bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Patient perceptions of the otolaryngology ward round in a teaching hospital
Authors: Montague M-L , Hussain S S M
Published: February 2006

Objective: This survey assesses patients' perceptions of a daily otolaryngology ward round in a teaching hospital.

Methods: Initial, open-ended questionnaires generated themes from which a structured questionnaire was constructed. Patients' perceptions in a wide range of areas were examined by asking them to indicate on a Likert scale the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with a number of statements concerning various aspects of the ward round.

Results: One hundred patients were surveyed. The response rate was 79 per cent. The findings showed overall patient satisfaction with the ward round, particularly in the areas of information-giving regarding diagnosis, treatment and follow-up arrangements. The large size of the ward round appeared to be intimidating and induced anxiety for approximately one-third of patients. Patients wished the roles of staff present to be better defined and to be informed of the presence of medical students. One-third of patients perceived staff to use language that was difficult to understand.

Conclusions: The survey identified some improvement opportunities and will assist our department with its on-going endeavours to improve the ward round experience for both patients and staff.
Acute epiglottitis in adults: a recent experience with 10 cases
Authors: Hafidh M A , Sheahan P , Keogh I , Walsh R McConn
Published: February 2006

Objectives: Our objective was to examine the presentation, clinical course and management of acute epiglottitis in a recent series of adult patients.

Method: All consecutive adults with acute epiglottitis or supraglottitis admitted to a tertiary referral centre over a recent six-month period were included in this retrospective study. The diagnosis of epiglottitis or supraglottitis was established by flexible nasolaryngoscopy.

Results: Ten patients were included. Two patients had concurrent acute tonsillitis and one had a peritonsillar abscess. Blood cultures were negative in all cases. Pathogens were isolated by throat swabs only in the two patients with acute tonsillitis. Two patients underwent intubation for management of airway obstruction. A combination of cefotaxime and metronidazole was the most common antibiotic regimen used.

Conclusion: The rising incidence of acute epiglottitis in the adult population mandates vigilance on the part of the otolaryngologist. Selective airway intervention is recommended for patients with airway obstruction of more than 50 per cent.
A prescribed alternative mainstream: popular music and canon formation
Authors: KÄRJÄ ANTTI-VILLE
Published: February 2006

This article applies the processes of canon formation suggested by Philip V. Bohlman in The Study of Folk Music in the Modern World to the historiography of popular music. Bohlman distinguishes between at least three different types of folk music canon: a small group canon, a mediated canon and an imagined canon. Adjusting Bohlman's ideas to the case of popular music, a reformulation is proposed in the form of an alternative canon, a mainstream canon, and a prescribed canon. The unstable power relations implied by the juxtaposition of different canons are considered, as well as the cumulative aspect of canon formation. The article also looks for each type of canon in the media through which historical knowledge is transmitted, and considers the tendency to narrate the historiography of marginal musics with more ephemeral media than the printed word.
‘Must Be Born Again’: resurrecting the Anthology of American Folk Music
Authors: SKINNER KATHERINE
Published: February 2006

Since the 1997 reissue of the 1952 Anthology of American Folk Music by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, journalists, scholars and musicians have promoted this collection as the ‘founding document’ (Marcus 1997) and ‘musical constitution’ (Cantwell 1996) of the urban folk revival of the 1950s and 1960s. This reception differs markedly from that of its original issue, which sold few copies and attracted only minor critical attention. This article provides an account of the transformation in the Anthology's cultural status – showing that the canonisation of the Anthology stems not just from its content, but from the interplay of its content and its sociohistorical context. I identify some of the factors that influenced the retrospective consecration of the Anthology, including the important work of key people, the growth of a new field (‘Americana’ music) and changes in the organisational structures of the recording industry.
Award ceremony as an arbiter of commerce and canon in the popular music industry
Authors: WATSON MARY R. , ANAND N.
Published: February 2006

We show how the Grammy award ceremony played a central role in influencing the US popular music industry through two important inter-organisational processes. The ceremony served as the vehicle through which the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) interlinked with commercial interests in the field: the distributors, wholesalers and retailers who are represented by the National Association of Record Merchandisers (NARM). As music became a more visual medium and television coverage of the ceremony became prominent, merchandisers came to rely on the Grammy awards as their sales cue, and began to aggressively promote nominees and winners. As a result of the retailers' selective attention, Grammy award-winners began enjoying greater popular appeal through increased album sales. Second, attempts made by various constituents of NARAS to influence award decisions resulted in the surfacing of, challenges to and, finally, the resolution of occupational conflicts and normative concerns about the legitimacy of genres in the popular music industry. In the process, NARAS succeeded in championing the Grammy awards as the hallmark of peer recognition. We contend that the unique ability of the Grammy awards to mingle both peer and popular recognition makes them a significant arbiter of canon formation in the popular music industry.
A TCP/IP-based remote control system for yard cranes in a port container terminal
Authors: Kim J. Y.
Published: February 2006

If one operator in a remote operating room can operate 4 ∼ 5 cranes remotely, which are yard cranes for container loading/unloading in a port container terminal, the port loading/unloading efficiency will dramatically be improved through productivity increase, cost reduction, and so on. This study presents a remote crane control system for container loading/unloading yard cranes of port container terminals. First, a wireless web-based video and audio transmission system to transmit the images and the sounds of a craneyard is designed by using 3 web cameras and a microphone. Next, a TCP/IP-based remote crane control system is presented on the basis of the delay performance simulations of TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and UDP (User Datagram Protocol) for real-time remote control. The simulation results show that TCP is more advantageous for remote crane control on a local network.
Poverty, old age and gender in nineteenth-century England: the case of Hertfordshire
Authors: GOOSE NIGEL
Published: February 2006

This article examines the relative incidence of poverty among the elderly in nineteenth-century Hertfordshire with special reference to gender. Both national and local sources are employed to highlight the particular difficulties experienced by the elderly, male poor under the New Poor Law, and the short and long term problems they faced as a result of seasonal unemployment and an overstocked labour market. For elderly women, the extent to which their poverty was relieved by employment in cottage industry, almshouse accommodation, the continuing receipt of out-relief and a higher incidence of family support are examined to provide an assessment of the manner in which poverty was gendered in the nineteenth century.
Schooling and child farm labour in Spain, circa 1880–1930
Authors: BORRÁS LLOP JOSÉ M.
Published: February 2006

This article evaluates the extent of child farm labour in Spain in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. The first part of the article examines child labour in rural areas. Because under-registration of farm child labour was common in both national and local censuses, the writer examines other evidence, including surveys of child labour on farms and school-enrolment registers listing seasonal and as well as full-time labour. The second part of the article considers the relationship between employment and school absenteeism by age and gender. School attendance is compared by season and by geographic area, and its relation to farming is apparent. All the evidence in the registers demonstrates extensive employment of children over the age of ten in rural Spain.
Structuring time, allocating labour: income-earning strategies of urban households in Russia and the Soviet Union: Introduction
Authors: KESSLER GIJS
Published: February 2006

The following articles by myself and by Andrei Markevich are the first in a series of four analysing income-earning strategies of urban households in twentieth-century Russia and the Soviet Union. The articles deal with a similar set of issues for four subsequent periods. In this issue of Continuity and Change my article covers the early Soviet period from the revolution of 1917 to the start of the Second World War and Andrei Markevich focuses on the war, the post-war Stalin period and the Khruschev years, taking his analysis into the latter half of the 1960s. In the next issue, Victoria Tyazhelnikova will examine the Brezhnev period and Sergei Afontsev the years of reform under Gorbachev and in post-Soviet Russia.
Soviet urban households and the road to universal employment, from the end of the 1930s to the end of the 1960s
Authors: MARKEVICH ANDREI
Published: February 2006

The author studies patterns of income-earning activities of Soviet urban households from the end of 1930s to the end of 1960s. The analysis focuses on the dynamic of and reasons for the increases in the labour participation rate of the Soviet urban population, and in the proportion of households in which two members were employed by the state, and the consequences. The period saw two mass drives to recruit into the state sector adults who had previously been unemployed, the bulk of whom consisted of former housewives, the first drive occurring during the Second World War and the second in the late 1950s and the 1960s. The combined pressures exerted by the law and by material hardship account for the wartime increase in participation in the labour market. On the other hand, the second period of major expansion was much more voluntary and was accompanied by improved living standards. Despite the increase in remunerated employment there were no significant changes in the way tasks within the household were allocated on the basis of gender. This put an increasing strain on women, called the ‘double burden’ (household duties and paid work). The consequences were twofold: a decrease in fertility, and further encouragement for the formation of the many extended and multiple family households present in the urban society of the USSR.
Protected area managers' perceptions of community conservation training in West and Central Africa
Authors: SCHOLTE PAUL , DE GROOT WOUTER T. , MAYNA ZACHARIE , TALLA
Published: February 2006

Training needs assessments have revealed the need for people-oriented training to increase the job performance of African protected area (PA) managers. The Garoua regional wildlife college for francophone Africa (Cameroon) developed the first long (diploma and certificate) and refresher courses in community conservation for mid-career PA managers and guards from West and Central Africa. Through lectures, case studies and participatory rural appraisal exercises, the courses emphasized the development of skills for tuning principles of people participation to the conservation objectives of PAs. The present study reviews the trainees' evaluations of these courses, to appreciate their relevance and support their further development. Diploma students judged the course as highly relevant because of the acquired analytical skills, whereas certificate students considered them only of medium relevance. The response to short refresher courses varied as a function of the use of cases from either the trainees' professional experience or from the fieldwork location. The reactions of trainees to this learning opportunity show that PA personnel are not ‘attitude-limited’ as often suggested. Their constraints to develop a more people-oriented work style lie largely in the areas of knowledge and skills. These findings point to the need for increased efforts to implement training of PA personnel in community conservation, preferably early in their careers.
Co-managing environmental research: lessons from two cross-cultural research partnerships in New Zealand
Authors: LYVER P.O'B.
Published: February 2006

Few cross-cultural environmental research partnerships exist in New Zealand where Māori have been given the autonomy or resources to govern the decision-making process. Māori representatives and scientists from two collaborative research partnerships in New Zealand were interviewed to determine conditions required for successful partnerships, the costs and benefits involved and the roles of kaitiakitanga (environmental guardianship by Māori) and mātauranga (Māori traditional knowledge). Ninety per cent of Māori participants reported that a collaborative partnership should be defined by equitable power sharing and decision-making responsibility, however all the scientists perceived the term was ambiguous and was represented in New Zealand by a continuum of weak to strong power-sharing relationships. Developing trust, distilling and communicating scientific concepts and results, facilitating access to traditional knowledge and building scientific capability within a community can be fundamental to the success of a strong collaborative partnership, but demands a large time commitment, and at times a re-evaluation of priorities, from scientists. Kaitiakitanga and mātauranga can be key to directing and guiding research, but may require scientists to adapt and work within unfamiliar cultural systems. Strong collaborative research has a role to play initiating dialogue and partnership-building, demonstrating environmental, justice, economic and social outcomes, and indirectly building a consciousness in society about problem definition and potential solutions could that lead naturally to co-management of the environment by aboriginal communities and local or central governments.
NICE Guidelines on Treatment of Depression in Childhood and Adolescence: Implications from a CBT Perspective
Authors: Murray James , Cartwright-Hatton Sam
Published: February 2006

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence recently published their guidelines on the treatment of depression in children and young people. This article critically reviews these guidelines in terms of their likely impact on BABCP members and the services in which they work. The evidence base that underpins the guideline is very sparse. There is particularly limited information on which to base guidance to therapists working with younger children. The use that has been made of this evidence is discussed, and some controversial interpretations are criticized. Implications for services and therapists are outlined. In particular, attention is drawn to the pressing need for very substantial additional training if the guidelines are to be implemented correctly. Some suggestions for deployment of staff with differing levels of knowledge and expertise in CBT are offered. Finally, challenges for the field as a whole are discussed. In particular, a great deal more research is needed into the effectiveness of psychological therapies versus wait list and versus each other and medications, and into the levels of training required to provide competent CBT to children and adolescents.
Melting of the Patagonian Ice Sheet and deglacial perturbations of the nitrogen cycle in the eastern South Pacific
Authors: De Pol‐Holz Ricardo , Ulloa Osvaldo , Dezileau Laurent , Kaiser Jérôme , Lamy Frank , Hebbeln Dierk
Published: February 2006

We report the last glacial‐interglacial transition of marine denitrification off northern Chile based on sedimentary nitrogen isotopes. Our results show a relatively early, large and abrupt transition from low to high denitrification regimes consistent with recently‐reported data from off Peru. The deglaciation is characterized by millennial‐scale adjustments of the oxygen minimum zone that mimic the atmospheric temperature record from Antarctica. We also show that the sharp denitrification onset was not caused by an increase in local primary productivity, nor by ventilation changes occurring in the Southern Ocean, as previously proposed. We found that the magnitude and timing of the deglacial denitrification changes are in close agreement with the fresh‐water pulses that resulted from the melting of the Patagonian Ice Sheet. We consequently attribute the deglacial onset of marine denitrification in the area to a collapse of the thermocline ventilation occurred at the mid‐latitude subduction region of the eastern South Pacific.
Reconstructing the time history of the air‐sea CO2 disequilibrium and its rate of change in the eastern subpolar North Atlantic, 1972–1989
Authors: Omar Abdirahman M. , Olsen Are
Published: February 2006

This study determines the temporal changes of wintertime surface ocean partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2SW) in the eastern subpolar North Atlantic (esNA) (50–64°N; 32–10°W) by using data of carbon‐system parameters and chlorofluorocarbon‐12 acquired in 1993. Wintertime pCO2SW and its temporal trend from early 1970s through to the late 1980s were reconstructed through the application of a back‐calculation method that isolates surface variations which have been transmitted to the ocean interior during the formation of Subpolar Mode Water. Our computations suggest a pCO2SW growth rate (3 μatm/yr) which is twice as large as that of atmospheric pCO2, 1.47 μatm/yr. The sensitivity of the estimated pCO2SW growth rate to remineralization ratios as well as to the CFC‐12‐derived ages is discussed. Cooling and northward advection of surface water equilibrated with the increasing atmospheric CO2 is suggested as the process responsible for the excessive pCO2SW growth rate.
Patterning instability on the Mars polar ice caps
Authors: Ng Felix S. L. , Zuber Maria T.
Published: February 2006

We present a mathematical theory to study the origin of large‐scale spiral troughs on the Mars residual polar caps, starting with the hypothesis that atmospheric circulation governs the planform of the troughs via an instability that operates in the flow direction of surface winds. This concept can explain why the troughs spiral at each pole in an opposite sense to that expected for Coriolis‐deflected winds. The instability arises from interactions on water ice, assumed to contain dust, and depends on how the exchange of atmospheric dust and moisture (H2O) with the polar cap surface controls its albedo and mass and energy balance. Our model predicts spatial patterns to form when moisture is carried by wind over the surface, owing to unstable coupling between the albedo and the H2O‐vapor pressure. The resulting albedo pattern causes an alternating “accumulation‐ablation” mass balance, so that an undulating topography develops which resembles the (dark) troughs and their adjacent (bright) smooth terrains on the polar caps. Because the albedo patterning process is fast, whereas topographic evolution is slow, we suggest that an ancient imprint in the surface albedo preconditions today's trough morphology.
Involvement of calcineurin‐dependent degradation of Yap1p in Ca2+‐induced G2 cell‐cycle regulation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Authors: Yokoyama Hiroshi , Mizunuma Masaki , Okamoto Michiyo , Yamamoto Josuke , Hirata Dai , Miyakawa Tokichi
Published: February 2006

The Ca2+‐activated pathways in Saccharomyces cerevisiae induce a delay in the onset of mitosis through the activation of Swe1p, a negative regulatory kinase that inhibits the Cdc28p/Clb complex. We isolated the YAP1 gene as a multicopy suppressor of calcium sensitivity owing to the loss of ZDS1, a negative regulator of SWE1 and CLN2 gene expression. YAP1 deletion on a zds1Δ background exacerbated the Ca2+‐related phenotype. Yap1p was degraded in a calcineurin‐dependent manner when cells were exposed to calcium. In yap1Δ cells, the expression level of the RPN4 gene encoding a transcription factor for the subunits of the ubiquitin–proteasome system was diminished. The deletion of YAP1 gene or RPN4 gene led to the accumulation of Swe1p and Cln2p. Yap1p was a substrate of calcineurin in vivo and in vitro. The calcineurin‐mediated Yap1p degradation seems to be a long adaptive response that assures a G2 delay in response to a stress that causes the activation of the calcium signalling pathways.
Solvable reaction-diffusion processes without exclusion
Authors: Alimohammadi Masoud
Published: February 2006

For reaction-diffusion processes without exclusion, in which the particles can exist in the same site of a one-dimensional lattice, we study all the integrable models which can be obtained by imposing a boundary condition on the master equation of the asymmetric diffusion process. The annihilation process is also added. The Bethe ansatz solution and the exact N-particle conditional probabilities are obtained.
Laser-produced relativistic electron energy and angular distributions in thin foils
Authors: Rastunkov V. S. , Krainov V. P.
Published: February 2006

Energy and angular distributions are obtained for electrons at the rear surface of thin foils irradiated by an oblique relativistic laser pulse. Vacuum heating at the front surface in the summary field of incident and reflected laser waves is considered as a main mechanism of electron heating up to relativistic ponderomotive energies.
Structure, phase behavior, and inhomogeneous fluid properties of binary dendrimer mixtures
Authors: Götze I. O. , Archer A. J. , Likos C. N.
Published: February 2006

The effective pair potentials between different kinds of dendrimers in solution can be well approximated by appropriate Gaussian functions. We find that in binary dendrimer mixtures the range and strength of the effective interactions depend strongly upon the specific dendrimer architecture. We consider two different types of dendrimer mixtures, employing the Gaussian effective pair potentials, to determine the bulk fluid structure and phase behavior. Using a simple mean field density functional theory (DFT) we find good agreement between theory and simulation results for the bulk fluid structure. Depending on the mixture, we find bulk fluid-fluid phase separation (macrophase separation) or microphase separation, i.e., a transition to a state characterized by undamped periodic concentration fluctuations. We also determine the inhomogeneous fluid structure for confinement in spherical cavities. Again, we find good agreement between the DFT and simulation results. For the dendrimer mixture exhibiting microphase separation, we observe a rather striking pattern formation under confinement.
Free-space microwave focusing by a negative-index gradient lens
Authors: Driscoll T. , Basov D. N. , Starr A. F. , Rye P. M. , Nemat-Nasser S. , Schurig D. , Smith D. R.
Published: February 2006

Metamaterial structures designed to have simultaneously negative permittivity and permeability are known as left-handed materials. Their complexity and our understanding of their properties have advanced rapidly to the point where direct applications are now viable. We present a radial gradient-index lens with an index of refraction ranging from −2.67 (edge) to −0.97 (center). Experimentally, we find that the lens can produce field intensities at the focus that are greater than that of the incident plane wave. These results are obtained at 10.3GHz and in excellent agreement with full-wave simulations. We also demonstrate an advanced fabrication technique using conventional printed circuit board technology which offers significant design, mechanical, and cost advantages over other microwave lens constructions.
Two-dimensional current percolation in nanocrystalline vanadiumdioxide films
Authors: Rozen John , Lopez René , Haglund Richard F. , Feldman Leonard C.
Published: February 2006

Simultaneous measurements of the transmittance and the resistance were carried out on 20-nm-thick VO2 wires during the semiconductor-to-metal transition (SMT). They reveal an offset between the effective electrical and optical switching temperatures. This shift is due to current percolation through a network of nanometer-scale grains of different sizes undergoing a SMT at distinct temperatures. An effective-medium approximation can model this behavior and proves to be an indirect method to calculate the surface coverage of the films.
Pressure mapping at orthopaedic joint interfaces with fiber Bragg gratings
Authors: Mohanty Lipi , Tjin Swee Chuan
Published: February 2006

We present the concept of a fiber-optic sensor that can be used for pressure mapping at the prosthetic knee joint, in vitro and in vivo. An embedded array of fiber Bragg gratings is used to measure the load on the tibial spacer. The sensor gives the magnitude and the location of the applied load. The effect of material properties on the sensitivity of each subgrating is presented. The wavelength-shift maps show the malalignment of implants and demonstrate the potential of this sensor for use during total knee arthroplasty.
Probe-based electrochemical fabrication of freestanding Cu nanowire array
Authors: Suryavanshi Abhijit P. , Yu Min-Feng
Published: February 2006

We demonstrate the fabrication of individual Cu nanowires with a probe-based electrochemical deposition method. The electrolyte used for the electrochemical deposition was carried within a pipette probe, which eliminated the need for a plating bath and created a clean environment for the continuous fabrication of nanostructures. The fabrication of vertically aligned, solid, polycrystalline Cu nanowire arrays was realized, with the Cu nanowires having diameters down to 200nm and lengths up to 10μm.
Optimization of the efficiency of single-photon sources based on quantum dots under optical excitation
Authors: Malko A. , Baier M. H. , Karlsson K. F. , Pelucchi E. , Oberli D. Y. , Kapon E.
Published: February 2006

We demonstrate efficient, regulated single-photon operation from site-controlled InGaAs quantum dots (QDs) grown on a prepatterned substrate. Under nonresonant optical excitation, carriers trapped at structural or compositional defects of the adjacent nanostructures led to a degradation of the single-photon statistics from a QD. When the QD was excited quasiresonantly, single photons were emitted and a nearly complete suppression of multiphoton emission was achieved, making these QDs promising candidates for effective solid-state single-photon sources.
Silicon electron emitters fabricated by ultraviolet laser pulses
Authors: Zorba V. , Tzanetakis P. , Fotakis C. , Spanakis E. , Stratakis E. , Papazoglou D. G. , Zergioti I.
Published: February 2006

In this letter we consider the effect of laser pulse duration on the surface morphology and the field emission properties of silicon structured by UV laser pulses. In three different pulse duration regimes ranging from sub-ps to ns, we altered the morphology of the fabricated silicon microspike arrays. The field emission properties of the microspike arrays were influenced by the morphological changes exhibiting a reduction of the emission threshold field to 2.5V∕μm for 15ns laser pulses. The ability of tuning the field emission properties of laser-fabricated silicon microspike arrays makes them excellent candidates for use as field emission cathodes.
Growth of anthracene derivative thin films with a π-stacking structure
Authors: Sasaki Hiroyuki , Wakayama Yutaka , Chikyow Toyohiro , Barrena Esther , Dosch Helmut , Kobayashi Kenji
Published: February 2006

The main purpose of this study is to grow an organic thin film consisting of aromatic molecules with enhanced π-conjugations. For this purpose, an anthracene derivative, 9,10-bis (methylthio) anthracene, was deposited on a CaF2∕Si(111) substrate using a hot-wall epitaxy technique. The crystal structure of this anthracene derivative consists of molecular stacks with a face-to-face configuration due to the sulfur-sulfur interactions between neighboring molecules, which enhances π-electron conjugation. The hot-wall epitaxy technique made precise control of the growth conditions possible. Atomic force microscopy and x-ray diffraction measurements demonstrated that a polycrystalline thin film with the molecules in the face-to-face configuration was obtained, and that, depending on the growth conditions, the thin-film structure was controllable.
All-organic active matrix flexible display
Authors: Zhou Lisong , Wanga Alfred , Wu Sheng-Chu , Sun Jie , Park Sungkyu , Jackson Thomas N.
Published: February 2006

We have fabricated pentacene organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) driven active matrix organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays on flexible polyethylene terephthalete substrates. These displays have 48×48 bottom-emission OLED pixels with two pentacene OTFTs used per pixel. Parylene is used to isolate the OTFTs and OLEDs with good OTFT yield and uniformity.
Electrical instabilities in organic semiconductors caused by trapped supercooled water
Authors: Gomes H. L. , Stallinga P. , Cölle M. , de Leeuw D. M. , Biscarini F.
Published: February 2006

It is reported that the electrical instability known as bias stress is caused by the presence of trapped water in the organic layer. Experimental evidence as provided by the observation of an anomaly occurring systematically at around 200K. This anomaly is observed in a variety of materials, independent of the deposition techniques and remarkably coincides with a known phase transition of supercooled water. Confined water does not crystallize at 273K but forms a metastable liquid. This metastable water behaves electrically as a charge trap, which causes the instability. Below 200K the water finally solidifies and the electrical traps disappear.
No temperature dependence of spin relaxation in InGaN phase-separated quantum dots
Authors: Nagahara Seiji , Arita Munetaka , Arakawa Yasuhiko
Published: February 2006

We have investigated the spin relaxation in InGaN multiquantum wells (MQWs) at various temperatures (200–300K) using spin-dependent pump and probe measurements. The spin lifetime for In0.071Ga0.929N MQW clearly decreases with increasing temperature. This result indicates that longitudinal optical phonon scattering promotes the spin-flip under nonpure spin states in the conduction band. With increasing In molar fraction, the formation of In-rich quantum dots in InGaN MQW layers causes the suppression of the phonon scattering. The spin relaxation in In0.106Ga0.894N MQW is almost independent of temperature because the contribution of the impurity or defect scatterings is dominant to the spin-flip.
Hollow cadmium selenide semiconductor tetrapods
Authors: Wang Z. Y. , Fang X. S. , Lu Q. F. , Ye C. H. , Zhang L. D.
Published: February 2006

Hollow cadmium selenide (CdSe) tetrapods were synthesized on a large scale. The directional growth of twins led the tetrapod nanostructure to be formed. The silicon powder was responsible for the growth of the hollow tetrapods. The UV-visible absorption spectra of the hollow CdSe tetrapods display an absorption edge at about 765nm. There is a redshift of 53nm of the absorption edge, in comparison with that of bulk CdSe at 712nm. In the Raman spectra, two new anomalous modes at 250.91 and 493.42cm−1 are observed. This might originate from the enhanced internal stress of hollow structures.
Accumulation of unstable promoter-associated transcripts upon loss of the nuclear exosome subunit Rrp6p in
Saccharomyces
cerevisiae
Authors: Davis Carrie Anne , Ares Manuel
Published: February 2006

Mutations in
RRP6
result in the accumulation of
aberrant polyadenylated transcripts from small nucleolar RNA genes. We
exploited this observation to search for novel noncoding RNA genes in
the yeast genome. When RNA from
rrp6
Δ yeast
is compared with wild-type on whole-genome microarrays, numerous
intergenic loci exhibit an increased mutant/wild type signal ratio.
Among these loci, we found one encoding a new C/D box small nucleolar
RNA, as well as a surprising number that gave rise to heterogeneous
Trf4p-polyadenylated RNAs with lengths of ≈250–500 nt.
This class of RNAs is not easily detected in wild-type cells and
appears associated with promoters. Fine mapping of several such
transcripts shows they originate near known promoter elements but do
not usually extend far enough to act as mRNAs, and may regulate the
transcription of downstream mRNAs. Rather than being uninformative
transcriptional “noise,” we hypothesize that these
transcripts reflect important features of RNA polymerase activity at
the promoter. This activity is normally undetectable in wild-type
cells because the transcripts are somehow distinguished from true
mRNAs and are degraded in an Rrp6p-dependent fashion in the
nucleus.
Diverse Toll-like receptors utilize Tpl2 to activate extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) in hemopoietic cells
Authors: Banerjee Ashish , Gugasyan Raffi , McMahon Martin , Gerondakis Steve
Published: February 2006

Engaging mammalian Toll-like receptors (TLRs) activate both the NF-κB and mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways. Here we establish that mitogen-activated protein 3 kinase Tpl2, levels of which are markedly reduced innfkb1−/−cells, is required for extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activation in bone marrow-derived macrophages and B cells stimulated with diverse TLR ligands. Despite rescuing TLR-dependent ERK activation innfkb1−/−bone marrow-derived macrophages by using an estrogen receptor-regulated version of the mitogen-activated protein 3 kinase, c-Raf (Raf:ER), CpG or LPS induction of IL-10 was only partially restored innfkb1−/−cells expressing Raf:ER, a finding consistent with NF-κB1 regulating IL-10 by a combination of ERK-independent and -dependent mechanisms. Collectively, our findings indicate that the Tpl2/MEK/ERK signaling module is a master regulator of ERK-dependent gene expression downstream of TLRs in different hemopoietic cells.
Programming strategies for rapid aiming movements under simple and choice reaction time conditions
Authors: Khan Michael A. , Lawrence Gavin P. , Buckolz Eric , Franks Ian M.
Published: February 2006

Increases in reaction time (RT) as a function of response complexity have been shown to differ between simple and choice RT tasks. Of interest in the present study was whether the influence of response complexity on RT depends on the extent to which movements are programmed in advance of movement initiation versus during execution (i.e., online). The task consisted of manual aiming movements to one or two targets (one- vs. two-element responses) under simple and choice RT conditions. The probe RT technique was employed to assess attention demands during RT and movement execution. Simple RT was greater for the two- than for the single-target responses but choice RT was not influenced by the number of elements. In both RT tasks, reaction times to the probe increased as a function of number of elements when the probe occurred during movement execution. The presence of the probe also caused an increase in aiming errors in the simple but not choice RT task. These findings indicated that online programming was occurring in both RT tasks. In the simple RT task, increased executive control mediated the integration between response elements through the utilization of visual feedback to facilitate the implementation of the second element.
Inference-driven attention in symbolic and perceptual tasks: Biases toward expected and unexpected inputs
Authors: Cherubini Paolo , Burigo Michele , Bricolo Emanuela
Published: February 2006

The aims of this paper are (a) to gather support for the hypothesis that some basic mechanisms of attentional deployment (i.e., its high efficiency in dealing with expected and unexpected inputs) meet the requirements of the inferential system and have possibly evolved to support its functioning, and (b) to show that these orienting mechanisms function in very similar ways in two perceptual tasks and in a symbolic task. The general hypothesis and its predictions are sketched in the Introduction, after a discussion of current findings concerning visual attention and the generalities of the inferential system. In the empirical section, three experiments are presented where participants tracked visual trajectories (Experiments 1 and 3) or arithmetic series (Experiments 2 and 3), responding to the onset of a target event (e.g., to a specific number) and to the repetition of an event (e.g., to a number appearing twice consecutively). Target events could be anticipated when they were embedded in regular series/trajectories; they could be anticipated, with the anticipation later disconfirmed, when a regular series/trajectory was abruptly interrupted before the target event occurred; and they could not be anticipated when the series/trajectory was random. Repeated events could not be anticipated. Results show a very similar pattern of allocation in tracking visual trajectories and arithmetic series: Attention is focused on anticipated events; it is defocused and redistributed when an anticipation is not confirmed by ensuing events; however, performance decreases when dealing with random series/trajectory—that is, in the absence of anticipations. In our view, this is due to the fact that confirmed and disconfirmed anticipations are crucial events for “knowledge revision”—that is, the fine tuning of the inferential system to the environment; attentional mechanisms have developed so as to enhance detection of these events, possibly at all levels of inferential processing.
Safe reduction in administration of naloxone to newborn infants: An observational study
Authors: Box Deborah , Cochran Dominic
Published: February 2006

Background: Naloxone, a specific opiate antagonist, is widely used during neonatal resuscitation to reverse possible opiate‐induced respiratory depression. Aim: To determine the frequency with which naloxone is administered when resuscitation guidelines are conscientiously followed and to document any effect on respiratory morbidity. Methods: Perinatal data including naloxone administration and respiratory morbidity were collected retrospectively, and compared with prospectively collected data following the introduction of “Good Practice” guidelines. Results: There were 500 deliveries in the retrospective arm of the study and 1000 deliveries in the prospective arm. Although a similar proportion of women received opiates in labour in the two periods of study, there was a marked reduction in the use of naloxone when the guidelines were introduced (11% of opiate‐exposed deliveries compared to 0.2%). There was no significant effect on respiratory morbidity with the change in practice.

Conclusion: Naloxone is rarely needed to reverse the effects of opiates in newborn infants, and its use can be curtailed by following current resuscitation guidelines without increasing respiratory morbidity.
Ex utero intrapartum treatment (EXIT) for congenital giant ranula
Authors: Chan Dorothy F. Y. , Lee Cheuk H. , Fung Tak Y. , Chan Daniel L. W. , Abdullah Victor , Ng Pak C.
Published: February 2006

Congenital giant ranula causing life‐threatening upper airway obstruction is a rare condition. A well‐planned ex utero intrapartum treatment (EXIT) procedure for aspiration and decompression of the cystic lesion is simple, efficacious and effective in securing a patent airway before the fetus is completely delivered, and may prevent lifelong neurodevelopmental complications associated with perinatal asphyxia in such cases.

Conclusion: EXIT could be a life‐saving procedure for congenital giant ranula.
Studies of the Toxicological Potential of Tripeptides (L-Valyl-L-prolyl-L-proline and L-lsoleucyl-L-prolyl-L-proline): III. Single- and/or Repeated-Dose Toxicity of Tripeptides-Containing Lactobacillus helveticus-Fermented Milk Powder and Casein Hydrolysate in Rats
Authors: Maeno Masafumi , Nakamura Yasunori , Mennear John H. , Bernard Bruce K.
Published: February 2006

The objective of these studies was to assess the toxicological potential of orally administered tripeptides in rats. The studies employed powdered L-valyl-L-prolyl-L-proline (VPP)- and L-isoleucyl-L-prolyl-L-proline (IPP)-containing test articles, including (1) powdered Lactobacillus helveticus-fermented milk (FM), (2) pasteurized casein hydrolysate (CH) generated by Aspergillus oryzae protease, and (3) synthesized VPP. All test articles were administered by oral gavage to male and female Sprague-Dawley rats. Specific goals of the single-dose and repeated-dose studies were to (1) identify doses that produce evidence of systemic and/or local (i.e., gastrointestinal) toxicity (e.g., lowest-observable-effect level [LOEL]); (2) estimate the maximally tolerated oral dose (MTD) ; and (3) identify specific target organs for toxicity of these tripeptides. Single doses of CH (2000 mg/kg), powdered FM (2000 or 4000 mg/kg), or VPP (40, 200, or 400 mg/kg) were administered 14 days prior to study termination. No treatment regimen caused either antemortem (gross observations, body weight, and food consumption parameters) or postmortem (necropsy) evidence of either systemic or local toxicity. In the repeated-dose study, powdered FM (0, 500, 1000, or 2000 mg/kg body weight [BW]/day) was administered by gastric gavage to male and female rats for 28 consecutive days. Antemortem evaluative parameters included gross observations, ophthalmic examinations, and clinical pathology (clinical chemistry, hematology, and urinalysis). Post mortem parameters included necropsy, determination of organ weights, and microscopic examination of major organs. There was neither in-life nor postmortem evidence that powdered FM administration caused physiological or toxicological changes. Under the conditions of these experiments, the single-dose LOEL of powdered FM, CH, and VPP were found to be greater than 4000,2000, and 400 mg/kg, respectively. The results of the repeated-dose study do not support identification of a target organ for powdered FM toxicity. Similarly, there was no evidence to support establishment of either the LOEL or MTD; both being greater than 2000 mg/kg/day for up to 28 consecutive days.
The Politics of Urban Space: Modes of Place-making by Italians in Toronto's Neighbourhoods
Authors: DeMaria Harney Nicholas
Published: February 2006

This paper examines the politics of urban space through a consideration of three ways Italians in Toronto, Canada, create, make claims to and express their belonging in particular neighbourhoods in the city. The article considers forms of claiming and colonizing space that are not overtly violent or confrontational with respect to other groups living within the plural city but, in effect, are assertions of power over particular places with which others must contend. The three forms encompass a range of scales, temporal duration and purposeful collective expression by Italians in Toronto, and they include the quotidian shaping of neighbourhoods, the calendrical colonizing of public spaces during religious and secular celebrations and the monument building that attests to the permanence of Italians in the city. Ultimately, these forms of place-making must contend with the larger forces of commodification and popular imagery that influence the spatial representations of Italians in Toronto.
Migration Monuments in Italy and Australia: Contesting Histories and Transforming Identities
Authors: Baldassar Loretta
Published: February 2006

Rather than focusing on how Italians share the neighbourhood with other groups, this paper examines some of the intra-group processes (i.e. relations between Italians themselves) that produced various monuments to Italian migration in Australia, Brazil and Italy. Through their distinct styles and formulations, the monuments reflect diverse and often competing elaborations of the migrant experience by different generations at local, national and transnational levels. The recent increase in the construction of such monuments in Australia is linked to the gradual disappearance of ‘visibly’ Italian neighbourhoods. These commemorations effectively transform Italian migrants into Australian pioneers and, thus, resolve moral and cultural ambiguities about belonging and identity by de-emphasizing difference (ethnic diversity) and concealing intergenerational tensions about appropriate ways of expressing Italianness. Similarly, the appearance of monuments in Italy is linked to an emergent ‘diasporic’ consciousness fuelled by Italian emigrants’ growing ability to travel to Italy, but also to the attempt to obscure potentially destabilizing dual identities by emphasizing (one, Italian) ‘homeland’.
An Outbreak of Scabies in a Teaching Hospital Lessons Learned
Authors: Obasanjo Olugbenga O. , Wu Peggy , Conlon Martha , Karanfil Lynne V. , Pryor Patty , Moler Geraldine , Anhalt Grant , Chaisson Richard E. , Perl Trish M.
Published: February 2006

Objective:

To investigate an outbreak of scabies in an inner-city teaching hospital, identify pathways of transmission, institute effective control measures to end the outbreak, and prevent future occurrences.

Design:

Outbreak investigation, case-control study, and chart review.

Setting:

Large tertiary acute-care hospital.

Results:

A patient with unrecognized Norwegian (crusted) scabies was admitted to the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) service of a 940-bed acute-care hospital. Over 4 months, 773 healthcare workers (HCWs) and 204 patients were exposed to scabies. Of the exposed HCWs, 147 (19%) worked on the AIDS service. Risk factors for being infested with scabies among HCWs included working on the AIDS service (odds ratio [OR], 5.3; 95% confidence interval [CI95], 2.17-13.15) and being a nurse, physical therapist, or HCW with extensive physical contact with infected patients (OR, 4.5; CI95, 1.26-17.45). Aggressive infection control precautions beyond Centers for Disease Control and Prevention barrier and isolation recommendations were instituted, including the following: (1) early identification of infected patients; (2) prophylactic treatment with topical applications for all exposed HCWs; (3) use of two treatments 1 week apart for all cases of Norwegian scabies; (4) maintaining isolation for 8 days and barrier precautions for 24 hours after completing second treatment for a diagnosis of Norwegian scabies; and (5) oral ivermectin for treatment of patients who failed conventional therapy.

Conclusions:

HCWs with the most patient contact are at highest risk of acquiring scabies. Because HCWs who used traditionally accepted barriers while caring for patients with Norwegian scabies continued to develop scabies, we found additional measures were required in the acute-care hospital. HCWs with skin exposure to patients with scabies should receive prophylactic treatment. We recommend (1) using heightened barrier precautions for care of patients with scabies and (2) extending the isolation period for 8 days or 24 hours after the second treatment with a scabicide for those patients with Norwegian scabies. Oral ivermectin was well tolerated for treating patients and HCWs who failed conventional treatment. Finally, we developed a surveillance system that provides a “barometric measure” of the infection rate in the community. If scabies increases in the community, a tiered triage system is activated to protect against transmission among HCWs or hospital patients.
Increase in Hand-Alcohol Consumption Among Medical Staff in a General Hospital as a Result of Introducing a Training Program and a Visualization Test
Authors: Conrad Christian
Published: February 2006

To assess the impact of training programs, including a visualization test for hand disinfection, we monitored the hand-alcohol consumption of medical staff. The consumption increased steadily from 5.7 L of hand alcohol per capita per year in 1990 to 9.1 L in 1998. There was no significant increase in skin problems.