bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Low-Level Circulation in the Tropics
Authors: Folkins Ian , Fueglistaler S. , Lesins G. , Mitovski T.
Published: March 2008

Deep convective tropical systems are strongly convergent in the midtroposphere. Horizontal wind measurements from a variety of rawinsonde arrays in the equatorial Pacific and Caribbean are used to calculate the mean dynamical divergence profiles of large-scale arrays (≥1000 km in diameter) in actively convecting regions. Somewhat surprisingly, the magnitude of the midtropospheric divergence calculated from these arrays is usually small. In principle, the midlevel convergence of deep convective systems could be balanced on larger scales either by a vertical variation in the radiative mass flux of the background clear sky atmosphere, or by a divergence from shallow cumuli. The vertical variation of the clear sky mass flux in the midtroposphere is small, however, so that the offsetting divergence must be supplied by shallow cumuli. On spatial scales of ∼1000 km, the midlevel convergent inflow toward deep convection appears to be internally compensated, or “screened,” by a divergent outflow from surrounding precipitating shallow convection. Deep convective systems do not induce a large-scale inflow of midlevel air toward actively convecting regions from the rest of the tropics, but instead help generate a secondary low-level circulation, in which the net downward mass flux from mesoscale and convective-scale downdrafts is balanced by a net upward mass flux from precipitating shallow cumuli. The existence of this circulation is consistent with observational evidence showing that deep and shallow convection are spatiotemporally coupled on a wide range of both spatial and temporal scales. One of the mechanisms proposed for coupling shallow convection to deep convection is the tendency for deep convection to cool the lower troposphere. The authors use radiosonde temperature profiles and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) 3B42 gridded rainfall product to argue that the distance over which deep convection cools the lower troposphere is approximately 1000 km.
On “A Consistent Theory for Linear Waves of the Shallow-Water Equations on a Rotating Plane in Midlatitudes”
Authors: Poulin Francis J. , Rowe Kristopher
Published: March 2008

Recently, Paldor et al. provided a consistent and unified theory for Kelvin, Poincaré (inertial–gravity), and Rossby waves in the rotating shallow-water equations (SWE). Unfortunately, the article has some errors, and the effort is made to correct them in this note. Also, the eigenvalue problem is rewritten in a dimensional form and then nondimensionalized in terms of more traditional nondimensional parameters and compared to the dispersion relations of the old and new theories. The errors in Paldor et al. are only quantitative in nature and do not alter their major results: Rossby waves can have larger phase speeds than what is predicted from the classical theory, and Rossby and Poincaré waves can be trapped near the equatorward boundary.
A Model Study of Gravity Waves over Hurricane Humberto (2001)
Authors: Kuester M. A. , Alexander M. J. , Ray E. A.
Published: March 2008

Atmospheric gravity waves are known to influence global circulations. Understanding these waves and their sources help to develop parameterizations that include their effects in climate and weather forecasting models. Deep convection is believed to be a major source for these waves and hurricanes may be particularly intense sources. Simulations of Hurricane Humberto (2001) are studied using the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research (PSU–NCAR) Mesoscale Model (MM5). Humberto is simulated at both tropical storm and hurricane stages. Fourier transform and wavelet analysis are employed to investigate wave characteristics and their behavior in the lower stratosphere. The Fourier analysis gives a regional view of storm affects, whereas wavelet analysis gives a local picture of isolated events. Analysis of the movement of convective sources and local winds gives further insight into the mechanisms that can cause gravity waves. Convectively generated gravity waves are observed in the lower stratosphere of this model with horizontal scales of 15–300 km, vertical scales of 4–8 km, and intrinsic periods of approximately 20–100 min.
Improved Forecasts of the Diurnal Cycle in the Tropics Using Multiple Global Models. Part II: Asian Summer Monsoon
Authors: Chakraborty Arindam , Krishnamurti T. N.
Published: March 2008

The diurnal mode of the Asian summer monsoon during active and break periods is studied using four versions of the Florida State University (FSU) global spectral model (GSM). These versions differ in the formulation of cloud parameterization schemes in the model. Observational-based estimates show that there exists a divergent circulation at 200 hPa over the Asian monsoon region in the diurnal time scale that peaks at 1200 local solar time (LST) during break monsoon and at 1800 LST during active monsoon. A circulation in the opposite direction is seen near the surface. This circulation loop is completed by vertical ascending/descending motion over the monsoon domain and its surroundings. This study shows that global models have large phase and amplitude errors for the 200-hPa velocity potential and vertical pressure velocity over the monsoon region and its surroundings. Construction of a multimodel superensemble could reduce these errors substantially out to five days in advance. This was on account of assigning differential weights to the member models based on their past performance. This study also uses a unified cloud parameterization scheme that inherits the idea of a multimodel superensemble for combining member model forecasts. The advantage of this model is that it is an integrated part of the GSM and thus can improve the forecasts of other parameters as well through improved cloud cover. It was seen that this scheme had a larger impact on forecasting the diurnal cycle of cloud cover and precipitation of the Asian summer monsoon compared to circulation. The authors show that the diurnal circulation contributes to about 10% of the rate of change of total kinetic energy of the monsoon. Therefore, forecasting this pronounced diurnal mode has important implications for the energetics of the Asian summer monsoon.
Contrails, Natural Clouds, and Diurnal Temperature Range
Authors: Dietmüller Simone , Ponater Michael , Sausen Robert , Hoinka Klaus-Peter , Pechtl Susanne
Published: March 2008

The direct impact of aircraft condensation trails (contrails) on surface temperature in regions of high aircraft density has been a matter of recent debate in climate research. Based on data analysis for the 3-day aviation grounding period over the United States, following the terrorists’ attack of 11 September 2001, a strong effect of contrails reducing the surface diurnal temperature range (DTR) has been suggested. Simulations with the global climate model ECHAM4 (including a contrail parameterization) and long-term time series of observation-based data are used for an independent cross check with longer data records, which allow statistically more reliable conclusions. The climate model underestimates the overall magnitude of the DTR compared to 40-yr ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-40) data and station data, but it captures most features of the DTR global distribution and the correlation between DTR and either cloud amount or cloud forcing. The diurnal cycle of contrail radiative impact is also qualitatively consistent with expectations, both at the surface and at the top of the atmosphere. Nevertheless, there is no DTR response to contrails in a simulation that inhibits a global radiative forcing considerably exceeding the upper limit of contrail radiative impact according to current assessments. Long-term trends of DTR, the level of natural DTR variability, and the specific effect of high clouds on DTR are also analyzed. In both ECHAM4 and ERA-40 data, the correlation of cloud coverage or cloud radiative forcing with the DTR is mainly apparent for low clouds. None of the results herein indicates a significant impact of contrails on reducing the DTR. Hence, it is concluded that the respective hypothesis as derived from the 3-day aviation-free period over the United States lacks the required statistical backing.
Reviewing Recent Research on the Wisdom Literature
Authors: Dell Katharine
Published: March 2008

This article outlines some of the main interests of scholars of the biblical wisdom literature (Proverbs, Job and Ecclesiastes) in the last twenty years. It looks in general terms at the interest in the wider Ancient Near Eastern world and how that has influenced wisdom studies, at literary issues, at wisdom's theological themes, at feminist study of wisdom literature and at the history of interpretation. It also looks more specifically at interest in pedagogic concerns and social context in Proverbs, at genre issues in Job and at authorship issues in Ecclesiastes.
Twentieth-Century Corruption of Scripture
Authors: Schulz Rev. Ray R.
Published: March 2008

This article aims to show how Greek New Testaments in the last century adjusted their texts to downplay the role women played in the New Testament Church. Examples are: Junia or Junias in Romans 16:7; the punctuation of 1 Corinthians 14:33—34; evidence for 1 Corinthians 14:34—35 being an interpolation; strengthening of the `command' of 1 Corinthians 14:37; and another variant strengthening Prisca's ministry in Romans 16:3.
The Point of Theology: Arts, Culture and Godly Living
Authors: Marsh Clive
Published: March 2008

This article draws together and extends insights from three earlier articles on theology, the arts and popular culture. It offers a worked example of how the content and procedure of theological exploration is directed and shaped when reception of the arts/culture is acknowledged as a place where theology must now be done. The whole enquiry is framed within the recognition that theology's purpose is to enable people to live with and for God.
The Synoptic Gospels
Authors: Sim David C.
Published: March 2008

This study provides a general overview of current research on the three Synoptic Gospels — Matthew, Mark and Luke. It begins by tracing important trends in the general area of Synoptic studies before focusing on the individual Gospels themselves. The survey of these texts identifies the significant themes and issues that have dominated the study of the Synoptic Gospels, and it mentions the key scholars involved in the particular debates. An extensive bibliography at the end of the study is provided to assist those who wish to read further.
When the Old Was New: Reformation Perspectives on Galatians 2:16
Authors: Chester Stephen
Published: March 2008

In recent decades, the `new perspective' on Paul has broken in some significant ways with broad trajectories of interpretation established by the Reformers. Proper evaluation of contemporary debates in Pauline interpretation therefore demands careful attention to their exegesis. Using Galatians 2:16, the Reformers' stance is explored in relation to (i) the works of the law, (ii) justification by faith, and (iii) the disputed genitive phrase `faith in/the faithfulness of Christ'. The interpretation of Erasmus is first explored as a contrast and a means by which to set the Reformers' exegesis in the context of sixteenth-century discussions of the text. The article concludes with a historical and theological assessment of the value of their exegesis for contemporary debates in Pauline interpretation.
Group-based Hatred in Intractable Conflict in Israel
Authors: Halperin Eran
Published: March 2008

Countless theoretical texts have been written regarding the centrality of hatred as a force that motivates intergroup conflicts. However, surprisingly, at present, almost no empirical study has been conducted either on the nature and character of group-based hatred or on its implications for conflicts. Therefore, the goal of the current work has been to examine the nature of group-based hatred in conflicts. Three studies were conducted within the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The first was a qualitative study, which aimed at creating a preliminary platform for investigation of specific features of group-based hatred. Studies 2 and 3 used various scenarios and survey methods to indicate the appraisal and the behavioral aspects of group-based hatred and to distill them from those of other negative emotions, such as anger or fear. In general, results show that hatred is a distinct emotion that includes a unique cognitive-appraisal component and specific emotional goals.
III Chile in Retrospect
Authors: Metzger Deena
Published: March 2008

This section continues the discussion of the meaning of the socialist experiment and the bloody military coup begun in the second issue of Latin American Perspectives devoted to Chile. Deena Metzger, who teaches at the California Institute of the Arts, expresses her views in a poem written shortly after the coup. Gonzalo Arroyo, a Jesuit participant in the Chris tians for Socialism movement and presently an exile in Paris, expresses a critical view of the role of the institutional church in the post-coup period. Barbara Stallings, a graduate student in political science at Stanford Uni versity and Andy Zimbalist, who teaches economics at Smith College, col laborate in an analysis of the economic policy of the Popular Unity govern ment and a discussion of the economic feasibility of the "Brazilian model" in Chile. The section closes with some comments by David Barkin, who teaches economics at Lehman College, City College of New York, in re sponse to articles appearing in the special Chile issue mentioned above.
Dependent Capitalist Development, U.S. Foreign Policy, and Repression of the Working Class in Chile and Brazil
Authors: Erickson Kenneth Paul , Peppe Patrick V.
Published: March 2008

During the past decade, scholars have produced a substantial body of literature on the negative impact of advanced industrial capitalism upon the Third World. These writings, now referred to as dependency theory, lead us to examine the ways in which foreign governments, trade unionists, industrial, commercial, and financial interests, as well as international organizations, bolster the Latin American ruling classes, providing them with resources they would not otherwise possess (see Chilcote, 1974b; Latin American Perspectives, I, (Spring 1974) and II, (Spring 1975): 7-66, 136-148). Most dependency analysts concentrate on the international productive, financial, and trading systems and, especially, on the relationships between them and their counterpart systems in Third World countries. Few of these writers, however, make explicit the ways in which dependent integration into the world capitalist economy has affected the Latin American working classes. We begin this task here.
Industrialization and Migration: Some Effects On the Puerto Rican Working Class
Authors: Campos Ricardo , Bonilla Frank
Published: March 2008

The following article is the consequence of a collaborative and integrated effort. To ac commodate English language readers, we have translated the first part into English, but have left the second part in Spanish, accompanied by marginal notes in English (the editors).
The Cultural Expression of Puerto Ricans in New York: a Theoretical Perspective and Critical Review
Authors: Cortes Felix , Falcón Angel , Flores Juan
Published: March 2008

I am Puerto Rican. I came to this country in 1952 with my three brothers and one sister. My father and mother were here already working and saving money to send for us. My father, who is dead now, was a mechanic but had to do work in a plastic factory to earn a living. He earned extra money by fixing cars in his improvised shop right on the street. My mother was a seamstress in the garment district, and when she came home she would prepare dinner and afterwards do part time work sewing women's hats in a shop that operated out of a small store front across the street from where we lived. In 1969 I was very much influenced by the takeover of City College by a third world student coalition which was demanding Puerto Rican Studies and other relevant pro grams geared to their needs. Right then and there and with the direct contact of other musicians such as myself, I realized for the first time that I wanted to play a music that related to today's realities, not yesterday's. I was concerned in reaching an audience that related to these experiences. The music that grew out of this experience became hard, violent and heavy with resist ance. It was rarely performed. It just got stored up — so when it came out, it sounded more like one big mass noise of incoherent sound. It was a dual process — on the one hand it served as a cleansing process and on the other it did away with antiquated pat terns and built new ones to take its place. New musical ideas were forged, integrating itself with known popular forms. It renewed the process of music playing and made it vital and important again. Music to me then is more than just performing. It's studying, organizing around young men and women musicians such as the Lexington Avenue Express Percussion Work shop whose concept is to help develop better learning procedures and healthy attitudes, to learn through the history of music what we, as third world people, have in common and by nourishing from other musics, we enrich all. That is why the history of this pro cess is the key to knowledge, education and real proletarian culture. Joe Falcón, Street Musician New York City
Notas Sobre Cultura Popular en Mexico
Authors: Monsiváis Carlos
Published: March 2008

This is a series of observations on the notion of popular culture in Mexico. The main thesis of the author is that what goes under the name of "popular culture" in Mexico today is the result of a long history of manipulation of the "cultural industry" by the dominant classes. The various manifestations of popular culture have had, however, positive, truly popular aspects with even some liberating tendencies. Popular culture in Mexico is discussed in terms of stages: pre-Revolution, the epoch of the Revolution, the 1930-1950 period, and the 1950-1970 epoch; some specific manifestations of popular culture are also dealt with directly, e.g. the development of the dance halls, the appearance of the romantic song, the rancheras, cinema, etc. Throughout the work, emphasis is given to the elements of ideological mystification and legitimation involved in the utilization of these various forms.
Folklore of the Black Struggle in Latin America
Authors: de Carvalho-Neto Paulo
Published: March 2008

This is a translated and edited version of a section of the author's El folklore de las luchas sociales (Mexico City: Siglo Veintiuno, 1973) — a book which received mention in the 1973 Casa de las Americas awards and has been banned in several Latin American dictatorships. In his introduction, the author differentiates a Marxist approach to folklore studies from the usual bourgeois approaches. In contrast with those who view folklore as either evidence of an idealized past where the upper class was accepted as legitimate rulers by the folk or with those who view the "people's culture" as ipso facto revolutionary, Carvalho-Neto shows that folklore mirrors the class struggle and is itself an instrument of class hegemony over all culture. Folklore also reflects defense, resistance and struggle, for as long as an oppressed group is not liberated, its folklore of resistance represents primarily an adaptation to the violence of domination.
State Intervention in Brazil: Issues and Debates
Authors: Munck Ronaldo
Published: March 2008

Great Britain is a crypto-capitalist country with a socialist rhetoric, and Brazil crypto-socialist country with a capitalist rhetoric (Campos 1 in Visão, October 3, 1977).
The Making of an Organic Intellectual: Walter Rodney (1942-1980
Authors: Campbell Trevor A.
Published: March 2008

Men make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly encountered, given and transmitted from the past. The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the minds of the living (Karl Marx).
International Solidarity
Authors: Hill Sylvia
Published: March 2008

We try to understand your situation in this country. You can be sure that we realize the difficulties you face, the problems you have and your feelings, your revolts, and also your hopes. We think that our fightingfor Africa against colonialism and imperialism is a proof of understanding of your problems in this continent. Naturally, the inverse is also true. All the achievements here are real contributions to our own struggle [ speech given on October 20, 1972, in New York; see Cabral, 1973: 76].
Urban and Housing Policies under Chile's Military Dictatorship 1973-1985
Authors: Kusnetzoff Fernando
Published: March 2008

Our situation is a nightmare that doesn't end because we can't even return the house. We wanted to die of shame the day we had to take out our things under the threat of legal seizure. It was humiliating, we felt like thieves. But I know it's not ourfault. It's the fault of an unfair system. The government ought to admit it, to say frankly that it doesn't want the middle class to have houses [HOY, October 28, 1985, No. 432J
In Memoriam and Struggle Che Guevara
Authors: Guillén Nicolás
Published: March 2008

This issue of Latin American Perspectives is dedicated to the memory of Che Guevara on the twentieth anniversary of his death in Bolivia. His life was the personification of revolutionary idealism and practice, and his heroic struggle continues to be an inspiration to those who fight against social injustice and oppression throughout the Third World. To commemorate Che's life and death, the editorial collective of Latin American Perspectives has decided to publish the last paragraph of his farewell letter to his children as well as a poem written in his honor by the well-known Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén.
Reclaiming Voices: Notes on a New Female Practice in Journalism
Authors: Randall Margaret
Published: March 2008

I'd been in El Salvador two weeks and I was walking home one day when I heard shots. There were tanks all along the block, and some fifty soldiers and police. They had mortars, machine guns, and they were attacking one house in particular. It was incredible, because they had all this trained on just one house, and the only thing you could hear coming from inside the house were the shots of a small caliber pistol. Then the shots from inside were heard no more. Everything grew quiet. The smoke cleared and the first group of policemen and journalists entered the house. There was a young man dead in the bathroom. And there was a woman, maybe forty or forty-five, wearing an apron and with a kerchief around her head. She was lying in a pool of blood.... I was the only woman in the group, and the only journalist from the U.S. who had stayed in El Salvador for more than a couple of days that month. And I just couldn't believe what happened next: the Chief of Police went into another room and got a machine gun. He knelt beside the older woman and placed it in her hand. "This was the weapon, this was the machine gun she used against us," he said. He got a box of bullets, unused bullets still wrapped in paper, and he threw them on the floor on top of her blood. "Those were her bullets," he said. And the international press took photos and they said, "Right, right," and they took notes: " ... she had a machine gun, she was shooting at the Government Forces, terrorist, guerrilla" and so on (Ann Nelson, quoted in Randall, 1985: 56).
Excerpts from Chico Mendes's
Authors: National Council of Rubber Tappers
Published: March 2008

Francisco 'Chico' Alves Mendes Filho was born on December 15, 1944, on a rubber estate in Xapuri, Acre, in northwest Brazil. He married Ilzamar G. Bezerra Mendes and they had two children. At the time of his death Helenira was four and Sandino was two. Chico Mendes was the president of the Xapuri Rural Workers' Union; a member of the National Council of Rubber Tappers; member of the national council of the Trade Union Congress (CUT); an activist in the Workers' Party (PT); and committed to the defense of the Amazonian ecosystem. In 1985, he advised the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank on Amazon development projects. In 1987, he received the Global 500 Prize from the United Nations and a medal from the Society for a Better World, New York. In 1988, he was awarded honorary citizenship of Rio de Janeiro. At 5:45 p.m. on Thursday, December 22,1988, Chico Mendes, trade union leader, rubber tapper, and ecologist, was assassinated in the doorway of his home in Xapuri, Acre.
The U.S. Invasion of Puerto Rico
Authors: González-Cruz Michael
Published: March 2008

It is fitting that LAP publish an article on Puerto Rico this year. Just over 100 years ago, on July 25,1898, U.S. troops invaded and soon captured the Spanish colony. The Peace of Paris (December 1898) formally awarded Puerto Rico to the United States. No Puerto Rican (or Cuban, or Filipino, or Guamese, and so on) sat at the negotiating table, nor was any consulted, and this boded ill for the future. The following article briefly traces the history of Puerto Rican anticolonial resistance, revealing a long tradition of nationalist and anti-imperialist struggle. Space limitations, however, mean that important topics get shelved. This article does not examine, for example, the massive emigration to the United States starting in the 1920s and 1930s. Traditional historiography explains this exodus in purely economic terms (the spread of large landholdings, the Depression, etc.), but many came because colonial authorities drove them out. Others felt that they could better resist in exile. Still others, like Jesús Colón, the Marxist and American Labor party activist, became politicized in the United States. Nor does the article mention the 15 prisoners of war and political prisoners now serving long sentences in U.S. jails. These men and women (some held in solitary confinement) were punished for defending their homeland against an illegally constituted government. The solidarity movement to free these patriots constitutes an integral part of the tradition of resistance that González-Cruz so amply documents. —Hobart A. Spalding Jr.
Implications of China's Open-Door Policy for Families
Authors: Quach Andrew S. , Anderson Elaine A.
Published: March 2008

China's open-door policy (ODP) was created in 1978 as a response to the severe economic depression affecting the country after the Cultural Revolution. The policy was designed to restore China's financial status and lift the nation out of destitution. By all accounts, the ODP has been successful in improving the country's monetary condition. However, the impacts to family structures and values caused by the sudden and massive industrialization of cities and towns are less well known. This article explores the unexpected changes to family life since the inception of the ODP and conducts a preliminary family impact analysis on how these alterations could be related to the ODP.
Smad Signaling in the Rat Model of Monocrotaline Pulmonary Hypertension
Authors: Ramos Margaret F. , Lamé Michael W. , Segall Henry J. , Wilson Dennis W.
Published: March 2008

Mutations in the bone morphogenetic protein receptor type II (BMPrII) gene have been implicated in the development of familial pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH). The function of BMP signal transduction within the pulmonary vasculature and the role BMPrII mutations have in the development of PAH are incompletely understood. We used the monocrotaline (MCT) model of PAH to examine alterations in Smad signal transduction pathways in vivo. Lungs harvested from Sprague-Dawley rats treated with a single 60-mg/kg intraperitoneal (IP) injection of MCT were compared to saline-treated controls 2 weeks following treatment. Smad 4 was localized by immunohistochemistry to endothelial nuclei of the intra-acinar vessels undergoing remodeling. Smad 4, common to both BMP and transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) signaling, and BMP-specific Smad 1 were significantly decreased in western blot from whole lungs of treated animals, while no change was found for TGFβ-specific Smad 2. MCT-treated rats also had increased expression of phosphorylated Smad 1 (P-Smad 1) but not phosphorylated Smad 2 (P-Smad 2). There was a decrease in the expression of the full BMPrII protein but not its short form variant in MCT-treated rat lungs. The type I receptor Alk1 had increased expression. Collectively, our data indicate that vascular remodeling in the MCT model is associated with alterations in BMP receptors and persistent endothelial Smad 1 signaling.
Patients' experiences of carcinoma of unknown primary site: dealing with uncertainty
Authors: Boyland Lucy , Davis Carol
Published: March 2008

It is generally acknowledged that patients may find it particularly hard to accept a cancer diagnosis if the primary origin cannot be identified. However, there is very little research exploring this. Aims: This is an exploratory mixed-method, largely qualitative, pilot study to explore patients' understanding of carcinoma of unknown primary site, any concerns they may have and to assess their quality of life. Methods: Ten patients were recruited and nine completed semi-structured interviews and McGill quality of life questionnaires. Thematic analysis was used in conjunction with demographic data and quality of life scores. Results: Six main themes were identified. These were - poor understanding, struggling with uncertainty/contrasting with stoical acceptance, undergoing multiple investigations, inability to treat, healthcare professionals not having the answers and difficulty explaining to others. Conclusion: Many patients find the uncertainty difficult and would welcome more opportunity to ask questions and learn of others' experiences.
Knowledge and information needs of informal caregivers in palliative care: a qualitative systematic review
Authors: Docherty Andrea , Owens Alastair , Asadi-Lari Mohsen , Petchey Roland , Williams Jacky , Carter Yvonne H
Published: March 2008

Objectives: To review current understanding of the knowledge and information needs of informal caregivers in palliative settings. Data sources: Seven electronic databases were searched for the period January 1994–November 2006: Medline, CINAHL, PsychINFO, Embase, Ovid, Zetoc and Pubmed using a meta-search engine (Metalib®). Key journals and reference lists of selected papers were hand searched. Review methods: Included studies were peer-reviewed journal articles presenting original research. Given a variety of approaches to palliative care research, a validated systematic review methodology for assessing disparate evidence was used in order to assign scores to different aspects of each study (introduction and aims, method and data, sampling, data analysis, ethics and bias, findings/results, transferability/generalizability, implications and usefulness). Analysis was assisted by abstraction of the key details of each study into a table. Results: Thirty-four studies were included from eight different countries. The evidence was strongest in relation to pain management, where inadequacies in caregiver knowledge and the importance of education were emphasized. The significance of effective communication and information sharing between patient, caregiver and service provider was also emphasized. The evidence for other caregiver knowledge and information needs, for example in relation to welfare and social support, was weaker. There was limited literature on non-cancer conditions and the care-giving information needs of black and minority ethnic populations. Overall, the evidence base was predominantly descriptive and dominated by small-scale studies, limiting generalizability. Conclusions: As palliative care shifts into patients’ homes, a more rigorously researched evidence base devoted to understanding caregivers knowledge and information needs is required. Research design needs to move beyond the current focus on dyads to incorporate the complex, three-way interactions between patients, service providers and caregivers in end-of-life care settings.
Access to medications in the community by patients in a palliative setting. A systems analysis
Authors: Lucey M , McQuillan R , MacCallion A , Corrigan M , Flynn J , Connaire K
Published: March 2008

This study performed a systems analysis of the process by which patients under the care of a specialist palliative home care obtained medications, and highlighted factors that delay this process. Systems analysis is the science dealing with analysis of complex, large-scale systems and the interactions within those systems. This study used a mixed-methods approach of questionnaires of general practitioners, pharmacists and patients, and a prospective observational study of delays experienced by patients referred to the home care team over a three-month period. This study found the main factors causing delay to be: medications not being in stock in pharmacies, medications not being available on state reimbursed schemes and inability of patients and carers to courier medications.
Experience in the Management of Eighty-Two Newborns With Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Treated With High-Frequency Oscillatory Ventilation and Delayed Surgery Without the Use of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation
Authors: Datin-Dorriere Valérie , Walter-Nicolet Elizabeth , Rousseau Véronique , Taupin Pierre , Benachi Alexandra , Parat Sophie , Hubert Philippe , Revillon Yan , Mitanchez Delphine
Published: March 2008

The aim of this study is to analyze neonatal outcome of isolated congenital diaphragmatic hernia and to identify prenatal and postnatal prognosis-related factors. A retrospective single institution series from January 2000 to November 2005 of isolated congenital diaphragmatic hernia neonates was reviewed. Respiratory-care strategy was early high-frequency oscillatory ventilation, nitric oxide in pulmonary hypertension, and delayed surgery after respiratory and hemodynamic stabilization. Survival rate at 1 month was 65.9%. None of the prenatal factors were predictive of neonatal outcome, except an intra-abdominal stomach in left diaphragmatic hernia. Preoperative pulmonary hypertension was more severe in the nonsurvivor group and was predictive of length of ventilation in the survivors. During the first 48 hours of life, the best oxygenation index above 13 and the best PaCO2 above 45 were predictive of poor outcome. When treating isolated congenital diaphragmatic hernia with early high-frequency ventilation and delayed surgery but excluding extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, survival rates compare favorably with other reported series, and the respiratory morbidity is low.
Transfusion-Related Acute Lung Injury
Authors: Jawa Randeep S. , Anillo Sergio , Kulaylat Mahmoud N.
Published: March 2008

Transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) refers to a clinical syndrome of acute lung injury that occurs in a temporal relationship with the transfusion of blood products. Because of the difficulty in making its diagnosis, TRALI is often underreported. Three not necessarily mutually exclusive hypotheses have been described to explain its etiogenesis: antibody mediated, non-antibody mediated, and two hit mechanisms. Treatment is primarily supportive and includes supplemental oxygen. Diuretics are generally not indicated, as hypovolemia should be avoided. Compared with many other forms of acute lung injury, including the acute respiratory distress syndrome, TRALI is generally transient, reverses spontaneously, and carries a better prognosis. A variety of prevention strategies have been proposed, ranging from restrictive transfusion strategies to using plasma derived only from males.
The New DNB and The Future of the Printed Reference Work
Authors: Stoker David
Published: March 2008

Describes the forthcoming revision of the Dictionary of National Biography (DNB), stressing the overdue need for revision to correct inaccuracies in the entries and the under representation of women, industrialists, businessmen, members of the labour and trades union movements and other groups. Plans for the publication of the New Dictionary of National Biography (New DNB) in 2004 will extend the coverage from 36 500 existing articles (all to be revised or rewritten) to 50 000 articles. Takes the example of this massive reference work and considers the future practicality of publishing in printed format, despite its advantages and the likelihood of continuing demand. Places the argument within the overall economics of such enterprises, bearing in mind the trend, led by Microsoft’s Encarta, of selling cheap electronic products, often bundled with other software, which could undermine the future of existing and future products. Concludes that the truly great reference works of the future, such as DNB, may only be economically viable if they are subsidized by government funding.
Access to digital information
Authors: Ming Ding Choo
Published: March 2008

As digital electronic materials offer reduced production costs and more sophisticated methods of use, so the interests of publishers and librarians can be seen to converge. Electronic materials can be sorted, transmitted and retrieved easily and quickly. They can be linked and made interactive with cheaper access than with printed materials. New library buildings can be avoided and the ideal of library co-operation may be realized. Typical examples of this trend are the applications of the Internet and World Wide Web to electronic publishing and access to online information. Nevertheless, the shift away from printed materials towards electronic materials and away from traditional patterns of ownership of resources to more reliance on external resources poses a number of questions which need to be resolved. These questions are posed and discussed at length.
Social Exclusion, ‘Joined-Up Government’, Public Libraries and the Internet
Authors: Stoker David
Published: March 2008

The degree to which access to information and communications technologies (ICT) in the UK, particularly the Internet, is likely to be a means of smoothing out the differences between the information-rich and information-poor in society is discussed. The fact that developments so far have tended to favour the middle classes and increase the social divide is noted in the context of the UK government’s setting up of a Social Exclusion Unit with a remit to help improve government action across traditional departmental boundaries to combat this problem of social exclusion and the formation of Policy Action Teams (PATs), one of which (PAT15) has focussed upon ICTs. Their report ‘Closing the digital divide: information and communication technologies in deprived areas’ was published in March 2000 and announces a £252 million initiative to create 1000 new technology training centres in local neighbourhoods, with centres based in sports clubs, pubs, schools, houses and churches. The ways in which ICTs can help people in disadvantaged communities, through the agency of public libraries are listed.
Evaluating equity in public library services
Authors: Usherwood Bob , Linley Rebecca
Published: March 2008

Reports results of research conducted by the Centre for the Public Library in the Information Society, Sheffield University, Department of Information Studies, to develop a tool for evaluating the social impact of public library activities. The project included an examination of equity or fairness in the distribution of services in relation to objectives. The study involved library staff, elected members, focus groups of local residents, users and non users of public libraries in the City of Newcastle upon Tyne and the County of Somerset, UK. The methodology used in the study has been published in detail elsewhere ( IFLA Journal, 25 (2) 1999, 90-6). Barriers to equity were found to be related to: physical barriers; geographical barriers; economic barriers. The data shows that both Newcastle and Somerset library services are administered fairly, with only isolated examples where equity had to be counter balanced with efficiency considerations. In terms of equity of access to services, both library authorities had policies to improve access for people with disabilities, although there was a call for a more user focused approach by the focus groups. Problems in Somerset, resulting from rural isolation, were overcome through a comprehensive network of services. Problems in Newcastle, resulting from economic barriers, were helped through policies directed at priority groups and areas.
Booked to Die: Australia’s Information Future
Authors: Steele Colin
Published: March 2008

The decline of Australia’s university libraries and information infrastructure is chronicled in terms of diminishing budgets amid the general crisis affecting Australian universities at all levels. The Australian budget in 2000 revealed yet again the lack of action shown by the Liberal Government in terms of addressing the knowledge issues for higher education against relatively weak responses from the opposition party, is noted. Considers the role that national and state libraries can play in redressing this imbalance, pointing to the example of Western Australia, which has announced the aim to ensure that all members of Western Australia are connected to the Internet in five years. Points specifically to the crisis in science periodicals, the issues raised by libraries against the periodicals publishers’ quest for ever greater profits at the expense of scholarly communication and some of the initiatives that are trying to ease matters. Records the decline in book purchasing in Australia’s university libraries, points to the need for national collection co-ordination, along the lines suggested by the Coalition for Innovation in Scholarly Communication (CISC) and a urges a rethink about the whole business of academic book publishing. It is concluded that the issues are long term and the way information is produced and distributed, especially by multinational conglomerates, will see dramatic change in the next few years. If the commercial market is allowed to rule totally over ‘public good’ issues then Australia’s future will be bleak.
Librarians in the delivery of electronic journals
Authors: McKnight Cliff , Yu Liangzhi , Harker Susan , Phillips Kathy
Published: March 2008

Reports results of a study to reappraise the role of librarians in the delivery to users of electronic periodicals, by examination of a specific electronic periodical service, SuperJournal, drawing on three different sources of evidence regarding librarians’ roles: their perceived roles in the delivery of electronic periodicals, their actions in delivering SuperJournal and their behavioural characteristics when using SuperJournal. Focuses on four issues: the librarians’ perception of their roles as deliverers of electronic periodicals; consideration of whether their actions match their espoused roles when faced with a specific electronic periodical; the rating of their use of SuperJournal in relation to their role as information deliverers; and whether their practised roles had any effect on end users. The empirical evidence was collected during the course of the SuperJournal electronic periodical project and included: a log of site librarian activities related to SuperJournal; a transcription of librarian discussions during three workshops; an interview survey which was conducted with one librarian at each site; a 22-month SuperJournal usage log file; and a postal questionnaire survey conducted with all SuperJournal librarian users, to investigate their views about SuperJournal and their perceived roles in delivering electronic periodicals; 68 librarians’ usable responses to the survey were obtained (28% response rate). The librarians see the electronic periodical as a challenge to the library profession in a number of specified ways and, accordingly, they espoused a set of roles which they thought would better define their position in the changing scholarly communication system.
An investigation of the use of intranet technology in UK retail banks
Authors: Leow Kok-Meng , MacLennan Alan
Published: March 2008

Reports results of a two-part questionnaire survey of information technology (IT) managers at 21 major UK retail banks, some of whom are using intranets and some not, to determine the degree of acceptance of intranets in the UK banking sector and to reveal the extent, of and reasons for, the adoption of intranets in their back offices; to explore the existing problems of using intranets; and to reveal the potential usage and development of intranets in the near future. The response rates for banks using intranets and those not using intranets was 46.15% and 42.68% respectively. The results indicated that the respondents are very positive (80%) about using the intranet as an ideal platform for all their information systems and only 20% feel its utility is exaggerated. A phased approach is recommended for the introduction of an intranet which allows both users and administrators to learn and improve the intranet in the deployment process in a cost-effective way.
Publishing, bookselling and the World Wide Web
Authors: Kipling Paul , Wilson T. D.
Published: March 2008

Reports research into the ways the publishing and bookselling industries are using the World Wide Web, based on samples drawn from the bookselling and publishing categories in the Yahoo! search engine directory and a survey of the sites. Reports results of a questionnaire survey sent to the identified companies in the hope that it would be possible to establish how these industries were using the Web and, by comparing the data with the results from the reexamination of the earlier sites, to be able to see how similar, or dissimilar, the book trades’ use of the Web is to other industrial sectors. The study formed part of a continuing investigation into the business use of the World Wide Web. It is concluded that publishers and booksellers are clearly committed to online selling and, since over a third of publishers are selling online, calls into question claims that they are unwilling to alienate bookstores by selling direct to customers. The majority of booksellers are actively engaging in online selling. Only 15 per cent of Web sites have electronic mail ordering and e-mail ordering appears to be increasingly replaced by online forms.
An Eventful Decade
Authors: Stoker David
Published: March 2008

Presents an analysis of the articles published in the periodical, Journal of Librarianship and Information Science (JOLIS), in the period 1991-1999. The analysis was carried out to compare JOLIS’ and was intended as a comparison with a similar survey of the periodical’s first 21 years’ existence (1969-1990), as Journal of Librarianship. Both surveys were conducted by the Editor as his first and final editorials, respectively. The initial analysis was based on coverage by type of library and by geographical area. The subject headings assigned by Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA) for these articles were analyzed and the most frequently occurring headings were listed and compared to the earlier study. Results suggest that the Editor was successful in his goal of increasing the coverage of special libraries and the range of countries featured in the articles.