bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Stormy Weather: Grid-connected Solar and Wind Energy in Victoria
Authors: BUNTING ANDREA
Published: October 2008

This article deals with the treatment of grid-connected solar and wind energy in the Australian state of Victoria during the period from the mid-1970s to 1994. Traditionally, electricity authorities and governments tend to dismiss these options claiming that they are too expensive and only produce intermittent power. Proponents of solar and wind energy dispute this, arguing that such assessments ignore the significant environmental benefits of renewable energy. In this article it is argued that an explanation for the treatment of renewable energy needs to start from an analysis of the structure and development of the electricity supply industry, and the political processes which have shaped the industry. This history shows that the neglect of solar and wind energy in Victoria was influenced more by electricity planning considerations and the political agenda of the Victorian ALP government than by economic and technical criteria.
A Contextualising, Socio-technical Definition of Technology: Learning from Ancient Greece and Foucault
Authors: ROONEY DAVID
Published: October 2008

The task of defining technology has had an unhappy history. It seems that agreement about what technology is—and even if a definition should be sought at all—has not been reached. This article argues that a definition is possible and should be sought. The etymology of the word technology suggests that it has long had a socio-technical meaning and, furthermore, Foucault's definition of four types of technologies suggests a framework in which a socio-technical definition of technology can be usefully detailed. In this case the definition helps to provide a broad and deeply contextual understanding of what technology is (in its tangible and intangible forms), the processes which it influences and the processes which influence it.
Gender Differences in Wage Returns to Computer Skills in Australia
Authors: Hawke Anne
Published: October 2008

This article examines how different types of computer skills influence the wages of men and women in Australia. The estimated wage effect for each type of computer use ranged from 2.8% to 7.0%. Comparing these results with earning equations which do not explicitly account for computer usage and skills reveals an associated bias on the returns to education. Wage equations which do not explicitly account for computer skills upwardly bias the returns to education by up to 68%. This bias is inversely proportional to the level of education. That is, the returns to education for individuals with lower educational qualifications are more highly biased by not accounting for computer skills than those with higher qualifications.

Lower levels of computer skills reward females more highly than males. Higher levels of computer skills reward males at a greater rate than females. The major findings arising from this research relates to the observable wage differential between males and females. After accounting for other measurable factors such as education, tenure, and language skills females are rewarded more highly for their computer skills than males. Indeed, if the return on computer skills were the same for females as males, the gender wage differential could be expected to increase by 13.4%. This finding suggests that computer literacy can be a more important factor in increasing the wages of females than completing high school.
Driving the Hard Bargain for Australian R&D
Authors: Gans Joshua S.
Published: October 2008

This article evaluates the long-standing argument that Australian R&D levels are low because of the restrictions imposed by scale economies in production. In so doing, it is assumed that there are no intrinsic advantages or disadvantages to the integration of research and production activities within a single firm. The rents that Australian firms could accrue by selling innovations to overseas firms with production capabilities are then determined. It is demonstrated that existing overseas firms with their own in-house research units will have a greater intrinsic willingness to pay for innovations. Hence, they will spend relatively more on R&D and innovate more often than Australian research-oriented firms.
Science, Technology and Democracy on the STS Agenda: Review Article
Authors: Mercer David
Published: October 2008

Irwin's ‘Citizen Science’ and Sclove's ‘Technology and Democracy’ represent two important recent attempts, from different precincts of the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS), to explore the democratization of science and technology. Irwin suggests that policies for democratizing science and technology should avoid the pre-definitions of science of experts. Sclove promotes the utilization of democratic design criteria to inhibit the unanticipated negative effects of technology on democracy. Despite their differences both texts address similar politkal questions and display some theoretical convergence. These similarities suggest that Sclove's claims that there is a clear division, according to their theoretical orientation between studies in STS which are concerned with the politics of science and technology and those which are not, are overstated. Both texts possess considerable merits but tend to romanticise ‘lay knowledges’ and oversimplify the politics of expertise.
The Digital Mystique: A Review of Digital Technology and its Application to Television
Authors: Noll A.
                      Michael
Published: October 2008

This article explores the divergences and convergences and convergences between the worlds of analog and of digital. It reviews some of the basic concepts of digital conversion and then compares and contrasts analog and digital signals, including their application to telephone and television signals. Issues arising from the use of digital and analog compression to save bandwidth are discussed. Lessons learned from the use of compression of cellular telephone signals are applied to the world of digital television.
The FCC Digital Television Standards Decision
Authors: Schreiber William F.
Published: October 2008

The FCC's DTV standards decision of December 1996 is criticized on the grounds that it is likely to hinder rather than to help the development of a viable broadcasting service. The standard-setting process began in 1987, resulting in a proposal to the FCC in 1995. The so-called Grand Alliance proposal was not perfect, as it had too many scanning formats, it used interlace, and had no provision for inexpensive receivers or easy upgrading, but it was a complete system. Because of a dispute between the computer and TV industries, a private advisory committee was formed at FCC urging. It met secretly without public participation, in apparent violation of the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The committee agreed to eliminate the table of scanning formats, and the FCC adopted this radical proposal within a month. Rather than correcting the drawbacks of the GA proposal, the FCC made it worse by introducing uncertainty as to which formats would be for broadcasting and which formats receivers would accept. In so doing, the FCC ignored the views of other government agencies, public-interest groups, and disinterested individuals, but apparently accepted the often erroneous and self-serving statements of the commercial entities involved.
Content and Services for the New Digital TV Environment
Authors: Carey John
Published: October 2008

Content, not technology, will encourage the widespread adoption of digital television. A broad scope of new channels and services are possible in a digital TV environment. These include high-definition television, video-on-demand movies, theme channels, multicasting or the distribution of the same content on different channels at different times, Internet content on TV sets, video segments on personal computers, interactive shopping and games, and program guides for hundreds of channels. There are many opportunities for more and better content but there are also uncertainties about the business models for digital TV and concerns about who will control content.
The Path from Analog HDTV to DTV in Japan
Authors: Seel Peter B.
Published: October 2008

While Japanese broadcasters and manufacturers have been world pioneers in the development of high-definition television and digital production technologies, they have been slow to design a national system for digital television (DTV) transmission. Present plans call for the launching of a new satellite that will facilitate DTV transmissions by the year 2000. This article examines the technological, political, and economic issues that have delayed the advent of digital broadcasting in Japan, especially compared to DTV broadcasting initiatives in Europe and the US. The article concludes that Japanese economic and political investment in the analog Hi-Vision HDTV format led to the promulgation of national industrial policies that inhibited the diffusion of alternative television technologies.
Intellectual Property and Trade: Economic Perspectives
Authors: Lamberton Don
Published: October 2008

Despite the hype, regionalization frequently appears a better description of world market evolution than globalization. There has been convergence among the advanced nations but in other countries there is a mixed record of take-offs, stalls and nose dives. Given these circumstances, it is important that economics is still trying to come to grips with knowledge-based economic activity and has yet to develop the not-so-simple economics of intellectual property. We have to recognize that information is capital and the discrete piece of information lawyers see as the basis of patents is in reality a large, complex information structure, meshing into elaborate networks. Patenting and other strategies to appropriate benefits from innovation may therefore be more successful than has been conceded generally. Implications extend from domestic innovation to world trade and institutional arrangements.
TRIPS, Cultural Politics and Law Reform
Authors: Sutherland Johanna
Published: October 2008

This article examines the intensification of inter-‘national’ and international cultural contestations over intellectual property rights (IPRs). Examples are given of disputes over biological materials and their commercial use in biotechnology and natural products, and concepts of culture, properly and fair return. These disputes are also about culture and political liberalism. Corporate stakeholders, governments, indigenous peoples' organisations (IPOs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are involved in democratic, and with some exceptions, lawful political activity to secure law reform.
Trade in Education: The Role of Copyright
Authors: Wiseman Leanne
Published: October 2008

In Australia, as in many other countries, education is increasingly thought of in terms of trade. Given that copyright law has long functioned as a trade regulation device, it may be reasonable to expect that consideration would be given to the role that copyright may play in regulating the so-called education industry. However, the approach taken to copyright law is often disparate and confusing. This article re-examines approaches to ownership of copyright of works in universities and how copyright may be seen, not as a property right to be fought over but as a specific tool of regulation and governance.
Competition over Competition Policy for International Trade and Intellectual Property
Authors: Arup Christoper
Published: October 2008

Increasingly, international trade law demands that national competition policy play a role making domestic markets more accessible to foreign traders. But can international competition policy also control transnational business practices? New international intellectual property power is providing a reason why such control is needed. This article gauges the competition over the nature of competition policy in a global era.
The Interface between Intellectual Property Rights and Competition Law and Policy: An Australian Perspective
Authors: Walker Jill
Published: October 2008

The interface between intellectual property and competition policy is a difficult one. Both aim to correct for market failure in the pursuit of economic efficiency. However, in correcting for one market failure, we may exacerbate another. This article raises a number of specific issues which have arisen at this interface, at both the policy and enforcement levels. It discusses the Australian response to questions of spare parts, journalists copyright, parallel imports, databases and collecting societies, all issues which have arisen internationally in recent years.
Intellectual Property Disputes and the Supercourt of the World Trade Organisation: The Case for a New Model of Dispute Resolution
Authors: Evans Gail E.
Published: October 2008

The closing decade of the 20th century witnessed the emergence of a WTO ‘supercourt’ having the power to review states' intellectual property legislation. This article challenges the use of law as an instrument of global economic integration without a commensurate growth in legitimacy and public accountability to accompany the process. The recent case of United States and India—Patent Protection for Pharmaceutical and Agricultural Chemical Products provides a focal point for an analysis of key issues of legitimacy in the dispute resolution process. The article concludes that matters would be best remedied with an appropriate theoretical model in mind. To this end, having reviewed various models of trade legalism, the author endorses the stakeholder model as best suited to underpin the necessary reforms.
Japanese Organizational Knowledge Creation in Anglo-American Environments
Authors: Nonaka Ikujiro , Ray Tim , Umemoto Katsuhiro
Published: October 2008

Notwithstanding contemporary Western images of ‘changing Japan’, expectations of lifetime employment within a remarkably stable population of leading firms continue to underpin a distinctive style of Japanese management based on high levels of inter-employee trust and extensive transactions in tacit knowledge. After reviewing some factors that distinguish Japan's national innovation system from its Anglo-American counterparts, we develop an ‘inside the black box’ model of Japanese organizational knowledge creation. This highlights some aspects of Japanese management which do not sit easily amidst Anglo-American organizational turbulence and predilections for explicit knowledge. The second part of our paper uses two case studies to explore factors limiting the ‘transferability’ of Japanese management to Anglo and American innovation environments. These case studies illustrate differences between Japanese and Western systems, together with processes by which their respective advantages can combine to produce synergic benefits.
A New Theory of Innovation?
Authors: Woolgar Steve
Published: October 2008

Some problems in our understanding of innovation can be addressed by thinking of innovation as a social process. This can be done by using the idea of technology as applied social science. To explore this idea, an approach called ‘technography’ is introduced. Sources of resistance to innovation are considered and the question whether new technologies will make us more innovative is posed.
The Actual and Potential Use of Information Technology in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises
Authors: Stroeken Jan , Coumans Jean
Published: October 2008

This paper is based on a recent report from the Dutch Council for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, in which an indicator is deduced for the present state of the application rather than the development of technology in the business sectors. The application of information technology is the prime concern. We shall demonstrate that much of the literature in the field of indicators concentrates on larger companies. In our set-up, the indicator can be tuned to the branch level, but it can be applied to all companies, including the smaller ones. The indicator then is tested in an SME-rich sector—the car dealer branch. In the final part of this paper, we lake a closer look at the problems surrounding the diffusion and implementation of information technology in SMEs and close with some policy recommendations.
The Web of Technology and People: Challenges for Economic and Social Research
Authors: DUTTON WILLIAM H.
Published: October 2008

The study of technology and people has gained acceptance as a field for social inquiry, but it has remained outside the mainstream of the major disciplines and is dealt with as an interdisciplinary area of specialization across the social and economic sciences. In addition, this field has been fragmented further by particular technologies and issues, creating journals focused on privacy issues, others focused on education, for example, with a gulf remaining between social scientists on the one hand, and engineers and computer scientists on the other. There are also major regional divides, with academics in one part of the world often knowing little about work underway elsewhere. The world-wide push for technological innovation, therefore, demands that the social sciences build a more intensive and internationally networked effort to sustain research on the social aspects of technology, and bring it to bear on policy and practice.

Enthusiasm over the Internet and other emerging technologies should not lull the social science research community into complacency. Ironically, unbridled optimism in the coming digital age, or biotech century, and trends in technological innovation and related research and development (R&D) could undermine the vitality of social and economic research. Any agenda for future social science research needs to place a higher priority on the study of technology, to better integrate work on a wider range of technologies, and to attend to a broad array of issues concerning how people produce, utilize, consume, and govern technologies. Otherwise, technical and social choices are likely to escape critical analysis in a wave of next generation enthusiasm.
Between Supply and Demand: Permanent Skilled Migration to Australia
Authors: TSOKHAS KOSMAS
Published: October 2008

Research on skilled migration has dealt overwhelmingly with the contribution of migration to productivity growth, to changes in the income of migrants and the factors influencing their employment. Much less attention has been paid to the institutional mechanisms that mediate between the external supply and the host-country demand for skilled labour, even though these play a vital role in the selection of such migrants. Australia has maintained a selective, highly regulated permanent skilled migration program for much of its contemporary history. This program contains both general and specific skilled entry. The former is not linked to any particular needs of individual firms or industries. Rather, in seeking some balance between supply and demand, entry is on the basis of general criteria such as the possession of a qualification recognised in Australia and English-language proficiency. Short-term imbalances between the supply of general skills and occupational demand have led to changes in entry criteria in response to labour market information and pressure from professional associations and trade unions. Specific skilled migration is closely tied to employer nominations. They cannot proceed unless certain institutional processes are met. The firm concerned must demonstrate that the required human capital cannot be found in Australia, that the position is in fact a highly skilled one, and that the firm has a training strategy for Australians.
The Four Largest South Korean Business Groups and Foreign Technology: Acquisition of Technology and Foreign Direct Investment
Authors: HAGEMEISTER MARCUS
Published: October 2008

This paper deals with the acquisition of foreign technology and with foreign direct investment by the four largest South Korean business groups. Major conclusions are: (1) the groups successfully acquired foreign, state-of-the-art technology for large-scale production of lower and middle market segment products within a very broad range of industries; (2) the most important current problems for the groups (lack of own high-technology and low equity and profit rates) are genuine results of the same strategy, which led to the successful acquisition of foreign non-high-end technology; (3) although all four groups undertook foreign direct investment of considerable scale, these investments were mainly restricted to a few geographic areas and product groups, and it is far too early to speak of a real ‘globalization’ of group operations.
The Impact of Visual Communication Innovations on the Film Industry
Authors: CHANDLER ANNMARIE , BAKER ELLEN , FISHER TOM
Published: October 2008

This paper examines the impact of visual networking technologies and communication innovations within the film industry. The researchers investigated companies designing and implementing uses for the new systems within the manufacturing cycles of film production. The project selected two case studies, one from the advertising industry and one from a large scale Hollywood feature film, to examine emerging benefits and issues for companies innovating in this area. The research found that this new area of technological change is impacting on international divisions of cultural labour by affecting decisions concerning facility location, collaborative work practices, and the scheduling of production activities. The findings identified a number of economic and social advantages for companies who adopt the systems. However, they also revealed characteristics about the industry and innovation which would act to inhibit the rate of adoption.
The Changing Location of Intellectual Property Rights in Music: A Study of Music Publishers, Collecting Societies and Media Conglomerates
Authors: KRETSCHMER MARTIN , KLIMIS GEORGE
                      MICHAEL , WALLIS ROGER
Published: October 2008

This article reports the results of a major study, conducted between 1996 and 1999, examining the impact of de-regulation and digital technologies on the global music industry. We analyse four negotiations in the process of bringing music to the world market: commodification, globalisation, delivery, and royalty management. We show that the location of intellectual property rights in this process depends on the mutual bargaining power of the parties involved, within a statutory frame vesting music copyright initially in the author. We describe the forces which have led to the appropriation of rights accounting for 80% of global publishing and recording revenues by only five companies: EMI (UK), Bertelsmann (Germany), Warner (US), Sony (Japan) and Universal (Canada). We predict that this regime will not last and consider the likely future location of intellectual property rights in music.
Internet Advertising: An Assessment of Consumer Attitudes
Authors: PREVITE JOSEPHINE
Published: October 2008

Given the increasing popularity of the Internet as a medium to convey advertising messages, limited empirical research has been published concerning Internet consumers' attitudes to advertising on the Internet. This paper investigates consumer attitudes to Internet advertising, and specifically focuses on Internet users' beliefs and attitudes about Internet advertising. Based on a primary structure of beliefs and attitudes about advertising, the research identified the existence of relationships between Internet users' attitudes towards advertising and their online experience, and a strong negative attitude to advertising in general and the societal effects of advertising, in particular.
Building Capacities and Setting Priorities in National Science and Technology
Authors: DE LA MOTHE JOHN
Published: October 2008

AS governments attempt to reduce the scale of their activities in the face of deficit reduction exercises and improve the efficiency and management of their operations, federal laboratories have not been spared. In many countries, the relative share of government-performed science and technology has declined. Downsizing has thus brought questions of scientific capacity and priority setting to the fore. By taking the case of Canada, this paper explores the meaning of these shifts in resources, re-casts the role of government labs in the public interest, and outlines a recent exercise to use a scenario approach—in lieu of a formal foresight activity—to re-establish mandates and directions.
Internet Diffusion and Usage in China
Authors: DU XUEPING
Published: October 2008

This article examines China's fast-growing Internet market from the perspective of its users in terms of adoption dynamics and usage patterns, using first-hand survey data and extensive background information on China's Internet. Present users are an elite group whose profile is presented in the article. Barriers to Internet diffusion include mainly resources, speed, and a limitation of online applications. These factors also impact on usage characteristics. Several policy recommendations and emerging trends, such as e-commerce and Internet telephony, are also discussed.
In Want of Information: A Case Study of Engineers in the South Pacific
Authors: TIBBEN WILLIAM
Published: October 2008

This paper is primarily concerned with information networks and their significance to the development of technological knowledge in Pacific Island engineers. Essentially, the paper addresses a research agenda outlined by Cooper, who argues that studies of innovation in industrialised countries have relevance to technological capability development in developing countries. More specifically, the paper picks up on the theme of ‘technological knowledge development as a communication process’ where studies reveal the contribution that communication linkages within and between organisations make towards the development of this form of knowledge. Using Macdonald's ‘information perspective’ as an analytical tool, the paper identifies a number of organisational-related factors which constrain the access that these engineers have to problem-solving information. The paper argues that the organisation, and the social milieu in which it interacts, is influential in determining access to problem-solving information. This analysis provides support for Cooper's arguments and points to a broader set of challenges than is often accepted in development commentaries: that is, of information being widely available and easy to transport by communication technologies.
The Internet in Undergraduate Management Education: A Concern for Neophytes Among Metaphors
Authors: AMERNIC JOEL H. , CRAIG RUSSELL J.
Published: October 2008

This paper presents an alternative perspective of the pedagogical and other merits of the Internet in undergraduate management education. It highlights the importance of sensitising management students to the ideological character of the Internet and to the Internet's capacity for altering relationships, power structures and ways of ‘managing’ organisations. The need for there to be a critical appreciation of the effects of metonymy and metaphor when the Internet is being considered for use in undergraduate management education is emphasised. The notion that the Internet is an unparalleled conduit of pedagogically-related excellence is challenged and implications are analysed. Metaphors about the Internet and metaphors transported by the Internet are discussed in order to develop a better appreciation of the Internet's limitations as a technology ‘whose full advantage is [purportedly] to be realized’.
Project Selection Models or Professional Autonomy?
Authors: Varma Roli
Published: October 2008

Scholarship on managing professionals has emphasized the centrality of autonomy to industrial scientists in selecting research projects, but has proposed alternative selection models. This article describes the project selection processes in centralized corporate laboratories of high-technology industries, as reported by scientists and managers. It finds that project selection models are rarely utilized in industry because different projects have different levels of uncertainties and benefits. Scientists enjoy autonomy in selecting projects and deciding how to carry them out in industrial contexts. Research projects in corporate laboratories are supported when several elements—research choices made by scientists, demands conveyed by R&D and business managers, and constraints generated by funding, time, and resources—are aligned at a specific point in time. The process appears to be one of resource allocation rather than of project selection.
Collaboration and Innovation Networks in Esprit
Authors: Assimakopoulos Dimitris , Macdonald Stuart
Published: October 2008

The Esprit Programme is the oldest and largest of the European Commission's research and development programmes. Collaboration among participants is fundamental to all the projects that it supports. This collaboration is justified in terms of benefits for innovation, yet the very formal collaboration of Esprit is far removed from both the network links which are now seen to join organisations, and the informal information channels of individuals, vital in the supply of information required for innovation. This paper considers what their relationship with formal collaboration might be.
Myeloid cell differentiation arrest by miR-125b-1 in myelodysplasic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia with the t(2;11)(p21;q23) translocation
Authors: Bousquet Marina , Quelen Cathy , Rosati Roberto , Mansat-De Mas Véronique , La Starza Roberta , Bastard Christian , Lippert Eric , Talmant Pascaline , Lafage-Pochitaloff Marina , Leroux Dominique , Gervais Carine , Viguié Franck , Lai Jean-Luc , Terre Christine , Beverlo Berna , Sambani Costantina , Hagemeijer Anne , Marynen Peter , Delsol Georges , Dastugue Nicole , Mecucci Cristina , Brousset Pierre
Published: October 2008

Most chromosomal translocations in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) involve oncogenes that are either up-regulated or form part of new chimeric genes. The t(2;11)(p21;q23) translocation has been cloned in 19 cases of MDS and AML. In addition to this, we have shown that this translocation is associated with a strong up-regulation of miR-125b (from 6- to 90-fold). In vitro experiments revealed that miR-125b was able to interfere with primary human CD34+ cell differentiation, and also inhibited terminal (monocytic and granulocytic) differentiation in HL60 and NB4 leukemic cell lines. Therefore, miR-125b up-regulation may represent a new mechanism of myeloid cell transformation, and myeloid neoplasms carrying the t(2;11) translocation define a new clinicopathological entity.
WAVECLOCK: wavelet analysis of circadian oscillation
Authors: Price Tom S. , Baggs Julie E. , Curtis Anne M. , FitzGerald Garret A. , Hogenesch John B.
Published: October 2008

Summary: Oscillations in mRNA and protein of circadian clock components can be continuously monitored in vitro using synchronized cell lines. These rhythms can be highly variable due to culture conditions and are non-stationary due to baseline trends, damping and drift in period length. We present a technique for characterizing the modal frequencies of oscillation using continuous wavelet decomposition to non-parametrically model changes in amplitude and period while removing baseline effects and noise.

Availability: The method has been implemented as the package waveclock for the free statistical software program R and is available for download from http://cran.r-project.org/

Contact:  thomas.price@iop.kcl.ac.uk

Supplementary information:  Supplementary figures are available at Bioinformatics online.
In response to comment on ‘A congruence index for testing topological similarity between trees’
Authors: de Vienne Damien M. , Giraud Tatiana , Martin Olivier C.
Published: October 2008

Contact:  damien.de-vienne@lri.fr
Reproductive biology of the green tiger prawn (Penaeus semisulcatus) in coastal waters of Bushehr, Persian Gulf
Authors: Niamaimandi Nassir , Aziz Arshad , Siti Khalijah Daud , Che Roos Saed , Kiabi Bahram
Published: October 2008

Niamaimandi, N., Aziz, A., Siti Khalijah, D., Che Roos, S. and Kiabi, B. 2008. Reproductive biology of the green tiger prawn (Penaeus semisulcatus) in coastal waters of Bushehr, Persian Gulf. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 1593–1599. The reproductive cycle of the green tiger prawn (Penaeus semisulcatus) was investigated in the coastal waters of Bushehr, Iran, Persian Gulf, from January 2003 to March 2004, with the aim of determining spawning seasons, durations, and locations in those waters. Bushehr waters are one of the main fishing grounds for P. semisulcatus in the Persian Gulf. Spawning peaks between December and March, but there is also some spawning in October. The minimum size at maturity was 24 mm carapace length (CL), and 50% were mature at 40 mm CL. The proportion of females that mated increased sharply above this size (40 mm), with 90% of females sexually mature at 54 mm CL. Spawning took place in a limited part of the study area, mostly offshore. Overexploiting the spawning stock could result in reduced reproductive output, limiting fishery production.
Robust parameter extraction for decision support using multimodal intensive care data
Authors: Clifford G.D , Long W.J , Moody G.B , Szolovits P
Published: October 2008

Digital information flow within the intensive care unit (ICU) continues to grow, with advances in technology and computational biology. Recent developments in the integration and archiving of these data have resulted in new opportunities for data analysis and clinical feedback. New problems associated with ICU databases have also arisen. ICU data are high-dimensional, often sparse, asynchronous and irregularly sampled, as well as being non-stationary, noisy and subject to frequent exogenous perturbations by clinical staff. Relationships between different physiological parameters are usually nonlinear (except within restricted ranges), and the equipment used to measure the observables is often inherently error-prone and biased. The prior probabilities associated with an individual's genetics, pre-existing conditions, lifestyle and ongoing medical treatment all affect prediction and classification accuracy. In this paper, we describe some of the key problems and associated methods that hold promise for robust parameter extraction and data fusion for use in clinical decision support in the ICU.
On the quantification of heart rate variability spectral parameters using time–frequency and time-varying methods
Authors: Mainardi Luca T
Published: October 2008

In the last decades, one of the main challenges in the study of heart rate variability (HRV) signals has been the quantification of the low-frequency (LF) and high-frequency (HF) components of the HRV spectrum during non-stationary events. At this regard, different time–frequency and time-varying approaches have been proposed with the aim to track the modification of the HRV spectra during ischaemic attacks, provocative stress testing, sleep or daily-life activities. The quantitative evaluation of power (and frequencies) of the LF and HF components has been approached in various ways depending on the selected time–frequency method. This paper is an excursus through the most common time–frequency/time-varying representation of the HRV signal with a special emphasis on the algorithms employed for the reliable quantification of the LF and HF parameters and their tracking.
TESTING SCENARIOS: WASP SOCIAL BEHAVIOR
Authors: Carpenter James M.
Published: October 2008

Abstract— A complex evolutionary model is tested with a cladistic approach. Cladograms constructed for all of the genera of social Vespidae are optimized for characters associated with social behavior. The character state assignments to the interior nodes are compared with the stages envisioned in the “polygynous family” hypothesis for the evolution of wasp social behavior (West‐Eberhard, 1978). Several of the transitions proposed in the model are consistent with the results: caste formation preceding long‐term monogyny, and long‐term polygyny developing from monogyny. Some transitions do not accord with these results: long‐term polygyny evidently did not evolve directly from a “rudimentary‐caste‐containing” stage, and a stage of tasteless nest sharing may not have occurred.
Life Cycle, Growth and Secondary Production in a Brackish‐Water Population of the PolychaeteNotomastus latericeus (Capitellidae)in the Mediterranean Sea
Authors: Giangrande Adriana , Fraschetti Simonetta
Published: October 2008

Abstract.Three years of observations on a population ofNotomastus latericeusSarsfrom Acquatina lagoon (Lecce, Italy) are reported. The population dynamics, life cycle, and reproduction were investigated in order to explain periodic density variations of this species. Some physical parameters of the water column were measured and sediment analyses were performed to characterize the environment. Secondary production was also estimated as part of a functional study of the benthic system in the Acquatina lagoon. The species is opportunistic; its density is apparently correlated to variation in salinity, but its presence in the lagoon is dependent on recruitment success and competition with other polychaete species.
Growth of the Mediterranean Gorgonian Lophogorgia ceratophyta (L., 1758)
Authors: Mistri Michele , Ceccherelli Victor Ugo
Published: October 2008

Abstract. Growth of the shallow‐water gorgonian Lophogorgia ceratophyta was investigated in an infralittoral station located in La Spezia Gulf, Ligurian Sea. Mean annual height growth rate was estimated to be 2.57 cm · a‐1. The fractal dimension of the colonies was found to gradually evolve in complexity, exhibiting a simpler branching pattern in younger specimens. The maintenance of a low, invariable ramification complexity as an optimal choice in managing relationships between water and the colony's living tissues is also discussed.
Physical Activity Play: The Nature and Function of a Neglected Aspect of Play
Authors: Pellegrini A. D. , Smith Peter K.
Published: October 2008

In this review, we consider the nature and possible developmental functions of physical activity play, defined as a playful context combined with a dimension of physical vigor. We distinguish 3 kinds of physical activity play, with consecutive age peaks: rhythmic stereotypies peaking in infancy, exercise play peaking during the preschool years, and rough‐and‐tumble play peaking in middle childhood. Gender differences (greater prevalence in males) characterize the latter 2 forms. Function is considered in terms of beneficial immediate and deferred consequences in physical, cognitive, and social domains. Whereas most theories assume that children's play has deferred benefits, we suggest that forms of physical activity play serve primarily immediate developmental functions. Rhythmic stereotypies in infancy are hypothesized to improve control of specific motor patterns. Exercise play is hypothesized to function primarily for strength and endurance training; less clear evidence exists for possible benefits for fat reduction and thermoregulation. In addition, there may be cognitive benefits of exercise play that we hypothesize to be largely incidental to its playful or physical nature. Rough‐and‐tumble play has a distinctive social component; we hypothesize that it serves primarily dominance functions; evidence for benefits to fighting skills or to emotional coding are more equivocal. Further research is indicated, given the potentially important implications for children's education, health, and development.
The Biology of Human Play
Authors: Byers John A.
Published: October 2008

Pellegrini and Smith call for the biological study of human physical activity play. Such study will reveal, among other things, whether physical activity play represents an example of performance‐dependent development during a sensitive period.
Physical Play and Cognitive Development: Integrating Activity, Cognition, and Education
Authors: Bjorklund David F. , Brown Rhonda Douglas
Published: October 2008

We propose that humans may have evolved a special sensitivity to certain types of social information during rough‐and‐tumble play that facilitates social cognition. The cognitive benefits of physical play are described as providing a break from demanding intellectual tasks, and are hypothesized to be related to gender differences in spatial cognition.
Physical Activity Play: Consensus and Debate
Authors: Pellegrini A. D. , Smith Peter K.
Published: October 2008

We consider areas of consensus, including the value of an evolutionary perspective and the utility of exploring variations in physical activity play. We also consider areas of debate, including the nonplay/play distinction, functions of R & T, and the opportunities of juveniles for exercise training. We call for more directed research in this neglected area of children's behavior and development.
The Psychological Adjustment of United States Adopted Adolescents and Their Nonadopted Siblings
Authors: Sharma Anu R. , McGue Matthew K. , Benson Peter L.
Published: October 2008

Using data from a national sample of 715 United States adoptive families, comparisons were made between adopted adolescents and birth adolescents (children born to the adoptive parents) on the Youth xSelf‐Report (Achenbach), 8 psychological and behavioral adjustment factor scales from the Attitudes and Behaviors survey (Benson), and an identity scale (Search Institute). Multivariate, followed by univariate, analyses of variance showed significant differences between the 2 groups on the psychological factor scales of Licit Drug Use and School Adjustment. A subsample of nonclinically referred adopted adolescents were also compared to norms on the Youth Self‐Report. Nonreferred adopted boys showed higher levels of adjustment than the norm group on Withdrawn behaviors. Nonreferred adopted girls showed better adjustment than the norm group on Social Problems and Withdrawn behaviors and poorer adjustment on Delinquent Behavior and Externalizing behavior. (Standardized effect sizes were in the small to moderate range.) These same patterns were evidenced when controlling for ethnicity. These data are examined within Brodzinsky's stress and coping model of adoptee adjustment and support a body of adoption research that finds a pattern of small but significant differences between adopted and nonadopted persons. The differences showing poorer adoptee adjustment in comparison to nonadoptees should not be overstated as is sometimes the case in the adoption clinical literature, and areas in which adoptees evidence higher levels of psychological functioning should be further researched.
Maternal Resources, Parenting Practices, and Child Competence in Rural, Single‐Parent African American Families
Authors: Brody Gene H. , Flor Douglas L.
Published: October 2008

A family process model was tested that linked maternal education, maternal religiosity, and the adequacy of family financial resources to cognitive and psychosocial competence in the mothers' children. The sample included 156 6‐ to 9‐year‐old African American children living in single‐mother‐headed households in rural areas, 82% of whom lived in poverty. The distal variables of maternal education, maternal religiosity, and adequacy of financial resources were linked with the proximal variables of “no nonsense” parenting, mother‐child relationship quality, and maternal involvement in the child's school activities. The proximal variables were, in turn, indirectly linked with children's cognitive competence, social competence, and internalizing problems through their association with the children's development of self‐regulation.
Modulation of recurrent inhibition from knee extensors to ankle motoneurones during human walking
Authors: Lamy Jean‐Charles , Iglesias Caroline , Lackmy Alexandra , Nielsen Jens Bo , Katz Rose , Marchand‐Pauvert Véronique
Published: October 2008

The neural control for muscle coordination during human locomotion involves spinal and supraspinal networks, but little is known about the exact mechanisms implicated. The present study focused on modulation of heteronymous recurrent inhibition from knee extensors to ankle motoneurones at different times in the gait cycle, when quadriceps (Quad) muscle activity overlaps that in tibialis anterior (TA) and soleus (Sol). The effects of femoral nerve stimulation on ankle motoneurones were investigated during treadmill walking and during tonic co‐contraction of Quad and TA/Sol while standing. Recurrent inhibition of TA motoneurones depended on the level of background EMG, and was similar during walking and standing for matched background EMG levels. On the other hand, recurrent inhibition in Sol was reduced in early stance, with respect to standing, and enhanced in late stance. Reduced inhibition in Sol was also observed when Quad was coactivated with TA around the time of heel contact, compared to standing at matched background EMG levels in the two muscles. The modulation of recurrent inhibition of Sol during walking might reflect central and/or peripheral control of the Renshaw cells. These modulations could be implicated in the transition phases, from swing to stance to assist Sol activation during the stance phase, and from stance to swing, for its deactivation.
Spontaneous purinergic neurotransmission in the mouse urinary bladder
Authors: Young John S. , Meng En , Cunnane Tom C. , Brain Keith L.
Published: October 2008

Spontaneous purinergic neurotransmission was characterized in the mouse urinary bladder, a model for the pathological or ageing human bladder. Intracellular electrophysiological recording from smooth muscle cells of the detrusor muscle revealed spontaneous depolarizations, distinguishable from spontaneous action potentials (sAPs) by their amplitude (< 40 mV) and insensitivity to the L‐type Ca2+channel blocker nifedipine (1 μm) (100 ± 29%). Spontaneous depolarizations were abolished by the P2X1receptor antagonist NF449 (10 μm) (frequency 8.5 ± 8.5% of controls), insensitive to the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist atropine (1 μm) (103.4 ± 3.0%), and became more frequent in latrotoxin (LTX; 1 nm) (438 ± 95%), suggesting that they are spontaneous excitatory junction potentials (sEJPs). Such sEJPs were correlated, in amplitude and timing, with focal Ca2+transients in smooth muscle cells (measured using confocal microscopy), suggesting a common origin: ATP binding to P2X1receptors. sAPs were abolished by NF449, insensitive to atropine (126 ± 39%) and increased in frequency by LTX (930 ± 450%) suggesting a neurogenic, purinergic origin, in common with sEJPs. By comparing the kinetics of sAPs and sEJPs, we demonstrated that sAPs occur when sufficient cation influx through P2X1receptors triggers L‐type Ca2+channels; the first peak of the differentiated rising phase of depolarizations – attributed to the influx of cations through the P2X1receptor – is of larger amplitude for sAPs (2248 mV s−1) than sEJPs (439 mV s−1). Surprisingly, sAPs in the mouse urinary bladder, unlike those from other species, are triggered by stochastic ATP release from parasympathetic nerve terminals rather than being myogenic.