bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Making of the Chinese Industrial Workplace: State, Revolution and Labor Management. By Mark W. Frazier. [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. xvii+286 pp. £40.00, $60.00. ISBN 0-521-80021-8.]
Authors: Blecher Marc
Published: July 2008

The Making of the Chinese Industrial Workplace opens a window on to the world of Chinese factories and the political institutions, policies, conflicts and crises that swirled in and around them from the early 20th century to the early 1960s (with tantalizing glimpses of the Cultural Revolution and the reform period). Here, managers struggle to make a profit or just to survive, shop floor bosses jockey for position, political officials endeavour to regulate and control, and workers struggle with them all.
Building in China: Henry K. Murphy's “Adaptive Architecture,” 1914–1935. By Jeffrey W. Cody. [Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 2001. xxiv+264 pp. $38.00. ISBN 962-201-871-8.]
Authors: Tenreiro Adalberto
Published: July 2008

This book demonstrates Jeffrey Cody's affection for Henry Murphy's use and promotion of the traditions of Chinese architecture. Murphy combined the traditional Chinese characteristics of elevation, roof form and axial symmetry with contemporary technologies in order to achieve “structural significance” and “purity of form and colour.” He achieved this during long periods spent in China where he brought together teams of American and Chinese-American architects while taking special care with clients and contractors.
The Silent Traveller in London. By Chiang Yee. [Oxford: Signal Books, 2002. xvi+216 pp. Hard cover £24.95, ISBN 1-902669-40-1; paperback £10.99, ISBN 1-902669-41-X.]
Authors: Chinnery J. D.
Published: July 2008

This welcome re-publication of Chiang Yee's book, first published in 1938, comes with an additional informative foreword by Da Zheng, a scholar who is presently working on a cultural biography of the author.
Provincializing Capital: The Work of an Agrarian Past in South Indian Industry
Authors: Chari Sharad
Published: July 2008

During the last two decades of the twentieth century, Tiruppur town in Tamilnadu state became India's centerpiece in the export of cotton knitted garments. Between 1986 and 1997, Tiruppur's export earnings skyrocketed from $25 million to $636 million, the number of garments exported increased more than nine-fold, and Tiruppur shifted from basic T-shirts to diversified multi-product exports of fashion garments. This industrial boom has been organized through networks of small firms integrated through intricate subcontracting arrangements controlled by local capital of the Gounder caste from modest agrarian and working-class origins. In effect the whole town works like a decentralized factory for the global economy, but with local capital of peasant-worker origins at the helm. What is more, these self-made men hinge their retrospective narratives of class mobility and industrial success on their propensity to ‘toil’: the wordulaippuis distinct from the conventional Tamil word for work. How did Gounder peasant-workers remake the dynamics of work through their toil, to make Tiruppur a powerhouse of global production?
National Culture and Its Discontents: The Politics of Heritage and Language in Taiwan, 1949–2003
Authors: Wang Horng-luen
Published: July 2008

In his groundbreakingNationalism Reframed,Rogers Brubaker challenges conventional understandings of nations and nationalism by advancing a distinctive, if not innovative, approach to the subject. Drawing on recent theoretical developments that problematize the realist ontology implicitly assumed in previous literatures, Brubaker calls for an institutionalist approach to the study of nations and nationalism. As he points out, nation and nationhood can be better understood not as substance but as institutionalized form, not as collectivity but as practical category, and not as entity but as contingent event (1996:18). He then employs this approach to analyze the breakdown of the Soviet Union. According to Brubaker, nationhood and nationality were institutionalized in the Soviet Union in two different modes: political-territorial and the ethno-personal. While the incongruence between these two modes led to tensions and contradictions within Soviet society, the dual legacy of such an institutionalization, manifesting itself as unintended consequences, eventually shaped the disintegration of the Soviet Union and continues to structure nationalist politics in the successor states today.
TORSION UNITS IN INTEGRAL GROUP RINGS OF CERTAIN METABELIAN GROUPS
Authors: Hertweck Martin
Published: July 2008

It is shown that any torsion unit of the integral group ring $\mathbb{Z}G$ of a finite group $G$ is rationally conjugate to an element of $\pm G$ if $G=XA$ with $A$ a cyclic normal subgroup of $G$ and $X$ an abelian group (thus confirming a conjecture of Zassenhaus for this particular class of groups, which comprises the class of metacyclic groups).
ON THE REGULARITY CONJECTURE FOR THE COHOMOLOGY OF FINITE GROUPS
Authors: Benson David J.
Published: July 2008

Let $K$ be a field of characteristic $p$ and let $G$ be a finite group of order divisible by $p$. The regularity conjecture states that the Castelnuovo–Mumford regularity of the cohomology ring $H^*(G,K)$ is always equal to 0. We prove that if the regularity conjecture holds for a finite group $H$, then it holds for the wreath product $H\wr\mathbb{Z}/p$. As a corollary, we prove the regularity conjecture for the symmetric groups $\varSigma_n$. The significance of this is that it is the first set of examples for which the regularity conjecture has been checked, where the difference between the Krull dimension and the depth of the cohomology ring is large. If this difference is at most 2, the regularity conjecture is already known to hold by previous work.

For more general wreath products, we have not managed to prove the regularity conjecture. Instead we prove a weaker statement: namely, that the dimensions of the cohomology groups are polynomial on residue classes (PORC) in the sense of Higman.
RETRACTIVE TRANSFERS AND p-LOCAL FINITE GROUPS
Authors: Ragnarsson Kári
Published: July 2008

In this paper we explore the possibility of defining $p$-local finite groups in terms of transfer properties of their classifying spaces. More precisely, we consider the question, posed by Haynes Miller, of whether an equivalent theory can be obtained by studying triples $(f,t,X)$, where $X$ is a $p$-complete, nilpotent space with a finite fundamental group, $f:BS\to X$ is a map from the classifying space of a finite $p$-group, and $t$ is a stable retraction of $f$ satisfying Frobenius reciprocity at the level of stable homotopy. We refer to $t$ as a retractive transfer of $f$ and to $(f,t,X)$ as a retractive transfer triple over $S$.

In the case where $S$ is elementary abelian, we answer this question in the affirmative by showing that a retractive transfer triple $(f,t,X)$ over $S$ does indeed induce a $p$-local finite group over $S$ with $X$ as its classifying space.

Using previous results obtained by the author, we show that the converse is true for general finite $p$-groups. That is, for a $p$-local finite group $(S,\mathcal{F},\mathcal{L})$, the natural inclusion $\theta:BS\to X$ has a retractive transfer $t$, making $(\theta,t,|\mathcal{L}|^{\wedge}_p)$ a retractive transfer triple over $S$. This also requires a proof, obtained jointly with Ran Levi, that $|\mathcal{L}|^{\wedge}_p$ is a nilpotent space, which is of independent interest.
ON AN ORDER-BASED CONSTRUCTION OF A TOPOLOGICAL GROUPOID FROM AN INVERSE SEMIGROUP
Authors: Lenz Daniel H.
Published: July 2008

We show how to construct a topological groupoid directly from an inverse semigroup and prove that it is isomorphic to the universal groupoid introduced by Paterson. We then turn to a certain reduction of this groupoid. In the case of inverse semigroups arising from graphs (respectively, tilings), we prove that this reduction is the graph groupoid introduced by Kumjian \et (respectively, the tiling groupoid of Kellendonk). We also study the open invariant sets in the unit space of this reduction in terms of certain order ideals of the underlying inverse semigroup. This can be used to investigate the ideal structure of the associated reduced $C^\ast$-algebra.
HEIGHT AND WEIGHT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH KOREA
Authors: SCHWEKENDIEK DANIEL
Published: July 2008

This paper investigates height and weight differences between the two Koreas by comparing national anthropometric data published by the South Korean Research Institute of Standard and Science with United Nations survey data collected inside North Korea in 2002. For socioeconomic reasons, pre-school children raised in the developing country of North Korea are up to 13 cm shorter and up to 7 kg lighter than children who were brought up in South Korea – an OECD member. North Korean women were also found to weigh up to 9 kg less than their Southern counterparts.
Effects of stage of lactation and time of year on plasmin-derived proteolytic activity in bovine milk in New Zealand
Authors: NICHOLAS GINA D. , AULDIST MARTIN J. , MOLAN PETER C. , STELWAGEN KERST , PROSSER COLIN G.
Published: July 2008

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of stage of lactation (SOL) and time of year on plasmin-derived proteolytic activity in the milk of pasture-fed dairy cows in New Zealand. Four herds of 20 Friesian cows were used, one herd calving in each of January, April, July and October. Cows grazed ryegrass/white clover pasture only, except during June (winter) when all cows received supplementary pasture silage. Milk samples were collected on four occasions during the year (spring, summer, autumn and winter) from each cow in milk, to give a total of three samples per cow (early, mid and late lactation; c. 30, 120 and 220 days after calving, respectively). Milk samples were analysed for plasmin-derived proteolytic activity. There was no effect of either SOL or time of year on plasmin activity and therefore yields of plasmin followed patterns in milk yield (highest in early lactation and in summer). There were effects of both SOL and time of year on plasminogen-derived and total plasmin plus plasminogen-derived activity, both of which were highest in late lactation and in spring. Changes in plasminogen-derived activity and total plasmin plus plasminogen-derived activity due to SOL were not only due to the decrease in milk yield associated with advancing lactation, because enzyme yields were also increased with advancing lactation. Similarly, effects of time of year on plasminogen-derived activity and total plasmin plus plasminogen-derived activity could not be attributed solely to concomitant changes in milk yield, and may be influenced by the variation in the quality and quantity of feed during the year inherent in a pasture-based dairy system. Effects of SOL on proteolytic activity were greater than, and independent of, effects of time of year.
‘Legalizing’ the family: disputes about marriage, paternity and divorce in Algerian courts (1963–1990)
Authors: DENNERLEIN BETTINA
Published: July 2008

This article is devoted to an analysis of Algerian court cases. It focuses on family law in practice, in order to shed light on the disputed character of this realm of law and the ambiguity involved in its reform. The aim of the article is to question the assumption of an intrinsic opposition between the (traditional/Muslim) family on the one hand, and (modern) state law on the other. It will be argued that the legal regulation of the family, far from being simply imposed by the state, represents a dynamic process in which different actors with different interests and orientations partake. The material used consists mainly of decisions taken by the Algerian Supreme Court covering the period from 1963 (the year of the its creation) to 1990.
THE GENUS CYRTANDRA (GESNERIACEAE) IN PALAWAN, PHILIPPINES
Authors: ATKINS H. , CRONK Q. C. B.
Published: July 2008

Collections of Cyrtandra from the island of Palawan in the Philippines are reviewed. Twelve species are present, of which only five species are already described. A further three species and one variety are described here: C. cleopatrae H.J. Atkins & Cronk sp. nov., C. pulgarensis [Elmer ex] H.J. Atkins & Cronk sp. nov., C. hirtigera H.J. Atkins & Cronk sp. nov., and C. hirtigera var. chlorina H.J. Atkins & Cronk var. nov. Further material of the remaining four taxa (spp. B, C, D, E) will be needed before these can be formally named, although descriptions are provided here. All species are endemic except C. elatostemoides Elmer and C. hypochrysoides Kränzl., which also occur in Borneo and Luzon respectively. The pattern of narrow endemism shown by the cyrtandras of Palawan is commented on briefly.
STUDIES IN MONODOMINANT FORESTS IN EASTERN MATO GROSSO, BRAZIL: II. A FOREST IN THE AREÕES XAVANTE INDIAN RESERVE
Authors: MARIMON B. S. , FELFILI J. M. , HARIDASAN M.
Published: July 2008

The floristic composition, structure, soil fertility and leaf nutrient concentrations were analysed in a monodominant forest of Brosimum rubescens Taub. located in the Areões Xavante Indigenous Reserve (14°34′S, 51°58′W). The area lies in the ecotone between Amazonian forest and cerrado in the municipality of Água Boa, Mato Grosso State, Brazil. Sixty nested plots (10 × 10m each) were located in a representative portion of the forest, giving a total sampling area of 0.6ha (40 × 150m). A total of 609 trees ≥ 5cm dbh belonging to 57 species, 46 genera and 32 families were present. The most important family was Moraceae, with B. rubescens as the dominant species with a relative dominance of 59%. The diameter distribution of B. rubescens was unbalanced, indicating an episodic recruitment that could lead to future changes in the forest structure. The high basal area per hectare of B. rubescens indicates the possibility of sustainable logging for commercial exploitation. Analysis of composite soil samples collected from the surface layer (0–10cm) of each of the 60 plots did not indicate any significant gradients in fertility within the area sampled. Mean soil pH was 4.6 and the availability of essential nutrients was very low (0.22cmol(+) kg−1 K, 0.048cmol(+) kg−1 Ca, 0.167cmol(+) kg−1 Mg, and 1.5mg kg−1 P). The higher availability of Mg in the soils in comparison with Ca was a feature observed in other monodominant forests in the Amazon region, as well as in other parts of the world. Analysis of foliar samples showed that the dominant species, B. rubescens, maintained higher foliar concentrations of K, Ca and Mg than other species in the forest. This probably indicates a competitive advantage for this species. Also, the higher concentrations of Mg in the soil did not affect its uptake of Ca or K.
The Quest for Masculinity in a Defeated France, 1940–1945
Authors: Capdevila Luc
Published: July 2008

This article provides a detailed analysis of the individuals who enrolled in Vichy fighting units at the end of the German occupation. Those groups were mostly created in late 1943 and early 1944, and acted as effective subsidiaries to German troops, treating civilians and partisans with extreme violence. The enrolment of those men was a consequence of their political beliefs, notably strong anti-communism. But the fact that their behaviour seems born of desperation (some were recruited after D-Day) is a hint that it was shaped according to other cultural patterns, especially an image of masculinity rooted in the memory of the First World War and developed, among others, according to fascist and Nazi ideologies: a manhood based on strength, the violence of warfare and the image of the soldier. This article provides an analysis based on judiciary documents from the time of the purge, with a careful reconstruction of personal trajectories and self discourse in order to understand the masculine identity these sometimes very young men tried to realise through political engagement in the guise of warriors.
De-centring Twentieth-Century Women's Movements
Authors: Davidson Denise Z.
Published: July 2008

Cheryl Law, Suffrage and Power: The Women's Movement, 1918–1928 (London: I. B. Taurus, 1997), 260 pp., £39.50, ISBN 1-86064-201-2.

Christine Bard, ed., Un Siècle d'antiféminisme (Paris: Fayard, 1999), 481 pp., FF 150.00, ISBN 2-213-60285-9.

Kathryn Kish Sklar, Anja Schüler and Susan Strasser, eds., Social Justice Feminists in the United States and Germany: A Dialogue in Documents, 1885–1933 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998), 381 pp., $19.95, ISBN. 0-8014-8469-3.

Leila Rupp, Worlds of Women: The Making of an International Women's Movement (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997), 325 pp., cloth $55.00, pb $19.95, ISBN 0-691-01675-5.

Mrinalini Sinha, Donna Guy and Angela Woollacott, eds., Feminisms and Internationalism, Gender and History Special Issue, 264 pp. (Oxford: Blackwell, 1999). $24.95, ISBN 0-631-20919-0.

When we think of the women's movements of the early twentieth century,
organisations like Britain's WSPU (Women's Social and Political Union) come to
mind and we envision suffragettes marching and getting themselves arrested in cities
like London. None of the books discussed here deals with this ‘mainstream’ view of
feminism. Instead, they investigate women's movements and reactions to them from
other perspectives. Approaching their subject matter from different angles, these
recent works offer new interpretations of the history of feminism in the twentieth
century. Together they make us consider a geographical re-focusing on the subject
of women's movements. They raise questions about the chronology of feminism;
they highlight the complicated relationships between ‘globalisation’ and nationalism
and centre and periphery; and they draw attention to changing definitions of
feminism depending on time and place and the issues at stake.
The Rise of National Socialism in Germany
Authors: Herf Jeffrey
Published: July 2008

Peter Fritzsche, Germans into Nazis (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998), 269 pp., $24.95, ISBN 0-674-35091-X.

Dan P. Silverman, Hitler's Economy: Nazi Work Creation Programs, 1933–1936 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998), 384 pp., $45.00, ISBN 0-674-74071-8.

Roderick Stackelberg, Hitler's Germany: Origins, Interpretations, Legacies (London and New York: Routledge, 1999), 432 pp., hb, £50.00, ISBN 0-415-2011414-4.

Conan Fischer, ed., The Rise of National Socialism and the Working Classes in Weimar Germany (Providence and Oxford: Berghahn Books, 1996), 256 pp., hb, $55.00, £37.00, ISBN 1-571-81915-0.

Saul Friedlander, Nazi Germany and the Jews, Vol. I: The Era of Persecution, 1933–1939 (New York: HarperCollins, 1997), 448 pp., hb, $30.00 ISBN 0-060-19042-6.

These works address, among other issues, the following: how widespread was support for Nazism before and after 1933 and how can this support be explained? What was the core of Nazi antisemitism, how important was it to the history of the regime, and how was it translated into policy? Several also demonstrate that, amidst the vast forest of specialist studies, it is also possible to write valuable synthetic works.
On the Independence Number of Random Interval Graphs
Authors: BOUCHERON S. , FERNANDEZ de la VEGA W.
Published: July 2008

A random interval graph of order n is generated by picking 2n numbers X1,…,X2n
independently from the uniform distribution on [0,1] and considering the collection of n
intervals with endpoints X2i−1 and X2i for i ∈ {1,…,n}. The graph vertices correspond to
intervals. Two vertices are connected if the corresponding intervals intersect. This paper
characterizes the fluctuations of the independence number in random interval graphs. This
characterization is obtained through the analysis of the greedy algorithm. We actually
prove limit theorems (central limit theorem and large deviation principle) on the number
of phases of this greedy algorithm. The proof relies on the analysis of first-passage times
through a random level.
On the Edge Distribution of a Graph
Authors: NIKIFOROV V.
Published: July 2008

We investigate a graph function which is related to the local density, the maximal cut and
the least eigenvalue of a graph. In particular it enables us to prove the following assertions.

Let p [ges ] 3 be an integer, c ∈ (0, 1/2) and G be a Kp-free graph on n vertices with e [les ] cn2 edges. There exists a positive constant α = α (c, p) such that:

(a) some [lfloor ]n/2[rfloor ]-subset of V (G) induces at most (c-4 − α) n2 edges (this answers a question of Paul Erdős);

(b) G can be made bipartite by the omission of at most (c-2 − α) n2 edges.
A Multidimensional Generalization of the Erdős–Szekeres Lemma on Monotone Subsequences
Authors: SZABÓ TIBOR , TARDOS GÁBOR
Published: July 2008

We consider an extension of the Monotone Subsequence lemma of Erdős and Szekeres in higher dimensions. Let v1,…,vn ∈ ℝd be a sequence of real vectors. For a subset I ⊆ [n] and vector [srarr ]c ∈ {0,1}d we say that I is [srarr ]c-free if there are no i < j ∈ I, such that, for every k = 1,…,d, vik < vik if and only if [srarr ]ck = 0. We construct sequences of vectors with the property that the largest [srarr ]c-free subset is small for every choice of [srarr ]c. In particular, for d = 2 the largest [srarr ]c-free subset is O(n⅝) for all the four possible [srarr ]c. The smallest possible value remains far from being determined.

We also consider and resolve a simpler variant of the problem.
Algorithmic Aspects of a Chip-Firing Game
Authors: VAN DEN HEUVEL JAN
Published: July 2008

Algorithmic aspects of a chip-firing game on a graph introduced by Biggs are studied. This
variant of the chip-firing game, called the dollar game, has the properties that every starting
configuration leads to a so-called critical configuration. The set of critical configurations
has many interesting properties. In this paper it is proved that the number of steps needed
to reach a critical configuration is polynomial in the number of edges of the graph and the
number of chips in the starting configuration, but not necessarily in the size of the input.
An alternative algorithm is also described and analysed.
Brain and mind
Authors: BONCINELLI EDOARDO
Published: July 2008

We are beginning to understand how the brain is organized and works, how it evolved in the remote past and how it continually forms during the embryonic development of individual organisms. The study of the brain and its activity has recently advanced at an accelerating pace thanks to the convergence of a number of research strategies. At least three research lines occupy a particular position among these strategies: genetics and the molecular biology of neural cells and the central nervous system; cognitive science; and brain imaging. If the brain is the subject of biological studies at the cellular, intercellular and circuitry levels, the approach to the study of mind should be more subtle. Nonetheless, science has progressed a long way in this direction. Some recent advances in this field are briefly reviewed here, with particular emphasis on brain evolution and development, the role of sensory organs, coding and the processing of sensorial information, memory, rationality, meaning and consciousness.
The Dead Sea – a unique global site
Authors: BEN-AVRAHAM ZVI
Published: July 2008

The Dead Sea area is unique in the sense that it is a natural laboratory in which key topics in several scientific disciplines can be studied in situ. Processes that take place during continental break-up, geochemistry and dynamics of the hypersaline Dead Sea water, paleoclimate and paleoseismic records in sediments and the survival mechanisms of halophilic micro-organisms are among the topics being studied there. Active tectonic processes control all aspects of the Dead Sea and have created an environment that has also influenced the course of human history.
Social inequalities in health in an ageing population
Authors: MARMOT MICHAEL G. , NAZROO JAMES Y.
Published: July 2008

In the 20th century, European countries had marked declines in mortality rates, initially at younger ages, and subsequently at older ages. This resulted in ‘rectangularization’ of the survival curve: large proportions of the population surviving to older ages, at which point mortality rates increase sharply. The extent to which this will be accompanied by increases in the proportions of older people suffering morbidity has been debated. There are marked differences in life expectancy at older ages among European countries. France, Italy, Spain, and Sweden have better than average life expectancy at age 65. Denmark, Germany, the UK and the Netherlands have lower. Within countries, there are marked socio-economic differences in morbidity and mortality at older ages. The impact of illness is also likely to differ according to an individual's social circumstances. It is essential to have longitudinal studies examining the determinants and impact of health and well-being in ageing populations. Ideally, these should be carried out in a way that facilitates international comparisons
Ageing, health and psychosocial factors
Authors: THEORELL TÖRES
Published: July 2008

Studies of self-reported health on large cohorts in Sweden indicate that men and women in lower social classes in this country report considerably worse health than men and women in the upper classes. This is in line with many other research findings in many countries. What is interesting in Swedish data, however, is that self-reported health improved during the ten-year period after retirement. This was particularly pronounced during the years of financial crisis during the 1990s. Low decision latitude at work seems to account for part of the poor health in the lower social classes. An important task in future research will be to tie the epidemiological findings on ageing to endocrine factors strongly correlated with ageing, such as female and male sex hormones as well as their precursor, DHEA.
Native listeners
Authors: CUTLER ANNE
Published: July 2008

Becoming a native listener is the necessary precursor to becoming a native speaker. Babies in the first year of life undertake a remarkable amount of work; by the time they begin to speak, they have perceptually mastered the phonological repertoire and phoneme co-occurrence probabilities of the native language, and they can locate familiar word-forms in novel continuous-speech contexts. The skills acquired at this early stage form a necessary part of adult listening. However, the same native listening skills also underlie problems in listening to a late-acquired non-native language, accounting for why in such a case listening (an innate ability) is sometimes paradoxically more difficult than, for instance, reading (a learned ability).
Liberal distrust
Authors: HARDIN RUSSELL
Published: July 2008

The beginning of political and economic liberalism is distrust. This claim is clearer for economic liberalism than for political liberalism because it is overtly foundational in economic liberalism, which was directed against the intrusions of the state in economic affairs. Those intrusions typically had the obvious purpose of securing economic advantages for some by restricting opportunities for others, although some of them may have been merely capricious or ignorantly intended. The hostility to such economic intrusions led to the form of the American constitution, with its principal purpose to restrict government and its actions in the economy or, in the lexicon of the time, in commerce. James Madison saw the creation of an open economy or untrammelled commerce as the main achievement of the new constitution.
The prevalence of underweight in 9–10-year-old schoolchildren in Liverpool: 1998–2006
Authors: Boddy Lynne M , Hackett Allan F , Stratton Gareth
Published: July 2008

Objective

To estimate the prevalence of underweight between 1998 and 2006 in Liverpool schoolchildren aged 9–10 years using recently published underweight cut-off points.

Design and setting

Stature and body mass data collected at the LiverpoolSportsLinx project’s fitness testing sessions were used to calculate BMI.

Subjects

Data were available on 26 782 (n13 637 boys, 13 145 girls) participants.

Results

Overall underweight declined in boys from 10·3 % in 1998–1999 to 6·9 % in 2005–2006, and all sub-classifications of underweight declined, in particular grade 3 underweight, with the most recent prevalence being 0·1 %. In girls, the prevalence of underweight declined from 10·8 % in 1998–1999 to 7·5 % in 2005–2006. The prevalence of all grades of underweight was higher in girls than in boys. Underweight showed a fluctuating pattern across all grades over time for boys and girls, and overall prevalence in 2005–2006 represents over 200 children across the city.

Conclusions

Underweight may have reduced slightly from baseline, but remains a substantial problem in Liverpool, with the prevalence of overall underweight being relatively similar to the prevalence of obesity. The present study highlights the requirement for policy makers and funders to consider both ends of the body mass spectrum when fixing priorities in child health.
Child nutrition in countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States: time to redirect strategies?
Authors: Cattaneo Adriano , Timmer Arnold , Bomestar Tamara , Bua Jenny , Kumar Sanjiv , Tamburlini Giorgio
Published: July 2008

Background

Countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States made little progress in child nutrition and mortality between 1990 and 2005. The present paper assesses the nutritional status of children <5 years of age and discusses possible strategies for improvement.

Methods

Data on low birth weight, infant and young child feeding, underweight, overweight and micronutrient deficiencies were compiled from available reports and databases, complemented through questionnaires to UNICEF Country Offices, and analysed by country, age, gender, urban/rural residence, maternal education and wealth quintiles.

Results

Exclusive breast-feeding in the first 6 months and continuing breast-feeding up to 2 years fall short of WHO and UNICEF recommendations. Complementary foods are introduced too early and may be poor in protein and micronutrients. Stunting and underweight are prevalent, especially in children aged 12 to 35 months; overweight is even more prevalent. Vitamin A and I deficiencies are still present in some countries, despite current control efforts. Anaemia ranges between 20 % and 40 %. Higher rates of malnutrition are found in rural areas, children of less educated mothers and lower-income families.

Discussion

Current public health strategies should be redirected to address: (i) overall protection, promotion and support of infant and young child feeding, in addition to breast-feeding; (ii) overweight, in addition to underweight and stunting; and (iii) malnutrition as a whole, in addition to micronutrient deficiencies. An equity lens should be used in developing policies and plans and implementing and monitoring programmes. Capacity building, cross-sectoral action, improved data collection within adequate legal frameworks and community engagement should be the pillars of redirected strategies.
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma: molecular pathogenesis and therapeutic developments
Authors: Tao Qian , Chan Anthony T.C.
Published: July 2008

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a prevalent tumour in southern China and southeast Asia, particularly in the Cantonese population, where its incidence has remained high for decades. Recent studies have demonstrated that the aetiology of NPC is complex, involving multiple factors including genetic susceptibility, infection with the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) and exposure to chemical carcinogens. During development of the disease, viral infection and multiple somatic genetic and epigenetic changes synergistically disrupt normal cell function, thus contributing to NPC pathogenesis. NPC is highly radiosensitive and chemosensitive, but treatment of patients with locoregionally advanced disease remains problematic. New biomarkers for NPC, including EBV DNA copy number or methylation of multiple tumour suppressor genes, which can be detected in serum and nasopharyngeal brushings, have been developed for the molecular diagnosis of this tumour. Meanwhile, new therapeutic strategies such as intensity-modulated radiation therapy and immuno- and epigenetic therapies might lead to more specific and effective treatments.
A qualitative study of the experiences of women with metastatic breast cancer
Authors: Vilhauer Ruvanee P.
Published: July 2008

Objective:

My objective was to investigate the experiences of women diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer.

Method:

I did a qualitative study based on interview data. Fourteen women with metastatic breast cancer were recruited into a larger study of online support group use. Participants were interviewed by phone.

Results:

The women indicated that they experience distress because of concerns about body image, declines in aspects of their sexual lives, and worries about the effect of stress on their illness. The stress that worries these women comes from fear of dying, fear of disease progression and debilitation, the loss of their future, and practical concerns. The women were also likely to experience a decline in daily activity after being diagnosed with metastatic disease. They become less active because of the physical symptoms of the illness and the side effects of treatments, the medicalization of their lifestyle, their desire to avoid stressful situations, the constraints imposed by their social world, and the need to maintain disability benefits. Although women are often in need of emotional and material support from others after they are diagnosed, social support can decrease, both because women find it difficult to be open about the difficulties they face and because the responses of others are not adequately supportive. Distress and declines in daily activity and social support can feed into each other to create a vicious circle.

Significance of results:

This paper makes a significant contribution to the literature by providing a rich description of how metastatic breast cancer affects women. Further research, with more diverse samples, is needed in this understudied area.
Lung cancer: Challenges and solutions for supportive care intervention research
Authors: Schofield Penelope , Ugalde Anna , Carey Mariko , Mileshkin Linda , Duffy Mary , Ball David , Aranda Sanchia
Published: July 2008

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death. It is associated with a high level of morbidity, particularly fatigue, pain, breathlessness, and coughing. These symptoms can have a substantial impact on psychosocial functioning. It is critical to have effective interventions demonstrated to improve quality of life particularly for those with advanced disease. However there is a paucity of high quality intervention research to guide practice in this area. This article discusses the challenges in conducting supportive care research in this group, including the patient's level of literacy in English, poor performance status, rapidly fluctuating health status, and familial or professional “gate-keeping.” Many of these challenges can be overcome by broadening eligibility criteria, permitting some flexibility in relation to recruitment and data collection procedures, working closely with the treatment team, involving the patient's family, minimizing practical difficulties associated with intervention delivery, and reducing study burden in other ways, such as limiting the amount of data collected from the patient and shortening follow-up time intervals. We explore these potential solutions drawing on the experience of conducting a randomized controlled trial of a support intervention for people with lung cancer and their family.
Quality of life among women after surgery for ovarian cancer
Authors: Schulman-Green Dena , Ercolano Elizabeth , Dowd Michael , Schwartz Peter , Mccorkle Ruth
Published: July 2008

Objectives:

Difficulties with diagnosis and aggressive, long-term treatment may result in lower quality of life (QOL), including high levels of anxiety, depression, and uncertainty, greater symptom distress, and lower overall QOL among women with avarian cancer. The purpose of this study was to describe demographic, clinical, and other risk factors associated with compromised QOL among women who have undergone surgery for avarian malignancies.

Methods:

Subjects were recruited to participate in a clinical trial that tested a specialized nursing intervention addressing psychological and physical care among women post-surgical for avarian cancer. QOL was measured using five standardized self-report measures: the State-Trait Anxiety Scale (SAS), the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), the Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale (MUIS), the Symptom Distress Scale (SDS), and the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12). Baseline data were collected while women were hospitalized following surgery.

Results:

The sample (n=145) included women with avarian cancer (58%) and other cancers metastasized to the avaries and abdomen (42%). Mean scores on the measures were consistent with or higher than previously reported means for similar populations. Women reporting the lowest QOL were more likely to be younger, more educated, and have early stage disease.

Significance of results:

Women who have undergone surgery for ovarian malignancies have psychological needs that are often considered secondary to physical needs. Interventions should include routine screening for distress and referral to appropriate psychological and social services, thereby facilitating quality cancer care.
The 2005 catastrophic acid crater lake drainage, lahar, and acidic aerosol formation at Mount Chiginagak volcano, Alaska, USA: Field observations and preliminary water and vegetation chemistry results
Authors: Schaefer Janet R. , Scott William E. , Evans William C. , Jorgenson Janet , McGimsey Robert G. , Wang Bronwen
Published: July 2008

A mass of snow and ice 400‐m‐wide and 105‐m‐thick began melting in the summit crater of Mount Chiginagak volcano sometime between November 2004 and early May 2005, presumably owing to increased heat flux from the hydrothermal system, or possibly from magma intrusion and degassing. In early May 2005, an estimated 3.8 × 106 m3 of sulfurous, clay‐rich debris and acidic water, with an accompanying acidic aerosol component, exited the crater through a tunnel at the base of a glacier that breaches the south crater rim. Over 27 km downstream, the acidic waters of the flood inundated an important salmon spawning drainage, acidifying Mother Goose Lake from surface to depth (approximately 0.5 km3 in volume at a pH of 2.9 to 3.1), killing all aquatic life, and preventing the annual salmon run. Over 2 months later, crater lake water sampled 8 km downstream of the outlet after considerable dilution from glacial meltwater was a weak sulfuric acid solution (pH = 3.2, SO4 = 504 mg/L, Cl = 53.6 mg/L, and F = 7.92 mg/L). The acid flood waters caused severe vegetation damage, including plant death and leaf kill along the flood path. The crater lake drainage was accompanied by an ambioructic flow of acidic aerosols that followed the flood path, contributing to defoliation and necrotic leaf damage to vegetation in a 29 km2 area along and above affected streams, in areas to heights of over 150 m above stream level. Moss species killed in the event contained high levels of sulfur, indicating extremely elevated atmospheric sulfur content. The most abundant airborne phytotoxic constituent was likely sulfuric acid aerosols that were generated during the catastrophic partial crater lake drainage event. Two mechanisms of acidic aerosol formation are proposed: (1) generation of aerosol mist through turbulent flow of acidic water and (2) catastrophic gas exsolution. This previously undocumented phenomenon of simultaneous vegetation‐damaging acidic aerosols accompanying drainage of an acidic crater lake has important implications for the study of hazards associated with active volcanic crater lakes.
Morphology and seasonal characteristics of low latitude E‐region quasiperiodic echoes studied using large database of Gadanki radar observations
Authors: Venkateswara Rao N. , Patra A. K. , Pant T. K. , Rao S. V. B.
Published: July 2008

In this paper we study the morphology, seasonal features, and statistics of low latitude quasiperiodic (QP) echoes using an unprecedented data set of 147 nights of observations spanning over all seasons made using the Gadanki radar. The QP echoes have periods 2–20 min and occur on more than 50% nights. They are often found embedded in descending echoing layers whose characteristics resemble to those of tidal winds. Their occurrence shows strong seasonal dependence with 48% of the time in summer, 26–32% in equinox, and 14% in winter. The QP echoes have a tendency to appear first during 21–00 LT, which could last for 2–8 h, leading to their maximum occurrence rate during postmidnight hours. Height‐time occurrences of radar echoes and QP structures both show common descending behavior, which agree extremely well with the observed descending behavior of the Es layers. We also find that the seasonal variations of QP echo occurrence are in very close agreement with that of the Es activity, tidal activity in the same height region, and also gravity wave activity in the mesosphere. Interestingly, the occurrence statistics are much more than their midlatitude counterpart; and time of first appearance, time of maximum occurrence, and duration of QP echoes all strongly contrast the midlatitude features. These observations have been discussed in detail in the light of current understanding of QP echoes.
Borehole‐to‐borehole hydrologic response across 2.4 km in the upper oceanic crust: Implications for crustal‐scale properties
Authors: Fisher A. T. , Davis E. E. , Becker K.
Published: July 2008

Subseafloor hydrologic observatories (CORKs) were installed in four boreholes in young seafloor on the eastern flank of the Juan de Fuca ridge to evaluate the hydrogeology of the upper oceanic crust. Two CORKs installed at Site 1301 were incompletely sealed, allowing cold bottom water to flow into basement at 2–5 L/s and causing a pressure perturbation in a preexisting sealed CORK at Site 1027, which was 2.4 km away. The pressure perturbation at Site 1027 is analyzed using conventional aquifer test methods, yielding transmissivity of T = 0.5 to 1.2 × 10−2 m2/s and bulk permeability of k = 0.7 to 2 × 10−12 m2 in the upper 300 m of basement. Storativity (a parameter that includes fluid and aquifer compressibilities, porosity, and layer thickness) is S = 1 to 3 × 10−3, corresponding to a crustal aquifer (matrix) compressibility of βm = 3 to 9 × 10−10 Pa−1. The inferred basement permeability is consistent with, but at the low end of, permeabilities calculated from single‐hole packer experiments at this and other young oceanic crustal sites; it is much less than values estimated from numerical models, analyses of formation response to tidal pressure oscillations, or pressure responses to coseismic strain events. The relatively low permeability indicated by the cross‐hole response may result from the basement aquifer in this area being azimuthally anisotropic, with a preferential flow direction oriented subparallel to the abyssal hill topography and tectonic structural fabric created at the ridge axis; this hypothesis will be tested during future experiments.
Effects of mesoscale eddies on the flow of the Alaskan Stream
Authors: Maslowski Wieslaw , Roman Ricardo , Kinney Jaclyn Clement
Published: July 2008

Using a high‐resolution, pan‐Arctic ice‐ocean model forced with realistic atmospheric data, we examine the mean transport and temporal and spatial variability within the Alaskan Stream. Model results are analyzed and compared with observations, including satellite altimetry and CTD measurements. The mean net transport of the Alaskan Stream is found to be between 34 and 44 Sv, intensifying downstream. Mesoscale eddies are found to periodically move along the path of the Alaskan Stream and alter the mean position of the typically westward‐flowing current. However, the strength of the current is not reduced as an anticyclonic eddy passes a point along the path. Instead, there appears to be an offshore (or southward) shift in the current velocity core. Stationary measurement instruments may not be able to detect this shift in position over the slope if their southernmost location does not coincide with the current shift due to an eddy. This may result in recording of a weakened or sometimes reversed flow. Finally, we examine and demonstrate that modeled eddies within the Alaskan Stream have dominant effect on northward transport and variability through the eastern and central Aleutian Island passes.
A land surface soil moisture data assimilation system based on the dual‐UKF method and the Community Land Model
Authors: Tian Xiangjun , Xie Zhenghui , Dai Aiguo
Published: July 2008

Many studies have shown the deficiencies of the extended Kalman filter (EKF), even though it has become a standard technique used in nonlinear estimation. In the EKF method, the state distribution is propagated analytically through the first‐order linearization of the nonlinear system, which can introduce large errors in variable estimation and may lead to suboptimal performance and sometimes divergence of the filter. The unscented Kalman filter (UKF) addresses these problems using a deterministic sampling approach to capture the posterior mean and covariance accurate to the third order for any nonlinearity, while the dual‐UKF method uses two UKF filters (one for state variables and one for parameters, in contrast to only one filter in the usual UKF) to simultaneously optimize the model states and parameters using observational data. In this paper, we employ the dual‐UKF method to account for the effects of land surface subgrid‐scale heterogeneity and soil water thawing and freezing and implement it into the NCAR Community Land Model version 2.0 to build a data assimilation system for assimilating satellite observations of soil moisture. Experiments for two sites in north and south China show that this dual‐UKF‐based assimilation system outperforms the usual UKF‐ and EKF‐based methods in reproducing the temporal evolution of daily soil moisture, especially under freezing conditions. Furthermore, the improvement also propagates, albeit to a lesser extent, to lower layers where observations are unavailable.
Overrun length of avalanches overtopping catching dams: Cross‐comparison of small‐scale laboratory experiments and observations from full‐scale avalanches
Authors: Faug T. , Gauer P. , Lied K. , Naaim M.
Published: July 2008

Results from small‐scale and full‐scale experiments on avalanche–dam interactions are presented and compared. These experiments were analyzed with respect to the overrun length (i.e., the distance that the avalanche traveled beyond a catching dam). The differences and similarities in the results are discussed through a cross‐comparison of the small‐scale experiments and by comparing them with observations from Ryggfonn on avalanche–dam interactions. Further, we establish a simple relationship that appears to be valid for small‐scale experiments with granular materials as well as for full‐scale avalanche experiments. The relationship relates the overrun length to the speed of the approaching avalanche and the effective height of the catching dam.