bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assessing the trophic impacts of marine mammals: From metabolism to food web indices
Authors: Morissette Lyne , Brodie Paul F.
Published: March 2014

Marine mammals are an important part of ecosystems, and their trophic role and potential impact have been increasingly studied. One key question is how these large animals interact with fisheries or compete for similar resources. Consequently, some models once used only for fisheries management are now including pinnipeds and cetaceans. However, fish and marine mammals do not share the same ecology and bioenergetics, and complex ecosystem models may not be the best way to assess the impact of pinnipeds or cetaceans in food webs. Indeed, simpler methods based on thermodynamics might give us reasonable answers with limited amounts of data. Here, we present an assessment of two different approaches to assess the trophic role of marine mammals in the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence (Canada): mixed trophic impacts (MTI) based on ecosystem modeling and surface index (SI) impact based on bioenergetics. Our results show that while modeling represents a good way of getting a holistic view of the role of marine mammals in ecosystems, trophic impact estimates based on fundamental thermodynamics principles can also give us answers requiring less data. The body surface area approach presented here might provide a practical tool for ecologists, who are not necessarily ecosystem modelers, to study this issue.
Estimating the proportion of identifiable individuals and group sizes in photographic identification studies
Authors: Eguchi Tomoharu
Published: March 2014

Simple Bayesian statistical models are introduced to estimate the proportion of identifiable individuals and group sizes in photographic identification, or photo‐ID, studies of animals that are found in groups. The models require a simple random photographic sampling of animals, where the photographic captures are treated as sampling with replacement within each group. The total number of images, including those that cannot be identified, and the number of images that contain identifiable individuals are used to make inference about the proportion of identifiable individuals within each group and as the population when a number of groups are sampled. The numbers of images for individuals within each group are used to make inference about the group size. Based on analyses of simulated and real data, the models perform well with respect to accuracy and precision of posterior distributions of the parameters. Widths of posterior intervals were affected by the number of groups sampled, sampling duration, and the proportion of identifiable individuals in each group that was sampled. The structure of the models can accommodate covariates, which may affect photographic efficiency, defined in this study as the probability of photographically capturing individuals.
Northern fowl mite (Ornithonyssus sylviarum) in Sweden
Authors: JANSSON D. S. , OTMAN F. , LUNDQVIST L. , HÖGLUND J. , ENGSTRÖM A. , CHIRICO J.
Published: March 2014

Haematophagous mites were collected from the vent region and plumage of chickens in six hobby flocks of ornamental breeds in Sweden, one of which included turkeys. Soiled vent skin and feathers, dermatitis, hyperkeratosis, skin necroses and ulcers were observed in 12 necropsied birds from two of the flocks. The mites were identified as the northern fowl mite Ornithonyssus sylviarum (Mesostigmata: Macronyssidae). This was supported by sequence analysis of a 642‐bp region in the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene (COI) in mites collected from five flocks, which showed 97–99% sequence similarity to O. sylviarum by blast analysis. Pairwise sequence comparisons revealed nucleotide variations in the range of 0–2.8%, whereas amino acid sequences were highly conserved. This paper represents one of very few records of O. sylviarum in European poultry, and is the first to report COI sequence data for O. sylviarum from poultry in Europe.
How to Criticize Lexical Accounts of Idioms
Authors: Arseneault Madeleine
Published: March 2014

The semantics of idioms has traditionally treated the idiomatic phrase as a lexical item to which an idiomatic meaning is assigned, and in which remains inert the ordinary literal meaning of the phrase's constitutive words. I draw a distinction between metaphysical lexicalism and methodological lexicalism, and show how criticisms lodged against one kind of lexicalism leave the other intact. Once it is clarified that it is methodological lexicalism that is of interest, and what kind of evidence counts against methodological lexicalism and semantic inertness, I criticize the traditional semantic approach to idioms.
Differential responses of plasma membrane aquaporins in mediating water transport of cucumber seedlings under osmotic and salt stresses
Authors: QIAN ZHENG‐JIANG , SONG JUAN‐JUAN , CHAUMONT FRANÇOIS , YE QING
Published: March 2014

It has long been recognized that inhibition of plant water transport by either osmotic stress or salinity is mediated by aquaporins (AQPs), but the function and regulation of AQPs are highly variable among distinct isoforms and across different species. In this study, cucumber seedlings were subjected to polyethylene glycol (PEG) or NaCl stress for duration of 2 h or 24 h. The 2 h treatment with PEG or NaCl had non‐significant effect on the expression of plasma membrane AQP (CsPIPs) in roots, indicating the decrease in hydraulic conductivity of roots (Lpr) and root cells (Lprc) measured in these conditions were due to changes in AQP activity. After both 2 h and 24 h PEG or NaCl exposure, the decrease in hydraulic conductivity of leaves (Kleaf) and leaf cells (Lplc) could be attributed to a down‐regulation of the two most highly expressed isoforms, CsPIP1;2 and CsPIP2;4. In roots, both Lpr and Lprc were further reduced after 24 h PEG exposure, but partially recovered after 24 h NaCl treatment, which were consistent with changes in the expression of CsPIP genes. Overall, the results demonstrated differential responses of CsPIPs in mediating water transport of cucumber seedlings, and the regulatory mechanisms differed according to applied stresses, stress durations and specific organs.
Implicit Public Values and the Creation of Publicly Valuable Outcomes: The Importance of Work and the Contested Role of Labor Unions
Authors: Budd John W.
Published: March 2014

The deep importance of work for families and communities means that discussions of public values and debates over public policies to create publicly valuable outcomes must not overlook work, the workplace, and the employment relationship. This article considers the range of public values on work and the options for creating work‐related publicly valuable outcomes. Labor unions feature prominently in the analyses because they are the most visible nonmarket institution for creating publicly valuable outcomes relating to work. Ultimately, however, there is no consensus on the desired public values about work or the best ways of fulfilling them. Rather, these are deeply contested issues rooted in contrasting frames of reference on work and the employment relationship, which makes the realization of publicly valuable outcomes challenging.
Copiousness, conjecture and collaboration in William Camden's Britannia
Authors: Vine Angus
Published: March 2014

While William Camden's Britannia (1586) clearly is a copious text in both the Renaissance sense of the word and its modern meaning, the work's connection with the humanist rhetorical tradition of copia is far from straightforward. Camden focuses in this monumental antiquarian survey of Britain on copia rerum rather than copia verborum, thus adopting one half of the humanist concept, but essentially dispensing with the other. This new kind of copiousness, the article argues, is the consequence of both the Britannia's historiographical method, one that depends on conjecture to uncover linguistic, historical, and other origins, and its political project, what Camden in his prefatory epistle calls his desire to ‘restore antiquity to Britaine, and Britain to his antiquity’. Both these things put a premium on the assembling of examples: something that we can see in the work's prolix style and the accretions across the six editions published in Camden's lifetime. To encompass national heritage in all its manifestations in this manner, Camden relies not only on his own knowledge and research, but also on the collaboration of others – user‐generated content that in turn further increases the work's voluminousness. The Britannia, this article suggests, therefore inhabits a pivotal place in the shifting history of copia: it is a work that looks back to Erasmus and the humanist sense of a trope primarily associated with the language arts, but that also anticipates the increasing orientation of copiousness towards compilations of matter, knowledge, and things.
John Aubrey and the rhapsodic book
Authors: Bennett Kate
Published: March 2014

This article argues that John Aubrey and his biographical collaborator, Anthony Wood, pioneered a new kind of encyclopaedic collection, which they understood to be empirically grounded ‘truth’ but which contemporaries derided as a ‘rhapsody’. A ‘rhapsody’ implies a basis in a new empirical practice, and a rejection of rhetorical tradition. Aubrey's voluminous collections were never published, largely because his work was overwhelmed by its attempt at comprehensiveness. Aubrey collaborated with Wood in his biographical encyclopaedia Athenae Oxonienses, which was prosecuted for its political content and also widely criticised as ‘barbarous’ in style and ‘trivial’ in content for ‘heaping up’ biographical detail gleaned, via Aubrey, from letters, documents, and lives specially written by a vast range of people. The ‘rhapsody’ is therefore remarkably socially broad‐ranging. In this article I examine Aubrey's Brief Lives as an anti‐rhetorical rhapsody stuffed with strange bedfellows; also his play The Countrey Revell and his three‐volume antiquarian collection Monumenta Britannica. I explain how the ‘rhapsody’ was incompatible with print culture and therefore is most characteristically a manuscript, with Aubrey's failure to get his A Perambulation of Surrey printed given as an example.
“Against the Cult of Things”: On Soviet Productivism, Storage Economy, and Commodities with No Destination
Authors: OUSHAKINE SERGUEI ALEX.
Published: March 2014

Following an emerging trend in the ethnography of socialist things, this article seeks to move beyond the powerful paradigms of “the culture of shortage” and “the economy of scarcity” that have been defining the studies of socialist consumption for the last few decades. By displacing “scarcity” as the primary explanatory lens on Soviet consumption, we can open up some analytical and ethnographic room for processes, practices, concepts, or paradigms that have been overshadowed by the politically charged emphasis on shortages. The dominant Soviet perception of consumption as a form of production reduced the complexity of the Soviet commodity to one dimension: use‐value. In the situation of a planned economy with regulated prices, neither exchange‐value, nor even value itself, were of particular importance or interest for those who determined the shape and structure of Soviet consumption. The Soviet commodity made itself known through its “sensuous characteristics” and its ability to meet (or, more commonly, fail to meet) the requirements of functionality. When seen in this context, the productivist framework of Soviet‐style consumption emerges less as a material representation of “the dictatorship over needs”–with “the perfect homogenization of society and the (perhaps forcible) uniformization of needs” as its main goal–but rather as a historically situated attempt to take rationality (and rationalization) to its limits.
Sedimentary evolution and environmental history of Lake Van (Turkey) over the past 600 000 years
Authors: Stockhecke Mona , Sturm Michael , Brunner Irene , Schmincke Hans‐Ulrich , Sumita Mari , Kipfer Rolf , Cukur Deniz , Kwiecien Ola , Anselmetti Flavio S.
Published: March 2014

The lithostratigraphic framework of Lake Van, eastern Turkey, has been systematically analysed to document the sedimentary evolution and the environmental history of the lake during the past ca 600 000 years. The lithostratigraphy and chemostratigraphy of a 219 m long drill core from Lake Van serve to separate global climate oscillations from local factors caused by tectonic and volcanic activity. An age model was established based on the climatostratigraphic alignment of chemical and lithological signatures, validated by 40Ar/39Ar ages. The drilled sequence consists of ca 76% lacustrine carbonaceous clayey silt, ca 2% fluvial deposits, ca 17% volcaniclastic deposits and 5% gaps. Six lacustrine lithotypes were separated from the fluvial and event deposits, such as volcaniclastics (ca 300 layers) and graded beds (ca 375 layers), and their depositional environments are documented. These lithotypes are: (i) graded beds frequently intercalated with varved clayey silts reflecting rising lake levels during the terminations; (ii) varved clayey silts reflecting strong seasonality and an intralake oxic–anoxic boundary, for example, lake‐level highstands during interglacials/interstadials; (iii) CaCO3‐rich banded sediments which are representative of a lowering of the oxic–anoxic boundary, for example, lake level decreases during glacial inceptions; (iv) CaCO3‐poor banded and mottled clayey silts reflecting an oxic–anoxic boundary close to the sediment–water interface, for example, lake‐level lowstands during glacials/stadials; (v) diatomaceous muds were deposited during the early beginning of the lake as a fresh water system; and (vi) fluvial sands and gravels indicating the initial flooding of the lake basin. The recurrence of lithologies (i) to (iv) follows the past five glacial/interglacial cycles. A 20 m thick disturbed unit reflects an interval of major tectonic activity in Lake Van at ca 414 ka bp. Although local environmental processes such as tectonic and volcanic activity influenced sedimentation, the lithostratigraphic pattern and organic matter content clearly reflect past global climate changes, making Lake Van an outstanding terrestrial archive of unprecedented sensitivity for the reconstruction of the regional climate over the last 600 000 years.
Newtonian Idealism: Matter, Perception, and the Divine Will
Authors: Dempsey Liam P.
Published: March 2014

This paper investigates Isaac Newton's rather unique account of God's relation to matter. According to this account, corpuscles depend on a substantially omnipresent God endowing quantities of objective space with the qualities of shape, solidity, the unfaltering tendency to move in accord with certain laws, and—significantly—the power to interact with created minds. I argue that there are important similarities and differences between Newton's account of matter and Berkeley's idealism. And while the role played by the divine will might at first appear to be a species of occasionalism, I conclude that there are, for Newton, genuine causal relations between minds and bodies. Ultimately, to fully appreciate this account of the creation and persistence of matter, we must consider not only Newton's metaphysical writings, but also his sensorium theory of mind‐body interaction, his heterodox theological commitments, and the influences of Descartes, More, and Locke.
Governance, Boards of Directors and the Impact of Contracting on Not‐for‐profit Organizations – An Australian Study
Authors: Considine Mark , O'Sullivan Siobhan , Nguyen Phuc
Published: March 2014

This article investigates strategic changes in the governance of not‐for‐profit (NFP) boards in response to Australia's fully contracted employment services system. Of interest are changes in board demography, behaviour, procedures and dynamics, with special attention to the impact of those changes on boards' identity as a representation of community interests. As Australia is in the vanguard of social service contracting, the Australian experience affords insight into the impact of contracting upon the identity of the NFP sector. We find that NFP directors operating in this quasi‐market have come to define board ‘professionalism’ as the main strategic move to accommodate the increasingly commercial and competitive nature of contracting. Boards have adopted a more business‐like view of how their agency should operate, changed their board's skill set and utilized strategic recruitment processes, including selecting new board members based on perceived skill deficiencies of the current board and paying board members for their service. NFP boards have also introduced more comprehensive induction, training and evaluation systems. These findings provide Australian policymakers with evidence of the cultural impact of service delivery reforms on NFP agencies. They also afford leaders of NFPs an opportunity to reflect on important changes in the governance of their organizations, including the potential for ‘mission drift’ and loss of local forms of legitimacy.
Quasi‐markets and the Delivery of Activation – A Frontline Perspective
Authors: van Berkel Rik
Published: March 2014

This article analyzes the delivery of activation or welfare‐to‐work programmes and services in the context of quasi‐market service provision. It adopts a frontline perspective, looking in particular into two issues often discussed in the literature on quasi‐markets: risk selection in provider agencies and the administrative costs and burden related to monitoring provider agencies and agents. Data from a Dutch study of frontline workers in purchaser and provider agencies is presented to analyze frontline practices of risk selection and monitoring. The article concludes that interpreting provider behaviour in terms of risk selection may not be as straightforward as it seems, and that the widespread occurrence of risk selection processes throughout service provision chains makes it rather difficult to attribute risk selection unequivocally to rational provider behaviour. The monitoring process is experienced as an administrative burden, especially by workers in provider agencies, but it also has elements which workers consider as making a positive contribution to service provision processes in circumstances where actions of purchasers and providers need to be coordinated. This is partly related to the double function of monitoring in the context of activation policies in quasi‐market contexts: monitoring provider behaviour as well as monitoring client behaviour.
Convenient links for the estimation of hedonic price indexes: the case of unique, infrequently traded assets
Authors: Ramalho Esmeralda A. , Ramalho Joaquim J.S.
Published: March 2014

Hedonic methods are a prominent approach in the construction of quality‐adjusted price indexes. This paper shows that the process of computing such indexes is substantially simplified if arithmetic (geometric) price indexes are computed based on exponential (log‐linear) hedonic functions estimated by the Poisson pseudo‐maximum likelihood (ordinary least squares) method. A Monte Carlo simulation study based on housing data illustrates the convenience of the links identified and the very attractive properties of the Poisson estimator in the hedonic framework.
Why Alewai village needed a church: Some reflections on Christianity, conversion, and male leadership in south‐east Papua New Guinea
Authors: Van Heekeren Deborah
Published: March 2014

In the Vula'a villages of south‐east Papua New Guinea, the experience of more than a century of Christianity has been incorporated into local understandings of identity and tradition. Church‐building (in both the architectural and ideological sense) is at the centre of village life. Even though it was a general policy of the London Missionary Society to build a church in every village in which conversion was undertaken, they did not build a church in the Vula'a village of Alewai. In 2001 the fact that Alewai did not have a church initiated a chain of events that draws attention to a situation of current relevance for Papua New Guinea, as evangelists no longer work to convert the ‘heathen’ but to convert Christians from one denomination to another. As a case study the article is focused on the pastors and deacons of the United Church and thus also serves to document some of the changes that have occurred in male leadership since the early colonial era.
Transfusion transmitted infections in thalassaemics: need for reappraisal of blood screening strategy in India
Authors: Shyamala V.
Published: March 2014

The aim of the study was to assess the blood safety in India through prevalence in thalassaemic population. Safety of the blood supply is a subject of great concern for all recipients. This review attempts to assess the relevance and format of tests for viruses in the context of transfusion transmitted infection (TTI) prevalence in India. Serological marker testing for human immunodeficiency virus‐1/2 (HIV‐1/2), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) is mandatory in India. Numerous TTI incidents in the repeat recipients supported by results from nucleic acid technology (NAT) testing indicate the deficiencies in blood safety. The β‐thalassaemic population (3–17%) in India has been used to reflect on blood safety. The prevalence of HIV‐1/2, HCV and HBV in the Indian donor population, the limitations in accessing safe donors, quality of serological tests and the impact on repeat recipients is evaluated. The reports point to prevalence of ˜2% of viral diseases in the blood donor population, and the insufficiency of serology testing resulting in up to 45% TTIs in thalassaemics. The revelation by individual donation (ID) NAT testing, of 1 per 310 units being serology negative‐NAT reactive is alarming. Extrapolating the serology negative NAT reactive yields, for an annual blood supply of 7·9 million units, 23 700 units or nearly 100 000 blood components are likely to be infectious. Though the cost for ID‐NAT testing is considered unaffordable for a medium development country such as India, the enormity of TTIs will place an unmanageable cost burden on the society.
Donors deferred for self‐reported Chagas disease history: does it reduce risk?
Authors: Steele Whitney R. , Hewitt Elizabeth H. , Kaldun Anne M. , Krysztof David E. , Dodd Roger Y. , Stramer Susan L.
Published: March 2014

Background

Current Food and Drug Administration guidance specifies that all blood donors must be asked about a history of Chagas disease.

Study Design and Methods

We identified all American Red Cross donors deferred for Chagas disease history from January 2000 to August 2011. Attempts were made to contact all deferred donors and invite them back for anti‐Trypanosoma cruzi testing. After January 2007, all accepted donors (no Chagas history) were anti‐T. cruzi tested.

Results

Over the 12‐year period (approx. 88 million donor presentations), 34 donors had a Chagas deferral. When contacted, seven reported risk (e.g., travel or residence in an endemic area, vector exposure) and six were anti‐T. cruzi tested with one radioimmunoprecipitation assay (RIPA) positive. Six others had answered the question incorrectly. The remaining 21 could not be contacted but from the donor record it could be determined that 13 were Hispanic ethnicity or Spanish speaking and/or provided specific details of Chagas risk or disease.

Conclusions

In 12 years, only 28 potentially infected donors were identified using the Chagas question. Limited testing data suggest that few of these would have had serologic evidence of prior infection. In contrast, nearly 5 years of anti‐T. cruzi screening identified 488 RIPA‐positive donors, none of whom answered “yes” to the Chagas question. According to estimates in this study, the value of retaining the questionnaire in addition to testing translates to preventing the collection of 0.4 infected donors per billion. Thus, the Chagas history question has no meaningful value.
Flame Structure Effects at High G-Loading
Authors: Wilson Jacob D. , Damele Christopher J. , Polanka Marc D.
Published: March 2014

Previous research has been conducted showing significant benefits on combustion efficiency and stability by creating high gravity-loaded combustion environments. Ultracompact combustor systems decrease the size and weight of the overall engine by integrating the compressor, combustor, and turbine stages. In this system, the core flow is split and a portion is routed into a circumferential direction to be burned at a high equivalence ratio. Fuel and air are brought into the cavity and combusted in a high g-loaded environment driven by air injection. Computational research showed that the hole diameter of the air injection jets are directly related to g-loading within the cavity. An experimental rig was built where the air injection rings could be changed to contain one of three different jet hole diameters to verify this result. The smallest air injection diameter achieved the highest g-loading in the cavity, which is consistent with the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) results. However, the flame stability within the cavity was affected by the air injection jet becoming too large or too small for a particular equivalence ratio. Video taken at 8000 Hz was used to capture the flame structure, revealing that the flame was not stable even before lean blow out conditions were achieved. Additionally, the direction that the air jets swirled in the cavity was found to have an impact on the combustion dynamics. When flow swirled counterclockwise and impacted the suction side of the turbine vane, the cavity had a more uniform fully developed flow field, as opposed to the pressure side impact. Finally, liquid fuel testing was done to test the atomization and mixing of JP-8 in a g-loaded environment. The results showed that increasing the cavity g-load increased the residence time the fuel stayed in the cavity.
Investigation of atomic layer deposited beryllium oxide material properties for high-k dielectric applications
Authors: Koh Donghyi , Yum Jung-Hwan , Banerjee Sanjay K. , Hudnall Todd W. , Bielawski Christopher , Lanford William A. , French Benjamin L. , French Marc , Henry Patrick , Li Han , Kuhn Markus , King Sean W.
Published: March 2014

Beryllium oxide (BeO) is a wide band gap alkaline earth oxide material that has recently shown significant promise as a high-k dielectric material in Si and III-V metal–oxide–semiconductor field effect transistor devices. However, many of the basic material properties for BeO thin films utilized in these devices have not been reported or remain in question. In this regard, the authors report an investigation of the chemical, physical, electrical, and mechanical properties of BeO thin films formed via atomic layer deposition (ALD). Combined Rutherford backscattering and nuclear reaction analysis measurements show that ALD BeO thin films exhibit a low hydrogen content (<5%) and are nearly stoichiometric (Be/O ≅ 1.1 ± 0.05). Reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy measurements reveal a wide band gap of 8.0 ± 0.14 eV, and nanoindentation measurements show that ALD BeO has a high Young's modulus and hardness of 330 ± 30 and 33 ± 5 GPa, respectively.
Quality of development of latent sebaceous fingerprints coated with thin films of different morphologies
Authors: Swiontek Stephen E. , Pulsifer Drew P. , Lakhtakia Akhlesh
Published: March 2014

A new technique to develop a latent sebaceous fingerprint for visualization requires the macroscopically conformal deposition of a columnar thin film on top of the fingerprint. In order to correlate the thin-film morphology to the quality of development, dense thin films as well as films comprising either upright or tilted nanocolumns were deposited on multiple samples of the same fingerprint from a donor. According to an objective grading scheme, films with upright nanocolumns provided the best development while dense films provided the worst development.
Electrical conductance behavior of thin Ni catalyst films during intermittent direct current magnetron sputtering
Authors: Kusumoto Yuji , Furuta Hiroshi , Sekiya Kazuki , Koji Hirofumi , Hatta Akimitsu
Published: March 2014

Electrical conductance of thin Ni films, deposited on insulating SiO2 substrates, was investigated for the initial stage of magnetron sputtering for the purpose of optimize control of catalyst particles sizes of carbon nanotubes. The conductance was not proportional to the deposition time in the early phase of deposition. The conductance rapidly increased, after a period of near-insulating behavior from the start of deposition, and thereafter the increase of conductance was almost proportional to the total deposition duration. The period of near-insulating behavior and the rapid increase of conductance in the early deposition phase were attributed to growth of island structures in the initial deposition and formation of a continuous film through the connection of islands. The effect of base vacuum pressure prior to sputtering deposition also was investigated by conductance measurements. It was demonstrated that measuring electrical conductance during sputtering deposition was a convenient tool to examine the structures in the deposited film.
Clinical fundamentals for radiation oncologists.
Authors: Yang Jack
Published: March 2014

Clinical fundamentals for radiation oncologists. Hasan Murshed. Medical Physics Publishing, Madison, WI, 2011. 680 pp. (soft cover), Price: $90.00. 978‐1‐930524‐43‐9.
A one-dimensional heat transfer model for parallel-plate thermoacoustic heat exchangers
Authors: de Jong J. A. , Wijnant Y. H. , de Boer A.
Published: March 2014

A one-dimensional (1D) laminar oscillating flow heat transfer model is derived and applied to parallel-plate thermoacoustic heat exchangers. The model can be used to estimate the heat transfer from the solid wall to the acoustic medium, which is required for the heat input/output of thermoacoustic systems. The model is implementable in existing (quasi-)1D thermoacoustic codes, such as DeltaEC. Examples of generated results show good agreement with literature results. The model allows for arbitrary wave phasing; however, it is shown that the wave phasing does not significantly influence the heat transfer.
Computation of dispersion curves for embedded waveguides using a dashpot boundary condition
Authors: Gravenkamp Hauke , Birk Carolin , Song Chongmin
Published: March 2014

In this paper a numerical approach is presented to compute dispersion curves for solid waveguides coupled to an infinite medium. The derivation is based on the scaled boundary finite element method that has been developed previously for waveguides with stress-free surfaces. The effect of the surrounding medium is accounted for by introducing a dashpot boundary condition at the interface between the waveguide and the adjoining medium. The damping coefficients are derived from the acoustic impedances of the surrounding medium. Results are validated using an improved implementation of an absorbing region. Since no discretization of the surrounding medium is required for the dashpot approach, the required number of degrees of freedom is typically 10 to 50 times smaller compared to the absorbing region. When compared to other finite element based results presented in the literature, the number of degrees of freedom can be reduced by as much as a factor of 4000.
Binaural sound source localization using the frequency diversity of the head-related transfer function
Authors: Talagala Dumidu S. , Zhang Wen , Abhayapala Thushara D. , Kamineni Abhilash
Published: March 2014

The spectral localization cues contained in the head-related transfer function are known to play a contributory role in the sound source localization abilities of humans. However, existing localization techniques are unable to fully exploit this diversity to accurately localize a sound source. The availability of just two measured signals complicates matters further, and results in front to back confusions and poor performance distinguishing between the source locations in a vertical plane. This study evaluates the performance of a source location estimator that retains the frequency domain diversity of the head-related transfer function. First, a method for extracting the directional information in the subbands of a broadband signal is described, and a composite estimator based on signal subspace decomposition is introduced. The localization performance is experimentally evaluated for single and multiple source scenarios in the horizontal and vertical planes. The proposed estimator's ability to successfully localize a sound source and resolve the ambiguities in the vertical plane is demonstrated, and the impact of the source location, knowledge of the source and the effect of reverberation is discussed.
The role of excitation-pattern, temporal-fine-structure, and envelope cues in the discrimination of complex tones
Authors: Jackson Helen M. , Moore Brian C. J.
Published: March 2014

The discrimination of bandpass-filtered harmonic (H) from inharmonic (I) tones (produced by shifting all components of the H tones upwards by a fixed amount in Hz) could be based on shifts in the pattern of ripples in the excitation pattern (EP) or on changes in the temporal fine structure evoked by the tones. The predictions of two computational EP models were compared with measured performance. One model used auditory filters with bandwidth values specified by Glasberg and Moore [(1990). Hear. Res. 47, 103–138] and one used filters that were twice as sharp. Stimulus variables were passband width, fundamental frequency, harmonic rank (N) of the lowest component within the passband, component phase (cosine or random), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and random perturbation in level of each component in the tones. While the EP models correctly predicted the lack of an effect of phase and some of the trends in the data as a function of fundamental frequency and N, neither model predicted the worsening in performance with increasing passband width or the lack of effect of SNR and level perturbation. It is concluded that discrimination of the H and I tones is not based solely on the use of EP cues.
Simulated masking of right whale sounds by shipping noise: Incorporating a model of the auditory periphery
Authors: Cunningham Kane A. , Mountain David C.
Published: March 2014

Many species of large, mysticete whales are known to produce low-frequency communication sounds. These low-frequency sounds are susceptible to communication masking by shipping noise, which also tends to be low frequency in nature. The size of these species makes behavioral assessment of auditory capabilities in controlled, captive environments nearly impossible, and field-based playback experiments are expensive and necessarily limited in scope. Hence, it is desirable to produce a masking model for these species that can aid in determining the potential effects of shipping and other anthropogenic noises on these protected animals. The aim of this study was to build a model that combines a sophisticated representation of the auditory periphery with a spectrogram-based decision stage to predict masking levels. The output of this model can then be combined with a habitat-appropriate propagation model to calculate the potential effects of noise on communication range. For this study, the model was tested on three common North Atlantic right whale communication sounds, both to demonstrate the method and to probe how shipping noise affects the detection of sounds with varying spectral and temporal characteristics.
Subject-specific computational modeling of human phonation
Authors: Xue Qian , Zheng Xudong , Mittal Rajat , Bielamowicz Steven
Published: March 2014

A direct numerical simulation of flow-structure interaction is carried out in a subject-specific larynx model to study human phonation under physiological conditions. The simulation results compare well to the established human data. The resulting glottal flow and waveform are found to be within the normal physiological ranges. The effects of realistic geometry on the vocal fold dynamics and the glottal flow are extensively examined. It is found that the asymmetric anterior-posterior laryngeal configuration produces strong anterior-posterior asymmetries in both vocal fold vibration and glottal flow which has not been captured in the simplified models. It needs to be pointed out that the observations from the current numerical simulation are only valid for the flow conditions investigated. The limitations of the study are also discussed.
Structural Basis for Heavy Metal Detoxification by an Atm1-Type ABC Exporter
Authors: Lee Jonas Y. , Yang Janet G. , Zhitnitsky Daniel , Lewinson Oded , Rees Douglas C.
Published: March 2014

Although substantial progress has been achieved in the structural analysis of exporters from the superfamily of adenosine triphosphate (ATP)–binding cassette (ABC) transporters, much less is known about how they selectively recognize substrates and how substrate binding is coupled to ATP hydrolysis. We have addressed these questions through crystallographic analysis of the Atm1/ABCB7/HMT1/ABCB6 ortholog from
Novosphingobium aromaticivorans
DSM 12444,
Na
Atm1, at 2.4 angstrom resolution. Consistent with a physiological role in cellular detoxification processes, functional studies showed that glutathione derivatives can serve as substrates for
Na
Atm1 and that its overexpression in
Escherichia coli
confers protection against silver and mercury toxicity. The glutathione binding site highlights the articulated design of ABC exporters, with ligands and nucleotides spanning structurally conserved elements to create adaptable interfaces accommodating conformational rearrangements during the transport cycle.
Tunable Phonon Polaritons in Atomically Thin van der Waals Crystals of Boron Nitride
Authors: Dai S. , Fei Z. , Ma Q. , Rodin A. S. , Wagner M. , McLeod A. S. , Liu M. K. , Gannett W. , Regan W. , Watanabe K. , Taniguchi T. , Thiemens M. , Dominguez G. , Neto A. H. Castro , Zettl A. , Keilmann F. , Jarillo-Herrero P. , Fogler M. M. , Basov D. N.
Published: March 2014

Nanoimaged Polaritons

Engineered heterostructures consisting of thin, weakly bound layers can exhibit many attractive electronic properties.

Dai
et al.

(p.
1125
) used infrared nanoimaging on the surface of hexagonal boron nitride crystals to detect phonon polaritons, collective modes that originate in the coupling of photons to optical phonons. The findings reveal the dependence of the polariton wavelength and dispersion on the thickness of the material down to just a few atomic layers.
The Source Crater of Martian Shergottite Meteorites
Authors: Werner Stephanie C. , Ody Anouck , Poulet François
Published: March 2014

Sourcing Martian Meteorites

There are nearly 150 recognized martian meteorites, but where exactly they came from on Mars is not known.

Werner
et al.

(p.
1343
, published online 6 March) present evidence that the <5 million-year-old Mojave impact crater on Mars is the single ejection site of one type of martian meteorites: the shergottites. The Mojave crater formed on an ancient terrain on Mars, and so the shergottites represent old martian crustal material.
Femtosecond Crystallography with Ultrabright Electrons and X-rays: Capturing Chemistry in Action
Authors: Miller R. J. Dwayne
Published: March 2014

With the recent advances in ultrabright electron and x-ray sources, it is now possible to extend crystallography to the femtosecond time domain to literally light up atomic motions involved in the primary processes governing structural transitions. This review chronicles the development of brighter and brighter electron and x-ray sources that have enabled atomic resolution to structural dynamics for increasingly complex systems. The primary focus is on achieving sufficient brightness using pump-probe protocols to resolve the far-from-equilibrium motions directing chemical processes that in general lead to irreversible changes in samples. Given the central importance of structural transitions to conceptualizing chemistry, this emerging field has the potential to significantly improve our understanding of chemistry and its connection to driving biological processes.
Structure of a Class C GPCR Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor 1 Bound to an Allosteric Modulator
Authors: Wu Huixian , Wang Chong , Gregory Karen J. , Han Gye Won , Cho Hyekyung P. , Xia Yan , Niswender Colleen M. , Katritch Vsevolod , Meiler Jens , Cherezov Vadim , Conn P. Jeffrey , Stevens Raymond C.
Published: March 2014

Completing the Set

G protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs) are membrane proteins that transduce extracellular signals to activate diverse signaling pathways. Significant insight into GPCR function has come from structures of three of four classes of GPCRs—A, B, and Frizzled.

Wu
et al.

(p.
58
, published online 6 March) complete the picture by reporting the structure of metabotropic glutamate receptor 1, a class C GPCR. The structure shows differences in the seven-transmembrane (7TM) domain between class C and other classes; however, the overall fold is preserved. Class C GPCRs are known to form dimers through their extracellular domains; however, the structure suggests additional interactions between the 7TM domains mediated by cholesterol.
Water Loss from the Great Lakes
Authors: Gronewold Andrew D. , Stow Craig A.
Published: March 2014

Knowledge of the drivers behind recent record low water levels in the North American Great Lakes can help water resource management planning.
Diet Studies Challenge Thinking on Proteins Versus Carbs
Authors: Couzin-Frankel Jennifer
Published: March 2014

New data on mice and people suggest low-protein diets enhance health and extend life.
Genome Sequence of a Bacillus anthracis Outbreak Strain from Zambia, 2011
Authors: Ohnishi Naomi , Maruyama Fumito , Ogawa Hirohito , Kachi Hirokazu , Yamada Shunsuke , Fujikura Daisuke , Nakagawa Ichiro , Hang'ombe Mudenda B. , Thomas Yuka , Mweene Aaron S. , Higashi Hideaki
Published: March 2014

In August 2011, an anthrax outbreak occurred among
Hippopotamus amphibius
hippopotamuses and humans in Zambia. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of the
Bacillus anthracis
outbreak strain CZC5, isolated from tissues of
H. amphibius
hippopotamuses that had died in the outbreak area.
Draft Genome Sequence of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia Strain 5BA-I-2, a Soil Isolate and a Member of a Phylogenetically Basal Lineage
Authors: Nunvar Jaroslav , Elhottova Dana , Chronakova Alica , Schneider Bohdan , Licha Irena
Published: March 2014

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia
is an omnipresent environmental bacterium emerging as an opportunistic human pathogen and exhibiting multidrug resistance. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of
S. maltophilia
strain 5BA-I-2, a soil isolate and a member of a phylogenetically basal lineage.
Draft Genome Sequence of the Agar-Degrading Bacterium
Catenovulum
sp. Strain DS-2, Isolated from Intestines of
Haliotis diversicolor
Authors: Shan Dapeng , Li Xu , Gu Zheng , Wei Guangshan , Gao Zheng , Shao Zongze
Published: March 2014

Catenovulum
sp. strain DS-2, isolated from intestines of
Haliotis diversicolor
, is able to degrade agar and produce agaro-oligosaccharides. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of
Catenovulum
sp. strain DS-2.
Whole-Genome Sequencing and Annotation of a Clinical Isolate of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from Mumbai, India
Authors: Al Rashdi Ahmed Salim Ahmed , Jadhav Bhaskar L. , Deshpande Tejaswini , Deshpande Uday
Published: March 2014

We report here the annotated genome sequence of a clinical isolate of
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
from Mumbai, India.
Whole-Genome Sequences of Six Salmonella enterica Serovar Bovismorbificans Isolates Associated with a 2011 Multistate Hummus-Borne Outbreak
Authors: Gopinath Gopal , Jean-Gilles Beaubrun Junia , Grim Chris , Blaylock Morris , Blackwell Reginald , Merid Sosina , Diallo Alpha , Hanes Darcy
Published: March 2014

We present six draft genome sequences of
Salmonella enterica
serovar Bovismorbificans from isolates associated with the 2011 hummus-borne multistate outbreak. All six genome sequences indicate the presence of two plasmids, one of which demonstrates similarity to the 93-kb pSLT2 IncF-type plasmid of
Salmonella enterica
serovar Typhimurium.
Scrum injury risk in English professional rugby union
Authors: Taylor Aileen E , Kemp Simon , Trewartha Grant , Stokes Keith A
Published: March 2014

Objective

To assess and evaluate the injury risk associated with the scrum in English professional rugby union in the 2011–2012 season.

Design

Prospective, cohort.

Participants

Players at English Premiership rugby union clubs.

Outcome measures

Frequency of team scrum-events per match; incidence (injuries per 1000 player-hours; propensity (injuries/1000 events); risk (days absence per 1000 player-hours and days absence per 1000 events).

Results

31% of scrums in competitive matches resulted in collapse. Injury incidence associated with collapsed scrum-events (incidence: 8.6 injuries/1000 scrum-events) was significantly higher than those scrums that did not collapse (incidence: 4.1/1000 scrum-events).

Conclusions

The injury risk associated with collapsed scrum supports the continued focus on reducing scrum collapse through changes in, and strict application of, the laws surrounding the scrum.
What makes the hospitalisation system more efficient? An application of the decomposition method to Hong Kong morbidity data
Authors: Yip Paul S F , Lee Carmen K M , Chow Chun-Bong , Lo William T L
Published: March 2014

Objective

To examine the efficiency of the Hong Kong hospitalisation system based on hospitalisation days.

Design

Retrospective study.

Setting

Hospitalisation data (2000–2010) for all government-funded hospitals in Hong Kong.

Population

Hospitalisation data for the entire Hong Kong population (7.0 million in 2011).

Methods

A decomposition method was used to determine the effects on total hospitalisation days during the period 2000–2010 of the following three factors: (i) hospitalisation rate per person; (ii) the number of visits per patient; and (iii) the mean duration of stay per visit.

Main outcome measures

The decomposition method provides empirical measures of how the three factors contributed to the change in total hospitalisation days during the period 2000–2010 and identifies the most effective way to contain increases in hospitalisation days.

Results

The results of decomposition analysis show that the decrease in mean duration of stay per visit (reducing from 6.83 to 4.58 days) is the most important factor in the reduction in the total number of hospitalisation days, despite increases in total population size (from 6.7 to 7.0 million), the number of individual hospital admissions (from 583 000 to 664 000) and the number of episodes (from 1.2 to 1.4 million) from 2000 to 2010. Hospitalisation days per person decreased from 1.18 in 2000 to 0.93 in 2010. The decline in the mean duration of stay per visit contributed 200.6% to this reduction but was offset by −51.1% due to a slight growth in the number of visits per patient and by −49.4% as a result of changed hospitalisation rates per person.

Conclusions

Better management of the duration of stay of per visit without compromising patient satisfaction levels or the quality of service is the most important factor for controlling increases in health expenditure in Hong Kong.