bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
13 Year Follow Up of Morbidity, Mortality and Use of Health Services Among Elderly Depressed Patients and General Elderly Populations
Authors: Djernes Jens Kronborg , Gulmann Nils Christian , Foldager Leslie , Olesen Frede , Munk-Jørgensen Povl
Published: August 2011

Objectives: The aim of this study was to establish the predictive value of an ICD-10 diagnosis of depressive disorder or dysthymia (depressive patients) among 70 years + frail rural community living patients by measuring morbidity, mortality and use of health services. Identical measures were studied over time in general elderly populations.

Methods: Outcome measures: morbidity, mortality and use of health services were registered over 13 years in: (i) a clinical cohort of frail community-living depressive patients (n = 38), a frail control group (n = 116) and non-frail elderly people (n = 575), all living in the same municipality, and (ii) register-based samples of general rural (n = 4 115) and capital living (n = 54 977) elderly populations. The outcome measures were compared using data from Danish national health registers.

Results: Every one of the clinical cohort of depressive patients had died at the end of the study. Compared with both the frail control group and the non-frail elderly people, the depressive patients had significantly more psychiatric hospital days, outpatient home visits, antidepressant use, antipsychotic use, GP service use and more psychiatric diagnoses with higher morbidity. However, greater use of somatic hospital services or more somatic diagnoses among the depressive elderly patients were not observed. The general elderly population living in the capital had, compared with rural equals, significantly more somatic and psychiatric diagnoses, larger use of somatic hospital services, psychiatric hospital days, antipsychotics and anxiolytics, but less use of antidepressants, psychiatric outpatient home visits and GP services.

Conclusions: An ICD-10 diagnosis of depressive disorder or dysthymia predicted increased use of psychiatric services, more psychiatric diagnoses and increased mortality, indicating poor late-life psychiatric outcome. Contrasting with other studies, depression did not predict increased use of somatic hospital services or more somatic diagnoses. The differences in health care status and use between elderly living in the capital and in rural areas elderly are novel findings.
Group Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Military Service-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Effectiveness, Sustainability and Repeatability
Authors: Khoo Andrew , Dent Michael T. , Oei Tian P. S.
Published: August 2011

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess 12 month outcomes of Australian combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who participated in a 6 week group-based CBT programme at the Toowong Private Hospital. The study population included 496 consecutive admissions to the programme between 1999 and 2008.

Method: Self-report measures of PTSD, depression, anxiety, anger, alcohol use, relationship satisfaction and quality of life parameters were collected at intake and 3, 6 and 12 months post intake.

Results: Statistically significant and sustained improvements were noted in 12 month outcome measures for PTSD, depression, anxiety, alcohol use, anger, and quality of life. PTSD symptom reduction occurred consistently each year for 9 years and exhibited an aggregated effect size of 0.68.

Conclusions: This naturalistic research demonstrates that treatment administered under clinical conditions produces equivocal magnitudes of positive change in terms of PTSD symptoms when compared with existing efficacy data in individual and group treatments. Further, these symptomatic gains are sustainable and consistently reproducible. The benefits noted from group therapy were seen as independent of whether or not individual treatment was in place.
Shikshama Prajantrikaran
Authors: Yadav Satyadev Prasad
Published: August 2011

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/av.v1i0.5318 Academic Voices 2011; 1: 77-79
Factors That Influence Muscle Weakness Following Stroke and Their Clinical Implications: A Critical Review
Authors: Gray Vicki , Rice Charles L. , Garland S. Jayne
Published: August 2011

Purpose: To provide a comprehensive review of changes that occur in the muscle after stroke and how these changes influence the force-generating capacity of the muscle. Methods: A literature search of PubMed, CINAHL, MEDLINE, and Embase was conducted using the search terms stroke, hemiparesis, muscle structure, cross sectional area, atrophy, force, velocity, and torque. There were 27 articles included in this review. Results: Three changes occur in the muscle after stroke: a decrease in muscle mass, a decrease in fibre length, and a smaller pennation angle. In addition, the tendon is stretched and becomes more compliant. All of these factors reduce the affected muscle's ability to generate forces similar to controls or to non-paretic muscles. The result is a leftward shift in the length–tension curve, a downward shift in the torque–angle curve, and a downward shift in the force–velocity curve. Conclusion: Changes in muscle architecture contributing to weakness, such as muscle-fibre length, pennation angle, muscle atrophy, and tendon compliance, should be prevented or reversed by means of an appropriate rehabilitation programme.
Becoming Christian: Relations between Faith and Sacrament in Christian Initiation
Authors: Arjakovsky Antoine , Fortin Jean-Pierre
Published: August 2011

Abstract:

This article attempts to account for the almost complete lack of official mutual recognition expressed by the Christian churches, despite the unprecedented level of convergence between them. Analysis of the important body of literature issued from the ecumenical dialogue that has taken place over the last fifty years leads the author to several conclusions: Christian salvation can be understood, without contradiction, as both instantaneous (effected by God at the moment of baptism) and progressive (via the continual renewal of the believer's life in the sacraments of Eucharist and penance). The Church can be conceived as a multilevel entity not composed of confessions but of three fundamental and complementary types of believers (zealots, proselytes, and spirituals). On this basis, the author argues for the necessary coexistence, within the Church, of difference and complementarity. For Church unity to be lasting and faithful to Christian life, it ought to be found in and actualized as integrated diversity.
From Žižek's Monstrous Politics to the Political Theology of Kierkegaard's Housing Project
Authors: Zlomislić Marko
Published: August 2011

Abstract:

Slavoj Žižek's leading question is how we are to reformulate a leftist anti-capitalist project in an era of global capitalism. In attempting to answer this question, Žižek often uses Kierkegaard's insights to add weight to his analysis of the problems associated with our social and political reality. Yet when one reads Žižek's work on Kierkegaard one is struck by the sheer number of inconsistencies that are generated. Žižek considers Kierkegaard from the point of view of the political in such a way that he avoids the religious, but Kierkegaard is clear that if a proper politics is to exist, it must be grounded in religious selfhood. The single individual, as Kierkegaard makes clear in Two Ages, is “an essentially human person in the religious sense.” Kierkegaard's views are directed by a religious notion of selfhood. Politics without this source is a form of despair. By failing to see ourselves as religious beings, we are in despair. This despair cannot be the basis from which to transform the coordinates of our current position.

Kierkegaard's philosophy provides us with a radical opening from which to re-think political theology from the position of the single individual to come. The program that Žižek upholds is not adequate for the transformation of society or self because it does not have a religious understanding of the individual. As such, Žižek's position is grounded in despair, not love.
Beyond Christendom: New Maps
Authors: González Justo L.
Published: August 2011

Abstract:

The result of the great century of Protestant expansion, the nineteenth, has not been the expansion of Christendom, but rather its end. This has not meant a retreat on of Christianity, which is rapidly growing in what used to be the “mission field.” But it has resulted in a new state in which Christianity, beyond being merely universal, is rapidly becoming cath'holic in the original sense of being “according to the whole.” Just as the Church has learned to live with a cath'holic canon of Scripture that includes a wide variety of perspectives, it will now have to learn how to be a Church that includes a wide variety of perspectives. This variety challenges and enriches the manner in which we read the canonical texts of Christianity, as well as its theology and history. Finally, some examples from the field of Church history are given.
French Apocalyptic Messianism: Isaac La Peyrère and Political Biblical Criticism in the Seventeenth Century
Authors: Morrow Jeffrey L.
Published: August 2011

Abstract:

Isaac La Peyrère is one of the most important and yet little-known seventeenth-century intellectuals involved in developing modern biblical criticism. His work on the Bible resembles that of his later contemporaries Thomas Hobbes, Baruch Spinoza, and La Peyrère's friend Richard Simon, all of whom his writings may have influenced. Through his attempt to get behind the biblical texts and his use of comparative extra-biblical historical literature from across the globe, La Peyrère's methods attempted to mould biblical exegesis into historical criticism. His social and political context in seventeenth-century France during the reign of King Louis xiv provides an important glimpse into the historical background that shaped La Peyrère's thought and project. At its core, La Peyrère's work was not scholarship for its own sake, but was politically motivated. His exegesis entailed an elaborate theo-political messianic vision, which his historical method was an attempt to bolster. La Peyrère's biblical exegesis was in service of his French apocalyptic messianic vision, the heart of which supported the political designs of his employer, the Prince of Condé.
The Evasion of Ethics: Peter Paris Feels the Spirituals
Authors: Wariboko Nimi
Published: August 2011

Abstract:

This paper provides not only a systematic account of the theology and ethics of Peter Paris, but also a critical interpretation of his thought. It identifies racism as the major problem that has engaged his academic career and the theological-ethical methodology he has developed to understand and explain it. He is been able to do all this in ways that evade and challenge the American theological enterprise.

The primary theme of Paris's work is evading epistemology-centred ethics, exposing racism and injustice, and accenting the transformation of the structures of domination and subordination in the light of an ethical ideal, which is usually the thwarting of evil or actualization of human potentialities. In doing this, he converts ethics into a positive science of social critique and cultural investigation of the social crises of the United States.

The importance of this paper goes beyond interpreting Paris's thought, as it will be useful to scholars teaching ethics in general and African-American ethics in particular. Paris's evasion of ethics is rooted in the black religious tradition of ethical critique of American society in order to expose its moral limits and remind it of its blindnesses, as W.E.B. Du Bois informed us. The paper—in also locating the thought of Paris in the deep ethos that informed the spirituals—reveals another major dimension of African-American ethical scholarship. Most importantly, by carefully discussing the ethical methodology of Paris in particular, this paper clarifies that of African-American ethicists in general.
Politicizing Biology: Daniel Dennett's Breaking the Spell: Part II
Authors: Hynes Darren , Wills Bernard
Published: August 2011

Abstract:

In a previous paper we critiqued Daniel Dennett's evolutionary science of religion as expounded in his book Breaking the Spell. In the present paper we wish to follow up on this line of inquiry and discuss in more detail and depth the political and social implications of Dennett's work. The authors find that while Dennett's science of religion and the memetic theory of culture on which it rests are scarcely persuasive as science, they are an effective species of “bio-rhetoric” whose purpose is to defend the status of the sciences and the public supremacy of the “physical stance” on which Dennett thinks they rest. In the conclusion of the paper the authors suggest that Dennett's use of the rhetoric of naturalism and in particular the “science” of memetics has disturbing implications when understood in the context of the post-9/11 world.
Critical Factors for Development of Airport Cities
Authors: Peneda Mauro José Aguiar , Reis Vasco Domingos , Macário Maria do Rosário M. R.
Published: August 2011

Recent trends in airport-centered real estate development are addressed, with emphasis on the concept of the airport city. Airport cities are major economic hubs that have exhibited substantial growth and profits. However, evolution toward an airport city is difficult; several airports worldwide have failed in the attempt. The emergence of this type of development is related to major trends in the aviation sector during the past decades. Globalization and liberalization processes have led to a strong reliance of airport operators on nonaeronautical revenues. Real estate development centered on airports arises as a strategy to maximize nonaeronautical revenues and as a response to a need for revenue diversification. The purpose of this research was to identify the critical, underlying factors in the emergence of an airport city. A framework was designed to illustrate the agents that shape airport city development and the relationships between them. A key informant survey was then conducted with 30 respondents and complemented with personal interviews of eight of them. The results suggest the existence of four critical factors for the development of an airport city: the connectivity of the airport and its surroundings, the economic potential of the surrounding area, a sustainable development context, and a commercial attitude by the airport operator.
Heterogeneity in Preferences of Air Travel Itinerary in a Low-Frequency Market
Authors: Rezaei Ali , Puckett Sean M. , Nassiri Habibollah
Published: August 2011

Research in the choice behavior of air travelers has evolved to include an analytical focus on variation in the sensitivities of travelers to factors influencing itinerary choice. Some choice studies have moved beyond a focus on assumed representative, mean-level sensitivities toward a goal of representing the distribution of preferences across a sample. The mixed multinomial logit model has served as a valuable means of estimating such distributions of air travel preferences, including studies of business travelers, impacts of airport level-of-service attributes, distributions of willingness-to-pay (WTP), and information-processing strategies. Does the insight gained in previous studies, focusing on preferences in mature markets with relatively high per capita rates of air travel activity, apply to markets with low frequencies of airline patronage? This study centers on a survey of travelers in Tehran, Iran, a low-frequency air travel market. The analysis incorporates tests of a full range of distributions of random parameters to determine whether the impacts of restricting distributions allow only normality and confirms the potential to improve model fit with alternative distributions. The estimated distributions of WTP measures confirm the value of accounting for preference heterogeneity in the analysis of choice of air itinerary behavior in a low-frequency market and yield lower mean WTP values relative to analysis that omits the effects of preference heterogeneity.
Effect of Disruptions on Service Quality and Market Share
Authors: Mellat-Parast Mahour , Fini Ellie (Elham) H.
Published: August 2011

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of disruptions on service quality and market share in the U.S. domestic airline industry. Structural equation modeling was used to empirically test the effect of disruptions on service quality and market share for the network and low-cost airlines. The findings suggested that network airlines could manage disruptions more effectively than low-cost airlines. Although disruptions had a negative effect on service quality for both network and low-cost airlines, their effect on airline market share was different. Disruptions had a significant (negative) effect on market share for the low-cost airlines, whereas they did appear to affect market share for the network airlines. Multigroup analysis of invariance was used to compare the effect of disruptions on service quality and market share between airlines. The analysis showed that the effect of disruptions on service quality and market share was different between airlines. On the basis of the findings of this study, recommendations for managers in the airline industry are provided.
Exploring the Impact of Introducing Scheduled Flights on Aviation Markets
Authors: Chung Yi-Shih , Wong Jinn-Tsai
Published: August 2011

The commencement of regular nonstop flights between mainland China and Taiwan in December 2008 was expected to increase the flow of traffic across the Taiwan Strait. Travelers would no longer have to stop to change aircraft; the flight between mainland China and Taiwan would be quicker, cheaper, and more convenient. Hong Kong and Macau, formerly the gateways connecting Taiwan to China, would now compete with point-to-point nonstop flights available to cross-strait travelers. The aim of this study was to examine the evolving supply and demand associated with the aviation market between China and Taiwan and to focus on the changes resulting from the introduction of scheduled nonstop flights. Data covering a 15-month period were collected and analyzed by using multilevel models. The results show that despite rapid growth in the nonstop cross-strait air travel market, growth rates are still restricted by limitations set by the Chinese and Taiwanese governments, particularly those routes connecting Taiwan with first-tier Chinese cities. For this reason, some travelers are forced to make a detour through Hong Kong or Macau on their way to China. However, city pairs connecting Taiwan with second- or third-tier Chinese cities have not performed as well as expected, and some markets have even demonstrated a negative trend over time, indicating a shrinking market. The market for cross-strait air travel exhibits clear heterogeneous characteristics in city pairs, which should be considered as governments take the next steps in opening up the market.
Measuring Quality of Service in Airport Passenger Terminals
Authors: Zidarova Elena D. , Zografos Konstantinos G.
Published: August 2011

Assessment of airport passenger terminal performance provides valuable feedback to airport managers. Researchers and practitioners alike have recognized that measuring terminal performance through purely operational approaches (i.e., on the basis of airport ability to process passengers and baggage) is not sufficient. Innovative techniques used to study passenger needs and their perception of service quality have been developed during the past few decades. A new generation of terminal assessment models incorporating issues such as comfort, convenience, and ambience in the evaluation models has emerged. Existing models vary according to the type of decisions supported, evaluation perspective, type of measurements, and evaluation approach used. The state of the art and the state of the practice regarding methods and techniques for assessing the performance of airport passenger terminals are reviewed, their capabilities and limitations are identified, and issues that should be further researched are proposed.
Critical Flights Detected with Time Windows
Authors: Castelli Lorenzo , Corolli Luca , Lulli Guglielmo
Published: August 2011

Airlines need to pay special attention to flights that may be liable to produce undesired downstream effects if subjected to delay. A mathematical formulation is proposed to identify these critical flights by defining a set of temporal intervals, called time window, which must be met during the flight execution. The width of the time window is variable because it reflects all known constraints on runway capacities or on congested en route sectors that the flight will go through, or both. The set of optimal time window that maximizes their overall width was chosen, thus providing airline operators with the largest degree of flexibility to perform their flights. Three possible approaches are presented to compute the utilization of the system capacity. By means of a computational analysis, it is shown that the solution of the time window model is insensitive about the formulation used for the capacity constraints.
Assessing the Impact of Stochastic Capacity Variation on Coordinated Air Traffic Flow Management
Authors: Churchill Andrew M. , Lovell David J.
Published: August 2011

For decisions about air traffic flow management (ATFM), an accurate characterization of resource capacities at a lead time useful for planning is paramount. Unfortunately, this description is difficult to develop because of the complex nature of the airspace system and the unpredictable nature of the weather phenomena that often influence capacities. Capacity disruptions may be characterized simply by onset, duration, and severity; each of these parameters has a different effect on planning. Having a better understanding of the sensitivity of the air traffic system to uncertainty in each of these parameters can enhance decision making and improve model building. To help characterize the sensitivity of ATFM models to uncertainty in various capacity parameters, this research applies a modified Monte Carlo framework to a simplified model of capacity to identify output effects. In addition to the variations induced in resource capacities, randomness is included on demand profiles to avoid dependencies on a single demand scenario. The results demonstrate that ATFM decision making is quite sensitive to variations in each of the parameters used to characterize capacity. Typically, the impact of capacity variations is marginally increasing. The results of this type of analysis have several applications. First, the particular sensitivities of this deterministic model suggest that benefits may be realized by reformulating the model to explicitly consider stochasticity in resource capacity. Also, results suggesting greater sensitivity to specific capacity parameters may help to motivate research on mitigating uncertainty. Finally, this analysis presents an interesting application of the interplay between simulation and optimization techniques.
Computation of Aircraft Braking Distances
Authors: Pasindu H. R. , Fwa T. F. , Ong Ghim Ping
Published: August 2011

Wet runways are known to be a major contributing factor in overrun accidents. Studies have shown that low skid resistance caused by reduced friction on wet pavement leads to a longer braking distance and increases aircraft overrun risk. The common approaches to compute aircraft braking distance and overrun risk are based on either statistical predictive equations derived from accident data or analytical methods using estimated ground friction values. Both approaches are unable to calculate aircraft braking distance accurately because they cannot account for the complex relationship between wet-pavement skid resistance and the highly varied aircraft operating conditions (which are characterized by factors such as aircraft tire type, landing speed, wheel load, tire inflation pressure, and thickness of runway surface water film). To overcome this limitation, an improved procedure for calculating wet-pavement braking distance based on engineering mechanics and fluid dynamics theory is proposed. An analytical simulation model is first developed to evaluate the wet-pavement skid resistance available to an aircraft under a given operating condition, which is defined by aircraft speed, tire structural properties, pavement surface properties, wheel load, tire inflation pressure, and pavement surface water-film thickness. With actual measured data reported in the literature, a numerical example is presented to demonstrate the application of the proposed procedure. The example illustrates the calibration and validation of the tire model, followed by computation of braking distances under different operating conditions of wheel load, tire inflation pressure, landing speed, and water-film thickness.
Impacts and Responses of Icelandic Aviation to the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull Volcanic Eruption
Authors: Ulfarsson Gudmundur Freyr , Unger Elizabeth A.
Published: August 2011

Despite volcanic eruptions in earlier times, the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull in April and May 2010 served as a climactic point in aviation history. Stakeholders in the air traffic industry were forced to reevaluate policies, safety standards, and guidelines and to seek new methods for data collection. The geographic location of Iceland in the Northern Atlantic air traffic region places it in a critical location. Volcanic eruptions there can radically affect the European and North Atlantic air traffic. The sequence of events is described, and the impacts from an Icelandic perspective are highlighted. Interviews with key authorities in the Icelandic aviation community revealed important issues that must be addressed. They relate specifically to updating the notice-to-airmen messaging system, enhancing the ash-monitoring and -forecasting system, and developing policies that provide structure for all stakeholders to harmonize their decisions and actions.
Increasing treatment of ruptured cerebral aneurysms at high-volume centers in the United States
Authors: Leake Caleb B. , Brinjikji Waleed , Kallmes David F. , Cloft Harry J.
Published: August 2011

Object

Evidence of better outcomes in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage treated at higher-volume centers might be expected to result in more of these patients being referred to such centers. The authors evaluated the US National Inpatient Sample for the years 2001 to 2008 for trends in patient admissions for the treatment of ruptured aneurysms at high- and low-volume centers.

Methods

The authors determined the number of ruptured aneurysms treated with clipping or coiling annually at low-volume (≤ 20 patients/year) and high-volume (> 20 patients/year) centers and also counted the number of high- and low-volume centers performing each treatment. Hospitalizations for clipping or coiling ruptured aneurysms were identified by cross-matching International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes for the diagnosis of a ruptured aneurysm (ICD-9-CM 430) with procedure codes for clipping (ICD-9-CM 39.51) or coiling (ICD-9-CM 39.52, 39.79, or 39.72) cerebral aneurysms.

Results

In 2001, 31% (435 of 1392) of the patients who underwent clipping and 0% (0 of 122 patients) of those who underwent coiling did so at high-volume centers, whereas in 2008 these numbers increased to 62% (627 of 1016) and 68% (917 of 1351) of patients, respectively. For clipping procedures, the number of low-volume centers significantly declined from 177 in 2001 to 85 in 2008, whereas the number of high-volume centers remained constant at 13–15. For coiling procedures, the number of low-volume centers decreased from 62 in 2001 to 54 in 2008, whereas the number of high-volume centers substantially increased from 0 in 2001 to 16 in 2005 and remained constant thereafter.

Conclusions

The treatment of ruptured cerebral aneurysms increasingly occurs at high-volume centers in the US. This trend is favorable given that better outcomes are associated with the treatment of these lesions at high-volume centers.
Research productivity in neurosurgery: trends in globalization, scientific focus, and funding
Authors: Hauptman Jason S. , Chow Daniel S. , Martin Neil A. , Itagaki Michael W.
Published: August 2011

Object

While research is important for the survival, growth, and expansion of neurosurgery, little work has been done to quantify the status and trends of neurosurgical publications. The purpose of this bibliometric study was to quantitatively analyze trends in neurosurgical publications, including changes in worldwide productivity, study methodology, subspecialty topic, and funding.

Methods

This was a retrospective bibliometric study using MEDLINE to record all publications between 1996 and 2009 by first authors affiliated with neurosurgical departments. Country of origin, MEDLINE-defined methodology, study topic, and funding sources (for US articles) were recorded. Linear regression was used to derive growth rates.

Results

Total articles numbered 53,425 during the study period, with leading global contributors including the US with 16,943 articles (31.7%) and Japan with 10,802 articles (20.2%). Countries demonstrating rapid growth in productivity included China (121.9 ± 9.98%/year, p < 0.001), South Korea (50.5 ± 4.7%/year, p < 0.001), India (19.4 ± 1.8%/year, p < 0.001), and Turkey (25.3 ± 2.8%/year, p < 0.001). While general research articles, case reports, and review articles have shown steady growth since 1996, clinical trials and randomized controlled trials have declined to 2004 levels. The greatest overall subspecialty growth was seen in spine surgery. Regarding funding, relative contribution of National Institutes of Health (NIH)–funded publications decreased from 30.2% (290 of 959) to 22.5% (356 of 1229) between 1996 and 2009.

Conclusions

Neurosurgical publications demonstrate continued increases in productivity as well as in global expansion, although US contributions remain dominant. Two challenges that the neurosurgical community is facing include the preponderance of case reports and review articles and the relative decline in NIH funding for US neurosurgical publications, as productivity has outpaced government financial support.
Inorganic–organic hybrid materials through post-synthesis modification: Impact of the treatment with azides on the mesopore structure
Authors: Keppeler Miriam , Holzbock Jürgen , Akbarzadeh Johanna , Peterlik Herwig , Hüsing Nicola
Published: August 2011

Hybrid, hierarchically organized, monolithic silica gels, comprising periodically arranged mesopores and a cellular macroscopic network, have been prepared through a co-condensation reaction of tetrakis(2-hydroxyethyl)orthosilicate with chloromethyl-trimethoxysilane or 3-(chloropropyl)-triethoxysilane. Subsequent conversion of the chloro groups into azido groups, by nucleophilic substitution with NaN3 in N,N-dimethylformamide, was conducted upon preservation of the monolithic structure. However, treatment with NaN3 had a strong influence on the structure in the mesoporous regime, with changes such as an increase of mesopore diameter, pore volume and lattice constants, as well as a concomitant decrease of the pore wall thickness, as confirmed by small angle X-ray scattering, transmission electron microscopy, and nitrogen sorption analysis. Similar effects were observed for unmodified silica gels by simple ageing in azide-containing media, whether a relatively small or a sterically demanding counter ion (Na+ or (H3C)4N+) was used. The structural modification did not seem to depend greatly on whether an organic aprotic solvent (N,N-dimethylformamide, 1,1,3,3-tetramethylurea, 1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone) or a protic solvent that can form hydrogen bonds, such as water, was used.
Role of Apoptosis in Rabies Viral Encephalitis: A Comparative Study in Mice, Canine, and Human Brain with a Review of Literature
Authors: Suja M. S. , Mahadevan Anita , Madhusudana S. N. , Shankar S. K.
Published: August 2011

To evaluate the role of apoptosis in rabies encephalitis in humans and canines infected with wild-type street virus, in comparison with rodent model infected with street and laboratory passaged CVS strain, we studied postmortem brain tissue from nine humans, six canines infected with street rabies virus, and Swiss albino mice inoculated intramuscularly (IM) and intracerebrally (IC) with street and CVS strains. Encephalitis and high rabies antigen load were prominent in canine and human brains compared to rodents inoculated with street virus. Neuronal apoptosis was detectable only in sucking mice inoculated with CVS strain and minimal in street virus inoculated mice. In a time point study in suckling mice, DNA laddering was noted only terminally (7 days p.i.) following IC inoculation with CVS strain but not with street virus. In weanling and adult mice, apoptosis was restricted to inflammatory cells and absent in neurons similar to human and canine rabies-infected brains. Absence of neuronal apoptosis in wild-type rabies may facilitate intraneuronal survival and replication while apoptosis in inflammatory cells prevents elimination of the virus by abrogation of host inflammatory response.
Levothyroxine Treatment in Pregnancy: Indications, Efficacy, and Therapeutic Regimen
Authors: Klubo-Gwiezdzinska Joanna , Burman Kenneth D. , Van Nostrand Douglas , Wartofsky Leonard
Published: August 2011

The prevalence of overt and subclinical hypothyroidism during pregnancy is estimated to be 0.3–0.5% and 2–3%, respectively. Thyroid autoantibodies are found in 5–18% of women in the childbearing age. The aim of this review is to underscore the clinical significance of these findings on the health of both the mother and her offspring. Methods of evaluation of thyroid function tests (TFTs) during pregnancy are described as are the threshold values for the diagnosis of overt and subclinical hypothyroidism or hypothyroxinemia. Anticipated differences in TFTs in iodine-sufficient and iodine-deficient areas are discussed and data are provided on potential complications of hypothyroidism/hypothyroxinemia and autoimmune thyroid disease during pregnancy and adverse effects for the offspring. The beneficial effects of levothyroxine therapy on pregnancy outcomes and offspring development are discussed with a proposed treatment regimen and follow up strategy.
Closed Left Ideal Decompositions of U(G)
Authors: Zelenyuk Yevhen
Published: August 2011

Let G be an infinite discrete group and let βG be the Stone-Čech compactification of G. We take the points of βG to be the ultrafilters on G, identifying the principal ultrafilters with the points of G. The set U(G) of uniform ultrafilters on G is a closed two-sided ideal of βG. For every p ∊ U(G), define Ip ⊆ βG by Ip = ∩ A∊p cl(GU(A)), whereU(A) = {p ∊ U(G) : A ∊ p}. We show that if |G| is a regular cardinal, then {Ip : p ∊ U(G)} is the finest decomposition of U(G) into closed left ideals of βG such that the corresponding quotient space of U(G) is Hausdorff.
Embedding Distributions of Generalized Fan Graphs
Authors: Chen Yichao , Mansour Toufik , Zou Qian
Published: August 2011

Total embedding distributions have been known for a few classes of graphs. Chen, Gross, and Rieper computed it for necklaces, close-end ladders and cobblestone paths. Kwak and Shim computed it for bouquets of circles and dipoles. In this paper, a splitting theorem is generalized and the embedding distributions of generalized fan graphs are obtained
Linear Forms in Monic Integer Polynomials
Authors: Dubickas Artūras
Published: August 2011

We prove a necessary and sufficient condition on the list of nonzero integers u1…, uk, k≥2, under which a monic polynomial f∊2ℤ[x] is expressible by a linear form u1 f1 + … + ukfk in monic polynomials f1…fk ∊ ℤ[x]. This condition is independent of f. We also show that if this condition holds, then the monic polynomials f1, … fk can be chosen to be irreducible in ℤ[x].
Asymptotics and Uniqueness of Travelling Waves for Non-Monotone Delayed Systems on 2D Lattices
Authors: Yu Zhi-Xian , Mei Ming
Published: August 2011

We establish asymptotics and uniqueness (up to translation) of travelling waves for delayed 2D lattice equations with non-monotone birth functions. First, with the help of Ikehara’s Theorem, thea prioriasymptotic behavior of travelling wave is exactly derived. Then, based on the obtained asymptotic behavior, the uniqueness of the traveling waves is proved. These results complement earlier results in the literature.
Amine reactivity with charged sulfuric acid clusters
Authors: Bzdek B. R. , Ridge D. P. , Johnston M. V.
Published: August 2011

Abstract. The distribution of charged species produced by electrospray of an ammonium sulfate solution in both positive and negative polarities is examined using Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS). Positively-charged ammonium bisulfate cluster composition differs significantly from negatively-charged cluster composition. For positively-charged clusters all sulfuric acid is neutralized to bisulfate, whereas for negatively-charged clusters the degree of sulfuric acid neutralization is cluster size-dependent. With increasing cluster size (and, therefore, a decreasing role of charge), both positively- and negatively-charged cluster compositions converge toward ammonium bisulfate. The reactivity of negatively-charged sulfuric acid-ammonia clusters with dimethylamine and ammonia is also investigated by FTICR-MS. Two series of negatively-charged clusters are investigated: [(HSO4)(H2SO4)x]− and [(NH4)x(HSO4)x+1(H2SO4)3]−. Dimethylamine substitution for ammonia in [(NH4) x(HSO4) x+1(H2SO4)3]− clusters is nearly collision-limited, and subsequent addition of dimethylamine to neutralize H2SO4 to bisulfate is within one order of magnitude of the substitution rate. Dimethylamine addition to [(HSO4) (H2SO4) x]− clusters is either not observed or very slow. The results of this study indicate that amine chemistry will be evident and important only in large ambient negative ions (>m/z 400), whereas amine chemistry may be evident in small ambient positive ions. Addition of ammonia to unneutralized clusters occurs at a rate that is ~2–3 orders of magnitude slower than incorporation of dimethylamine either by substitution or addition. Therefore, in locations where amine levels are within a few orders of magnitude of ammonia levels, amine chemistry may compete favorably with ammonia chemistry.
Analysis of vertical wave number spectrum of atmospheric gravity waves in the stratosphere using COSMIC GPS radio occultation data
Authors: Tsuda T. , Lin X. , Hayashi H. ,   Noersomadi
Published: August 2011

Abstract. GPS radio occultation (RO) is characterized by high accuracy and excellent height resolution, which has great advantages in analyzing atmospheric structures including small-scale vertical fluctuations. The vertical resolution of the geometrical optics (GO) method in the stratosphere is about 1.5 km due to Fresnel radius limitations, but full spectrum inversion (FSI) can provide superior resolutions. We applied FSI to COSMIC GPS-RO profiles from ground level up to 30 km altitude, although basic retrieval at UCAR/CDAAC sets the sewing height from GO to FSI below the tropopause. We validated FSI temperature profiles with routine high-resolution radiosonde data in Malaysia and North America collected within 400 km and about 30 min of the GPS RO events. The average discrepancy at 10–30 km altitude was less than 0.5 K, and the bias was equivalent with the GO results. Using the FSI results, we analyzed the vertical wave number spectrum of normalized temperature fluctuations in the stratosphere at 20–30 km altitude, which exhibits good consistency with the model spectra of saturated gravity waves. We investigated the white noise floor that tends to appear at high wave numbers, and the substantial vertical resolution of the FSI method was estimated as about 100–200 m in the lower stratosphere. We also examined a criterion for the upper limit of the FSI profiles, beyond which bending angle perturbations due to system noises, etc., could exceed atmospheric excess phase fluctuations. We found that the FSI profiles can be used up to about 28 km in studies of temperature fluctuations with vertical wave lengths as short as 0.5 km.
A thermal infrared instrument onboard a geostationary platform for CO and O3 measurements in the lowermost troposphere: Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSE)
Authors: Claeyman M. , Attié J.-L. , Peuch V.-H. , El Amraoui L. , Lahoz W. A. , Josse B. , Joly M. , Barré J. , Ricaud P. , Massart S. , Piacentini A. , von Clarmann T. , Höpfner M. , Orphal J. , Flaud J.-M. , Edwards D. P.
Published: August 2011

Abstract. This paper presents observing system simulation experiments (OSSEs) to compare the relative capabilities of two geostationary thermal infrared (TIR) instruments to measure ozone (O3) and carbon monoxide (CO) for monitoring air quality (AQ) over Europe. The primary motivation of this study is to use OSSEs to assess how these infrared instruments can constrain different errors affecting AQ hindcasts and forecasts (emissions, meteorology, initial condition and the 3 parameters together). The first instrument (GEO-TIR) has a configuration optimized to monitor O3 and CO in the lowermost troposphere (LmT; defined to be the atmosphere between the surface and 3 km), and the second instrument (GEO-TIR2) is designed to monitor temperature and humidity. Both instruments measure radiances in the same spectral TIR band. Results show that GEO-TIR could have a significant impact (GEO-TIR is closer to the reference atmosphere than GEO-TIR2) on the analyses of O3 and CO LmT column. The information added by the measurements for both instruments is mainly over the Mediterranean Basin and some impact can be found over the Atlantic Ocean and Northern Europe. The impact of GEO-TIR is mainly above 1 km for O3 and CO but can also improve the surface analyses for CO. The analyses of GEO-TIR2 show low impact for O3 LmT column but a significant impact (although still lower than for GEO-TIR) for CO above 1 km. The results of this study indicate the beneficial impact from an infrared instrument (GEO-TIR) with a capability for monitoring O3 and CO concentrations in the LmT, and quantify the value of this information for constraining AQ models.
Implications of albedo changes following afforestation on the benefits of forests as carbon sinks
Authors: Kirschbaum M. U. F. , Whitehead D. , Dean S. M. , Beets P. N. , Shepherd J. D. , Ausseil A.-G. E.
Published: August 2011

Abstract. Increased carbon storage with afforestation leads to a decrease in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and thus decreases radiative forcing and cools the Earth. However, land-use change also changes the reflective properties of the surface vegetation from more reflective pasture to relatively less reflective forest cover. This increase in radiation absorption by the forest constitutes an increase in radiative forcing, with a warming effect. The net effect of decreased albedo and carbon storage on radiative forcing depends on the relative magnitude of these two opposing processes. We used data from an intensively studied site in New Zealand's Central North Island that has long-term, ground-based measurements of albedo over the full short-wave spectrum from a developing Pinus radiata forest. Data from this site were supplemented with satellite-derived albedo estimates from New Zealand pastures. The albedo of a well-established forest was measured as 13 % and pasture albedo as 20 %. We used these data to calculate the direct radiative forcing effect of changing albedo as the forest grew. We calculated the radiative forcing resulting from the removal of carbon from the atmosphere as a decrease in radiative forcing of −104 GJ tC−1 yr−1. We also showed that the observed change in albedo constituted a direct radiative forcing of 2759 GJ ha−1 yr−1. Thus, following afforestation, 26.5 tC ha−1 needs to be stored in a growing forest to balance the increase in radiative forcing resulting from the observed albedo change. Measurements of tree biomass and albedo were used to estimate the net change in radiative forcing as the newly planted forest grew. Albedo and carbon-storage effects were of similar magnitude for the first four to five years after tree planting, but as the stand grew older, the carbon storage effect increasingly dominated. Averaged over the whole length of the rotation, the changes in albedo negated the benefits from increased carbon storage by 17–24 %.
Threshold of carbonate saturation state determined by a CO2 control experiment
Authors: Yamamoto S. , Kayanne H. , Terai M. , Watanabe A. , Kato K. , Negishi A. , Nozaki K.
Published: August 2011

Abstract. Acidification of the oceans by increasing anthropogenic CO2 emissions will cause a decrease in biogenic calcification and an increase in carbonate dissolution. Previous studies suggest that carbonate dissolution will occur in polar regions and in the deep-sea oceans where saturation state with respect to carbonate minerals (Ω) will be <1 by 2100. However, carbonate in coral reefs distributed in tropical zones will not dissolve because the major carbonate in such reefs is aragonite, and the saturation state with respect to aragonite (Ω_a) is >1. Recent reports demonstrated nocturnal carbonate dissolution reefs, despite Ω_a > 1, probably relate to the dissolution of the minor reef carbonate (Mg-calcite), which is more soluble than aragonite. However, the threshold of Ω for the dissolution of natural sediments has not been clearly determined, and it is unknown whether these dissolution processes actually occur under natural conditions. This work describes the measurement of the dissolution rates of coral aragonite and Mg calcite excreted by marine organisms under conditions of Ω_a > 1 with controlled seawater pCO2. Laboratory experimental data of the present study show that bulk carbonate sediments sampled from a coral reef start to dissolve when Ω_a = 3.7, and dissolution rates increase with falling Ω_a. Mg-calcite derived from foraminifera and coralline algae dissolved when Ω_a reached 3.4, whereas coralline aragonite started to dissolve when Ω_a was almost 1.0. We show that nocturnal carbonate dissolution of coral reefs occurs mainly by the dissolution of foraminifera and coralline algae in reef sediment.
Estimating flooded area and mean water level using active and passive microwaves: the example of Paraná River Delta floodplain
Authors: Salvia M. , Grings F. , Ferrazzoli P. , Barraza V. , Douna V. , Perna P. , Bruscantini C. , Karszenbaum H.
Published: August 2011

Abstract. This paper describes a procedure to estimate both the fraction of flooded area and the mean water level in vegetated river floodplains by using a synergy of active and passive microwave signatures. In particular, C band Envisat ASAR in Wide Swath mode and AMSR-E at X, Ku and Ka band, are used. The method, which is an extension of previously developed algorithms based on passive data, exploits also model simulations of vegetation emissivity. The procedure is applied to a long flood event which occurred in the Paraná River Delta from December 2009 to April 2010. Obtained results are consistent with in situ measurements of river water level.