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Tan-Tracker system. In particular, detailed comparisons are made with its simplified version (referred to as TT-S) with only CFs taken as the prognostic variables. It is found that our Tan-Tracker system is capable of outperforming TT-S with higher assimilation precision for both CO2 concentrations and CO2 fluxes, mainly due to the simultaneous estimation of CO2 concentrations and CFs in our Tan-Tracker data assimilation system. A experiment for assimilating the real dry-air column CO2 retrievals (XCO2) from the Japanese Greenhouse Gases Observation Satellite (GOSAT) further demonstrates its potential wide applications.
Aging of secondary organic aerosol from small aromatic VOCs: changes in chemical composition, mass yield, volatility and hygroscopicity
Authors: Hildebrandt Ruiz L. , Paciga A. L. , Cerully K. , Nenes A. , Donahue N. M. , Pandis S. N.
Published: December 2014

Abstract. Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) is transformed after its initial formation, but this chemical aging of SOA is poorly understood. Experiments were conducted in the Carnegie Mellon environmental chamber to form and transform SOA from the photo-oxidation of toluene and other small aromatic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the presence of NOx. The effects of chemical aging on organic aerosol (OA) composition, mass yield, volatility and hygroscopicity were explored. Higher exposure to the hydroxyl radical resulted in different OA composition, average carbon oxidation state OSC) and mass yield. The OA oxidation state generally increased during photo-oxidation, and the final OA OS C ranged from −0.29 to 0.45 in the performed experiments. The volatility of OA formed in these different experiments varied by as much as a factor of 30, demonstrating that the OA formed under different oxidizing conditions can have significantly different saturation concentration. There was no clear correlation between hygroscopicity and oxidation state for this relatively hygroscopic SOA.
Atmospheric composition and thermodynamic retrievals from the ARIES airborne TIR-FTS system – Part 2: Validation and results from aircraft campaigns
Authors: Allen G. , Illingworth S. M. , O'Shea S. J. , Newman S. , Vance A. , Bauguitte S. J.-B. , Marenco F. , Kent J. , Bower K. , Gallagher M. W. , Muller J. , Percival C. J. , Harlow C. , Lee J. , Taylor J. P.
Published: December 2014

Abstract. This study validates trace gas and thermodynamic retrievals from nadir infrared spectroscopic measurements recorded by the UK Met Office Airborne Research Interferometer Evaluation System (ARIES) – a thermal infrared, Fourier transform spectrometer (TIR-FTS) on the UK Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) BAe-146 aircraft. Trace-gas-concentration and thermodynamic profiles have been retrieved and validated for this study throughout the troposphere and planetary boundary layer (PBL) over a range of environmental variability using data from aircraft campaigns over and around London, the US Gulf Coast, and the Arctic Circle during the Clear air for London (ClearfLo), Joint Airborne IASI (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer) Validation Experiment (JAIVEx), and Measurements, process studies, and Modelling (MAMM) aircraft campaigns, respectively. Vertically resolved retrievals of temperature and water vapour (H2O), and partial-column retrievals of methane (CH4), carbon monoxide (CO), and ozone (O3) (over both land and sea) were compared to corresponding measurements from high-precision in situ analysers and dropsondes operated on the FAAM aircraft. Average degrees of freedom for signal (DOFS) over a 0–9 km column range were found to be 4.97, 3.11, 0.91, 1.10, and 1.62 for temperature, H2O, CH4, CO, and O3, respectively, when retrieved on 10 vertical levels. Partial-column mean biases (and bias standard error) between the surface and ~ 9 km, when averaged across all flight campaigns, were found to be −0.7(±0.3) K, −479(±56) ppm, −11(±2) ppb, −3.3(±1.0) ppb, and +3.5(±1.0) ppb, respectively, whilst the typical a posteriori (total) uncertainties for individually retrieved profiles were 0.4, 9.5, 5.0, 21.2, and 15.0 %, respectively. Averaging kernels (AKs) derived for progressively lower altitudes show improving sensitivity to lower atmospheric layers when flying at lower altitudes. Temperature and H2O display significant vertically resolved sensitivity throughout the column, whilst trace gases are usefully retrieved only as partial-column quantities, with maximal sensitivity for trace gases other than H2O within a layer 1 and 2 km below the aircraft. This study demonstrates the valuable atmospheric composition information content that can be obtained by ARIES nadir TIR remote sensing for atmospheric process studies.
Online derivatization for hourly measurements of gas- and particle-phase semi-volatile oxygenated organic compounds by thermal desorption aerosol gas chromatography (SV-TAG)
Authors: Isaacman G. , Kreisberg N. M. , Yee L. D. , Worton D. R. , Chan A. W. H. , Moss J. A. , Hering S. V. , Goldstein A. H.
Published: December 2014

Abstract. Laboratory oxidation studies have identified a large number of oxygenated organic compounds that can be used as tracers to understand sources and oxidation chemistry of atmospheric particulate matter. Quantification of these compounds in ambient environments has traditionally relied on low-time-resolution collection of filter samples followed by offline sample treatment with a derivatizing agent to allow analysis by gas chromatography of otherwise non-elutable organic chemicals with hydroxyl groups. We present here an automated in situ instrument for the measurement of highly polar organic semi-volatile and low-volatility compounds in both the gas- and particle-phase with hourly quantification of mass concentrations and gas–particle partitioning. The dual-cell semi-volatile thermal desorption aerosol gas chromatograph (SV-TAG) with derivatization collects particle-only and combined particle-plus-vapor samples on two parallel sampling cells that are analyzed in series by thermal desorption into helium saturated with derivatizing agent. Introduction of MSTFA (N-methyl-N-(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide), a silylating agent, yields complete derivatization of all tested compounds, including alkanoic acids, polyols, diacids, sugars, and multifunctional compounds. In laboratory tests, derivatization is found to be highly reproducible (< 3% variability). During field deployment, a regularly injected internal standard is used to correct for variability in detector response, consumption of the derivatization agent, desorption efficiency, and transfer losses. Error in quantification from instrument fluctuations is found to be less than 10% for hydrocarbons and less than 15% for all oxygenates for which a functionally similar internal standard is available, with an uncertainty of 20–25% in measurements of particle fraction. After internal standard corrections, calibration curves are found to be linear for all compounds over the span of 1 month, with comparable response on both of the parallel sampling cells.
Development of an automated high-temperature valveless injection system for online gas chromatography
Authors: Kreisberg N. M. , Worton D. R. , Zhao Y. , Isaacman G. , Goldstein A. H. , Hering S. V.
Published: December 2014

Abstract. A reliable method of sample introduction is presented for online gas chromatography with a special application to in situ field portable atmospheric sampling instruments. A traditional multi-port valve is replaced with a valveless sample introduction interface that offers the advantage of long-term reliability and stable sample transfer efficiency. An engineering design model is presented and tested that allows customizing this pressure-switching-based device for other applications. Flow model accuracy is within measurement accuracy (1%) when parameters are tuned for an ambient-pressure detector and 15% accurate when applied to a vacuum-based detector. Laboratory comparisons made between the two methods of sample introduction using a thermal desorption aerosol gas chromatograph (TAG) show that the new interface has approximately 3 times greater reproducibility maintained over the equivalent of a week of continuous sampling. Field performance results for two versions of the valveless interface used in the in situ instrument demonstrate typically less than 2% week−1 response trending and a zero failure rate during field deployments ranging up to 4 weeks of continuous sampling. Extension of the valveless interface to dual collection cells is presented with less than 3% cell-to-cell carryover.
Organic aerosol composition measurements with advanced offline and in-situ techniques during the CalNex campaign
Authors: Timkovsky J. , Chan A. W. H. , Dorst T. , Goldstein A. H. , Oyama B. , Holzinger R.
Published: December 2014

Abstract. Our understanding of formation processes, physical properties and climate/health effects of organic aerosols is still limited in part due to limited knowledge of organic aerosol composition. We present speciated measurements of organic aerosol composition by two methods: in-situ thermal-desorption proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometry (TD-PTR-MS) and offline two-dimensional gas chromatography with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer (GC×GC/TOF-MS). 153 compounds were identified using the GC×GC/TOF-MS, 123 of which were matched with 64 ions observed by the TD-PTR-MS. A reasonable overall correlation of 0.67 (r2) was found between the total matched TD-PTR-MS signal (sum of 64 ions) and the total matched GC×GC/TOF-MS signal (sum of 123 compounds). A reasonable quantitative agreement between the two methods was observed for most individual compounds with concentrations which were detected at levels above 2 ng m−3 using the GC×GC/TOF-MS. The analysis of monocarboxylic acids standards with TD-PTR-MS showed that alkanoic acids with molecular masses below 290 amu are detected well (recovery fractions above 60%). However, the concentrations of these acids were consistently higher on quartz filters (quantified offline by GC×GC/TOF-MS) than those suggested by in-situ TD-PTR-MS measurements, which is consistent with the semivolatile nature of the acids and corresponding positive filter sampling artifacts.
Increased winter soil temperature variability enhances nitrogen cycling and soil biotic activity in temperate heathland and grassland mesocosms
Authors: Schuerings J. , Jentsch A. , Hammerl V. , Lenz K. , Henry H. A. L. , Malyshev A. V. , Kreyling J.
Published: December 2014

Abstract. Winter air temperatures are projected to increase in the temperate zone, whereas snow cover is projected to decrease, leading to increased soil temperature variability, and potentially to changes in nutrient cycling. Here, we experimentally evaluated the effects of increased winter soil temperature variability on selected aspects of the N-cycle in mesocosms containing different plant community compositions. The experiment was replicated at two sites, a colder mountainous upland site with high snow accumulation and a warmer and drier lowland site. Increased soil temperature variability enhanced soil biotic activity for both sites during winter, as indicated by 35% higher nitrogen (N) availability in the soil solution, 40% higher belowground decomposition and a 25% increase in the potential activity of the enzyme cellobiohydrolase. The mobilization of N differed between sites, and the 15N signal in leaves was reduced by 31% in response to winter warming pulses, but only at the cold site, with significant reductions occurring for three of four tested plant species at this site. Furthermore, there was a trend of increased N leaching in response to the recurrent winter warming pulses. Overall, projected winter climate change in the temperate zone, with less snow and more variable soil temperatures, appears important for shifts in ecosystem functioning (i.e. nutrient cycling). While the effects of warming pulses on plant N mobilization did not differ among sites, reduced plant 15N incorporation at the colder temperate site suggests that frost damage may reduce plant N uptake in a warmer world, with important implications for nitrogen cycling and nitrogen losses from ecosystems.