bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Bootstrap Learning and Visual Processing Management on Mobile Robots
Authors: Sridharan Mohan
Published: February 2010

A central goal of robotics and AI is to enable a team of robots to operate autonomously in the real world and collaborate with humans over an extended period of time. Though developments in sensor technology have resulted in the deployment of robots in specific applications the ability to accurately sense and interact with the environment is still missing. Key challenges to the widespread deployment of robots include the ability to learn models of environmental features based on sensory inputs, bootstrap off of the learned models to detect and adapt to environmental changes, and autonomously tailor the sensory processing to the task at hand. This paper summarizes a comprehensive effort towards such bootstrap learning, adaptation, and processing management using visual input. We describe probabilistic algorithms that enable a mobile robot to autonomously plan its actions to learn models of color distributions and illuminations. The learned models are used to detect and adapt to illumination changes. Furthermore, we describe a probabilistic sequential decision-making approach that autonomously tailors the visual processing to the task at hand. All algorithms are fully implemented and tested on robot platforms in dynamic environments.
General Decay Stability for Stochastic Functional Differential Equations with Infinite Delay
Authors: Liu Yue , Meng Xuejing , Wu Fuke
Published: February 2010

So far there are not many results on the stability for stochastic functional
differential equations with infinite delay. The main aim of this paper is to establish some new
criteria on the stability with general decay rate for stochastic functional differential equations
with infinite delay. To illustrate the applications of our theories clearly, this paper also
examines a scalar infinite delay stochastic functional differential equations with polynomial
coefficients.
Circulating Levels of Interleukin-1 Family Cytokines in Overweight Adolescents
Authors: Jung Christian , Gerdes Norbert , Fritzenwanger Michael , Figulla Hans Reiner
Published: February 2010

Objectives. Obesity and related diseases are dramatically increasing problems, particularly in children and adolescents. We determined circulating levels of different interleukin (IL)-1 family members in normal weight and overweight adolescents.Methods. Seventy male, Caucasian adolescents (13–17 years) were recruited. Thirty-five had a body-mass index (BMI) above the 90th age-specific percentile. IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), and IL-18 were determined using multiplex-technology.Results. IL-18 concentrations were higher in the overweight group compared to normal weight (161.6±40.7 pg/ml versus134.7±43.4 pg/ml,P=.009). Concentrations of circulating IL-1βlevels were below the detection threshold. IL-18 (R2:0.355,P<.01) and IL-1ra (R2:0.287,P<.05) correlated with BMI, whereas IL-1αdid not.Conclusions. Accumulating data indicate the importance of the endocrine function of adipose tissue for the pathophysiological consequences of obesity-related co-morbidities. Since IL-18 is involved in the pathogenesis of different cardiovascular diseases, we conclude that IL-18 may represent a link between obesity and related co-morbidities in children and adolescents.
Investigation of the Incidence of Pancreatic Cancer-Related Depression and Its Relationship with the Quality of Life of Patients
Authors: Jia Lin , Jiang Shu-Man , Shang Yuan-Yuan , Huang Yao-Xing , Li Yi-Jun , Xie De-Rong , Huang Kai-Hong , Zhi Fa-Cao
Published: February 2010

Aim: To investigate the incidence of pancreatic cancer-related depression and the relationship between symptoms of depression and the quality of life (QoL) of patients. Methods: 262 inpatients with cancer of the digestive system (pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, and colorectal cancer) from four Guangzhou hospitals were enrolled into the study between June 2007 and June 2009. The Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression-24 questionnaire was used to assess the degree of depression. QoL of all patients was evaluated by EORTC QLQ-C30. Additionally, EORTC QLQ-PAN-26 was used for patients with pancreatic cancer. Results: The incidence of depression among pancreatic cancer patients was significantly higher than among other digestive cancers. More pancreatic cancer patients suffered severe depression than those with liver cancer and gastric cancer. Compared with other groups with depression, QoL of pancreatic cancer patients in each functioning scale was significantly worse, while the symptoms of fatigue and pain were significantly severe. QoL of pancreatic cancer patients with depression in role, emotional, and social functioning were sharply poorer than those without depression. The symptoms of fatigue, pain and appetite loss in cancer patients with depression were significantly more frequent than those without depression. Conclusion: Compared with other cancers of the digestive system, depressive symptoms are common psychological disturbances in pancreatic cancer patients. Moreover, depression significantly lowers QoL in pancreatic cancer patients.
Nutrition Tailored to the Individual? Not Just Yet – Realigning Nutrigenomic Science with Contemporary Society
Authors: de Vrieze Jop , Bouwman Laura , Komduur Rixt , Pin Renske , Ronteltap Amber , Vandeberg Rens , van Dam Frans , Penders Bart
Published: February 2010

About a decade ago, scientists and science journalists presented nutrigenomics as a grand promise that each of us would soon know which foods fit in our personal healthy diet. Meanwhile, expectations have been adjusted to fit a changed reality. Simultaneously, societal issues surrounding personalized nutrition continue to rise, including whether consumers need it, food industry can produce it, all relevant stakeholders are willing and able to work together, and if it is a desirable way to go for nutrition. The commentary below reports the main results of 6 research projects that focused on nutrigenomics and its role in society.
Factors Affecting Health-Related Quality of Life Assessed with the SF-36v2 Health Survey in Outpatients with Chronic-Stage Ischemic Stroke in Japan – Cross-Sectional Analysis of the OASIS Study
Authors: Shinohara Yukito
Published: February 2010

Background and Purpose: The number of chronic-stage ischemic stroke patients in Japan continues to increase, because of decreasing mortality. This study was designed to ascertain health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in ischemic stroke patients and to analyze in detail factors affecting HRQOL. Methods: 2,069 outpatients (1,226 males, 843 females; mean age: 71 years; median duration after onset: 20.5 months) with chronic-stage ischemic stroke visiting 150 institutions in Japan were enrolled. HRQOL was evaluated using the second version of the patient self-administered Medical Outcome Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36v2) questionnaire. Results: All 8 domain scores and the physical component summary (PCS) score of SF-36v2 in stroke patients were significantly lower than those of Japanese national norms (JNN). The PCS score (36.6 ± 16.1) and mental component summary (MCS) score (50.0 ± 10.2) were lower than those of age-matched JNN (p < 0.001). Age, modified Rankin Scale (mRS), duration after onset and Japan Stroke Scale Depression score (JSS-D) were significantly correlated with PCS, as were role limitation because of physical problem, bodily pain, vitality and role limitation because of emotional problem scores; duration after onset and JSS-D were significantly correlated with MCS. Negative factors for PCS were older age, higher mRS, presence of subjective symptoms, neurological signs, rehabilitation and concomitant antidepressants. Negative factors for MCS were presence of subjective symptoms, psychiatric signs and concomitant antidepressants. Conclusions: HRQOL scores in ischemic stroke patients (chronic stage) are significantly correlated with not only age, mRS, duration after onset and JSS-D, but also presence of subjective symptoms and neurological/psychiatric signs, which could be targets for treatment.
Variation in the C-Reactive Protein Gene Is Associated with Serum Levels of CRP in Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke
Authors: den Hertog Heleen M. , van den Herik Evita G. , Dippel Diederik W.J. , Koudstaal Peter J. , de Maat Moniek P.M.
Published: February 2010

Background and Purpose: Elevated levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) are found in up to three quarters of patients with acute ischemic stroke and are associated with poor outcome. We investigated whether haplotypes representing common variations in the CRP gene are associated with levels of CRP in patients with acute ischemic stroke. Methods: We included 185 patients with ischemic stroke in whom CRP was measured within 24 h of symptom onset. Common haplotypes within the CRP gene were determined by 3 genotype-tagging single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Results: Four haplotypes with frequencies >5% covered 99.2% of the genetic variation. Haplotype 4 (CCG, frequency 8.3%) was associated with a 20.6 mg/l (95% CI, 9.8–30.4) stronger increase in CRP level as compared with haplotype 1 (CTC, frequency 33.7%). Conclusion: Variation in the CRP gene is associated with levels of CRP in acute ischemic stroke.
Thrombin receptors in vascular smooth muscle cells – function and regulation by vasodilatory prostaglandins
Authors: Bretschneider Ellen , Fischer Kerstin , Fischer Jens , Pape Robert , Rauch Bernhard , Rosenkranz Anke , Weber Artur-Aron , Schrör Karsten
Published: February 2010

The vast majority of thrombin (>95%) is generated after clotting is completed, suggesting that thrombin formation serves purposes beyond coagulation, such as tissue repair after vessel injury. Two types of vascular thrombin binding sites exist: protease-activated receptors (PARs) and thrombomodulin (TM). Their expression is low in contractile vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC), the dominating subendothelial cell population, but becomes markedly up-regulated upon injury. In human SMC, PAR-1, PAR-3, and PAR-4 mediate thrombin-induced proliferation, migration and matrix biosynthesis as well as generation of inflammatory and growth-promoting mediators. Thrombin-responsive PARs are transcriptionally down-regulated in human vascular SMC by vasodilatory prostaglandins (PGI2/PGE2). For PAR-1 and PAR-3 this mechanism involves cAMP-dependent inactivation of the transcription factor NFAT. The human PAR-4 promoter does not possess NFAT recognition motifs suggesting involvement of other cAMP-regulated effectors. Unlike PARs, TM is induced in SMC exposed to vasodilatory pros-taglandins. Enhanced thrombin binding to TM might ameliorate PAR-mediated SMC stimulation. Also expressed in human SMC is the endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR), which serves as an anchor to facilitate generation of activated protein C (aPC) by TM-bound thrombin. Whether prostaglandins affect aPC-generation is not known. In SMC, thrombin and aPC act synergistically via PAR-1 to modify tissue remodelling, in contrast to their antagonistic interaction in the coagulation pathways. Overall, this will contribute to plaque stability and wound healing. The processes outlined here are likely to become clinically relevant after up-regulation of vascular cyclooxygenase2, the rate limiting step in vascular PGE2/PGI2 biosynthesis, such as in advanced atherosclerosis and acute coronary syndromes.
Circulating Endothelial Progenitor Cells Do Not Contribute to Plaque Endothelium in Murine Atherosclerosis
Authors: Hagensen Mette K. , Shim Jeong , Thim Troels , Falk Erling , Bentzon Jacob F.
Published: February 2010

Background—

It has been reported that circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) home to and differentiate into endothelial cells after various kinds of arterial injury. By inference, EPCs are also proposed to be important in the most important arterial disease, atherosclerosis, but the evidence for this theory is not clear. In the present study, we assessed the contribution of circulating EPCs to plaque endothelium in apolipoprotein E–deficient (apoE
−/−
) mice.

Methods and Results—

To investigate whether EPCs in the circulating blood are a source of plaque endothelial cells during atherogenesis, we examined plaques in lethally irradiated apoE
−/−
mice reconstituted with bone marrow cells from enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) transgenic apoE
−/−
mice and plaques induced in segments of common carotid artery transplanted from apoE
−/−
mice into eGFP
+
apoE
−/−
mice. Among 4232 endothelial cells identified by a cell-type–specific marker (von Willebrand factor) and analyzed by high-resolution microscopy, we found only 1 eGFP
+
. Using the Y chromosome to track cells after sex-mismatched transplants yielded similar results. To investigate whether circulating EPCs are involved in plaque reendothelialization after plaque disruption and superimposed thrombosis, we produced mechanical plaque disruptions in carotid bifurcation plaques in old lethally irradiated apoE
−/−
mice reconstituted with eGFP
+
apoE
−/−
bone marrow cells and carotid bifurcation plaques transplanted from old apoE
−/−
mice into eGFP
+
apoE
−/−
mice. Only 1 eGFP
+
endothelial cell was found among 3170 analyzed.

Conclusions—

Circulating EPCs rarely, if ever, contribute to plaque endothelium in apoE
−/−
mice. These findings bring into question the prevailing theory that circulating EPCs play an important role in atherogenesis.
Angiotensin Receptor Blocker Protection Against Podocyte-Induced Sclerosis Is Podocyte Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor-Independent
Authors: Matsusaka Taiji , Asano Takako , Niimura Fumio , Kinomura Masaru , Shimizu Akihiro , Shintani Ayumi , Pastan Ira , Fogo Agnes B. , Ichikawa Iekuni
Published: February 2010

In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that the renoprotective effect of an angiotensin receptor blocker depends on the angiotensin II type 1 (AT
1
) receptor on podocytes. For this purpose, we generated podocyte-specific knockout mice for the AT
1
gene (
Agtr1a
) and crossed with NEP25, in which selective podocyte injury can be induced by immunotoxin, anti-Tac(Fv)-PE38. Four weeks after the addition of anti-Tac(Fv)-PE38, urinary albumin:creatinine ratio was not attenuated in
Agtr1a
knockout
/
NEP25 mice (n=18) compared with that in control NEP25 mice (n=13; 8.08±2.41 in knockout versus 4.84±0.73 in control). Both strains of mice showed similar degrees of sclerosis (0.66±0.17 versus 0.82±0.27 on a 0 to 4 scale) and downregulation of nephrin (5.78±0.45 versus 5.65±0.58 on a 0 to 8 scale). In contrast, AT
1
antagonist or an angiotensin I–converting enzyme inhibitor, but not hydralazine, remarkably attenuated proteinuria and sclerosis in NEP25 mice. Moreover, continuous angiotensin II infusion induced microalbuminuria similarly in both
Agtr1a
knockout and wild-type mice. Thus, angiotensin inhibition can protect podocytes and prevent the development of glomerulosclerosis independent of podocyte AT
1
. Possible mechanisms include inhibitory effects on AT
1
of other cells or through mechanisms independent of AT
1
. Our study further demonstrates that measures that directly affect only nonpodocyte cells can have beneficial effects even when sclerosis is triggered by podocyte-specific injury.
Reconstruction of Near-Surface Tornado Wind Fields from Forest Damage
Authors: Beck Veronika , Dotzek Nikolai
Published: February 2010

Tornado intensity is usually inferred from the damage produced. To foster postevent tornado intensity assessments, the authors present a model to reconstruct near-surface wind fields from forest damage patterns. By comparing the structure of observed and simulated damage patterns, essential parameters to describe a tornado near-surface wind field are derived, such as the ratio Gmax between circular and translational velocity, and the deflection angle α between peak wind and pressure gradient. The model consists of a wind field module following the Letzmann analytical tornado model and a tree module based on the mechanistic HWIND tree model to assess tree breakage. Using this method, the velocity components of the near-surface wind field, the track of the tornado center, and the spatial distribution of the Fujita scale along and across the damage path can be assessed. Necessary requirements to apply the model are knowledge of the tornado translation speed (e.g., from radar observations) and a detailed analysis of the forest damage patterns. One of the key findings of this analysis is that the maximum intensity of the tornado is determinable with an uncertainty of only (Gmax + 1) times the variability of the usually well-known tornado translation speed. Further, if Letzmann’s model is applied and the translation speed of the tornado is known, the detailed tree model is unnecessary and could be replaced by an average critical velocity for stem breakage υcrit independent of the tree species. Under this framework, the F3 and F2 ratings of the tornadoes in Milosovice, Czech Republic, on 30 May 2001 and Castellcir, Spain, on 18 October 2006, respectively, could be verified. For the Milosovice event, the uncertainty in peak intensity was only ±6.0 m s−1. Additional information about the structure of the near-surface wind field in the tornado and several secondary vortices was also gained. Further, this model allows for distinguishing downburst damage patterns from those of tornadoes.
The Full-Spectrum Correlated-k Method for Longwave Atmospheric Radiative Transfer Using an Effective Planck Function
Authors: Hogan Robin J.
Published: February 2010

The correlated-k-distribution (CKD) method is widely used in the radiative transfer schemes of atmospheric models; it involves dividing the spectrum into a number of bands and then reordering the gaseous absorption coefficients within each one. The fluxes and heating rates for each band may then be computed by discretizing the reordered spectrum into O(10) quadrature points per major gas and performing a pseudomonochromatic radiation calculation for each point. In this paper it is first argued that for clear-sky longwave calculations, sufficient accuracy for most applications can be achieved without the need for bands: reordering may be performed on the entire longwave spectrum. The resulting full-spectrum correlated-k (FSCK) method requires significantly fewer pseudomonochromatic calculations than standard CKD to achieve a given accuracy. The concept is first demonstrated by comparing with line-by-line calculations for an atmosphere containing only water vapor, in which it is shown that the accuracy of heating rate calculations improves approximately in proportion to the square of the number of quadrature points. For more than around 20 points, the root-mean-square error flattens out at around 0.015 K day−1 due to the imperfect rank correlation of absorption spectra at different pressures in the profile. The spectral overlap of m different gases is treated by considering an m-dimensional hypercube where each axis corresponds to the reordered spectrum of one of the gases. This hypercube is then divided up into a number of volumes, each approximated by a single quadrature point, such that the total number of quadrature points is slightly fewer than the sum of the number that would be required to treat each of the gases separately. The gaseous absorptions for each quadrature point are optimized such that they minimize a cost function expressing the deviation of the heating rates and fluxes calculated by the FSCK method from line-by-line calculations for a number of training profiles. This approach is validated for atmospheres containing water vapor, carbon dioxide, and ozone, in which it is found that in the troposphere and most of the stratosphere, heating rate errors of less than 0.2 K day−1 can be achieved using a total of 23 quadrature points, decreasing to less than 0.1 K day−1 for 32 quadrature points. It would be relatively straightforward to extend the method to include other gases.
Failed Cyclogenetic Evolution of a West African Monsoon Perturbation Observed during AMMA SOP-3
Authors: Arnault Joël , Roux Frank
Published: February 2010

The so-called “perturbation D” was a nondeveloping West African disturbance observed near Dakar (Senegal) during special observing period (SOP) 3 of the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis (AMMA) in September 2006. Its mesoscale environment is described with the dropsonde data obtained during flights on three successive days with the Service des Avions Français Instrumentés pour la Recherche en Environnement Falcon-20 aircraft. Processes involved in this evolution are studied qualitatively with ECMWF reanalyses and Meteosat-9 images. The evolution of perturbation D was the result of an interaction between processes at different scales such as the African easterly jet (AEJ), a midtropospheric African easterly wave (AEW), a series of mesoscale convective systems, the monsoon flow, dry low- to midlevel anticyclonic Saharan air, and a midlatitude upper-level trough. The interaction between these processes is further investigated through a numerical simulation conducted with the French nonhydrostatic Méso-NH model with parameterized convection. The growth of the simulated disturbance is quantified with an energy budget including barotropic and baroclinic conversions of eddy kinetic energy, proposed previously by the authors for a limited domain. The development of the simulated system is found to result from barotropic–baroclinic growth over West Africa and baroclinic growth over the tropical eastern Atlantic. It is suggested that these energy conversions were the result of an adjustment of the wind in response to the pressure decrease, presumably caused by convective activity, and other synoptic processes. A comparison with the developing case of Helene (2006) reveals that both perturbations had similar evolutions over the continent but were associated with different synoptic conditions over the ocean. For perturbation D, the anticyclonic curvature of the AEJ, caused by the intensification of the eastern ridge by a strong flow of dry Saharan air, prohibited the formation of a closed and convergent circulation. Moreover, a midlatitude upper-level trough approaching from the northwest contributed to increase the northward stretching and then weakened the perturbation. It is therefore suggested that at least as important as the intensity of the AEW trough and associated convection leaving the West African continent are synoptic conditions associated with the Saharan heat low, the subtropical high pressure zone, and even the midlatitude circulation, all of which are instrumental in the (non)cyclogenetic evolution of AEWs in the Cape Verde Islands region.
An Improved Representation of Rimed Snow and Conversion to Graupel in a Multicomponent Bin Microphysics Scheme
Authors: Morrison Hugh , Grabowski Wojciech W.
Published: February 2010

This paper describes the development of a new multicomponent detailed bin ice microphysics scheme that predicts the number concentration of ice as well as the rime mass mixing ratio in each mass bin. This allows for local prediction of the rime mass fraction. In this approach, the ice particle mass size, projected area size, and terminal velocity–size relationships vary as a function of particle mass and rimed mass fraction, based on a simple conceptual model of rime accumulation in the crystal interstices that leads to an increase in particle mass, but not in its maximum size, until a complete “filling in” with rime and conversion to graupel occurs. This approach allows a natural representation of the gradual transition from unrimed crystals to rimed crystals and graupel during riming. The new ice scheme is coupled with a detailed bin representation of the liquid hydrometeors and applied in an idealized 2D kinematic flow model representing the evolution of a mixed-phase precipitating cumulus. Results using the bin scheme are compared with simulations using a two-moment bulk scheme employing the same approach (i.e., separate prediction of bulk ice mixing ratio from vapor deposition and riming, allowing for local prediction of bulk rime mass fraction). The bin and bulk schemes produce similar results in terms of ice and liquid water paths and optical depths, as well as the timing of the onset and peak surface precipitation rate. However, the peak domain-average surface precipitation rate produced by the bulk scheme is about 4 times that in the bin simulation. The bin scheme is also compared with simulations that assume the ice particles consist entirely of either unrimed snow or graupel. While overall results are fairly similar, the onset and timing of the peak domain-average surface precipitation rate are substantially delayed in the simulations that treat the ice particles as either unrimed snow or graupel. These results suggest the importance of representing different ice types, including partially rimed crystals, for this case.
Midlevel Ventilation’s Constraint on Tropical Cyclone Intensity
Authors: Tang Brian , Emanuel Kerry
Published: February 2010

Midlevel ventilation, or the flux of low-entropy air into the inner core of a tropical cyclone (TC), is a hypothesized mechanism by which environmental vertical wind shear can constrain a tropical cyclone’s intensity. An idealized framework based on steadiness, axisymmetry, and slantwise neutrality is developed to assess how ventilation affects tropical cyclone intensity via two possible pathways: the first through downdrafts outside the eyewall and the second through eddy fluxes directly into the eyewall. For both pathways, ventilation has a detrimental effect on tropical cyclone intensity by decreasing the maximum steady-state intensity significantly below the potential intensity, imposing a minimum intensity below which a TC will unconditionally decay, and providing an upper-ventilation bound beyond which no steady tropical cyclone can exist. Ventilation also decreases the thermodynamic efficiency as the eyewall becomes less buoyant relative to the environment, which compounds the effects of ventilation alone. Finally, the formulation presented in this study is shown to be invariant across a range of thermodynamic environments after a suitable normalization and shows little sensitivity to external parameters.
Sensitivity of Tropical Cyclone Inner-Core Size and Intensity to the Radial Distribution of Surface Entropy Flux
Authors: Xu Jing , Wang Yuqing
Published: February 2010

The surface energy (entropy) flux is critical to the development and maintenance of a tropical cyclone (TC). However, it is unclear how sensitive the inner-core size and intensity of a TC could be to the radial distribution of the surface entropy flux under the TC. Such a potential sensitivity is examined in this study using the multiply nested, fully compressible, nonhydrostatic TC model TCM4. By artificially eliminating the surface entropy fluxes in different radial extent in different experiments, the effect of the surface entropy flux in the different radial ranges on the inner-core size and intensity of a simulated TC is evaluated. Consistent with recent findings from axisymmetric models, the entropy flux in the eye region of a TC is found to contribute little to the storm intensity, but it plays a role in reducing the radius of maximum wind (RMW). Although surface entropy fluxes under the eyewall contribute greatly to the storm intensity, those outside the eyewall up to a radius of about 2–2.5 times the RMW are also important. Farther outward, the surface entropy fluxes are found to be crucial to the growth of the storm inner-core size but could reduce the storm intensity. The surface entropy flux outside the inner core plays a critical role in maintaining high convective available potential energy (CAPE) outside the eyewall and thus active spiral rainbands. The latent heat release in these rainbands is responsible for the increase in the inner-core size of the simulated TC. A positive feedback is identified to explain changes in the inner-core size of the simulated storms in different experiments. Implications of the results for both observations and numerical prediction of TC structure and intensity changes are briefly discussed.
ENSO Feedbacks and Associated Time Scales of Variability in a Multimodel Ensemble
Authors: Belmadani Ali , Dewitte Boris , An Soon-Il
Published: February 2010

The background state of the equatorial Pacific determines the prevalence of a “slow” recharge oscillator-type ENSO over a “fast” quasi-biennial surface-driven ENSO. The first is controlled to a large extent by the thermocline feedback, whereas the latter is related to enhanced zonal advective feedback. In this study, dynamical diagnostics are used to investigate the relative importance of these two feedbacks in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project and its relation with the differences in ENSO-like variability among the models. The focus is on the role of the mean oceanic surface circulation in controlling the relative weight of the two feedbacks.

By the means of an intermediate-type ocean model of the tropical Pacific “tuned” from the coupled general circulation model (CGCM) outputs, the contribution of the advection terms (vertical versus zonal) to the rate of SST change is estimated. A new finding is that biases in the advection terms are to a large extent related to the biases in the mean surface circulation. The latter are used to infer the dominant ENSO feedback for each CGCM. This allows for the classification of the CGCMs into three groups that account for the dominant feedback process of the ENSO cycle: horizontal advection (mainly in the western Pacific), vertical advection (mainly in the eastern Pacific), and the combination of both mechanisms.

Based on such classification, the analysis also reveals that the models exhibit distinctive behavior with respect to the characteristics of ENSO: for most models, an enhanced (diminished) contribution of the zonal advective feedback is associated with faster (slower) ENSO and a tendency toward a cooler (warmer) mean state in the western-to-central Pacific Ocean. The results support the interpretation that biases in the mean state are sustained/maintained by the privileged mode of variability associated with the dominant feedback mechanism in the models. In particular, the models having a dominant zonal advective feedback exhibit significant cold SST asymmetry (or negative skewness) in the western equatorial Pacific.
How Much Do Different Land Models Matter for Climate Simulation? Part I: Climatology and Variability
Authors: Wei Jiangfeng , Dirmeyer Paul A. , Guo Zhichang , Zhang Li , Misra Vasubandhu
Published: February 2010

An atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) is coupled to three different land surface schemes (LSSs), both individually and in combination (i.e., the LSSs receive the same AGCM forcing each time step and the averaged upward surface fluxes are passed back to the AGCM), to study the uncertainty of simulated climatologies and variabilities caused by different LSSs. This tiling of the LSSs is done to study the uncertainty of simulated mean climate and climate variability caused by variations between LSSs. The three LSSs produce significantly different surface fluxes over most of the land, no matter whether they are coupled individually or in combination. Although the three LSSs receive the same atmospheric forcing in the combined experiment, the inter-LSS spread of latent heat flux can be larger or smaller than the individually coupled experiment, depending mostly on the evaporation regime of the schemes in different regions. Differences in precipitation are the main reason for the different latent heat fluxes over semiarid regions, but for sensible heat flux, the atmospheric differences and LSS differences have comparable contributions. The influence of LSS uncertainties on the simulation of surface temperature is strongest in dry seasons, and its influence on daily maximum temperature is stronger than on minimum temperature. Land–atmosphere interaction can dampen the impact of LSS uncertainties on surface temperature in the tropics, but can strengthen their impact in middle to high latitudes. Variations in the persistence of surface heat fluxes exist among the LSSs, which, however, have little impact on the global pattern of precipitation persistence. The results provide guidance to future diagnosis of model uncertainties related to LSSs.
The Impact of Extratropical Atmospheric Variability on ENSO: Testing the Seasonal Footprinting Mechanism Using Coupled Model Experiments
Authors: Alexander Michael A. , Vimont Daniel J. , Chang Ping , Scott James D.
Published: February 2010

Previous studies suggest that extratropical atmospheric variability influences the tropics via the seasonal footprinting mechanism (SFM), in which fluctuations in the North Pacific Oscillation (NPO) impact the ocean via surface heat fluxes during winter and the resulting springtime subtropical SST anomalies alter the atmosphere–ocean system over the tropics in the following summer, fall, and winter. Here, the authors test the SFM hypothesis by imposing NPO-related surface heat flux forcing in an atmospheric GCM coupled to a reduced gravity ocean model in the tropics and a slab ocean in the extratropics. The forcing is only imposed through the first winter, and then the model is free to evolve through the following winter.

The evolution of the coupled model response to the forcing is consistent with the SFM hypothesis: the NPO-driven surface fluxes cause positive SST anomalies to form in the central and eastern subtropics during winter; these anomalies propagate toward the equator along with westerly wind anomalies during spring, reach the equator in summer, and then amplify, which leads to an ENSO event in the following winter. The anomalies reach the equator through a combination of thermodynamically coupled air–sea interactions, namely, the wind–evaporation–SST (WES) feedback and equatorial ocean dynamics. The initial off-equatorial anomaly propagates toward the equator through a relaxation of the climatological easterly winds south of the dominant SST anomalies, which leads to a reduction in upward latent heat flux. These westerly anomalies reach the equator during boreal summer, where they can excite downwelling equatorial Kelvin waves. The connection between off-equatorial variations and tropical ENSO-like conditions may also occur via the excitation of westward-propagating equatorial Rossby waves during spring, which reflect off of the western boundary as Kelvin waves, depressing the thermocline in the eastern Pacific during the following summer. NPO-related anomalies that form during the first winter in the tropical Pacific may also contribute to the development of an El Niño event in the following winter.

The imposition of the NPO-related forcing caused warming in the ENSO region in ∼70% of the ensemble of 60 simulations; therefore, the response depends on the state of the tropical atmosphere–ocean system. For years where the control simulation was poised to develop into a neutral or negative ENSO event, the addition of the NPO heat fluxes tended to cause anomalous warming in the tropical Pacific in the following fall/winter; if the control was heading toward a warm ENSO event, the imposition of NPO forcing tends to reduce the amplitude of that event.
Tales Gifted Children Tell: Exploring PTAT Responses as Pathways to Socio-Affective Concerns
Authors: Garces-Bacsal Rhoda Myra
Published: February 2010

The Philippine Thematic Apperception Test was administered to 22 intellectually superior Filipino children aged 4 to 9 years from private and public school settings as a means to explore their socio-emotional concerns. A grounded analysis of their narratives revealed the following themes: (a) importance of family relationships, (b) perceptions on school and intelligence, (c) predominant characterization of heroes, (d) peer relationships, and (e) concerns related to God and spirituality. Significant differences in the narratives of the public and private school children are also examined. The implications of using projective measures as a window to gifted children’s socio-affective concerns are discussed.
Contemporary Developments in Australian Trade Practices and their Implications for Industrial Relations
Authors: Schaper Michael T. , Lewer John
Published: February 2010

Originally designed as a legal framework intended to govern the nature of business-to-business and business-to-consumer dealings, Australia’s principal competition and consumer law, the Trade Practices Act 1974 ( Cth), has evolved over the last 30 years to the point where it also has a significant impact on a number of industrial relations issues. As competition law continues to evolve, it creates flow-on effects that are also felt within the workplace. This article provides an overview of some key recent developments in competition regulation that have had an impact on industrial relations practices. These include the increased use of the Trade Practices Act as a tool in employment contract disputes; the role competition policy is having on redefining the nature of work in the professions; the impact of secondary boycotts and collective bargaining on the work of trade unions; and the treatment of the self-employed individual.
Has the Strategic Role and Professional Status of Human Resource Management peaked in New Zealand?
Authors: Rasmussen Erling , Andersen Torben , Haworth Nigel
Published: February 2010

The rise of human resource management (HRM) has been associated with a quest for more strategic influence and higher managerial status. Findings from the 2004 New Zealand Cranet Survey are used to evaluate these normative assumptions. There are indications of a growing awareness of ‘people issues’ and an increase in the influence of HRM practitioners on strategic decision-making and an improvement in their professional status. Formalized references to people and people management have been high and stable over time. However, formalized HRM strategies are less prevalent and there are still many organizations that do not have an HRM department. Furthermore, there has been no increase in the proportion of senior HR managers who have a place among the organization’s senior executives.
Migration, Livelihood and Well-being: Evidence from Indian City Slums
Authors: Mitra Arup
Published: February 2010

What helps workers from low-income households to access urban job market information and whether migrants are able to experience upward mobility at the place of destination are the two pertinent issues in urban development which this paper tries to examine. Results based on a slum survey in four Indian cities highlight the importance of various informal channels through which urban jobs are accessed. However, these networks reduce the probability of upward mobility, as network extension leads to excess supplies of labour relative to demand. The issue of upward mobility has also been examined by constructing a well-being (deprivation) index based on the factor analysis of a large number of social, economic, demographic, education and health-specific variables. Although findings are indicative of improvements in the well-being of migrant workers over time, several of the long-duration migrants and natives in the cities still lead a low quality life. The paper, therefore, argues in favour of urban employment programmes.
Schools as Sites for Transformation: Exploring the Contribution of Habitus
Authors: McNamara Horvat Erin , Earl Davis James
Published: February 2010

Schools are often criticized for their role in creating the dropout problem. This article illustrates that with the right resources and approach, educational programs could become sites of transformation rather than reproducers of social inequality. Narrative and thematic analysis of in-depth interviews with graduates of a nationwide program that serves high school dropouts reveals that its asset-based, mission-driven approach touched many aspects of these students’ lives and produced changes in elements of their habitus. Aspects of the program that appeared to be central in changing participants’ habitus include the development of self-esteem, the ability to accomplish something of value, and the capacity to contribute to the welfare of others. Implications of these findings for influencing the habitus of school dropouts and improving upward social mobility are discussed.
Friends' and Adolescents' Delinquency
Authors: Nijhof Karin S. , Scholte Ron H.J. , Overbeek Geertjan , Engels Rutger C.M.E.
Published: February 2010

The current study examined the role of friends’ delinquency, in terms of violent and property offenses and vandalism. Data were collected from 1,025 adolescents and their best friends in 19 Dutch secondary schools. Concerning violent offenses, cross-sectional analyses showed that adolescents with a high-status friend were more likely to commit violent offenses themselves, whereas adolescents with a low-status friend engaging in vandalism had a greater likelihood of perpetrating vandalism than the adolescents with a high-status friend. The adolescent’s violent delinquency and vandalism were positively related to the friend’s delinquency only when the friendship was reciprocal. Longitudinally, adolescents with a high-status friend perpetrating vandalism were more likely to engage in vandalism, whereas those with a low-status vandalistic friend showed a decrease. Finally, having a reciprocal friend who committed property offenses increased the adolescent’s risk of committing similar offenses, whereas adolescents with a unilateral friend showed a decreased risk over time.
Indirect Measures of Sexual Interest in Child Sex Offenders
Authors: Banse Rainer , Schmidt Alexander F. , Clarbour Jane
Published: February 2010

Although there is strong meta-analytical evidence that deviant sexual interest in children is a major risk factor for recidivism in child sex offenders, the assessment of deviant sexual interest with self-report or phallometric measures is problematic. As an alternative approach for assessment, the Explicit and Implicit Sexual Interest Profile (EISIP) is introduced. It features direct self-report and indirect latency-based measures (Implicit Association Tests [IATs] and viewing time measures) of sexual interest in adults and children. The reliability and validity of the EISIP was investigated using a selected sample of child sex offenders ( n = 38) and offender ( n = 37) and nonoffender ( n = 38) controls. Among the indirect measures, viewing time measures showed higher reliability and convergent and criterion validity than the IATs. However, the IATs independently accounted for criterion variance in multivariate analyses. The combined indirect measures showed good discriminative validity between child sex offenders and controls.
Assessing the Validity of the Retrospective Behavioral Self-Control Scale
Authors: Ward Jeffrey T. , Gibson Chris L. , Boman John , Leite Walter L.
Published: February 2010

Although there have been nearly 20 years of research on self-control theory, the measurement problems of the theory’s core construct linger and call into question the efficacy of self-control as a predictor of crime and delinquency. This study assessed the validity of a recently introduced behavioral measure of self-control, the Retrospective Behavioral Self-Control (RBS) measure, which is argued to remedy the conceptual and empirical problems afflicting prior self-control measures. Using a sample of students at a large southern university, this study finds that although a unidimensional and content-valid 18-item RBS measure is not as strong a predictor of crime and delinquency as the original RBS, it has substantially more predictive power than the most commonly used attitudinal measure of self-control, the Grasmick et al. scale. The implications of these findings for empirical tests of self-control theory as well as future directions for the measurement of self-control are discussed.
Voluntarism in Social Welfare and Urban Government: The Case of Hamburg, 1700-1799
Authors: Lindemann Mary
Published: February 2010

This article focuses on the Free Imperial City of Hamburg in the eighteenth century. It analyzes how government structures and social welfare policies coped with a variety of social, economic, and political challenges in these years.The article argues that the traditional values of voluntarism in government were strained by these challenges and had to be rethought and reworked but were never jettisoned until much later, perhaps not until the middle of the nineteenth century. The article focuses on the structures of government and on various social welfare institutions, in particular, parish relief, almshouses, hospitals, and outdoor relief.
Modelling and analysis of air traffic control systems using hierarchical timed coloured Petri nets
Authors: Huang Yi-Sheng , Chung Ta-Hsiang
Published: February 2010

Hierarchical timed coloured Petri net (HTCPN) models have been utilized as a visual formalism for the modelling of complex reactive systems. They brighten the features on describing properties of causality, concurrency and synchronization. This paper focuses on the use of HTCPNs to model and analyse a dynamic procedure of an air traffic control (ATC) system. The advantage of the proposed approach is the clear presentation of the aircraft behaviour in terms of conditions and events. To our knowledge, this is the first work that employs HTCPNs to obtain models of ATC systems.
Proteomic research in psychiatry
Authors: Taurines Regina , Dudley Edward , Grassl Julia , Warnke Andreas , Gerlach Manfred , Coogan Andrew N , Thome Johannes
Published: February 2010

Psychiatric disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia and mood disorders are severe and disabling conditions of largely unknown origin and poorly understood pathophysiology. An accurate diagnosis and treatment of these disorders is often complicated by their aetiological and clinical heterogeneity. In recent years proteomic technologies based on mass spectrometry have been increasingly used, especially in the search for diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in neuropsychiatric disorders. Proteomics enable an automated high-throughput protein determination revealing expression levels, post-translational modifications and complex protein-interaction networks. In contrast to other methods such as molecular genetics, proteomics provide the opportunity to determine modifications at the protein level thereby possibly being more closely related to pathophysiological processes underlying the clinical phenomenology of specific psychiatric conditions. In this article we review the theoretical background of proteomics and its most commonly utilized techniques. Furthermore the current impact of proteomic research on diverse psychiatric diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, mood and anxiety disorders, drug abuse and autism, is discussed. Proteomic methods are expected to gain crucial significance in psychiatric research and neuropharmacology over the coming decade.