bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
THE EFFECTS OF SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM ORIENTED MANAGERIAL BEHAVIOR ON MEDIUM-TERM FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE: LONGITUDINAL EVIDENCE FROM EUROPE
Authors: Brauer Matthias F.
Published: May 2013

Short-term orientation aimed at maximizing quarterly results at the expense of long-term corporate performance and survival has become severely criticized. In the face of continuously decreasing chief executive officer (CEO) tenure, CEOs, however, seem to have few incentives to embrace long-term oriented behaviour. Instead, the question of foremost importance to self-interested CEOs is whether short-term orientation already harms financial performance in the three to four years of their own tenure, and whether CEOs stand a chance of benefiting from long-term orientation while still in office. CEOs thus face an intriguing ethical dilemma between optimizing their financial pay-off within their own tenure and securing the longer-term well-being of the corporation, its employees, and other major stakeholders. Consequently, our longitudinal study focuses on the medium-term performance implications of short-term and long-term orientation in Europe's largest publicly listed companies. Results indicate that short-term orientation negatively impacts on medium term performance while long-term oriented behavior is positively associated with corporate performance in the medium term. Our findings advance managerial myopia theory, and provide insights into one of the most central ethical dilemmas faced by corporate executives today.
Qui sème la quantification récolte l'intensification
Authors: Adler Silvia , Asnès Maria
Published: May 2013

Notre étude enquête sur la relation entre quantification et intensification telle qu’elle apparaît dans le cas des prépositions fonctionnant comme modifieurs de quantifieurs ( au-delà de , jusqu’à , près de , etc.). Étant donné que l’intensification implique une relation entre deux degrés d’une propriété, où l’un est soit supérieur soit inférieur à l’autre, on s’attendrait à ce qu’en principe seuls les modifieurs de quantifieurs monotones, qui ordonnent les valeurs d’après une échelle croissante ou décroissante, participent à l’intensification, ce qui ne se vérifie pas. Paradoxalement, certains modifieurs de quantifieurs non-monotones peuvent aussi déclencher un effet d’intensification (cf. le cas de près de ). Qui plus est, le domaine quantificationnel nous offre d’autres énigmes liées à l’intensification, qui seront dénouées dans la présente étude : celle de la quantification bornée (cf. le cas de jusqu’à ) qui produit un effet d’amplification et celle de la quantification approximative implicite dont l’effet d’intensification amplifiante résulte de l’absence d’un modifieur de quantifieur.
Focus sur la quantité
Authors: Larrivée Pierre
Published: May 2013

Des affirmations non démontrées sur les valeurs affectives, évaluatives ou gradientes des quantifieurs nous amènent dans cet article à clarifier les rapports entre quantification et interprétation de degré. Le choix de trois quantifieurs prototypiques ( quelques , beaucoup et plusieurs ) permet de vérifier l’effet de mécanismes marquant le degré (l’accent d’insistance, la modification de degré, la réduplication). Les attestations et les données construites démontrent que l’évocation d’une échelle partiellement ordonnée permet aux quantifieurs beaucoup et plusieurs une interprétation de degré, qui est spontanément indisponible avec le quantifieur sans valeur scalaire inhérente qu’est quelques , que néanmoins une cœrcion contextuelle peut imposer. L’analyse donne des repères explicites et transférables pour débrouiller la scalarité, l’intensité, l’affectivité, le degré et la quantification.
Repérages compacts et discrets dans les ensembles : le contraste quelques / plusieurs revisité
Authors: Kupferman Lucien
Published: May 2013

Quelques et plusieurs sont revisités à partir d’une analyse de l’organisation des sous-ensembles dénotés. Deux hypothèses centrales sous-tendent la démonstration. En premier lieu, la quantification qu’ils déclenchent s’ordonne en deux phases, autour d’un noyau dur, de nature lexicale, et éventuellement inférentielle à partir de la situation où ce noyau se voit appliqué. La seconde hypothèse soutient que la distinction entre les deux quantifieurs relève d’une prise en charge polairement différenciée du sous-ensemble dénoté : massifiante pour quelques et discrétisante pour plusieurs .
Quelle intensité pour les adverbes en – ment dits intensifs ?
Authors: Rouanne Laurence
Published: May 2013

Nous procédons, dans une démarche contrastive, à l’analyse de trois sous-classes d’adverbes appartenant à la catégorie des adverbes en – ment qualifiés d’intensifs : ceux du type extrêmement ou considérablement , d’autres comme rudement ou drôlement , d’autres encore tels diablement ou bigrement . Nous démontrons, par le biais des divergences observées quant à l’origine de la valeur intensive et aux spécificités d’emploi des différents adverbes résultants, qu’il convient de ne pas réduire lesdites divergences à la seule étiquette de l’intensité et proposons une distinction entre marqueurs de degré et d’intensité, intrinsèques ou extrinsèques.
Inter-population differences in otolith morphology are genetically encoded in the killifish Aphanius fasciatus (Cyprinodontiformes)
Authors: Annabi Ali , Said Khaled , Reichenbacher Bettina
Published: May 2013

Inter-population differences in otolith shape, morphology and chemistry have been used effectively as indicators for stock assessment or for recognizing environmental adaptation in fishes. However, the precise parameters that affect otolith morphology remain incompletely understood. Here we provide the first direct support for the hypothesis that inter-population differences in otolith morphology are genetically encoded. The study is based on otolith morphology and two mitochondrial markers (D-loop, 16S rRNA) of three natural populations of Aphanius fasciatus (Teleostei: Cyprinodontidae) from Southeast Tunisia. Otolith and genetic data yielded congruent tree topologies. Divergence of populations likely results from isolation events in the course of the Pleistocene sea level drops. We propose that otolith morphology is a valuable tool for resolving genetic diversity also within other teleost species, which may be important for ecosystem management and conservation of genetic diversity. As reconstructions of ancient teleost fish faunas are often solely based on fossil otoliths, our discoveries may also lead to a new approach to research in palaeontology.
La coordination dans le discours scientifique en astronomie : problèmes de traduction
Authors: Tassard Marie-Françoise
Published: May 2013

L’objet de cette étude contrastive est de vérifier l’hypothèse selon laquelle les stratégies discursives mises en place par la coordination diffèrent quelque peu en français et en anglais de spécialité. L’observation d’un corpus d’articles de vulgarisation scientifique de bon niveau prélevé dans Scientific American et de leurs traductions prélevées dans Pour la science a permis de confirmer cette hypothèse. L’étude de la mise en discours des quatre relations logiques montre que dans le Texte Cible (TC), la recherche devient plus impersonnelle, les éléments ludiques ou anecdotiques sont atténués au profit des concepts et de l’argumentation scientifique. Le traducteur met en place des liens syntactiques plus ou moins explicites (du lien O à la subordination) lors de la prise en charge des rapports logiques entre les Énoncés selon son appréciation des savoirs partagés. Le spécialiste français s’adresse au non-spécialiste d’une manière plus didactique. Toutefois, avant d’entrevoir des tendances linguistiques et culturelles, il convient d’isoler certains facteurs propres à la traduction, Énonciation seconde, au traducteur, et aux contraintes génériques qui, s’ils sont caractérisables, n’en restent pas moins difficilement mesurables.
Représentations et pratiques autour de la ressource en eau des producteurs maraîchers des Andes vénézuéliennes
Authors: Leroy David , Angéliaume-Descamps Alexandra , Antoine Jean Marc , Blot Frédérique , Maire Éric , Peltier Anne
Published: May 2013

Cet article a pour but d’analyser les représentations sociales de l’eau des producteurs maraîchers des hautes vallées andines vénézuéliennes, et cela, dans un contexte où cette ressource constitue un outil essentiel de production agricole. Il s’agit plus particulièrement d’appréhender la manière dont les agriculteurs perçoivent et évaluent l’état actuel de la ressource, et ainsi cerner la justification de leurs comportements et de leurs pratiques agricoles. Dans les années 1960, l’introduction du maraîchage irrigué dans les Andes vénézuéliennes a profondément transformé les rapports à l’eau des sociétés rurales qui ont développé des systèmes d’appropriation et de distribution de la ressource particulièrement efficaces, tant techniquement que socialement. Mais aujourd’hui, les agriculteurs perçoivent des fluctuations de la ressource qu’ils peuvent interpréter comme une conséquence du changement climatique, et/ou comme conséquence de la dynamique agricole en cours. Face à ces phénomènes, de nouvelles pratiques agricoles telles que l’irrigation par micro-aspersion ou encore la préservation des sources d’eau en altitude commencent à émerger.
Effets de la marchandisation de l’arganier sur la vie socioéconomique des populations de l’arganeraie marocaine
Authors: Aziz Larbi , Mormont Marc , Allali Khallil
Published: May 2013

Arbre permettant plusieurs usages aux populations locales, l’arganier assure aussi de multiples fonctions : économique, sociale et environnementale. Il était, et il est encore, un élément important du système agraire local et participe au maintien d’une biodiversité particulière. Comme il a toujours configuré et rythmé la vie des populations de l’arganeraie puisqu’il était (ou l’un de ses produits) toujours présent dans leurs activités culinaires, festives ou socioculturelles. Cependant, la flambée des prix de l’huile d’argan a engendré de multiples conséquences sur la vie socioéconomique et culturelle de ces populations. Pour comprendre et analyser ces évolutions et les nouvelles dynamiques locales qui y prennent place, nous avons réalisé une étude empirique dans la région d’Essaouira au niveau de deux communes rurales. Ce qui nous a permis, en plus de l’analyse historique, de comparer les dynamiques qui sont en cours au niveau de ces deux communes. Nos principaux résultats montrent que l’engouement pour les produits de l’arganier et la flambée de leurs prix (notamment l’huile) ont reconfiguré la vie socio-économique et culturelle locale : de nouveaux acteurs ont surgi, un marché insuffisamment structuré et pas assez profitable aux locaux s’est développé, le savoir-faire local s’érode, de nouveaux modes d’alimentation ont fait leur apparition, des coutumes et traditions sont en voie de disparition, etc.
Recurrence of Paraneoplastic Membranous Glomerulonephritis following Chemoradiation in a Man with Non-Small-Cell Lung Carcinoma
Authors: Crawford Andrew R. , Dworkin Lance , Leonard Kara , Khurshid Humera , Hepel Jaroslaw T.
Published: May 2013

Membranous glomerulonephritis can occur as a rare paraneoplastic complication of human cancers. In this case report, we describe a patient who presented acutely with symptoms of the nephrotic syndrome including heavy proteinuria and anasarca. He was subsequently diagnosed with membranous glomerulonephritis, and soon afterwards was found to have stage IIIB non-small cell lung cancer. Following chemoradiation therapy, both the patient's cancer and membranous glomerulonephritis dramatically improved. However, approximately 14 months following his initial presentation, the patient was found to have a recurrence of his nephrotic-range proteinuria which corresponded temporally with recurrence of his cancer. We present details of the case and a review of the relevant scientific literature.
A Rare Case of Synchronous Renal Cell Carcinoma of the Bladder Presenting with Gross Hematuria
Authors: Kruck Stephan , Scharpf Marcus , Stenzl Arnulf , Bedke Jens
Published: May 2013

A 57-year old man was referred to the Urology Department due to gross hematuria; abdominal ultrasound revealed an unspecific solid tumor of the left bladder wall. Ultrasound, transurethral resection of the bladder mass with subsequent histological analysis, thoracic and abdominal computed tomography-scan and brain magnetic resonance imaging were performed. He was diagnosed with a bladder metastasis of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with concomitant bone, pulmonary, and cerebral metastatic disease of a primary RCC of the right kidney. Management: Transurethral resection of the bladder mass, cerebral and bone radiotherapy, removal of the primary tumor, targeted systemic therapy with mTOR followed by tyrosine kinase inhibition.
Karl Barth’s understanding of Christian Baptism as a basis for a conversation on the praxis of Sacraments in the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa
Authors: Tshaka Rothney S. , Lephakga Tshepo
Published: May 2013

This article is an initial attempt to bring the subject of baptism and to a lesser extent infant baptism in particular, as demonstrated in Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics, into a conversation with the practice of this phenomenon in African Reformed churches in South Africa, specifically the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA). Whilst the Roman Catholic and Reformed traditions regarding the sacraments differ significantly in the understanding of this subject, this article will examine Barth’s understanding of baptism. This is done by critically examining key themes in his Church Dogmatics. The praxis of the sacraments and especially that of baptism continue to be a praxis that is highly venerated in African Reformed theological circles. This is so because it is believed that symbolism continues to occupy centre stage in African Reformed churches. In a sense therefore it seems that the African Reformed Christian leans more towards a Roman Catholic understanding of this sacrament. Is that perhaps true? Essentially this conversation will explore the relationship of faith to baptism and how this impacts on infant baptism for instance.
Vendor neutral archive in PACS
Authors: Agarwal Tapesh Kumar ,   Sanjeev
Published: May 2013

An archive is a location containing a collection of records, documents, or other materials of historical importance. An integral part of Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) is archiving. When a hospital needs to migrate a PACS vendor, the complete earlier data need to be migrated in the format of the newly procured PACS. It is both time and money consuming. To address this issue, the new concept of vendor neutral archive (VNA) has emerged. A VNA simply decouples the PACS and workstations at the archival layer. This is achieved by developing an application engine that receives, integrates, and transmits the data using the different syntax of a Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine (DICOM) format. Transferring the data belonging to the old PACS to a new one is performed by a process called migration of data. In VNA, a number of different data migration techniques are available to facilitate transfer from the old PACS to the new one, the choice depending on the speed of migration and the importance of data. The techniques include simple DICOM migration, prefetch-based DICOM migration, medium migration, and the expensive non-DICOM migration. "Vendor neutral" may not be a suitable term, and "architecture neutral," "PACS neutral," "content neutral," or "third-party neutral" are probably better and preferred terms. Notwithstanding this, the VNA acronym has come to stay in both the medical IT user terminology and in vendor nomenclature, and radiologists need to be aware of its impact in PACS across the globe.
A pictoral review on somatostatin receptor scintigraphy in neuroendocrine tumors: The role of multimodality imaging with SRS and GLUT receptor imaging with FDG PET-CT
Authors: Shah Sneha , Purandare Nilendu , Agrawal Archi , Rangarajan Venkatesh
Published: May 2013

Somatostatin receptor scintigraphy is considered as a comprehensive imaging modality for many neuroendocrine tumors. Multiple radiotracers using combinations of gamma or positron emitting radionuclides and tracers are now available. Newer radiopharmaceuticals using 99m Tc labeled with TOC, TATE, NOC are good alternatives to the 68 - Gallium radiotracers where the PET facility is not available. The pictoral depicts the role of SRS using 99mTC - HYNIC -TOC radiotracers in staging and treatment planning of NETs. Characterization of the tumor biology using combined SRS and FDG PET/CT is also demonstrated with a proposed categorization method. The emerging role of SRS in tailored targeted radionuclide therapy is outlined in brief.
Sonography of scrotal trauma
Authors: Rao Meka Srinivasa , Arjun Kalyanpur
Published: May 2013

The purpose of this article is to depict the spectrum of scrotal injuries in blunt trauma. Scrotal injuries are not very common and are mostly due to blunt trauma from direct injury, sports injuries or motor vehicle accidents. To minimize complications and ensure testicular salvage, rapid and accurate diagnosis is necessary. High-resolution USG is the investigation of choice, as it is readily available, accurate and has been seen to improve outcomes. An understanding of and familiarity with the sonographic appearance of scrotal injuries on the part of the radiologist/sonographer is therefore of key importance.
Cystic masses of neck: A pictorial review
Authors: Mittal Mahesh Kumar , Malik Amita , Sureka Binit , Thukral Brij Bhushan
Published: May 2013

Cystic masses of neck consist of a variety of pathologic entities. The age of presentation and clinical examination narrow down the differential diagnosis; however, imaging is essential for accurate diagnosis and pretreatment planning. Ultrasound is often used for initial evaluation. Computed tomography (CT) provides additional information with regard to the extent and internal composition of the mass. Fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) has a supplementary role for confirmation of diagnosis. Magnetic resonance imaging may be needed in some cases for preoperative assessment.
Role of external factors in the evolution of the ozone layer and stratospheric circulation in 21st century
Authors: Zubov V. , Rozanov E. , Egorova T. , Karol I. , Schmutz W.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. The chemistry-climate model (CCM) SOCOL has been used to evaluate the contributions of the main anthropogenic factors to the simulated changes of ozone and stratospheric dynamics during the 21st century. As the main anthropogenic factors we consider the atmospheric concentration of the greenhouse gases (GHG), ozone depleting substances (ODS) and sea surface temperature and sea ice (SST/SI). The latter is considered here as an independent factor because the majority of the CCMs prescribe its evolution. We have performed three sets of "time slice" numerical experiments for the years 2000, 2050, and 2100 taking into account all factors separately and all together. The total column ozone increase during the first half of the 21st century is caused by the ODS, especially in the middle and high latitudes of both hemispheres. In the tropics and the extra tropical region of the Northern Hemisphere (NH) the SST/SI forcing plays a very important role in the evolution of atmospheric ozone during the second half of the 21st century. The GHG affect the temperature and ozone mainly in the upper stratosphere and in the lower stratosphere of the high latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere (SH). In the lower tropical stratosphere of the NH, the long-term changes of the temperature, zonal wind and the meridional circulation are controlled mainly by the SST/SI. The strong contribution of the SST/SI to the ozone and circulation changes in the future implies that some differences between the results by different CCMs could be caused by the applied SST/SI rather than by the CCM's deficiencies. We suggest taking this issue into account for the planning of the future model evaluation campaigns.
Mixing state of individual submicron carbon-containing particles during spring and fall seasons in urban Guangzhou, China: a case study
Authors: Zhang G. , Bi X. , Li L. , Chan L. Y. , Li M. , Wang X. , Sheng G. , Fu J. , Zhou Z.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. Growing evidence suggests that the size-resolved mixing state of carbon-containing particles is very critical in determining their optical properties, atmospheric lifetime, and impact on the environment. However, still little is known about the mixing state of particles in the urban area of the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region, China. To investigate the mixing state of submicron carbon-containing particles, measurements were carried out during spring and fall periods of 2010 using a single-particle aerosol mass spectrometer (SPAMS). Approximately 700 000 particles for each period were detected. This is the first report on the size-resolved mixing state of carbon-containing particles by direct observations in the PRD region. Cluster analysis of single-particle mass spectra was applied to identify carbon-containing particle classes. These classes represented ~80% and ~90% of all the detected particles for spring and fall periods, respectively. Carbon-containing particle classes mainly consisted of biomass/biofuel burning particles (Biomass), organic carbon (OC), fresh elemental carbon (EC-fresh), internally mixed OC and EC (ECOC), internally mixed EC with sulfate (EC-Sulfate), vanadium-containing ECOC (V-ECOC), and amines-containing particles (Amine). In spring, the top three ranked carbon-containing particle classes were ECOC (26.1%), Biomass (23.6%) and OC (10%), respectively. However, the fraction of Biomass particles increased remarkably and predominated (61.0%), while the fraction of ECOC (3.0%) and V-ECOC (0.1%) significantly decreased in fall. To highlight the influence of monsoon on the properties of carbon-containing particles in urban Guangzhou, their size distributions, mixing state, and aerosol acidity were compared between spring and fall seasons. In addition, a case study was also performed to investigate how the formation of fog and haze influenced the mixing state of carbon-containing particles. These results could improve our understanding of the mixing state of carbon-containing particles, and may also be helpful in modeling the climate forcing of aerosol in the PRD region.
How much CO was emitted by the 2010 fires around Moscow?
Authors: Krol M. , Peters W. , Hooghiemstra P. , George M. , Clerbaux C. , Hurtmans D. , McInerney D. , Sedano F. , Bergamaschi P. , El Hajj M. , Kaiser J. W. , Fisher D. , Yershov V. , Muller J.-P.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. The fires around Moscow in July and August 2010 emitted a large amount of pollutants to the atmosphere. Here we estimate the carbon monoxide (CO) source strength of the Moscow fires in July and August by using the TM5-4DVAR system in combination with CO column observations of the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI). It is shown that the IASI observations provide a strong constraint on the total emissions needed in the model. Irrespective of the prior emissions used, the optimised CO fire emission estimates from mid-July to mid-August 2010 amount to approximately 24 Tg CO. This estimate depends only weakly (< 15%) on the assumed diurnal variations and injection height of the emissions. However, the estimated emissions might depend on unaccounted model uncertainties such as vertical transport. Our emission estimate of 22–27 Tg CO during roughly one month of intense burning is less than suggested by another recent study, but substantially larger than predicted by the bottom-up inventories. This latter discrepancy suggests that bottom-up emission estimates for extreme peat burning events require improvements.
The contribution of extratropical cyclones to observed cloud–aerosol relationships
Authors: Grandey B. S. , Stier P. , Grainger R. G. , Wagner T. M.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. Meteorological covariation may drive relationships between aerosol and cloud-related properties. It is important to account for the meteorological contribution to observed cloud–aerosol relationships in order to improve understanding of aerosol–cloud–climate interactions. A new method of investigating the contribution of meteorological covariation to observed cloud–aerosol relationships is introduced. Other studies have investigated the contribution of local meteorology to cloud–aerosol relationships. In this paper, a complimentary large-scale view is presented. Extratropical cyclones have been previously shown to affect satellite-retrieved aerosol optical depth (τ), due to enhanced emission of sea salt and sea surface brightness artefacts in regions of higher wind speed. Extratropical cyclones have also been shown to affect cloud-related properties such as cloud fraction (fc) and cloud top temperature (Ttop). Therefore, it seems plausible to hypothesise that extratropical cyclones may drive relationships between cloud-related properties and τ. In this paper, a description of extratropical cyclones, based on the relative vorticity of the storm and position in the storm domain, is used to analyse MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) retrieved τ, fc and Ttop data. This storm-centric description is capable of explaining fc–τ relationships, although the relationships explained represent only a small component of the relationships observed in the MODIS data. This storm-centric approach produces no statistically robust explanation for Ttop–τ relationships, suggesting that large-scale synoptic conditions in the mid-latitudes do not drive Ttop–τ relationships. The primary causes for observed cloud–aerosol relationships are likely to be other factors such as retrieval errors, local meteorology or aerosol–cloud interactions.
Anthropogenic forcing of shift in precipitation in Eastern China in late 1970s
Authors: Wang T. , Wang H. J. , Otterå O. H. , Gao Y. Q. , Suo L. L. , Furevik T. , Yu L.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. Observation shows that eastern China has experienced an interdecadal shift in the summer precipitation during the second half of the 20th century. The summer precipitation increased in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Valley, whereas it decreased in northern China. Here we use a coupled ocean–atmosphere general circulation model and multi-ensemble simulations to show that the interdecadal shift is mainly caused by the combined effect of increasing global greenhouse gases and regional aerosol emissions over China. The rapidly increasing greenhouse gases induce tropical warming and a westward shift of the western Pacific subtropical high, leading to more precipitation in Yangtze River Valley. At the same time the aerosol cooling effect over land contributes to a reduced summer land–sea thermal contrast and therefore to a weakened East Asian summer monsoon and to drought in northern China. Consequently, an anomalous precipitation pattern starts to emerge in eastern China in late 1970s. Our results highlight the important role of anthropogenic forcing agents in shaping the weakened East Asian summer monsoon and associated anomalous precipitation in eastern China.
Surface pathway of radioactive plume of TEPCO Fukushima NPP1 released 134Cs and 137Cs
Authors: Aoyama M. , Uematsu M. , Tsumune D. , Hamajima Y.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. 134Cs and 137Cs were released to the North Pacific Ocean by two major likely pathways, direct discharge from the Fukushima NPP1 accident site and atmospheric deposition off Honshu Islands of Japan, east and northeast of the site. High density observations of 134Cs and 137Cs in the surface water were carried out by 17 cruises of cargo ships and several research vessel cruises from March 2011 till March 2012. The main body of radioactive surface plume of which activity exceeded 10 Bq m−3 travelled along 40° N and reached the International Date Line on March 2012, one year after the accident. A distinct feature of the radioactive plume was that it stayed confined along 40° N when the plume reached the International Date Line. A zonal speed of the radioactive plume was estimated to be about 8 cm s−1 which was consistent with zonal speeds derived by Argo floats at the region.
Nitrogen isotope dynamics and fractionation during sedimentary denitrification in Boknis Eck, Baltic Sea
Authors: Dähnke K. , Thamdrup B.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. The global marine nitrogen cycle is constrained by nitrogen fixation as a source of reactive nitrogen, and denitrification or anammox on the sink side. These processes with their respective isotope effects set the marine nitrate 15N-isotope value (δ15N) to a relatively constant average of 5‰. This value can be used to better assess the magnitude of these sources and sink terms, but the underlying assumption is that sedimentary denitrification and anammox, processes responsible for approximately one-third of global nitrogen removal, have little to no isotope effect on nitrate in the water column. We investigated the isotope fractionation in sediment incubations, measuring net denitrification and nitrogen and oxygen stable isotope fractionation in surface sediments from the coastal Baltic Sea (Boknis Eck, northern Germany), a site with seasonal hypoxia and dynamic nitrogen turnover. Sediment denitrification was fast, and regardless of current paradigms assuming little fractionation during sediment denitrification, we measured fractionation factors of 18.9‰ for nitrogen and 15.8‰ for oxygen in nitrate. While the input of nitrate to the water column remains speculative, these results challenge the current view of fractionation during sedimentary denitrification and imply that nitrogen budget calculations may need to consider this variability, as both preferential uptake of light nitrate and release of the remaining heavy fraction can significantly alter water column nitrate isotope values at the sediment–water interface.
Spatial gradients of temperature, accumulation and δ18O-ice in Greenland over a series of Dansgaard–Oeschger events
Authors: Guillevic M. , Bazin L. , Landais A. , Kindler P. , Orsi A. , Masson-Delmotte V. , Blunier T. , Buchardt S. L. , Capron E. , Leuenberger M. , Martinerie P. , Prié F. , Vinther B. M.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. Air and water stable isotope measurements from four Greenland deep ice cores (GRIP, GISP2, NGRIP and NEEM) are investigated over a series of Dansgaard–Oeschger events (DO 8, 9 and 10), which are representative of glacial millennial scale variability. Combined with firn modeling, air isotope data allow us to quantify abrupt temperature increases for each drill site (1σ = 0.6 °C for NEEM, GRIP and GISP2, 1.5 °C for NGRIP). Our data show that the magnitude of stadial–interstadial temperature increase is up to 2 °C larger in central and North Greenland than in northwest Greenland: i.e., for DO 8, a magnitude of +8.8 °C is inferred, which is significantly smaller than the +11.1 °C inferred at GISP2. The same spatial pattern is seen for accumulation increases. This pattern is coherent with climate simulations in response to reduced sea-ice extent in the Nordic seas. The temporal water isotope (δ18O)–temperature relationship varies between 0.3 and 0.6 (±0.08) ‰ °C−1 and is systematically larger at NEEM, possibly due to limited changes in precipitation seasonality compared to GISP2, GRIP or NGRIP. The gas age−ice age difference of warming events represented in water and air isotopes can only be modeled when assuming a 26% (NGRIP) to 40% (GRIP) lower accumulation than that derived from a Dansgaard–Johnsen ice flow model.
Holocene climate variability in the Winter Rainfall Zone of South Africa
Authors: Weldeab S. , Stuut J.-B. W. , Schneider R. R. , Siebel W.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. We established a multi-proxy time series comprising analyses of major elements in bulk sediments, Sr and Nd isotopes and grain size of terrigenous fraction, and δ18O and δ13C in tests of Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (sinistral) from a marine sediment sequence recovered off the Orange River. The records reveal coherent patterns of variability that reflect changes in wind strength, precipitation over the river catchments, and upwelling of cold and nutrient-rich coastal waters off western South Africa. The wettest episode of the Holocene in the Winter Rainfall Zone (WRZ) of South Africa occurred during the "Little Ice Age" (700–100 yr BP). Wet phases were accompanied by strengthened coastal water upwellings, a decrease of Agulhas water leakage into the southern Atlantic, and a reduced dust incursion over Antarctica. A continuous aridification trend in the WRZ and a weakening of the southern Benguela Upwelling System (BUS) between 9000 and 5500 yr BP parallel with increase of dust deposition over Antarctica and an enhanced leakage of warm Agulhas water into the southeastern Atlantic. The temporal relationship between precipitation changes in the WRZ, the thermal state of the coastal surface water, and leakage of warm water in southern Atlantic, and variation of dust incursion over Antarctica suggests a causal link that most likely was related to latitudinal shifts of the Southern Hemisphere westerlies. Our results of the mid-Holocene time interval may serve as an analogue to a possible long-term consequence of the current and future southward shift of the westerlies that may result in a decline of rainfall over southwest Africa and a weakened upwelling with implication for phytoplankton productivity and fish stocks. Furthermore, warming of the coastal surface water as a result of warm Agulhas water incursion into the southern BUS may affect coastal fog formation that is critical as moisture source for the endemic flora of the Namaqualand.
Elusive drought: uncertainty in observed trends and short- and long-term CMIP5 projections
Authors: Orlowsky B. , Seneviratne S. I.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. Recent years have seen a number of severe droughts in different regions around the world, causing agricultural and economic losses, famines and migration. Despite their devastating consequences, the Standardised Precipitation Index (SPI) of these events lies within the general range of observation-based SPI time series and simulations from the 5th phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). In terms of magnitude, regional trends of SPI over the last decades remain mostly inconclusive in observation-based datasets and CMIP5 simulations, but Soil Moisture Anomalies (SMAs) in CMIP5 simulations hint at increased drought in a few regions (e.g., the Mediterranean, Central America/Mexico, the Amazon, North-East Brazil and South Africa). Also for the future, projections of changes in the magnitude of meteorological (SPI) and soil moisture (SMA) drought in CMIP5 display large spreads over all time frames, generally impeding trend detection. However, projections of changes in the frequencies of future drought events display more robust signal-to-noise ratios, with detectable trends towards more frequent drought before the end of the 21st century in the Mediterranean, South Africa and Central America/Mexico. Other present-day hot spots are projected to become less drought-prone, or display non-significant changes in drought occurrence. A separation of different sources of uncertainty in projections of meteorological and soil moisture drought reveals that for the near term, internal climate variability is the dominant source, while the formulation of Global Climate Models (GCMs) generally becomes the dominant source of spread by the end of the 21st century, especially for soil moisture drought. In comparison, the uncertainty from Green-House Gas (GHG) concentrations scenarios is negligible for most regions. These findings stand in contrast to respective analyses for a heat wave index, for which GHG concentrations scenarios constitute the main source of uncertainty. Our results highlight the inherent difficulty of drought quantification and the considerable likelihood range of drought projections, but also indicate regions where drought is consistently found to increase. In other regions, wide likelihood range should not be equated with low drought risk, since potential scenarios include large drought increases in key agricultural and ecosystem regions.
Evaluating the effect of partial contributing storage on storage–discharge function from recession analysis
Authors: Chen X. , Wang D.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. Hydrograph recession during dry periods has been used to construct water storage–discharge relationship, and to quantify storage dynamics and evaporation when streamflow data is available. However, variable hydrologic connectivity among hillslope-riparian-stream zones may affect the lumped storage–discharge relationship, and as a result, affect the estimation of evaporation and storage change. Given observations of rainfall and runoff, and remote sensing-based observation of evaporation, the ratio (α) between estimated daily evaporation from recession analysis and observed evaporation, and the ratio (β) between estimated contributing storage and total watershed storage are computed for 9 watersheds located in different climate regions. Both evaporation and storage change estimation from recession analysis are underestimated due to the effect of partial contributing storage, particularly when the discharge is low. It was found that the values of α decrease significantly during individual recession events, while the values of β are relatively stable during a recession event. The values of β are negatively correlated with the water table depth, and vary significantly among recession events. The partial contributing storage effect is one possible cause for the multi-valued storage–discharge relationship.
Is inversion based high resolution characterization of spatially heterogeneous river bed hydraulic conductivity needed and possible?
Authors: Kurtz W. , Hendricks Franssen H.-J. , Brunner P. , Vereecken H.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. River-aquifer exchange fluxes influence local and regional water balances and affect groundwater and river water quality and quantity. Unfortunately, river-aquifer exchange fluxes tend to be strongly spatially variable and it is an open research question to which degree river bed heterogeneity has to be represented in a~model in order to achieve reliable estimates of river-aquifer exchange fluxes. This research question is addressed in this paper with help of synthetic simulation experiments, which mimic the Limmat aquifer in Zurich (Switzerland), where river-aquifer exchange fluxes and groundwater management activities play an important role. The solution of the unsaturated-saturated subsurface hydrological flow problem including river-aquifer interaction is calculated for ten different synthetic realities where the strongly heterogeneous river bed hydraulic conductivities (L) are perfectly known. Hydraulic head data (100 in the default scenario) are sampled from the synthetic realities. In subsequent data assimilation experiments, where L is unknown now, the hydraulic head data are used as conditioning information, with help of the Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF). For each of the ten synthetic realities, four different ensembles of L are tested in the experiments with EnKF; one ensemble estimates high resolution L-fields with different L values for each element, and the other three ensembles estimate effective L values for 5, 3 or 2 zones. The calibration of higher resolution L-fields (i.e., fully heterogeneous or 5 zones) gives better results than the calibration of L for only 3 or 2 zones in terms of reproduction of states, stream-aquifer exchange fluxes and parameters. Effective L for a limited number of zones cannot always reproduce the true states and fluxes well and results in biased estimates of net exchange fluxes between aquifer and stream. Also in case only 10 head data are used for conditioning, the high resolution L-fields outperform the others. In case of less heterogeneous river bed hydraulic conductivities, a high-resolution characterization of L is less important. We conclude that for strongly heterogeneous river beds the commonly applied simplified representation of the streambed, with spatially homogeneous parameters or constant parameters for a few zones, might yield significant biases in the characterization of the water balance. For strongly heterogeneous river beds, we suggest to adopt a stochastic field approach to model the spatially heterogeneous river beds geostatistically. The paper illustrates that EnKF is able to calibrate such heterogeneous streambeds on the basis of hydraulic head measurements, outperforming classical approaches.
Characterizing droughts under current and future climates in the Jordan River region
Authors: Törnros T. , Menzel L.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) was applied in order to address the characteristics of current and future agricultural droughts in the Jordan River region located in the southeastern Mediterranean area. In the first step, the SPI was applied on spatially interpolated monthly precipitation data at multiple timescales, i.e. accumulated precipitation was considered over a number of timescales, for example: 1, 3, and 6 months. To investigate the performance of the drought index, correlation analyses were conducted with the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) obtained from remote sensing. The results show that the 6 month SPI best explains the inter-annual variation of the NDVI. Hence, a timescale of 6 months is the most appropriate when addressing agricultural drought in the semi-arid region. In the second step, the 6 month SPI was applied to three climate projections based on the IPCC emission scenario A1B. When comparing the period 2031–2060 with 1961–1990, it is shown that the mean drought duration is projected to increase. Furthermore, the droughts are expected to become more severe because the frequency of severe and extreme droughts is projected to increase and the frequency of moderate drought is projected to decrease. To address the impact of drought on the agricultural sector, the irrigation water demand during drought was simulated with a hydrological model on a spatial resolution of 1 km. A large increase in the demand for irrigation water was simulated, showing that the agricultural sector is expected to become even more vulnerable to drought in the future.
A LOCATION-TRACKING TESTBED USING VISION-ASSISTED SCHEME FOR WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS
Authors: Tsai F. , Chiou Y. S. , Chang H.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. This paper presents the performance of an efficient location tracking algorithm based on Alpha-Beta (α-β) filtering with vision-assisted in a wireless sensor network (WSN) environment. With a vision-assisted calibration technique based on normalized cross-correlation scheme, the proposed approach is an accuracy enhancement procedure that effectively removes system errors causing uncertainty in measuring a dynamic environment. That is, using the vision-assisted approach to estimate the locations of the reference nodes as landmarks, an α-β tracking scheme with the landmark information can calibrate the location estimation and improve the corner effect. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed location-tracking algorithm combining vision-assisted scheme with α-β filtering approach can achieve an accurate location very close to the traditional Kalman filtering (KF) algorithm in a ZigBee positioning platform. As compared with the KF-based approach, the proposed tracking approach can avoid repeatedly calculating the Kalman gain and achieve reasonably good performance with much lower computational complexity.
Global glacier retreat: a revised assessment of committed mass losses and sampling uncertainties
Authors: Mernild S. H. , Lipscomb W. H. , Bahr D. B. , Radić V. , Zemp M.
Published: May 2013

Abstract. Most glaciers and ice caps (GIC) are out of balance with the current climate. To return to equilibrium, GIC must thin and retreat, losing additional mass and raising sea level. Because glacier observations are sparse and geographically biased, there is an undersampling problem common to all global assessments. Here, we further develop an assessment approach based on accumulation-area ratios (AAR) to estimate committed mass losses and analyze the undersampling problem. We compiled all available AAR observations for 144 GIC from 1971–2010 and found that most glaciers and ice caps are farther from balance than previously believed. Accounting for regional and global undersampling errors, our model suggests that GIC are committed to additional losses of 30 ± 11% of their area and 38 ± 17% of their volume if the future climate resembles the climate of the past decade. These losses imply global mean sea-level rise of 163 ± 73 mm, assuming total glacier volume of 430 mm sea-level equivalent. To reduce the large uncertainties in these projections, more long-term glacier measurements are needed in poorly sampled regions.
Renal Lymph Nodes for Tumor Staging: Appraisal of 871 Nephrectomies With Examination of Hilar Fat
Authors: Mehta Vikas , Mudaliar Kumaran , Ghai Ritu , Quek Marcus L. , Milner John , Flanigan Robert C. , Picken Maria M.
Published: May 2013

Context.—Despite decades of research, the role of lymphadenectomy in the management of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is still not clearly defined. Before the implementation of targeted therapies, lymph node metastases were considered to be a portent of markedly decreased survival, regardless of the tumor stage. However, the role of lymphadenectomy and the relative benefit of retroperitoneal lymph node dissection in the context of modern adjunctive therapies have not been conclusively addressed in the clinical literature. The current pathologic literature does not offer clear recommendations with regard to the minimum number of lymph nodes that should be examined in order to accurately stage the pN in renal cell carcinoma. Although gross examination of the hilar fat to assess the nodal status is performed routinely, it has not yet been determined whether this approach is adequate.

Objective.—To evaluate the status of lymph nodes and their rate of identification in the pathologic examination of nephrectomy specimens in adult renal malignancies.

Design.—We reviewed the operative and pathology reports of 871 patients with renal malignancies treated by nephrectomy. All tumors were classified according to the seventh edition of the Tumor-Nodes-Metastasis classification. Patients were divided into 3 groups: Nx, no lymph nodes recovered; N0, negative; and N1, with positive lymph nodes. Grossly visible lymph nodes were submitted separately; as per grossing protocol, hilar fatty tissue was submitted for microscopic examination. We evaluated the factors that affected the number of lymph nodes identified and the variables that allowed the prediction of nodal involvement.

Results.—Lymph nodes were recovered in 333 of 871 patients (38%): hilar in 125 patients, nonhilar in 137 patients, and hilar and nonhilar in 71 patients. Patients with positive lymph nodes (n = 87) were younger, had larger primary tumors, and had lymph nodes of average size, as well as a higher pT stage, nuclear grade, and rate of metastases. Metastases were seen only in grossly identified lymph nodes (65% hilar, 16% nonhilar); all microscopic nodes were negative. Even with the microscopic examination of fat, hilar lymph nodes were recovered in only 22.5% of patients. A nonhilar route of node metastasis was suspected in 40 patients.

Conclusions.—Only grossly identifiable lymph nodes, both hilar and nonhilar, were positive for metastases. Although microscopic examination of the hilar fat increased the number of lymph nodes recovered, the identification rate of these nodes was low (22.5%), and such microscopic nodes were invariably negative. Hence, microscopic examination of the hilar fat may be unnecessary.