bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Government Corporations; A Focus of Policy and Administration, II
Authors: Dimock Marshall E.
Published: May 2006

How to bring managerial independence and public accountability into a working accord, so that neither efficiency nor necessary controls will be neglected, is the fundamental problem arising out of the operation of government corporations. Having dealt with managerial independence in the first instalment of this article, we now are faced with the problem of explaining how such independence can be reconciled with the controls necessary to assure public accountability. Experience everywhere has shown that governments can carry on a business enterprise efficiently only, when it possesses sufficient autonomy and flexibility to call forth managerial skills that are self-reliant and inventive as well as prudent. It has been argued that the corporate device, when faithfully followed, is superior to departmentalism in at least three major respects: it is potentially less subject to injurious political considerations; it is more autonomous in organization and capable of a greater degree of unity in its management, both of which are essential to efficient operation; and it has more flexibility with regard to its financial operations and is designed to stand on its own financial feet, as a business-operated enterprise should. The competent manager of a government corporation must be free within his own sphere, but he must also be externally accountable in important respects as regards both policy and administration, and to both Congress and the President. To effect such an equilibrium is difficult, at best, but it is particularly difficult and uncertain when the political climate is hostile toward the social purposes for which government corporations are created.
Strengthening State Legislatures
Authors: Caldwell Lynton K.
Published: May 2006

Declining prestige of legislative bodies has recently prompted inquiries looking to self-appraisal and reform in Congress and in legislatures of a number of the states. Dissatisfaction with the traditional organization and procedure of state legislatures has grown among legislators, who undertake the perplexities of present-day law-making with inadequate assistance and ineffective machinery. Legislation was seldom a simple problem, but it is today more difficult than at any time in our national history. As the responsibilities thrust upon legislatures are increased, so must the tools and processes of legislation be improved if the quality of legislation is to meet the needs which call it forth.

To assist in the reappraisal and review of state legislative organization and procedure, twelve general suggestions for strengthening state legislatures have been reported to the Council of State Governments by a committee of state officials. Appointed in November, 1945, by the Board of Managers of the Council, the Committee on Legislative Processes and Procedures developed its report after broadly surveying legislative theory and practice and selecting for recommendation to the states those measures of most general application. Dealing with the problems of state legislatures generally, the committee decided at an early date to direct its attention to the strengthening of state legislatures as presently constituted. Questions of reapportionment, of representation in the legislature, proportional representation, unicameralism, and certain mechanics of procedure such as electrical voting were not treated in the final report.
The Politics of Management Improvement in the States
Authors: Bosworth Karl A.
Published: May 2006

In the wake of the Hoover Commission reports, a great majority of the states authorized special inquiries into the organization and operation of their executive institutions. With very few exceptions, the numerous postwar movements for state reorganization appear to have resulted in only moderate or negligible legislative acceptance of the reorganization proposals. The spectacle of such meager accomplishment from so much effort invites reflection on the politics of management improvement in the states.

Through the generous cooperation of professional colleagues about the country, data were assembled on the successes and failures of these reorganization movements, upon the initiation, organization, and scope of the surveys, and upon the methods of presenting the survey reports to the legislatures and to the public. The data cover thirty states, in twenty-four of which the state legislature has had at least one chance to consider commission recommendations. In the remaining six states the reports are still in the process of preparation, or await legislative consideration. Included in the twenty-four are four states in which the study group has made some reports but continues in existence to make further reports, so that the success of the efforts in these states must be, tentatively judged on the basis of legislative reception of reports so far received.
The British Commonwealth of Nations
Authors: Hall H. Duncan
Published: May 2006

The British Commonwealth of Nations is the oldest international organization of states in existence. Its uniqueness lies in its unbroken historical continuity, the loyalty of its members to each other, their solidarity on vital matters of common concern, the fluidity of their machinery for dealing with such matters, and their abhorrence of constitutional contracts within the family of the Commonwealth. These are its features so far as we can see them yet in the perspective of history. This article will discuss some of these features and advance an hypothesis for research on the nature of Commonwealth.

Continuity, with change but without revolution, has been the British political formula for the Commonwealth. The evolution of the Commonwealth was one of the long-range consequences of the American Revolution. In a broad historical sense the Commonwealth is the lesson that Britain drew from that revolution. There have been other examples in history, such as Rome and Spain, of the expansion overseas of a people and of its concepts, language, traditions, and institutions. But only in the case of the Commonwealth has historical continuity been maintained without catastrophic change or revolution. It is true that revolution severed the main branch of the first British Empire. The cause of that revolution was the still unresolved deadlock between executive and legislature which had caused the revolt under Cromwell in the preceding century.
The Developing Field of International Legal Studies
Authors: Cavers David F.
Published: May 2006

In the academic year 1939–40, it would have taken a hardy prophet to forecast that the field of international legal studies was destined soon to become a major growing point in American legal education. Yet, for that reason and because it was the last year before World War II registered its impact on law school faculties, students, and even curricula, it provides a useful baseline from which to measure the developments that have since been taking place in this field among American law schools.

The law school work offered in 1939–40 which could be fitted within the category of international legal studies was represented by courses and seminars in International Law, Comparative (and Roman) Law, and Conflict of Laws. A brief survey of these offerings will lay bare the grounds for pessimism as to the prospects for progress at that time.
Free Speech, Sedition and the Constitution
Authors: McCloskey Robert
Published: May 2006

The state of modern jurisprudence is not inaptly reflected in the range of considerations to which this title might give rise. If the illusion of certitude still survived as a legal premise, if the judicial process were conceived in terms of “tidy formulas,” one could feel more assurance that the enterprise itself is meaningful and potentially fruitful. But if the past fifty years have taught us nothing else, they have made us aware of the complex and ambiguous evaluation of alternatives that underlies the judicially enforced command. Even the word “constitutionality,” which once seemed to express a coherent idea, has lost its definable contours as understanding of public law has progressed. The salutary result of all this is that we recognize the great network of imponderables which we must assess before declaring with confidence that a given exercise of governmental power conflicts with our fundamental law. But by the same token uncertainties have been multiplied, and flat statement and prediction have become increasingly hazardous. The penalty of understanding is doubt.
British By-elections, 1950
Authors: Scammon Richard M.
Published: May 2006

Since the hard-fought general election of February 23, 1950, the narrow margin of Labor's control of the British House of Commons has been tested at the polls on ten occasions. This number of by-elections to fill vacancies in the membership of the House is a normal post-World War II figure (the previous House saw fifty-two replacements in its four and one-half years of life), although it is somewhat under that of prewar averages. In terms of locale, however, these ten by-elections were atypical. Though the overall distribution within the various parts of the United Kingdom was not unrepresentative (six in England, one in Wales, actually Monmouthshire, two in Scotland, and one in Northern Ireland), all vacancies chanced to come in urban areas. Eight of the contests involved borough seats and the other two (West Dunbartonshire and Abertillery, Monmouthshire) were primarily urban in character.
State Administration of Natural Resources in the West
Authors: Ostrom Vincent
Published: May 2006

West of the one hundredth meridian, the average annual rainfall is generally less than twenty inches except for higher mountainous areas and the humid area west of the Cascade range in western Washington and Oregon and an area west of the Coast range in northwestern California. With less than twenty inches of rainfall, irrigation and dry-farming methods are required to supplement and conserve the native moisture if successful crops are to be produced. At twenty inches of rainfall successful agriculture is subject to extreme hazards from frequent droughts that call to mind the tragedy of crop failure and dust storms. In the humid Pacific Northwest the dry summer climate introduces another variable limiting successful agricultural production without supplementary water.

American institutional arrangements, sustenance patterns and resource policies were conceived in humid England and developed in the humid regions of the United States. However, the general aridity of the West stands in marked contrast to the humidity that prevailed in the physical environment where American social institutions and traditions were formed. This alteration of the physical environment has caused an important shift in the balance of human ecology requiring significant modification in institutional arrangements and social policy, especially in regard to the control and development of natural resources.
Congressional Voting over Legislative Careers: Shifting Positions and Changing Constraints
Authors: Stratmann Thomas
Published: May 2006

The proposed model predicts that voting behavior of legislators is more variable early in their career and that junior members are more likely to vote with their party than senior members. The results from the analysis of voting patterns in the House of Representatives and the Senate are consistent with the hypotheses: Party line voting and variability of voting decisions decline with increasing seniority. Changes in voting behavior are also induced by redistricting. The empirical results show that legislators subject to redistricting change their voting behavior to accord better with altered constituency preferences.
Replicating Experiments Using Aggregate and Survey Data: The Case of Negative Advertising and Turnout
Authors: Ansolabehere Stephen D. , Iyengar Shanto , Simon Adam
Published: May 2006

Experiments show significant demobilizing and alienating effects of negative advertising. Although internally valid, experiments may have limited external validity. Aggregate and survey data offer two ways of providing external validation for experiments. We show that survey recall measures of advertising exposure suffer from problems of internal validity due to simultaneity and measurement error, which bias estimated effects of ad exposure. We provide valid estimates of the causal effects of ad exposure for the NES surveys using instrumental variables and find that negative advertising causes lower turnout in the NES data. We also provide a careful statistical analysis of aggregate turnout data from the 1992 Senate elections that Wattenberg and Brians (1999) recommend. These aggregate data confirm our original findings. Experiments, surveys, and aggregate data all point to the same conclusion: Negative advertising demobilizes voters.
Strategic Auditing in a Political Hierarchy: An Informational Model of the Supreme Court's Certiorari Decisions
Authors: Cameron Charles M. , Segal Jeffrey A. , Songer Donald
Published: May 2006

We examine how the Supreme Court uses signals and indices from lower courts to determine which cases to review. In our game theoretic model, a higher court cues from publicly observable case facts, the known preferences of a lower court, and its decision. The lower court attempts to enforce its own preferences, exploiting ambiguity in cases' fact patterns. In equilibrium, a conservative higher court declines to review conservative decisions from lower courts regardless of the facts of the case or the relative ideology of the judges. But a conservative higher court probabilistically reviews liberal decisions, with the “audit rate” tied, to observable facts and the ideology of the lower court judge. We derive comparative static results and test them with a random sample of search-and-seizure cases appealed to the Burger Court between 1972 and 1986. The evidence broadly supports the model.
Chiral Thiourea‐Based Bifunctional Organocatalysts in the Asymmetric Nitro‐Michael Addition: A Joint Experimental‐Theoretical Study
Authors: Yalalov Denis A. , Tsogoeva Svetlana B. , Schmatz Stefan
Published: May 2006

A highly enantioselective (84–92% ee) organocatalytic Michael addition of acetone to aromatic nitroolefins has been described. The transition state geometries for formation of R and S enantiomers in this Michael addition have been calculated and analyzed. It was shown that only one oxygen atom of the nitro group is bound to the thiourea moiety, in juxtaposition to the working hypothesis known from the literature which involves a bonding of both oxygens. The theoretical and experimental enantiomeric excess values show good agreement, rendering the computations an efficient tool for predicting the ee values in similar reactions.
Fast Aqueous/Organic Hydrogenation of Arenes, Olefins and Carbonyl Compounds by Poly(N‐Vinylpyrrolidone)‐Ru as Amphiphilic Microreactor System
Authors: Lu Fang , Liu Jing , Xu Jie
Published: May 2006

Fast aqueous/organic hydrogenations of arenes, olefins and carbonyl compounds were successfully realized in a PVP‐Ru amphiphilic microreactor system. The turnover frequency (TOF) of aqueous/organic hydrogenation of benzene reached 45,000 h−1. All the hydrogenation TOFs of investigated benzene derivatives, olefins and carbonyl compounds exceeded 1000 h−1.
To Catalyze or not to Catalyze? Insight into Direct Amide Bond Formation from Amines and Carboxylic Acids under Thermal and Catalyzed Conditions
Authors: Arnold Kenny , Davies Bryan , Giles Richard L. , Grosjean Christophe , Smith Gillian E. , Whiting Andrew
Published: May 2006

Kinetic studies show that the direct formation of amides from amines and carboxylic acids without catalyst does occur under relatively low temperature conditions, but is highly substrate dependent. Boric and boronic acid‐based catalysts improve the reaction, especially for less reactive acids, and initial results indicate that bifunctional catalysts show even greater potential.
Chemical images: Technical approaches and issues
Authors: Clark Don , Šašić Slobodan
Published: May 2006

Chemical mapping techniques using Raman microscopy are introduced, and using an example of a pharmaceutical tablet, the practical aspects of data collection and processing to produce a chemical image of the sample are detailed. Issues related to data processing, instrument standards, chemical image reportable errors, and the interpretation of chemical images are presented to encourage debate, develop solutions, and promote use in other challenging scientific applications. applications. © 2006 International Society for Analytical Cytology
3D parallel coordinate systems—A new data visualization method in the context of microscopy‐based multicolor tissue cytometry
Authors: Streit Marc , Ecker Rupert C. , Österreicher Katja , Steiner Georg E. , Bischof Horst , Bangert Christine , Kopp Tamara , Rogojanu Radu
Published: May 2006

Background:

Presentation of multiple interactions is of vital importance in the new field of cytomics. Quantitative analysis of multi‐ and polychromatic stained cells in tissue will serve as a basis for medical diagnosis and prediction of disease in forthcoming years. A major problem associated with huge interdependent data sets is visualization. Therefore, alternative and easy‐to‐handle strategies for data visualization as well as data meta‐evaluation (population analysis, cross‐correlation, co‐expression analysis) were developed.

Methods:

To facilitate human comprehension of complex data, 3D parallel coordinate systems have been developed and used in automated microscopy‐based multicolor tissue cytometry (MMTC). Frozen sections of human skin were stained using the combination anti‐CD45‐PE, anti‐CD14‐APC, and SytoxGreen as well as the appropriate single and double negative controls. Stained sections were analyzed using automated confocal laser microscopy and semiquantitative MMTC‐analysis with TissueQuest 2.0. The 3D parallel coordinate plots are generated from semiquantitative immunofluorescent data of single cells. The 2D and 3D parallel coordinate plots were produced by further processing using the Matlab environment (Mathworks, USA).

Results:

Current techniques in data visualization primarily utilize scattergrams, where two parameters are plotted against each other on linear or logarithmic scales. However, data evaluation on cartesianx/y‐scattergrams is, in general, only of limited value in multiparameter analysis. Dot plots suffer from serious problems, and in particular, do not meet the requirements of polychromatic high‐context tissue cytometry of millions of cells. The 3D parallel coordinate plot replaces the vast amount of scattergrams that are usually needed for the cross‐correlation analysis. As a result, the scientist is able to perform the data meta‐evaluation by using one single plot. On the basis of 2D parallel coordinate systems, a density isosurface is created for representing the event population in an intuitive way.

Conclusions:

The proposed method opens new possibilities to represent and explore multidimensional data in the perspective of cytomics and other life sciences, e.g., DNA chip array technology. Current protocols in immunofluorescence permit simultaneous staining of up to 17 markers. Showing the cross‐correlation between these markers requires 136 scattergrams, which is a prohibitively high number. The improved data visualization method allows the observation of such complex patterns in only one 3D plot and could take advantage of the latest developments in 3D imaging. © 2006 International Society for Analytical Cytology
Employee reactions to corporate social responsibility: an organizational justice framework
Authors: Rupp Deborah E. , Ganapathi Jyoti , Aguilera Ruth V. , Williams Cynthia A.
Published: May 2006

We seek to bridge the macro concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) with micro research in organizational justice. A theoretical model is presented whereby employees' perceptions of CSR impact their subsequent emotions, attitudes, and behaviors, mediated by instrumental, relational, and deontic motives/needs, as well as moderated by organizations' social accounts. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
CARS microscopy in a wide‐field geometry with nanosecond pulses
Authors: Heinrich Christoph , Meusburger Clara , Bernet Stefan , Ritsch‐Marte Monika
Published: May 2006

We demonstrate coherent anti‐Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy in a wide‐field geometry and discuss the reasons why this approach is capable of becoming a complementary method to confocal scanning CARS microscopy. By means of nanosecond laser pulses and a non‐confocal excitation geometry, the CARS signal is generated over a sample area of approximately 50 µm in diameter. As an example, we recorded images of oil drops within finely sliced sunflower seeds by tuning the laser frequency to the strong Raman transition of linoleic acid around 2870 cm−1. Meaningful images with spectral selectivity could already be recorded using only a few nanosecond pulses. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Investigation of the combustion process in an auxiliary heating system using dual‐pump CARS
Authors: Braeuer A. , Beyrau F. , Weikl M. C. , Seeger T. , Kiefer J. , Leipertz A. , Holzwarth A. , Soika A.
Published: May 2006

A dual‐pump coherent anti‐Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) setup was used for the simultaneous determination of temperature and oxygen/nitrogen ratio in an automotive auxiliary heating system. The auxiliary heating system was equipped with eight windows to provide four line‐of‐sight optical accesses at two different downstream levels. The usable laser pulse energies, which are essentially limited by the damage threshold of the glass windows, were increased by the application of an optical pulse stretcher. Measurements were performed for standard diesel fuel for full‐ and part‐load operation as well as for the model fuel n‐dodecane for full‐load operation. The n‐dodecane measurements can directly be compared with numerical predictions, whereas the results for diesel fuel provide information about the possibility of transfer of the n‐dodecane simulations to real fuel conditions. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Selective spectral filtering of molecular modes of β‐carotene in solution using optimal control in four‐wave‐mixing spectroscopy
Authors: Konradi Jakow , Singh Ajay K. , Scaria Abraham V. , Materny Arnulf
Published: May 2006

Femtosecond laser pulses are spectrally broad and therefore coherently excite several molecular modes. While the temporal resolution is high, usually no mode‐selective excitation is possible. In this work, we demonstrate that, by phase shaping one of the two pulses, which excite the vibrational modes of β‐carotene within a coherent anti‐Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) process, specific modes can be enhanced or suppressed. Using the pulse shaper setup in a feedback‐controlled closed‐loop optimizes this mode selection. Here, the ratio of signal intensities observed in the CARS spectrum serves as a feedback function for an evolutionary algorithm responsible for the optimization. The optimized phase structure of the femtosecond pulse is characterized using the frequency resolved optical gating (FROG) technique to get an insight into the optimization process. Furthermore, it is shown that the temporal resolution after optimization is still high enough to investigate the ultrafast molecular dynamics. The suppression or relative enhancement of vibrational modes persists over the entire coherence time. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Development of a competitive exclusion product for poultry meeting the regulatory requirements for registration in the European Union
Authors: Klose Viviana , Mohnl Michaela , Plail Regina , Schatzmayr Gerd , Loibner Andreas‐Paul
Published: May 2006

Competitive exclusion treatment is able to increase the pathogen colonization resistance of day‐old chicks by applying probiotic bacteria stabilizing the indigenous microflora. In order to develop a safe microbial feed additive, various bacterial strains were isolated out of the gastrointestinal tract of healthy chickens. One hundred twenty‐one representatives were selected based on differences in whole‐cell protein patterns and screened for antagonistic properties. Five effective strains (Pediococcus acidilactici, Enterococcus faecium, Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. animalis, Lactobacillus reuteri, and Lactobacillus salivarius ssp. salivarius) exhibited in vitro the ability to inhibit a range of common pathogens and were evaluated with regard to the risks associated with genetic transfer of antibiotic resistances from animals to humans via the food chain. The probiotic strains were sensitive to several clinically effective antibiotics, though some of them showed single resistances. None of the vancomycin‐resistant (R) strains carried the enterococcal vanA gene. Two tetracycline R strains were shown to harbor a tet(M)‐associated resistance. The strains contained no extrachromosomal DNA and were not able to transfer the resistance by means of conjugation. On basis of the collected data the presence of easy transferable resistances was excluded and the chicken strains were considered to be suitable for the use as feed additive.
Stability of mixed-convection flow in a tall vertical channel under non-boussinesq conditions
Authors: Suslov Sergey A. , Paolucci Samuel
Published: May 2006

We have examined the linear stability of the fully developed mixed-convection flow in a differentially heated tall vertical channel under non-Boussinesq conditions. The Three-dimensional analysis of the stability problem was reduced to an equivalent two-dimensional one by the use of Squire's transformation. The resulting eigenvalue problem was solved using an integral Chebyshev pseudo-spectral method. Although Squire's theorem cannot be proved analytically, two-dimensional disturbances are found to be the most unstable in all cases. The influence of the non-Boussinesq effects on the stability was studied. We have investigated the dependence of the critical Grashof and Reynolds numbers on the temperature difference. The results show that four different modes of instability are possible, two of which are new and due entirely to non-Boussinesq effects.
Turbulent magnetic dynamo excitation at low magnetic Prandtl number
Authors: Mininni Pablo D.
Published: May 2006

Planetary and stellar dynamos likely result from turbulent motions in magnetofluids with kinematic viscosities that are small compared to their magnetic diffusivities. Laboratory experiments are in progress to produce similar dynamos in liquid metals. This work reviews recent computations of thresholds in critical magnetic Reynolds number above which dynamo amplification can be expected for mechanically forced turbulence (helical and nonhelical, short wavelength and long wavelength) as a function of the magnetic Prandtl number PM. New results for helical forcing are discussed, for which a dynamo is obtained at PM=5×10−3. The fact that the kinetic turbulent spectrum is much broader in wave-number space than the magnetic spectrum leads to numerical difficulties that are bridged by a combination of overlapping direct numerical simulations and subgrid models of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence. Typically, the critical magnetic Reynolds number increases steeply as the magnetic Prandtl number decreases, and then reaches an asymptotic plateau at values of at most a few hundred. In the turbulent regime and for magnetic Reynolds numbers large enough, both small- and large-scale magnetic fields are excited. The interactions between different scales in the flow are also discussed.
Sorption of a Xenobiotic Contaminant in Clean and Petroleum-Contaminated Soil: Roles of Water and Xenobiotic Size
Authors: Todoruk Tiona R. , Langford Cooper H.
Published: May 2006

Environmental Context.Soil uptake of xenobiotics (e.g. pesticides) can be a complex phenomenon where it is useful to distinguish readily reversible sorption from longer-term retention. A scheme for doing this using fluorescence detection is presented here, along with application to uptake of a model compound in clean and oil-contaminated soils. Both the wetting of the soil and the size of the xenobiotic seem to be important. The present data concern uptake. Desorption is expected to exhibit dependencies on similar factors. The data have implications for understanding persistence.
Abstract.Description of sorption of xenobiotics (e.g. pesticides) into soils requires identification of at least two kinetic components. In the present work, the distinction between ‘labile’ (readily reversible) and ‘non-labile’ (not reversible) uptake was extended, introducing a fluorescence-based method using 9-anthracenepropionic acid as a probe molecule. Study of clean, oil-contaminated wettable, and water-repellent oil-contaminated soils has given new perspectives into the role that water plays in xenobiotic uptake. Non-labile uptake is unimportant in the water-repellent soils; however, non-labile components are observed in both clean and wettable oil-contaminated samples, supporting earlier suggestions that water plays a role in non-labile uptake processes. A soil pre-exposed to water exhibited different labile sorption behavior from one where xenobiotic was added simultaneously with water to an air-dried soil. The comparatively rapid non-labile component of uptake (3 days) of 9-anthracenepropanoic acid by a clean soil contrasted with much longer times in earlier studies of 2,4-D and atrazine. This pointed to another factor influencing the sorption phenomenon. Literature data supports a suggestion that the non-labile component of xenobiotic sorption may be more strongly influenced by the size of the xenobiotic than by the structure (e.g. polarity) of the xenobiotic or soil composition.
Neonatal auditory function and depressed Apgar score: Correlation of brainstem auditory response with Apgar score
Authors: JIANG ZE D. , WILKINSON ANDREW R.
Published: May 2006

Aim: To examine the relationship between neonatal auditory function and Apgar score in term infants with depressed Apgar scores. Methods: Brainstem auditory evoked response (BAER) was recorded on day 3 after birth in term infants who had Apgar scores7 at 1 and/or 5 min. Half of the infants also had Apgar scores at 10 min, with 177. Results: No BAER variables correlated significantly with 1‐min Apgar score. However, wave III and V latencies, and I–V, I–III and III–V intervals correlated significantly and negatively with 5‐min Apgar score (p<0.05–0.01). These BAER variables were significantly longer in infants with 5‐min Apgar scores7 than those >7. Wave V latency and all intervals also correlated negatively with 10‐min Apgar score (p<0.05–0.01). Compared to normal controls, all latencies were prolonged in infants with depressed Apgar scores (all p<0.05–0.01). All intervals were also prolonged in those with 5‐min scores 7 (p<0.05–0.01). Similar results were found when defining the depression of Apgar score as 6.

Conclusion: A depressed 5‐ and/or 10‐min Apgar score is an indicator associated with neonatal auditory, mainly central, impairment. Apgar score 7 or 6 at 1 min alone is unlikely to be associated with central impairment.
Metal uptake by tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) as affected by poultry litter application
Authors: Brye K. R. , Pirani A. L.
Published: May 2006

Poultry litter is commonly applied to pastures as an organic fertilizer. However, poultry litter also typically contains numerous heavy metals that may accumulate in soil and can pose an environmental threat when it is applied to pastures. The objective was to ascertain uptake characteristics of heavy metals by tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) from soil with a history of poultry litter additions as affected by subsequent applications of poultry litter. Poultry litter was applied to small plots at rates of 0, 2·2 and 4·5 t dry litter ha−1. In the 7·5 months following application of litter, cumulative dry‐matter (DM) production of herbage was higher (P < 0·05) in the plots that received poultry litter compared with the control plots where no litter was applied. However, concentrations of Al, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Se and Zn in herbage were unaffected by the rate of application of poultry litter. All metal tissue concentrations, except for Fe, were affected by sampling date. While tall fescue responds to poultry litter with increased DM production, it does not appear to accumulate excessive quantities of micronutrients associated with the application of poultry litter.
Near-infrared photometry of carbon stars
Authors: Whitelock Patricia A. , Feast Michael W. , Marang Freddy , Groenewegen M. A. T.
Published: May 2006

Near-infrared, JHKL, photometry of 239 Galactic C-rich variable stars is presented and discussed. From these and published data, the stars were classified as Mira or non-Mira variables, and amplitudes and pulsation periods, ranging from 222 to 948 d for the Miras, were determined for most of them. A comparison of the colour and period relations with those of similar stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud indicates minor differences, which may be the consequence of sample selection effects. Apparent bolometric magnitudes were determined by combining the mean JHKL fluxes with mid-infrared photometry from IRAS and MSX. Then, using the Mira period luminosity relation to set the absolute magnitudes, distances were determined – to greater accuracy than has hitherto been possible for this type of star. Bolometric corrections to the K magnitude were calculated and prescriptions derived for calculating these from various colours. Mass-loss rates were also calculated and compared to values in the literature.

Approximately one-third of the C-rich Miras and an unknown fraction of the non-Miras exhibit apparently random obscuration events that are reminiscent of the phenomena exhibited by the hydrogen-deficient R Coronae Borealis stars. The underlying cause of this is unclear, but it may be that mass loss, and consequently dust formation, is very easily triggered from these very extended atmospheres.
Allergic rhinitis and its impact on otorhinolaryngology
Authors: Hellings P. W. , Fokkens W. J.
Published: May 2006

Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a disease with growing impact on everyday medical practice, as its prevalence has steadily increased during the last decades. Immunoglobulin‐E (IgE)‐mediated airway inflammation may manifest itself as AR, asthma or both. Allergic inflammation in upper and lower airways is now considered as one airway disease, with manifestation of symptoms in upper, lower or global airway. This insight into allergic inflammation of the whole respiratory tract has consequences for the diagnostic and therapeutic approach of affected patients, as highlighted in the ARIA document. In contrast to asthma, the link between AR and associated conditions in the upper airways like rhinosinusitis, nasal polyps, recurrent viral infections, adenoid hypertrophy, tubal dysfunction, otitis media with effusion and laryngitis remains less explored. It is however of utmost importance to consider the aetiological role of IgE‐mediated inflammation of the nasal mucosa in several diseases of the upper respiratory tract, as they represent a large body of patient population seen by the general practitioner as well as the paediatrician, allergologist and otorhinolaryngologist. We here aim at reviewing the current literature on the relationship between AR and conditions in upper airways frequently encountered in everyday clinical practice, and highlight the need for further studies exploring the role of allergic inflammation in the development of these diseases.
Identification and characterization of simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers from Fragaria×ananassa expressed sequences
Authors: KENIRY ANDREW , HOPKINS CLARE J. , JEWELL ERICA , MORRISON BRUCE , SPANGENBERG GERMAN C. , EDWARDS DAVID , BATLEY JACQUELINE
Published: May 2006

The availability of expressed sequence data derived from gene discovery programmes enables mining for simple sequence repeats (SSRs), providing useful genetic markers for crop improvement. These markers are inexpensive, require minimal labour to produce and can frequently be associated with functionally annotated genes. This study reports on the development and characterization of expressed sequence tag (EST)–SSR markers in the cultivated strawberry, Fragaria×ananassa. Fourteen primer pairs were assessed for polymorphism in 13 F.×ananassa genotypes. The markers show reliable amplification and considerable polymorphism, demonstrating the utility of EST–SSRs for genetic analysis of commercial strawberry germplasm.
Heart Rate Variability Following Neonatal Heart Surgery for Complex Congenital Heart Disease
Authors: KALTMAN JONATHAN R. , HANNA BRIAN D. , GALLAGHER PAUL R. , GAYNOR J. WILLIAM , GODINEZ RODOLFO I. , TANEL RONN E. , SHAH MAULLY J. , VETTER VICTORIA L. , RHODES LARRY A.
Published: May 2006

Background: Altered cardiac autonomic control may play a role in the morbidity and mortality suffered by neonates who undergo surgery for complex congenital heart disease (CHD). The purpose of this study was to evaluate cardiac autonomic activity, as measured by spectral indices of heart rate variability (HRV), prior to and early after infant surgery for CHD and attempt to correlate HRV indices with clinical outcome. In addition, we assessed the hypothesis that single‐ventricle physiology and surgical interruption of the great arteries negatively affects HRV.

Methods: Sixty neonates prospectively wore 24‐hour Holter monitors at three time points: before and early after CHD surgery, and at 3‐ to 6‐month follow‐up. Standard spectral indices of HRV were measured.

Results: In the early postoperative time point, patients with single‐ventricle physiology had lower low‐frequency power (LF) compared to patients with two ventricles (P = 0.040). Surgical interruption of the great arteries did not affect HRV in this cohort. For the entire cohort, LF (P = 0.004) and high‐frequency power (HF) (P < 0.001) increased over the three time points, while LF/HF (P = 0.119) did not significantly change. In the multivariable linear regression model, significant predictors of longer postoperative hospital stay included longer total support time (P = < 0.001), longer duration of inotrope support (P = 0.012), elevated mean heart rate at postoperative time point (P = 0.002), and lower LF/HF ratio at the postoperative time point (P = 0.014).

Conclusion: Patients with single‐ventricle physiology have a significant physiologic reduction in LF in the early postoperative period compared to patients with two ventricles. Diminished cardiac autonomic control is associated with longer hospitalization following neonatal cardiac surgery.
Computed Tomography to Assess Possible Cardiac Lead Perforation
Authors: HENRIKSON CHARLES A. , LENG CHARLES T. , YUH DAVID D. , BRINKER JEFFREY A.
Published: May 2006

Background: Chest radiography and echocardiography are standard techniques to evaluate possible extracardiac migration of pacemaker and defibrillator leads, but computed tomography (CT) scanning may be a helpful adjunct.

Methods: Chest CT using a 64‐detector helical scanner was performed in three cases of lead perforation where standard techniques did not yield a definitive diagnosis. In two patients, a cardiac CT protocol was followed, the primary indication for which was to assess the lead tip location. On one patient, persistent chest pain several days after the implant led to a chest CT to rule out a pulmonary embolism, and the extracardiac lead was found fortuitously.

Results: In all cases, CT scan images resulted in a definitive diagnosis of extracardiac migration of pacemaker or defibrillator leads. One patient had an extracardiac atrial lead which was dysfunctional but not associated with symptoms. The risks of repositioning were felt to outweigh potential benefits in this patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and treatment was conservative. The other two patients had extracardiac ventricular leads and were symptomatic with pleuritic chest pain. These patients were treated by lead revision with no evidence of bleeding into the pericardial space. All patients did well and none have suffered any further complications.

Conclusion: CT images aid in the diagnosis of lead perforation when other modalities are nondiagnostic. Recent advances in CT technology have been associated with increased use of this technique for evaluation of chest pain, analysis of which should now include location of intracardiac leads.
EXPERIMENTAL SIGNATURES OF STRINGS AND BRANES
Authors: ANTONIADIS IGNATIOS
Published: May 2006

Type I string theory provides a D-brane world description of our universe and leads to two new scenaria for physics beyond the Standard Model: low string scale and split supersymmetry. Lowering the string scale in the TeV region provides a theoretical framework for solving the mass hierarchy problem and unifying all interactions. The apparent weakness of gravity can then be accounted by the existence of large internal dimensions, in the submillimeter region, and transverse to a braneworld where we must be confined. I review the main properties of this scenario and its implications for observations at both particle colliders, and in non-accelerator gravity experiments. I also present a concrete realization of split supersymmetry which guarantees gauge coupling unification at the conventional scale M GUT ≃ 2 × 1016 GeV .
QUANTUM CHROMODYNAMICS AT COLLIDERS
Authors: BUTTERWORTH JON M.
Published: May 2006

QCD is the accepted (that is, the effective) theory of the strong interaction; studies at colliders are no longer designed to establish this. Such studies can now be divided into two categories. The first involves the identification of observables which can be both measured and predicted at the level of a few percent. Such studies parallel those of the electroweak sector over the past fifteen years, and deviations from expectations would be a sign of new physics. These observables provide a firm "place to stand" from which to extend our understanding. This links to the second category of study, where one deliberately moves to regions in which the usual theoretical tools fail; here new approximations in QCD are developed to increase our portfolio of understood processes, and hence our sensitivity to new physics. Recent progress in both these aspects of QCD at colliders is discussed.
R&D FOR FUTURE ACCELERATORS
Authors: ZIMMERMANN FRANK
Published: May 2006

Research & development for future accelerators are reviewed. First, I discuss colliding hadron beams, in particular upgrades to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). This is followed by an overview of new concepts and technologies for lepton ring colliders, with examples taken from VEPP-2000, DAFNE-2, and Super-KEKB. I then turn to recent progress and studies for the multi-TeV Compact Linear Collider (CLIC). Some generic linear-collider research, centered at the KEK Accelerator Test Facility, is described next. Subsequently, I survey the neutrino factory R&D performed in the framework of the US feasibility study IIa, and I also comment on a novel scheme for producing monochromatic neutrinos from an electron-capture beta beam. Finally, I present innovative ideas for a high-energy muon collider and I consider recent experimental progress on laser and plasma acceleration.
SETTING UP A PROBABILISTIC NEURAL NETWORK FOR CLASSIFICATION OF HIGHWAY VEHICLES
Authors: SELEKWA MAJURA F. , KWIGIZILE VALERIAN , MUSSA RENATUS N.
Published: May 2006

Many neural network methods used for efficient classification of populations work only when the population is globally separable. In situ classification of highway vehicles is one of the problems with globally nonseparable populations. This paper presents a systematic procedure for setting up a probabilistic neural network that can classify the globally nonseparable population of highway vehicles. The method is based on a simple concept that any set of classifiable data can be broken down to subclasses of locally separable data. Hence, if these locally separable data can be identified, then the classification problem can be carried out in two hierarchical steps; step one classifies the data according to the local subclasses, and step two classifies the local subclasses into the global classes. The proposed approach was tested on the problem of classifying highway vehicles according to the US Federal Highway Administration standard, which is normally handled by decision tree methods that use vehicle axle information and a set of IF-THEN rules. By using a sample of 3326 vehicles, the proposed method showed improved classification results with an overall misclassification rate of only 2.9% compared to 9.7% of the decision tree methods. A similar setup can be used with different neural networks such as recurrent neural networks, but they were not tested in this study especially since the focus was for in situ applications where a high learning rate is desired.
High-protein nutrition during pregnancy and lactation programs blood pressure, food efficiency, and body weight of the offspring in a sex-dependent manner
Authors: Thone-Reineke C. , Kalk P. , Dorn M. , Klaus S. , Simon K. , Pfab T. , Godes M. , Persson P. , Unger T. , Hocher B.
Published: May 2006

Maternal low-protein diet during pregnancy is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease of the offspring in later life. The impact of high-protein diet during pregnancy on the cardiovascular phenotype of the offspring, however, is still unknown. We examined the influence of a high-protein diet during pregnancy and lactation on the renal, hemodynamic, and metabolic phenotype of the F1 generation. Female Wistar rats were either fed a normal protein diet (20% protein: NP) or an isocaloric high-protein diet (40% protein: HP) throughout pregnancy and lactation. At weaning, the offspring were fed with standard diet, and they were allocated according to sex and maternal diet to four groups: normal-protein male (NPm, n = 25), normal-protein female (NPf, n = 19), high-protein male (HPm, n = 24), high-protein female (HPf, n = 29). During the experiment (22 wk), the animals were characterized by repeated measurement of body weight, food intake, blood pressure, glucose tolerance, energy expenditure, and kidney function. At the end of the study period histomorphological analyses of the kidneys and weight measurement of reproductive fat pads were conducted. There were no differences in birth weight between the study groups. No influence of maternal diet on energy expenditure, glucose tolerance, and plasma lipid levels was detected. Blood pressure and glomerulosclerosis were elevated in male offspring only, whereas female offspring were characterized by an increased food efficiency, higher body weight, and increased fat pads. Our study demonstrates that a high-protein diet during pregnancy and lactation in rats programs blood pressure, food efficiency, and body weight of the offspring in a sex-dependent manner.