bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On Teaching Physics
Authors: Paton R. F. , Sutton R. M.
Published: January 2009

The summer meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers (held June 20, 21, 22 at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut) was unique in many ways. For one thing, the meeting was completely a physics teachers meeting. No other organization or society was meeting in that vicinity at the time. This was a first for the physics teachers, some one hundred and fifty of whom were registered from at least twenty-five different states and Canada, and from over eighty different institutions. Of the registrants, about forty-five were accompanied by their wives or families, so well over two hundred were present, and the pleasingly cosmopolitan nature of the meetings contributed toward the friendly and informal tone of all the sessions. All this was made possible by the excellent program arranged, which everyone found stimulating and valuable, and above all by the graciously provided environment of that ideal campus of Connecticut Wesleyan. Nothing but praise was heard for the local setting.
Provisions for Student Sections
Authors: Barton Henry A.
Published: January 2009

The Institute has adopted a plan, effective immediately, for the organization of Student Sections of the American Institute of Physics.
Quantum Electrodynamics
Authors: Rosenfeld L.
Published: January 2009

In quantum theory, the interpretation of the mathematical formalism raises problems of a far more delicate kind than in classical theory.
Upper Air Temperatures from Spectra
Authors: Branscomb Lewis M.
Published: January 2009

When a diatomic gas is emitting light (as in gas discharges, the Northern Lights, and the light of the night sky), the temperature of the gas can be measured from the distribution of light intensity in that part of the spectrum which is due to changes in the rotational energy of the molecules.
Liquid-Solid
Authors: Swenson C. A.
Published: January 2009

Helium remains a liquid under its saturated vapor pressure to temperatures as low as 0.05 °K, and, presumably, to absolute zero.
The challenge of the ruled grating
Authors: Harrison George R.
Published: January 2009

Few problems of experimental physics have a more colorful background than that involved in the ruling of large diffraction gratings. Nor is any problem of such great importance more widely misunderstood. After more than a hundred years of trying, by dozens of physicists and their associated instrument makers, by Nobel prizemen and amateurs alike, no one has succeeded in producing gratings having the size and power needed by modern spectroscopists. In fact, we are now in somewhat the same psychological state about the availability of large gratings as was the world about human flight at the time the Wright brothers began their experiments. Flying seemed desirable, but so many able people had tried it and failed that it appeared likely that the problem never would be solved.
Twenty years of age
Authors: Harrison George R.
Published: January 2009

The twentieth anniversary Celebration of the founding of the American Institute of Physics should also be a time for taking stock. The world has often been told that the Institute is an independent nonprofit organization of physicists designed to assist in the publication of the results of physical research, to maintain a cooperative bond among scientists specializing in the various fields of physics, and to improve and clarify the relations between physicists and the rest of society. The words so often used to describe the official aims of the Institute have a purposeful and praiseworthy ring, but it is important that their meaning be reviewed occasionally to make sure that this ring maintains its proper distribution of harmonics.
Physics research at University Heights, NYU
Authors: Korff Serge A.
Published: January 2009

At the present time, the Physics Department of New York University's College of Engineering at University Heights is conducting an active research program in various branches of physics. Under Professor Yardley Beers a program of microwave research is in progress, Professor Leon Fisher is investigating the fundamental properties and phenomena in electrical discharges in gases, Professors Fritz Reiche, Sidney Borowitz and George Hudson are conducting investigations in theoretical physics, Professor Yale K. Roots is working on a spectroscopic problem, and Professor Serge A. Korff is conducting a program in cosmic rays and counters. A brief description of most of these projects follows, largely in the words of the faculty member concerned.
Dissemination of technical information by AEC
Authors: Gray Dwight E.
Published: January 2009

One of the less publicized but very important phases of the Atomic Energy Commission's over-all activity is its extensive program for making nonclassified atomic energy information widely available to the scientific world in general.
7th IUPAP Assembly
Authors: Wheeler John A.
Published: January 2009

A Report from Copenhagen
The October Meeting
Authors: Barton H. A.
Published: January 2009

IT HAD BEEN EXPECTED that the gathering of physicists in Chicago on the occasion of the AIP twentieth anniversary would be the largest such gathering yet held anywhere.
Theoretical physics in the Alps
Authors: Seligman DeWitt Bryce
Published: January 2009

On a mountainside overlooking the valley of Chamonix, in the heart of the French Alps, the initial phase of what promises to be an extremely successful experiment in international learning has just been brought to a close. Some twenty-five students, from eleven nations, have spent eight weeks together with a select group of professors in intensive study of basic topics in modern theoretical physics. The students and professors have been guests of the Direction de l'Enseignement Supérieur Français at a new school which is presently under the administration of the University of Grenoble.
Auroral Physics
Authors: Aden A. L.
Published: January 2009

International Conference Held in Canada
Elementary Particles
Authors: Angello S. J.
Published: January 2009

Pittsburgh physicists hear Wick
Emergency use of manpower
Authors: Barton Henry A.
Published: January 2009

Some months ago, the National Security Resources Board asked that the American Chemical Society, the National Research Council, the Engineers' Joint Council, and the American Institute of Physics consider ways in which the skills and training of scientists and engineers might best be used in the event of large-scale mobilization. The NSRB, which has been given the responsibility for developing a realistic and effective manpower program in the national emergency, asked in particular that recommendations be made concerning a proposal that such men be reserved from military duty subject only to induction on the basis of military requirements for the specific requisitions in question.
A Report From Washington
Authors: Gray Dwight E.
Published: January 2009

Announcement of the formal establishment in the Library of Congress of a Science Division probably caused any scientist who heard or read it to envision a special science room or wing in the Library. This mind's-eye area undoubtedly was furnished with large reading tables and comfortable chairs, was enclosed by walls hung with the pictures of famous scientists, was surrounded by stacks containing the Library's total collection of scientific books and periodicals, and was entered by an impressive archway labeled Science Division. To indicate why this is not to be the case and to outline something of what is contemplated for this new unit of the Library is the purpose of this account.
Isotope Work at Oak Ridge
Authors: Keim C. P. , Savage H. W. , Weaver Boyd
Published: January 2009

The special training division of the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies has announced that three additional courses in the techniques of using radioisotopes in research have been scheduled during the winter and spring of 1951. They are to be held from January 8th to February 2nd, from February 19th to March 16th, and from April 16th to May 11th. Designed to acquaint research workers with the safe and efficient use of radioisotopes, the courses include laboratory work, lectures, and special-topic seminars. Experiments cover such matters as the use and calibration of instruments, purification and separation of radioactive materials from inert and other radioactive materials, and pile activation technology. The seminars cover various biological and medical uses of radioisotopes and the design of radiochemical laboratories.
X-ray and electron diffraction
Authors: Alexander Leroy E. , Klug H. P.
Published: January 2009

Eighth Annual Pittsburgh Conference
Physicists in the present emergency
Authors: Bennett Ralph D.
Published: January 2009

Physicists are presently much concerned as to the part they can and should take in the continuing emergency facing our country. There are few of us to whom World War II did not bring considerable dislocation of career. The younger among us had our training interrupted and large numbers of the older ones were employed in the existing defense laboratories and in additional establishments which were set up to help develop weapons. Some of these establishments achieved such spectacular success that our military men now tend to lean far more heavily on the work of scientists than they have previously. Extrapolating from the experience of World War II, we can but wonder what lies ahead of us.
Semantics
Authors: Brown William Fuller
Published: January 2009

Through the Forum, I should like to add a postscript to my article “Physicists and the English Language” (Physics Today, February 1950). The postscript consists of a bibliography, comments on it, and a suggestion that emerges from it.
How big is a cell?
Authors: Hoffman Joseph G.
Published: January 2009

How big is a cell? Or, how big are any of the parts of a cell as one sees them through a microscope? Scientists today are as far away from the answer to these questions as they were over a century ago because the available technical means are still inadequate to cope with the problem. The questions were asked immediately with the discovery that living systems comprised cells, which were found to be basic units that anyone could see in plants and animals. Everywhere one looked in the plant and animal kingdom were cells of all manner and shape, and in an era that was dominated by the orderliness superposed on the natural world by Newtonian mechanics it seemed natural to want to measure cells.
Flow Phenomena
Authors: Fischer E. K. , Marvin R. S.
Published: January 2009

Society of Rheology meets In New York
How to address the American Physical Society
Authors: Darrow Karl K.
Published: January 2009

Consider an actor in a hit show on Broadway, and contrast him with a physicist addressing the American Physical Society.
On the spirit of physics…
Authors: Houston William Vermillion
Published: January 2009

Within the past decade physics in the United States has moved from a position of relative obscurity to one of uneasy prominence. It is at the same time feared as a destroyer of civilization and regarded as its only hope.
Flashsounds and aural constructs for the blind
Authors: Twersky Victor
Published: January 2009

In the July issue of Physics Today, Franklin S. Cooper presented an excellent survey of guidance devices for the blind. The present article is intended less as a sequel than as a supplement to discuss a basic approach to the problem which led to one of the generic devices mentioned by Dr. Cooper.
Plasticity
Authors: Kelley James B.
Published: January 2009

In recent years the engineer has been treated to many strange sights, not the least of which have been the “flapping” of airplane wings and the “flow” of metals under circumstances which have come to be considered quite normal.
Briefly Noted
Authors: Wilson R. R. , Corson D. R. , Baker C. P.
Published: January 2009

Particle and Quantum Detectors; Prevention of Deterioration Abstracts; Subject Index to Volume 12 of Bibliography of Technical Reports; Thermistors as Tools in Research and Development; Practical Limits of Speed Speech; New Design of Metal to Ceramic Seals Compared with Former Designs; A Functional Description of the EDVAC; Liquid Metals Handbook.
Planning Ahead
Authors: Barton Henry A.
Published: January 2009

The Institute has endeavored to find out for physics departments some of the things needed for planning ahead.
Conference on Nuclear Physics
Authors: Mark Carson
Published: January 2009

Held at Oxford
Operation Frostbite
Authors: Davidson W. L.
Published: January 2009

APS Division of High Polymer Physics
Discussion Invited
Authors: Brickwedde F. G.
Published: January 2009

Agenda for Sun Commission Meeting
Notes and Comments
Authors: Joachim Hans S. , Fuson Nelson
Published: January 2009

The critical tables published in this country by the National Research Council (International Critical Tables) are over 20 years old without having had any new additions. It goes without saying that they need complete revision to be useful at the present time. However during the war photostatic reprints of the latest editions of “Landolt-Boernstein, Physikalisch-Chemische Tabellen” were published and sold in this country at a very high price, thus showing that there is a true demand for this type of scientific publication.
An experiment in standardization: Report from Washington
Authors: Gray Dwight E.
Published: January 2009

This is the story of an experiment in standardization being conducted by the documentation branches of four government agencies. At least two reasons occur to me why the account may be of interest to readers of Physics Today. First, so many scientists are at present associated one way or another with government-supported research that improvements in techniques of disseminating information about such research become of rather general scientific interest. Second, as is shown later, this particular development represents an unusual approach to a standardization problem—one which conceivably may prove to have other applications. (Some of my friends say they find the movement interesting for a third reason; they claim the very fact that four government agencies are cooperating voluntarily on anything is newsworthy. This cynical viewpoint, however, I am prepared to ignore.)
Society of Rheology
Authors: Dienes G. J.
Published: January 2009

West Coast Meeting reported
Acoustical Society
Authors: Hunt F. V.
Published: January 2009

Fall Meeting in New England
Standards of mass
Authors: Macurdy Lloyd B.
Published: January 2009

The requirements of modern commerce and industry make uniformity in standards of mass throughout the Nation no less important than uniformity of currency. An even higher degree of uniformity is necessary among reference standards of mass kept by research laboratories to maintain high accuracy in scientific weighing.
Physics in Switzerland
Authors: Staub Hans H. , Wäffler H.
Published: January 2009

As one of the few European countries which has been spared a direct and active participation in World War II, Switzerland has enjoyed a comparatively undisturbed decade of research in physics. Even during the war years, basic research progressed although difficulties in procurement of materials and the effects of the mobilization of the citizens' army hampered the work to a certain extent. Since the Swiss Physical Society has its own scientific journal, the Helvetica Physica Acta, where papers are published in any one of the three major national languages, the communications of Swiss physicists have often not come to the attention of as broad a readership as might be desirable, particularly in the Anglo-Saxon countries.
…Report to Members
Authors: Barton Henry A.
Published: January 2009

The year 1951 will be the twentieth anniversary year of the American Institute of Physics.
Zucker's Article Protested
Authors: Amaldi Edoardo
Published: January 2009

Most of the opinions expressed by A. Zucker in his article “A Physicist's Holiday” (Physics Today, January, 1951) seem to me and to most of my Italian colleagues very personal, and anyhow very different from ours. I do not wish to enter into all details, as that would need an article as long as his, which does not seem to me to be worth while. But the point which I feel obliged to answer is the opinion attributed to Italian physicists with regard to the constitution of a European laboratory. Such a proposal, put forward by the American delegation at the 1950 UNESCO assembly in Florence, was received with very great interest. I should almost say enthusiam, by the great majority of Italian physicists, who in all meetings whether national or international held for this purpose have always been extremely desirous to contribute actively to the construction and the functioning of such an organization. No anxiety exists among Italian physicists, but on the contrary a lively desire to callaborate in this field of scientific activity, as in every other field, with their colleagues and friends of other countries, and in particular with the French, who on their part are not less intersted and desirous to collaborate with us.
Physics and natural philosophy
Authors: Van Wazer John R.
Published: January 2009

For nearly a century we physicists have complacently thought of ourselves as being the philosophers of nature. While the biologists and astronomers expanded their interminable classifications and the chemist did heavens-knows-what with his grubby beakers, we were, in our own estimation at least, constructing rational pictures of the universe aided by artfully chosen experiments. It is true, of course, that at times these self-consistent and rational pictures did not agree with each other; but, when this happened, we became true philosophers in the Greek sense and in a mist of polemics and sophistry demonstrated that nothing could be more rational than the disagreement which was only apparent after all.
Briefly Noted
Authors: Poulter Thomas C.
Published: January 2009

Geophysical Studies in the Antarctic; Electronic Equipment Construction—New Objectives, New Techniques and New Components; Professional Opportunities in Mathematics; What you should know about Biological Warfare.
The Anniversary Meeting
Authors: Barton Henry A.
Published: January 2009

Preparations for the AIP 20th Anniversary Meeting of the Member Societies in Chicago next October 23–27 are busily under way.
Electron Emission Symposium
Authors: Sproull R. L.
Published: January 2009

APS Division of Electron Physics
Thinking in quantum terms
Authors: Schiff L. I.
Published: January 2009

It is now generally accepted that quantum mechanics occupies a central place in microscopic physical theory. The importance of this discipline shows up in the research journals, and also in the graduate physics curriculum. Not only is quantum mechanics a required subject, both for experimental and theoretical students; it appears as well to be influencing the way in which classical physics is taught. Presentations of classical mechanics that slight the traditional problems of planetary motion, unsymmetrical tops and dissipative systems in favor of collision theory and Poisson brackets are becoming more and more prevalent. With the much younger subject of classical electrodynamics, the analogous tendency is less marked, although here again emphasis is being placed on those examples that bring the student closest to the formalism of quantum electrodynamics. Such trends are of course proper and reasonable, especially so long as no important classical ideas are omitted from consideration. Indeed, the study of acoustics, hydrodynamics, and elasticity probably benefits from an early introduction of field concepts.
An interview with the director of the National Science Foundation
Authors: Gray Dwight E.
Published: January 2009

One of the commonly accepted features of American life is that the taxpayer's attitude toward a public official is much like that of a baseball fan toward the umpire. In each case, value received for payment of the required fee is assumed to include a license to make life as tough for the official as the payer wishes. One of the ways in which we citizens achieve this goal with an individual who occupies a high appointive office is that within minutes after his nomination to the position is made known, we expect him to be able (a) to announce a full and complete program, (b) to make profound pronouncements regarding the implications his program may have for all other phases of life—domestic and foreign, and (c) to commit himself to an extensive schedule of writing and speech making. By the time he is confirmed we rather expect that he will have a complete staff lined up like runners at the starting tape ready to spring to action as the final words of the confirmation ceremony die away.
The NRC Division of International Relations
Authors: Gray Dwight E.
Published: January 2009

Readers of these Washington Reports may have noticed that for the past several months we have been discussing agencies and activities which are somewhat interrelated and which are concerned in one way or another with the international aspects of science. This grouping has been deliberate with the series to date: The Fulbright Program (April), Science in the State Department (May), and the National Science Foundation (June). It is continued with the present paper which has to do with the Division of International Relations of the National Research Council (NRC).
Frequency Control
Authors: Johnson E. W.
Published: January 2009

Signal Corps sponsors symposium
Physics in Australia
Authors: Huxley L. G. H.
Published: January 2009

Although the principles, methods, and terminology of a fundamental science, such as physics, should transcend geography, yet the branches of the science towards which a community chooses to direct its efforts may be expected to be influenced not only by geographical, but also by political and economic considerations.
High Polymer Physics
Authors: Nichols J. B.
Published: January 2009

APS division meets in Washington
Journal abbreviations
Authors: Brode Wallace R.
Published: January 2009

The purpose of abbreviations of journal titles, like the use of symbols for the chemical elements and symbols for physical constants, is primarily to provide the technical worker with a means of saving time and effort in his own writing, as well as secondarily to save some printing space in technical journals. It should be as obvious as in the use of element symbols or technical terms that the abbreviation of journal citations should be uniform in character and intelligible to all who read them.
The accurate measurement of time
Authors: Brouwer Dirk
Published: January 2009

If a Babylonian who lived four thousand years ago could reappear in the modern world, one of the very few scientific appliances which he could recognize would be the sundial. In use at least as early as 2000 B.C. in Mesopotamia, it has survived in innumerable variations in design to the present day. The limitation of the sundial is, of course, that it serves only on clear days. Watchers of the sky at night must have learned at an equally early age to read the time from the appearance of the night sky.
Engineering Education
Authors: Dickinson B. H.
Published: January 2009

Physics teachers meet at Michigan State
Solid state electronics
Authors: Breckenridge Robert G.
Published: January 2009

The detailed study of matter in the solid state has become one of the most active fields of modern physics. Solid state electronics, including the study of semiconductors, was greatly stimulated by the wartime development of crystal diodes, which were extensively used in radar and are now finding numerous applications in electronic components. The recent discovery of the transistor, a crystal triode which may be used as a replacement for vacuum tubes in amplifiers, has intensified interest in the subject. Although the semiconductor has been used in several practical applications, physical interpretation of the semiconducting phenomena is far from complete. For this reason, the major current objective of the solid state physics program at the National Bureau of Standards concerns the fundamental study of semiconducting systems. Some closely related problems of crystal properties are also being investigated in order to obtain the knowledge necessary for the maximum utilization of these and other new materials in electronic components.
Attribute-Based Willingness to Pay for Improved Water Services: A Developing Country Application
Authors: Echenique Marcial , Seshagiri Raghavendra
Published: January 2009

Developing countries experience poor and deteriorating water services where the costs of improvements, water utilities assume, are not affordable by households. However, if water services are hypothetically improved, are households willing to pay? From employment of an attribute-based stated-preference method, the paper examines households' willingness to pay for improvements in water services in a city in south India. Aside of quantity, households are willing to pay for improvements in quality, pressure, frequency of supply, and increased quanta of supply during the dry season. In addition, households prefer regulation in water services, albeit from a public service provider. In Asian countries and other developing country regions households' willingness to pay is substantially higher than the costs of the provision of water, and on a par with mean water tariffs in developed regions of the world.
A Comparative Location Study for the Joint Development Station of a Mass Rapid Transit System: A Case in Taichung City in Taiwan
Authors: Wey Wann-Ming , Chang Yu-Hern
Published: January 2009

This paper is concerned with the selection of a candidate joint development station (JDS) for a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system. We propose a method to reach consensus for a group decision on the basis of a combination of the analytic hierarchy process and the assurance region model of data envelopment analysis. Several strategies for using this methodology—for example, Delphi procedures—are also discussed. On the basis of these analyses, the evaluators (council members) responsible for recommending the proper candidate JDS for an MRT system in Taichung City, Taiwan, came up with two contenders from among five: one station in Taichung's CBD area and the other in the Situn district. It was not possible to discriminate between the two using multiple criteria for evaluating stations. The evaluators recommended these two stations to the city council, who should now be able to make an informed, objective decision. In this report we have summarized, with emphasis on the methodological aspects, the decision-making processes that the evaluators followed.
The Mixed Success of Nodes as a Smart Growth Planning Policy
Authors: Filion Pierre
Published: January 2009

At a time of rising concern over urban sprawl and its adverse financial, quality-of-life, and environmental consequences, nodes assume growing importance within urban (and especially metropolitan) planning strategies. Nodes are defined as high-density multifunctional developments featuring a pedestrian-conducive environment and good public-transit accessibility. The article draws from the Toronto experience to explore reasons for the popularity of nodes among planning agencies, their limited capacity over recent years to attract new office and retail development, and difficulties in launching new nodes. It also investigates their problems in meeting walking and public-transit-patronage objectives. The article proposes four means of enhancing the smart growth performance of nodes: (1) improved planning coordination; (2) reliance on both incentives and coercion; (3) investment in public transit systems; (4) merging nodal and corridor approaches.
Generating Settlement Structures: A Method for Urban Planning and Analysis Supported by Cellular Automata
Authors: Koenig Reinhard , Bauriedel Christian
Published: January 2009

Previous models for the explanation of settlement processes pay little attention to the interactions between settlement spreading and road networks. On the basis of a dielectric breakdown model in combination with cellular automata, we present a method to steer precisely the generation of settlement structures with regard to their global and local density as well as the size and number of forming clusters. The resulting structures depend on the logic of how the dependence of the settlements and the road network is implemented to the simulation model. After analysing the state of the art we begin with a discussion of the mutual dependence of roads and land development. Next, we elaborate a model that permits the precise control of permeability in the developing structure as well as the settlement density, using the fewest necessary control parameters. On the basis of different characteristic values, possible settlement structures are analysed and compared with each other. Finally, we reflect on the theoretical contribution of the model with regard to the context of urban dynamics.
Organisational Change in Systems of Building Regulation and Control: Illustrations from the English Context
Authors: Hawkesworth Marian , Imrie Rob
Published: January 2009

This paper evaluates organisational changes in English local authority building-control departments (BCD), in a context in which the adoption and development of management procedure, technique, and process, more commonly associated with corporate private-sector enterprises, are occurring. Referring to data based on twenty-nine interviews with building surveyors, we show that change in building control is complex and contradictory, and best thought of as the emergence of new capacities, competencies, and interactions (of regulation) both within BCD, and between BCD and new actors and agents. This includes the enlargement of the regulatory networks of BCD, through the use of external expert advisors, and by the formation of, sometimes unstable, partnerships in which BCD may work with each other and with clients of building-control services. Such partnerships and networks are part of a complexity of regulation, in which outcomes are not the products of any one professional, or actor, but part of a diversity of overlapping relations and interventions. Such relations, we argue, are part of a process that may undermine, even dismantle, the public provision of building-control services.
Spatial Choice: A Matter of Utility or Regret?
Authors: Chorus Caspar G , Arentze Theo A , Timmermans Harry J P
Published: January 2009

This paper provides an empirical comparison between utility-maximization and regret-minimization perspectives of spatial-choice behaviour. The key difference between these two perspectives is that the regret-minimization perspective implies that the anticipated satisfaction associated with a chosen spatial alternative depends on the anticipated performance of nonchosen alternatives. In order to provide a meaningful statistical comparison, we formulate a model of regret minimization such that it reduces to utility maximization for a given parameter restriction. Estimation results, based on a binary stated travel-mode-choice experiment, show how the regret-based model outperforms its utilitarian counterpart. Furthermore it is shown how participants in the experiment attached relatively much weight to the situation where the nonchosen alternative is slightly better than the chosen one, and they tend to discount larger differences. We show how this concavity of the regret function is in line with the prospect theoretical notion of risk-seeking behaviour in the domain of losses.
LH and FSH secretion, follicle development and oestradiol in sows ovulating or failing to ovulate in an intermittent suckling regimen
Authors: Langendijk P. , Dieleman S. J. , van Dooremalen C. , Foxcroft G. R. , Gerritsen R. , Hazeleger W. , Soede N. M. , Kemp B.
Published: January 2009

The present paper describes LH and FSH secretion, follicle development and ovulation in sows that were subjected to a limited nursing regimen. From Day 14 of lactation, 32 sows were separated from their piglets for 12 h every day (intermittent suckling; IS). Half the sows had boar contact during separation. Nine of 32 sows ovulated spontaneously within 14 days from initiation of IS. The frequency of LH pulses on the first day of IS tended to be higher in anovulatory sows (6.3 v. 4.2 pulses per 12 h; P < 0.10); other characteristics of LH secretion were similar to sows that ovulated. The characteristics of FSH secretion did not differ over the 8-h sampling period. Boar contact did not influence either LH and FSH secretion or the number of sows that ovulated. Up to 58% of anovulatory sows showed an increase in follicle size after initiation of IS and, 4 days after the initiation of IS, one-third still had follicles similar in size to those in ovulatory sows. However, the oestradiol concentration in anovulatory sows did not increase. We conclude that FSH and LH stimulation in anovulatory sows is not limiting for normal follicle development, but that ovarian follicles are not responsive to increased LH secretion.
Dynamics of microtubules, motor proteins and 20S proteasomes during bovine oocyte IVM
Authors: Racedo S. E. , Branzini M. C. , Salamone D. , Wójcik C. , Rawe V. Y. , Niemann H.
Published: January 2009

The present study investigated the distribution of cytoplasmic dynein, dynactin and 20S proteasomes in oocytes isolated from small (<2 mm) and large (2–8 mm) follicles during IVM. Immediately after chromatin condensation (germinal vesicle (GV) breakdown), dynactin was closely associated with the chromatin and interacted with tubulin at the MI and MII spindles in oocytes recovered from large follicles. Dynactin showed perinuclear concentration. Dynein was homogeneously distributed in the cytoplasm of GV oocytes in both groups and was associated with the chromatin at the MI and MII spindle. The 20S proteasomes were found predominantly in the nucleus at the GV stage and were associated with the chromatin up to the MII stage in both groups of oocytes. The use of sodium orthovanadate, an inhibitor or phosphatase and ATPase activity, and nocodazole, a known disruptor of microtubules, affected the localisation of proteasomes in the meiotic stages. The results demonstrate the distinct dynamics of molecular motors and proteasomes during bovine oocyte IVM, their possible relationship with the developmental competence of the oocyte and the link between microtubules, their associated molecular motors and the transport of proteasomes during bovine female meiosis.
CatSper-null mutant spermatozoa are unable to ascend beyond the oviductal reservoir
Authors: Ho Katharine , Wolff Collin A. , Suarez Susan S.
Published: January 2009

Sperm hyperactivation is characterised by high-amplitude, asymmetrical flagellar bending and is required to penetrate the oocyte zona pellucida. It was proposed that hyperactivation also enables spermatozoa to reach the oocyte by assisting escape from the oviductal sperm reservoir. To test this hypothesis, the behaviour of CatSper-null mouse spermatozoa in the oviduct was compared with that of spermatozoa from heterozygotes. CatSper–/– males are infertile because their spermatozoa fail to hyperactivate, whereas spermatozoa from CatSper+/– males have normal amounts of CatSper proteins and can hyperactivate. Males were mated with wild-type females on the morning of ovulation. Oviducts were obtained 1 or 4 h later, and behaviour of spermatozoa was examined using transillumination. At 1 h, null mutant spermatozoa remained attached by their heads to oviductal epithelium in the reservoir, whereas spermatozoa from heterozygotes detached from the oviductal epithelium after performing deep asymmetrical flagellar bends. At 4 h, 50 to 200 CatSper+/– spermatozoa were still seen in the oviducts; in contrast, only one CatSper–/– spermatozoon was found. CatSper–/– spermatozoa were lost from the oviducts after failing to detach from the epithelium in a timely manner, thus demonstrating that hyperactivation is required by spermatozoa to ascend beyond the oviductal reservoir.
Vaccination against human papillomavirus – an impact on preterm delivery? Estimations based on literature review
Authors: SJØBORG KATRINE DØNVOLD , ESKILD ANNE
Published: January 2009

Objective. Cervical cone excision increases the risk of preterm deliveries. Vaccination against human papillomavirus 16/18 (HPV16/18) will probably prevent development of high grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and thereby reduce the need for cervical cone excisions. An HPV16/18 vaccination programme may therefore also prevent some preterm deliveries. Methods. We identified the parameters influencing the effect of a HPV16/18 vaccination programme on preterm deliveries, and estimated a possible range of preventable deliveries before the 37th week of pregnancy. The number of preterm deliveries prevented by HPV16/18 vaccination programme would depend on the number of preterm deliveries related to cervical cone excision (extent of the health problem), and the proportion of this health problem that could be prevented by a vaccination programme. We obtained values on the parameters used in the estimations from the scientific literature. Results. If 2% of childbearing women are treated with cervical cone excision, between 60 and 220 preterm deliveries/100 000 births may be related to such treatment. Close to 60% (between 35 and 128 preterm deliveries) could be prevented by an HPV16/18 vaccination programme, if the programme coverage was 90%. If 4% of women are treated with cone excision, between 70 and 257 preterm deliveries/100 000 births could be prevented. Conclusion. HPV16/18 vaccination programmes may reduce the number of preterm deliveries through reducing the need for cone excision.
Quality of life for couples 4–5.5 years after unsuccessful IVF treatment
Authors: JOHANSSON MARIANNE , ADOLFSSON ANNSOFIE , BERG MARIE , FRANCIS JYNFIAF , HOGSTRÖM LARS , OLOF JANSON PER , SOGN JAN , HELLSTRÖM ANNA‐LENA
Published: January 2009

Objective. To describe quality of life in men and women who had terminated in vitro fertilization (IVF) within the public health system 4–5.5 years previously, and for whom treatment did not result in childbirth. Design. Cross‐sectional study. Setting. Reproductive Unit, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden. Sample. Four hundred pairs were invited to participate, 71% accepted and 68% completed questionnaires. Methods. Questionnaire study. Study subgroups were compared with a control group with children and with each other. Main outcome measure. Psychological General Well‐Being (PGWB), Sense of Coherence (SOC), experience of infertility, demographic–socio‐economic and health characteristics were measured. Results. Surprisingly, 76.7% had or lived together with children; 39.6% had biological children, 34.8% had adopted and 3.7% were parents to both biological and adopted children. No differences were found between the study and the control groups, except in SOC which scored lower in the study group. The study group with children had a higher PGWB index than the 23.3% without children and the controls. SOC scored higher in the subgroup with than those without children. Infertility was still a central issue in the subgroup without children. Conclusion. Despite having undergone unsuccessful IVF within the public health system, more than 75% lived with children 4–5.5 years later. This subgroup had a better quality of life, compared to those without children. Additional IVF treatment may result in increased quality of life.
The effect of uterine fundal pressure on the duration of the second stage of labor: A randomized controlled trial
Authors: API OLUS , EMEKSIZ BALCIN MUGE , UGUREL VEDAT , API MURAT , TURAN CEM , UNAL ORHAN
Published: January 2009

Objective. To determine the effect of uterine fundal pressure on shortening the second stage of labor and on the fetal outcome. Design. Randomized controlled trial. Setting. Teaching and research hospital. Sample. One hundred ninety‐seven women between 37 and 42 gestational weeks with singleton cephalic presentation admitted to the delivery unit. Methods. Random allocation into groups with or without manual fundal pressure during the second stage of labor. Main outcome measures. The primary outcome measure was the duration of the second stage of labor. Secondary outcome measures were umbilical artery pH, HCO3−, base excess, pO2, pCO2 values and the rate of instrumental delivery, severe maternal morbidity/mortality, neonatal trauma, admission to neonatal intensive care unit, and neonatal death. Results. There were no significant differences in the mean duration of the second stage of labor and secondary outcome measures except for mean pO2 which was lower and mean pCO2 which was higher in the fundal pressure group. Nevertheless, the values still remained within normal ranges and there were no neonates with an Apgar score <7 in either of the groups. Conclusion. Application of fundal pressure on a delivering woman was ineffective in shortening the second stage of labor.
Fetal hemodynamic changes following maternal betamethasone administration in pregnancies with fetal growth restriction and absent end‐diastolic flow in the umbilical artery
Authors: NOZAKI ALEXANDRE M. , FRANCISCO ROSSANA P.V. , FONSECA EDUARDO S.V.B. , MIYADAHIRA SEIZO , ZUGAIB MARCELO
Published: January 2009

Objectives. To examine the effects of betamethasone administration on umbilical artery (UA), middle cerebral artery (MCA) and ductus venosus (DV) Doppler flow. Design. Longitudinal prospective study. Setting: Fetal Surveillance Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. Population. Thirty‐two singleton pregnancies complicated by fetal growth restriction with absent end‐diastolic flow in the UA. Methods. Pulsatility index (PI) of the UA, MCA and DV was measured from 26 to 34 weeks prior to and within 24 or 48 hours after starting betamethasone treatment course. Analysis of variance for repeated measures was used to determine the changes in the fetal hemodynamic Doppler flow following maternal corticosteroid administration. Main outcome measures. Improvement of UA‐PI within 24 hours and DV‐PIV (venous pulsatility) within 48 hours from the first betamethasone dose. Results. Mean gestational age at delivery was 29.3 (±1.8) weeks and birthweight was 806.6 (±228.2) g. A reduction in the UA‐PI was observed in 29 (90.6%) cases, with return of end‐diastolic flow in 22 (68.7%). The mean UA‐PI were 2.84 (±0.52) before corticosteroid administration, 2.07 (±0.56) within 24 hours and 2.42 (±0.75) after 48 hours, with a significant difference along the evaluations (p<0.001). No significant changes in the MCA Doppler were observed. DV‐PIV decreased from 1.06 (±0.23) prior corticosteroids administration to 0.73 (±0.16) within 24 hours and 0.70 (±0.19) after 48 hours (p<0.001). Conclusions. There was reduction in the umbilical artery and in the DV pulsatility indices within 24 hours from betamethasone administration that was maintained up to 48 hours.
New concepts and trends in vaginal prolapse surgery
Authors: FLAM FOLKE , SÖDERBERG MARIE WESTERGREN
Published: January 2009

Despite poor results in prolapse surgery, the operative procedures have basically remained unchanged for 100 years. It has been postulated that lifting restrictions and other measures of inactivation are crucial for the success. Even though most of what is done in prolapse repair is not evidence based, few have challenged the prevailing concepts. However, tradition‐based policies are now being scrutinized and in accordance with other operations, time of hospitalization is sharply reduced at many institutions. The reintroduction of local anesthesia and sedation offers potential advantages compared to regional‐ or general anesthesia. Although augmentation by foreign material is not altogether a new concept, the introduction of commercial kits make mesh procedures more standardized, but not necessarily technically more easy to perform. As molecular biology provides more and more evidence about the importance of the quality of the connective tissue, it is conceivable that foreign material in prolapse repair is here to stay. In this period of time it is more essential than ever to scientifically document the results of the new concepts. In the Nordic countries, where the first registries were set up for Tensionfree Vaginal Tape (TVT), a cooperative effort among 53 institutions is under way to evaluate mesh repairs in prolapse surgery.
Incidence trends of cervical adenocarcinoma in Israeli Jewish women. A population‐based study
Authors: MENCZER JOSEPH , KOGAN LIRON , LIPHSHIZ IRENA , BARCHANA MICHA
Published: January 2009

Objective. To assess the trend over time of the relative frequency and incidence of adenocarcinoma (AC) in Israeli Jewish women. Design. Register study. Setting. Israel National Cancer Registry. Population. All cases of histologically proven invasive cervical cancer diagnosed during two time periods: 1961–1971 and 2002–2004. Methods. Calculation of frequencies and incidence rates and comparison by the χ2 test and by the Poisson regression model, respectively. Main outcome measures. Frequency and incidence of AC. Results. There were a total of 532 women with a diagnosis of cervical cancer during the first and 434 women during the second period (incidence 4.2 and 4.7/100,000, respectively). The total incidence rates and frequency rates of AC during the two periods were statistically not different. The frequency rate of AC during the second period was significantly higher in the 20–29 and the 40–49 age groups and in the North African born than in the other ethnic groups. Conclusions. Our study indicates that except in certain age and ethnic groups, the frequency and incidence of AC has not significantly altered in Israel over the time periods studied.
Can ultrasound measurements replace digitally assessed elements of the Bishop score?
Authors: EGGEBØ TORBJØRN M. , ØKLAND INGER , HEIEN CLAUDIA , GJESSING LEIF K. , ROMUNDSTAD PÅL , SALVESEN KJELL Å.
Published: January 2009

Objective. To compare elements of the Bishop score and corresponding sonographic measurements before induction of labor, and assess how predictive factors can be used in a clinical setting. Design. Prospective comparative clinical study. Setting. Secondary referral center, university hospital. Population. A total of 275 women scheduled for induction of labor. Methods. Fetal head descent to the perineum was assessed with transperineal ultrasound. Cervical length, posterior angle, and dilatation were evaluated with transvaginal ultrasound followed by Bishop score without knowledge of the ultrasound measurements. Results. Univariable regression analyses of successful induction were significant for digital assessment of cervical dilatation, ultrasound measured fetal head–perineum distance ≤40 mm, ultrasound measured cervical length ≤25 mm, and ultrasound measured posterior cervical angle >90 degrees. After adjusting for maternal factors in a multivariable model, estimates were significant for previous vaginal birth (OR 5.3; 95% CI 2.1–13.9, p<0.01), but borderline for maternal height (OR 1.1; 95% CI 1.0–1.2, p = 0.01) and ultrasound measured posterior cervical angle >90 degrees (OR 2.6; 95% CI 1.1–6.1, p = 0.03). A scoring model combining ultrasound measured fetal head–perineum distance, cervical length, cervical posterior angle and digitally assessed cervical dilatation, discriminated successful and failed induction at 71% (95% CI 61–80%, p<0.01) area under the receiver–operating characteristics curve. Conclusion. Digital assessment of fetal head descent, cervical length and position can possibly be replaced with ultrasound measurements. Dilatation is best evaluated with digital assessment. Combination of these four factors can predict success of labor induction.