bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
INTERPOLATION, QUADRATURE, AND STOCHASTIC INTEGRATION
Authors: Lee Lung-fei
Published: July 2002

This paper considers features in numerical and stochastic
integration approaches for the evaluation of analytically
intractable integrals. It provides a unification of these two
approaches. Some important features in quadrature formulations,
namely, interpolation and region partition, can provide a valuable
device for the design of a stochastic simulator. An interpolating
function can be used as a valuable control variate for variance
reduction in simulation. We illustrate possible variance reduction
by some numerical cases with Gaussian quadrature. The resulting
simulator may also be regarded as a monitor of the approximation
error of a quadrature.
THE LOCAL ASYMPTOTIC POWER OF CERTAIN TESTS FOR FRACTIONAL
INTEGRATION
Authors: Wright Jonathan H.
Published: July 2002

It is possible to construct a test of the null of no
fractional integration that has nontrivial asymptotic
power against a sequence of alternatives specifying that
the series is I(d) with d =
O(T−1/2), where
T is the sample size. In this paper, I show that
tests for fractional integration that are based on the
partial sum process of the time series have only trivial
asymptotic power (i.e., equal to the size) against this
sequence of local alternatives. These tests include the
rescaled-range test. In this sense, despite its widespread
use in empirical work, the rescaled-range test is a poor
test for fractional integration.
Dispersion and site fidelity in a tent-roosting population of the short-nosed fruit bat (Cynopterus sphinx) in southern India
Authors: Storz Jay F. , Balasingh J. , Nathan P. Thiruchenthil , Emmanuel K. , Kunz Thomas H.
Published: July 2002

Patterns of dispersion and site fidelity were investigated in a tent-roosting population of the short-nosed fruit bat, Cynopterus sphinx (Megachiroptera), in southern India. A local population of C. sphinx occupied diurnal roosts in a variable subset of 45 stem tents constructed within the dense foliage of mast trees (Polyalthia longifolia). Individually marked tent-roosting bats were visually censused over the course of a 38-d interval spanning the postpartum oestrus period. On any given day, 33.3–85.7% (mean = 60.8%, SD = 14.2) of adult males roosted singly, with the remainder holding harems of 1–10 breeding females (mean = 3.01, SD = 0.79). Average harem sex ratio was 2.8-fold higher than the adult sex ratio of the total tent-roosting population within the study area, indicating the potential for a high variance in male mating success within a single breeding season. Bats of both sexes typically occupied one primary tent, interspersed with shorter periods of residency in alternate tents. Males exhibited a significantly higher degree of roost fidelity than females. Some females roosted sequentially with different males and with different combinations of females, whereas others remained continuously associated with a single male and/or particular female roostmates over the duration of the census period. There were no statistically significant relationships between physical characteristics of tents and rates of occupancy by males or females. Intermittent transfers by females between groups suggest that the defence of diurnal roosts by males represents a more profitable mating strategy than the direct defence of compositionally labile female groups.
Ecological processes maintaining differential tree species distributions in an Australian subtropical rain forest: implications for models of species coexistence
Authors: Debski Igor , Burslem David F. R. P. , Lamb David
Published: July 2002

All stems ≥ 1 cm dbh were measured, tagged, mapped and identified on a 1-ha plot of rain forest at Gambubal State Forest, south-east Queensland, Australia. The spatial patterns and size class distributions of 11 common tree species on the plot were assessed to search for mechanisms determining their distribution and abundance. The forest was species-poor in comparison to many lowland tropical forests and the common species are therefore present at relatively high densities. Despite this, only limited evidence was found for the operation of density-dependent processes at Gambubal. Daphnandra micrantha saplings were clumped towards randomly spaced adults, indicating a shift of distribution over time caused by differential mortality of saplings in these adult associated clumps. Ordination of the species composition in 25-m × 25-m subplots revealed vegetation gradients at that scale, which corresponded to slope across the plot. Adult basal area was dominated by a few large individuals of Sloanea woollsii but the comparative size class distributions and replacement probabilities of the 11 common species suggest that the forest will undergo a transition to a more mixed composition if current conditions persist. The current cohort of large S. woollsii individuals probably established after a large-scale disturbance event and the forest has not attained an equilibrium species composition.
Herbivory in the epiphyte, Vriesea sanguinolenta Cogn. & Marchal (Bromeliaceae)
Authors: SCHMIDT GEROLD , ZOTZ GERHARD
Published: July 2002

Although herbivory in ground-rooted flora is well documented, current
knowledge of the herbivore pressure on vascular epiphytes remains mostly
anecdotal. Here, we present the results of a 3-year study on the herbivory
in a population of the epiphytic bromeliad Vriesea sanguinolenta. In
different years, 26–61% of all epiphytes showed traces of herbivore
attack, while up to 4.4% of the entire leaf area of the epiphyte population
was consumed annually. The recorded levels of damage to photosynthetic
tissue, mostly caused by the larvae of Napaea eucharilla (Riodinidae,
Lepidoptera), indicate that vascular epiphytes may be regularly and
sometimes even lethally attacked by insect herbivores. The level of damage
is comparable to ground-rooted tropical flora, which certainly does not
support the prevalent notion of low and negligible levels of herbivory in
vascular epiphytes.
Clothing and early modern Venetian society
Authors: ALLERSTON PATRICIA
Published: July 2002

Clothing was paramount in early modern Europe. It accounted for a
significant proportion of household expenditure at many different levels of
society, and attracted much comment. Just as contemporaries described,
often in minute detail, the garments worn by their compatriots, so foreign
visitors to cities and courts devoted considerable attention to the
appearance of the people they encountered. Such close observation was
motivated by a serious purpose since clothing was thought to offer a kind
of window on individuals and societies alike. The instructive qualities
attributed to clothing may help to explain why so many costume books
were printed during the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; they also
shed light on the inclusion of exotic garments in the collections of
curiosities which similarly characterize the period.
Single women in early modern England: attitudes and expectations
Authors: PETERS CHRISTINE
Published: July 2002

In 1584, fearing death, Eleanor Cumpayne, a single woman in the
parish
of Halesowen (Worcestershire), commended her soul to almighty God
and her body to the earth, divided her sheep and money amongst her
godchildren, relatives and friends, and placed particular trust in her

cousin, Margery Cumpayne, who, amongst other duties, was to bestow
the sum of 20s at her funeral. Unlike most testators, Eleanor Cumpayne

survived this fearful illness, dying in the summer eight years later. Eleanor

is also unusual because the detailed provisions establishing her as a single

woman that were made 25 years before her death also survive. In his will

her father, George, bequeathed to her for her natural life a chamber next

to the fire in his house in Hill, a garden, an acre of land, 3s 4d annually,

a cow called Fillpayle, a mare, bedding, the best pot and pan, six sheep

which were to be kept with the rest of the family's sheep and also,
at the
death of her mother, a pasture. The experience of Eleanor Cumpayne, living

semi-independently as a
single woman with the assistance of her family, suggests that the idea
that
early modern society expected all women to marry needs closer
examination. Such a view can indeed be found in prescriptive literature.

The author of The law's resolutions of women's rights
(1632) stated without
hesitation that all women ‘are understood either married or to be

married’. For him women were defined by their marital status, and

marriage was the natural expectation for all women.

Contemporary authors based their ideas of the necessity of marriage
for
women on two main arguments: first, that marriage was natural and
demanded by scripture, particularly as a consequence of the Fall, which

imposed on women the twin obligations of childbearing and subjection to

the authority of a husband; and second, that marriage was an economic
necessity, a notion encapsulated in the well-known adage that ‘To
thrive
one must wive.’ The strength of these arguments in preventing remaining

unmarried from seeming to be a viable and attractive option for early
modern women is the subject of this article. In particular, I shall
concentrate on the second argument, the economic dimension, since it was

in this respect, as the experience of Eleanor Cumpayne suggests, that
social attitudes did most to encourage the possibility of women remaining
unmarried.
Retrieval strategies for case-based reasoning: a categorised bibliography
Authors: AZUAJE FRANCISCO , DUBITZKY WERNER , BLACK NORMAN , ADAMSON KENNY
Published: July 2002

The retrieval of relevant cases plays a crucial role in case-based reasoning. There are three major methods for the retrieval of relevant cases: computational approaches (based upon measures of similarity), representational approaches (based upon indexing structures) and hybrid approaches. This paper looks at recent successful implementations of case retrieval with regard to this classification framework. Similarly it emphasises computational and representational models applied to feature-vector case representations.
Autonomy control software
Authors: HEXMOOR HENRY , DESIANO SALVATORE
Published: July 2002

For a number of years, researchers in AI and robotics have been sharing organisation principles for software development called “architectures” (Arkin, 1998; Hexmoor et al., 1997; Kortenkamp et al., 1998). Most recently, there has been an interest in extending the software architectures originally designed for robotic applications to accommodate autonomous operation beyond robotics (Pell et al., 1998). These architectures attempt to state principles for organising software for intelligent systems that exhibit cognitive functionalities such as natural language understanding, planning and learning, as well as organism-like functionalities to cope in the world such as reflexive and reactive behaviours.
CORRIGENDA ON “NEW COMPARISONS IN BIRNBAUM IMPORTANCE
FOR THE CONSECUTIVE-k-OUT-OF-n SYSTEM”
Authors: Chang Gerard J. , Hwang Frank K. , Cui Lirong
Published: July 2002

In the proof of Theorem 2.6 in [1], we
reduced the comparison of Ii(n)
and Ii+1(n) to
Ii−k(n −
k) and Ii+1(n −
k). Then, we mistakenly stated: “Suppose i
− k > k, then we repeat the same
reduction.” In fact, the reduction can be repeated only
if i′ = n − k − i
= i − k + 1. Consequently, Theorem 2.6
was proved only for t = 2. For similar reasons, Corollary
2.7 was proved only for t = 2, and Theorem 2.8 only for
t = 1.
INTERLANGUAGE PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY
Authors: Major Roy C.
Published: July 2002

This thematic issue explores various aspects of interlanguage phonetics and phonology and
their relationship to general linguistic theory. Research in interlanguage syntax and recently in
discourse and pragmatics has been quite prolific; however, research in interlanguage phonetics
and phonology has produced far fewer studies. Of the nearly 200 articles published in
Studies in Second Language Acquisition (SSLA) during the last 10 years,
only
about a dozen focus on phonetics and phonology. This thematic issue is intended to fill some of
this gap.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PRIOR KNOWLEDGE AND TOPIC INTEREST IN
SECOND LANGUAGE READING
Authors: Carrell Patricia L. , Wise Teresa E.
Published: July 2002

The relationship between prior knowledge of and interest in a topic is complex. Although
knowledge and interest may often go hand in hand, they do not necessarily correlate. The
purpose of this study was to separate the effects of prior knowledge and topic interest on second
language reading comprehension. Participants in the study were 104 students of English as a
second language in an English-for-academic-purposes program at a large American university.
On the basis of a prior-knowledge test and a topic-interest inventory, each student read passages
and took multiple-choice comprehension tests on topics for which they had all four possible
combinations of high and low topic interest and high and low prior knowledge. Results on the
reading comprehension measure for the two main effects of prior knowledge and topic interest,
although in the expected direction, did not reach significance, possibly because of a significant
interaction between those two variables. There was also a significant effect for English
proficiency level, as well as a significant interaction between interest and gender, with males
more influenced by high topic interest than females. Our results are compared to those of other
first and second language studies that have explicitly investigated the interrelationships among
topic interest, prior knowledge, and gender.
SOCIAL LINGUISTICS AND LITERACIES: IDEOLOGY IN DISCOURSES (2nd
ed.).James Paul Gee. Bristol, PA: Taylor & Francis, 1996. Pp. xi + 218.
$75.00 cloth, $25.95 paper.
Authors: Hubbard Norman
Published: July 2002

Social linguistics is now in its second edition and has been integrated into a
series of publications edited by Allan Luke entitled Critical perspectives on literacy and
education. Thoroughly revising his first edition, Gee offers researchers, teachers, and
students a challenging compendium of theory and analysis of language use in society. He
integrates social and political relations of power and dominance into his discussion of
literacies, highlighting the potential ideological conflicts between non-mainstream
communities and schools, conflicts rooted in divergent uses, and evaluations of language.
SECOND LANGUAGE VOCABULARY ACQUISITION.James Coady
& Thomas Huckin (Eds.). New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Pp. x + 299.
$22.95 paper.
Authors: Haynes Margot
Published: July 2002

This multifaceted mosaic of vocabulary acquisition should be in every language
professional's library, nudging us to look beyond size of vocabulary and toward a better
understanding of what Meara (1996) has called its cognitive “organisation.”
SECOND-LANGUAGE SPEECH: STRUCTURE AND PROCESS.Allan
James and Jonathan Leather (Eds.). Berlin: Mouton, 1996. Pp. 348. DM 189 cloth.
Authors: Hoopingarner Dennie
Published: July 2002

Second language speech: Structure and process is a collection of current research
on SLA phonology. The papers in this book vary widely in scope and theoretical stance, but a
recurrent theme is that research in second language phonology can shed light on other areas of
SLA research. Summarized here are those papers that represent mainstream SLA phonology
research, as well as papers that have particular relevance to other areas of SLA research.
Children's understanding of homonymy: metalinguistic awareness and false belief
Authors: DOHERTY MARTIN J.
Published: July 2002

The aim of this study was to explain why children have difficulty with
homonymy. Two experiments were conducted with forty-eight children
(Experiment 1) and twenty-four children (Experiment 2). Three- and
four-year-old children had to either select or judge another person's
selection of a different object with the same name, avoiding identical
objects and misnomers. Older children were successful, but despite
possessing the necessary vocabulary, younger children failed these tasks.
Understanding of homonymy was strongly and significantly associated
to understanding of synonymy, and more importantly, understanding of
false belief, even when verbal mental age, chronological age, and control
measures were partialled out. This indicates that children's ability to
understand homonymy results from their ability to make a distinction
characteristic of representation, a distinction fundamental to both
metalinguistic awareness and theory of mind.
Italian children's understanding of the epistemic and deontic modal verbs dovere (must) and potere (may)
Authors: BASCELLI ELISABETTA , BARBIERI MARIA SILVIA
Published: July 2002

This study assesses children's understanding of the Italian modal verbs dovere (must) and potere (may) in their dual function of qualification of the speaker's beliefs (epistemic modality) and behaviour regulation (deontic modality). 192 children and 60 adults participated in the experiment. Children aged 3;0 to 9;2 were presented with two tasks: one assessed their understanding of modal expressions in the epistemic domain – looking for an object by following the information contained in a sentence; the other assessed their understanding of modal expressions in the deontic domain – acting according to obligations, permissions and prohibitions in the context of a game. Half of the subjects carried out the tasks in a single-sentence format and half carried out the tasks in a double-sentence format. In the single-sentence format the subjects had to follow the directions supplied by a modalized sentence; in the double-sentence format they had to follow the directions supplied by the sentence containing the stronger modal verb. Our results show that the understanding of deontic modal forms precedes the understanding of epistemic modal forms and that a full understanding of the strength of different modal forms is achieved only at eight years.
Narrative discourse in Grammatical specific language impaired children:

a modular language deficit?
Authors: VAN DER LELY HEATHER K. J.
Published: July 2002

This paper provides a further investigation into the linguistic
abilities

of a subgroup of 12 Grammatical specific language impaired (SLI)

children (aged 10;2 to 13;11). The study investigates the use of

referential expressions (e.g. pronouns) in a narrative discourse, and

provides insight into the underlying nature of Grammatical SLI, thereby

contributing to the modularity debate. Previous investigations indicate

that Grammatical SLI children have a deficit with dependent structural

relationships, i.e. a Representational Deficit for Dependent Relationships

(RDDR). Grammatical SLI children's RDDR appears to be a

modular language deficit. To test this claim, linguistic representations
of

dependent structural relationships which are not part of the modular

language system are investigated using a narrative discourse based on

the picture book Frog where are you? The SLI children's pattern
of

referential expressions was compared with 36 language ability controls

(aged 6;4 to 9;8). The findings indicated that the Grammatical SLI

children have relatively mature linguistic development in the use of

referential expressions to produce a cohesive, structured narrative

discourse. The view of the organisation of the mind in which a modular

language system can be differentially impaired from aspects of language

which rely on the central system can most easily account for the data.

Thus, the data support the hypothesized modular nature of Grammatical

SLI children's underlying linguistic deficit. The implications of
the

findings for language acquisition are discussed.
Generic noun phrases in mother–child conversations
Authors: PAPPAS ATHINA , GELMAN SUSAN A.
Published: July 2002

Generic noun phrases (e.g. Tigers are fierce) are of interest
for their
semantic properties: they capture ‘essential’ properties, are
timeless,
and are context-free. The present study examines use of generic noun
phrases by preschool children and their mothers. Mother–child pairs

were videotaped while looking through a book of animal pictures. Each
page depicted either a single instance of a particular category (e.g. one

crab) or multiple instances of a particular category (e.g. many crabs).

The results indicated a striking difference in how generics vs. non-generics

were distributed, both in the speech of mothers and in the
speech of preschool children. Whereas the form of non-generic noun
phrases was closely linked to the structure of the page (i.e. singular
noun
phrases were used more often when a single instance was presented;
plural noun phrases were used more often when multiple instances were
presented), the form of generic noun phrases was independent of the
information depicted (e.g. plural noun phrases were as frequent when
only one instance was presented as when multiple instances were
presented). We interpret the data as providing evidence that generic
noun phrases differ in their semantics and conceptual organization from

non-generic noun phrases, both in the input to young children and in
children's own speech. Thus, this simple linguistic device may provide

input to, and a reflection of, children's early developing notion
of ‘kinds’.
Sources of child vocabulary competence:
a multivariate model
Authors: BORNSTEIN MARC H. , HAYNES MAURICE O. , PAINTER KATHLEEN M.
Published: July 2002

This study examines sources of individual variation in child vocabulary

competence in the context of a multivariate developmental ecological
model. Maternal sociodemographic characteristics, personological characteristics,

and vocabulary, as well as child gender, social competence,
and vocabulary competence were evaluated simultaneously in 126
children aged 1;8 and their mothers. Measures of child vocabulary
competence included two measures each of spontaneous speech, experimenter

assessments, and maternal reports. Maternal measures, from
proximal to distal, included vocabulary, verbal intelligence, personality,

attitudes toward parenting, knowledge of parenting, and SES. Structural

equation modelling supported several direct unique predictive relations:

child gender (girls higher) and social competence as well as maternal
attitudes toward parenting predicted child vocabulary competence, and
mothers' vocabulary predicted child vocabulary comprehension and two

measures of mother-reported child vocabulary expression. In addition,
children's vocabulary competence was influenced indirectly by mothers'

vocabulary, social personality, and knowledge of child development.
Maternal vocabulary itself was positively influenced by SES, maternal
verbal intelligence, and mothers' knowledge about parenting. Individual

variation in child vocabulary competence might best be understood as
arising within a nexus of contextual factors both proximal and distal to

the child.
Longer-term effects of corrective input:
an experimental approach
Authors: SAXTON MATTHEW , KULCSAR BELA , MARSHALL GREER , RUPRA MANDEEP
Published: July 2002

There is growing evidence that corrective input for grammatical
errors
is widely available to children (Farrar, 1992; Morgan, Bonamo &
Travis, 1995). However, controversy still exists concerning the extent
to
which children can identify and exploit available negative input. In
particular, very little is yet known about the longer-term effects of
negative input. Performing a time series analysis on observational data,

Morgan et al. (1995) conclude that corrective recasts are not
related to
future improvements in grammaticality. It is argued here, though, that

the data sets analysed in this study are inherently ill-suited to the
demands of time series analyses. The present study adopts an experimental

approach in order to compare the effects of negative evidence
versus positive input on the acquisition of irregular past tense verb
forms. Twenty-six children (mean age 3;10) participated in a within-subjects

design over a period of five weeks. It was found that improvements
in the grammaticality of child speech were considerably greater in
cases where negative evidence had been provided. Moreover, children's

intuitions concerning the status of irregular and overregularized forms

more closely approximated adult intuitions when corrective input was
available.
What do connectionist simulations tell us?
Authors: GOBET FERNAND
Published: July 2002

In his review, Rispoli's main concern is that Elman et

al.'s book will
aggravate the degree of polarization in developmental psycholinguistics.
I
cannot really comment on this worry, as developmental psycholinguistics
is
not my field. Instead, I will discuss some questions more related to my

background – the role of computational modelling
in Elman et al.'s approach.

Elman et al.'s ambitious goal is to propose theories of
cognitive development
that are grounded in our knowledge of biology. This is of course
what the great Jean Piaget tried to achieve during his lifetime –
unsuccessfully,
as we know. Elman et al.'s advantage over Piaget is that
they have a set
of computational tools, connectionism, which both allows them to specify

theories precisely and to study complex behaviours (such as epigenesis,

where innate and environmental factors interact to create new levels of

complexity) that are just beyond the (unaided) human mind. Even though
I
will highlight some of the weaknesses of their approach below, I should

emphasize that reading their book was an exciting and enjoyable experience.

As noted by Rispoli, there are important problems with the simulations

reported by Elman et al. Rispoli focuses on simulations of past
tense
acquisition and syntax acquisition, but the problems are by no means limited

to these areas. I will briefly consider two recent developments in neural
net
research, one taken from the field of language acquisition, and one from

elsewhere, which underscore some of the difficulties of the simulations

discussed in the book.
Deixis, personal reference, and the use of pronouns by blind children
Authors: PÉREZ-PEREIRA MIGUEL
Published: July 2002

Blind children are considered to use personal reference terms late and
with a great deal of reversal errors. However, in previous research, there
has been a dearth of both quantitative and qualitative data on their use
of pronouns. In the present paper data from a longitudinal study of five
children (three totally blind, one partially sighted, and one sighted) is
presented. The children had different ages at the begining of the study,
ranging from 0;9 to 2;5, and were followed for a time span of over 12
months. Every spatial deictic term and personal reference term used by
the children was analysed. Special attention was given to the analysis of
the reversal errors. The data obtained clearly showed that the blind
children began to use personal reference terms as early as the sighted
children, and that the use of reversals was not a general characteristic of
the language of the blind children, since only one of the four blind or
partially sighted children produced a noticeable percentage of reversals.
The analysis of the contexts in which reversal errors were produced
showed that imitation does not fully explain them, and some proposals
for a multiplex explanation of reversals are offered. Thus, the data do not
give support to the idea that blind children in general show problems
with pronouns, nor to those claims that link blind children with autistic
children in this regard.
Special varieties in adjunction theory and ample vector bundles
Authors: LANTERI A. , MAEDA H.
Published: July 2002

In this paper varieties are always assumed to be defined over the field [Copf ] of complex
numbers.

Given a smooth projective variety Z, the classification of smooth projective varieties X
containing Z as an ample divisor occupies an extremely important position in
the theory of polarized varieties and it is well-known that the structure of Z imposes
severe restrictions on that of X. Inspired by this philosophy, we set up the following
condition ([midast ]) in [LM1] in order to generalize several results on ample divisors to
ample vector bundles:

([midast ]) [Escr ] is an ample vector bundle of rank r [ges ] 2 on a smooth projective variety X of
dimension n such that there exists a global section s ∈ Γ([Escr ]) whose zero locus
Z = (s)0 is a smooth subvariety of X of dimension
n − r [ges ] 1.
The Mediterranean: marine protected areas and the recovery of a large marine ecosystem
Authors: GOÑI RAQUEL , POLUNIN NICHOLAS V.C. , PLANES SERGE
Published: July 2002

In the Mediterranean, fishing is an ancient tradition and signs of its presence can be found everywhere along its coasts. In early times, most fishing was carried out from land with small nets and traps and only a portion of the fishing operations was carried out from boats away from the coast. Over time, growth of human populations along the Mediterranean coasts led to the expansion of sea fishing and gradual depletion of many near-shore stocks. Until recently, fishing in the Mediterranean retained its artisanal character. The type of small vessels, the fishing gears and labour-intensive character of the operations had changed little from generation to generation. However, some fishing practices benefited greatly from the advent of new technologies, such as those that replaced sails by powered engines, or the incorporation of fish-finding devices and efficient gear-handling techniques. These developments added to a growing market demand from
the booming Mediterranean population, and led to overfishing of the most vulnerable target populations.
A review of machine learning in dynamic scheduling of flexible
manufacturing systems
Authors: PRIORE PAOLO , DE LA FUENTE DAVID , GOMEZ ALBERTO , PUENTE JAVIER
Published: July 2002

A common way of dynamically scheduling jobs in a flexible
manufacturing system (FMS) is by means of dispatching rules.
The problem of this method is that the performance of these
rules depends on the state the system is in at each moment,
and no single rule exists that is better than the rest in all
the possible states that the system may be in. It would therefore
be interesting to use the most appropriate dispatching rule
at each moment. To achieve this goal, a scheduling approach
which uses machine learning can be used. Analyzing the previous
performance of the system (training examples) by means of this
technique, knowledge is obtained that can be used to decide
which is the most appropriate dispatching rule at each moment
in time. In this paper, a review of the main machine learning-based
scheduling approaches described in the literature is presented.
Prevalence of hepatitis B anti-core antibody in the Republic of Ireland
Authors: O'CONNELL T. , THORNTON L. , O'FLANAGAN D. , STAINES A. , CONNELL J. , DOOLEY S. , McCORMACK G.
Published: July 2002

The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of hepatitis B exposure in the population
of the Republic of Ireland, by measuring the prevalence of hepatitis B anti-core antibody in
oral fluid collected by postal survey.

A random multi-stage stratified sample of Irish households was obtained, using the Irish
electoral register as the sampling frame. A total of 962 households were selected, and a
household response rate of 60·4% was achieved. Oral fluid specimens totalling 1714 were tested
for antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc), using an Immune Capture Enzyme
Immuno-Assay. Five specimens (0·29%) were found to contain anti-HBc. Adjusting for study
design, the estimated anti-HBc prevalence in the Republic of Ireland is 0·51%.

This study demonstrates that self-collection of oral fluid samples is acceptable to the public,
and based upon the data generated, that the Republic of Ireland has a low prevalence of
hepatitis B infection.
In vitro susceptibility studies and detection of vancomycin

resistance genes in clinical isolates of enterococci in Nagasaki, Japan
Authors: HIRAKATA Y. , YAMAGUCHI T. , IZUMIKAWA K. , MATSUDA J. , TOMONO K. , KAKU M. , KOGA H. , YAMADA Y. , KOHNO S. , KAMIHIRA S.
Published: July 2002

Glycopeptide resistance in enterococci is now a cause of clinical

concern in the United States

and Europe. However, details of vancomycin resistance in enterococci in

Japan have been

unknown. We measured minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of various

antimicrobial agents for a total of 218 clinical strains of enterococci
isolated in

our hospital in 1995–6 in

addition to 15 strains with known genotypic markers of resistance. We also
screened

vancomycin resistance genes using a single step multiplex-PCR.

In clinical isolates, only two strains of Enterococcus gallinarum

were of intermediate

resistance to vancomycin (MIC, 8 μg/ml), while the others

were all susceptible. Glycopeptides

(vancomycin and teicoplanin) and streptogramins (RP 58500 and RPR 106972)

showed potent

antimicrobial effects for the isolates. In addition, ampicillin was also

potent for Enterococcus

faecalis, while ampicillin, minocycline and gentamicin were potent
for

Enterococcus avium. No

vanA or vanB genes were detected, while

vanC1 and vanC23 genes were detected

from two and

four strains, respectively. Our results suggest that incidence of VRE in
Japan

may be estimated as still very low at this time.
Pathogenicity in isolates of Salmonella enterica serotype

Enteritidis PT4 which differ in RpoS expression: effects of
growth phase and low temperature
Authors: HUMPHREY T. J. , WILLIAMS A. , McALPINE K. , JØRGENSEN F. , O'BYRNE C.
Published: July 2002

Experiments with 2 wild type isolates of Salmonella enterica

serotype Enteritidis PT4, which
differed in RpoS expression, tolerance to certain hostile environments
and pathogenicity,
found that changes in in vitro acid, heat, or
peroxide tolerance had no effect on the ability of
the isolates to multiply in the spleens of C57/BL7/J mice
infected orally. Thus, with the
pathogenic RpoS-positive isolate, the infectivity of log phase
chilled cells, which are profoundly
acid-sensitive, was the same as that of non-chilled stationary phase cells
which are
acid-tolerant. Similarity the infectivity of the RpoS-negative,
sensitive isolate, was not enhanced by
increases in any tolerance. The ability to survive on surfaces, like
infectivity, was also largely
unaffected by either growth phase or cold exposure. These two attributes
may thus be related
and, given that the pathogenic PT4 isolate is capable of prolonged survival
and the
non-pathogenic isolate survives poorly, survival could serve
as a potential marker of pathogenicity.
Although the pathogenicity of the two isolates was very different, they
showed an almost
identical increase in acid tolerance following culture at pH 4·0
for up to 60 min.
A campylobacter outbreak associated with stir-fried food
Authors: EVANS M. R. , LANE W. , FROST J. A. , NYLEN G.
Published: July 2002

An outbreak of gastrointestinal illness affecting 12 of
29 customers of a ‘Hawaiian’ theme
restaurant specializing in stir-fried food occurred in Cardiff, Wales in
February 1997.
Campylobacter jejuni serotype HS50 phage type 49 (PT49)
was isolated from 5 cases. A total of
47 isolates of C. jejuni HS50 PT49 were identified
from Wales during 1997, of which 11 were
isolated in late February or early March and from the Cardiff area. In
the outbreak, illness
was associated with eating stir-fried chicken pieces (relative risk
4·81, 95% confidence interval
(CI) 0·76–30·44, P=0·03) and a
dose-response relationship between risk of illness and amount
of chicken consumed was observed (χ2-test for linear
trend 3·96, P=0·047). Undercooking of
chicken was probably due to a combination of inadequate cooking time and
use of large
chicken pieces. This is the first time that stir-fried food has been associated
with a
campylobacter outbreak. The incident also illustrates the value of routine
campylobacter
subtyping in supporting outbreak investigation.
Proteinuria is associated with persistence of antibody to
streptococcal M protein in Aboriginal Australians
Authors: GOODFELLOW A. M. , HOY W. E. , SRIPRAKASH K. S. , DALY M. J. , REEVE M. P. , MATHEWS J. D.
Published: July 2002

Aboriginal communities in Northern Australia with high rates of
group A streptococcal (GAS)
skin infection in childhood also have high rates of renal failure in adult
life. In a cross-sectional study of one such high risk community, albuminuria was used as
a marker of renal
disease. The prevalence of albuminuria increased from 0/52 in subjects
aged 10–19 years to
10/29 (32·9%) in those aged 50 or more (P<0·001).
Antibodies to streptococcal M protein,
markers of past GAS infection, were present in 48/52 (92%) at ages
10–19 years, 16/32 (50%)
at ages 30–39, and 20/29 (69%) in those aged 50 or more. After
allowing for the age-dependencies of albuminuria and of M protein antibodies (P<0·001)
albuminuria was
significantly associated with M protein antibodies (P<0·01).
Thus, 72% of adults aged 30 or
more with M protein antibodies also had albuminuria, compared with only
21% of those who
were seronegative. More detailed modelling suggested that although most
Aboriginal people in
this community developed M protein antibodies following GAS infection in
childhood, the
development of proteinuria was associated with the persistence of such
seropositivity into adult
life. The models predicted that proteinuria developed at a mean age of
30 years in seropositive
persons, at 45 years in seronegative persons who were overweight, and at
62 years in
seronegative persons of normal weight. We demonstrated a clear association
between evidence
of childhood GAS infection and individual risk of proteinuria in adult
life. This study provided
a strong rationale for prevention of renal disease through the more effective
control of GAS
skin infections in childhood and through the prevention of obesity in adult
life.
Classical swine fever in Sardinia: epidemiology of recent
outbreaks
Authors: LOWINGS P. , IBATA G. , DE MIA G. M. , RUTILI D. , PATON D.
Published: July 2002

A variable region of the gene encoding the major glycoprotein (E2) of Classical Swine Fever
Virus (CSFV) was sequenced from 12 Sardinian isolates which had been obtained from three
geographically distinct regions of the Island. Phylogenetic analysis of these viruses and others
characterized in previous studies [1, 2] indicated that (a) the Sardinian viruses were all members
of the common European subgroup 2·3 and were clearly distinct from live vaccines recently
used in this area; (b) they could be resolved into four distinct groups in accordance with the
region or date of isolation; (c) in at least two regions wild boar/domestic swine contact was
implicated in virus spread; (d) the oldest isolate (1983) and some of the recent isolates were
possibly introduced from mainland Italy. In addition, this study has wider implications for the
interpretation of CSFV variation. We have been able to demonstrate that small variations
within this region of the virus genome (possibly less than 2·7% or five nucleotide substitutions)
can be used to separate isolates into groups that precisely fit their geographical distribution.
This finding is especially important for deducing the epidemiological relationships between
multiple outbreaks caused by similar viruses that occur in close proximity.
Predicting and preventing measles epidemics in New Zealand:
application of a mathematical model
Authors: ROBERTS M. G. , TOBIAS M. I.
Published: July 2002

A mathematical model of the dynamics of measles in New Zealand was developed in 1996. The
model successfully predicted an epidemic in 1997 and was instrumental in the decision to carry
out an intensive MMR (measles–mumps–rubella) immunization campaign in that year. While
the epidemic began some months earlier than anticipated, it was rapidly brought under control,
and its impact on the population was much reduced. In order to prevent the occurrence of
further epidemics in New Zealand, an extended version of the model has since been developed
and applied to the critical question of the optimal timing of MMR immunization.
Widespread environmental contamination with Norwalk-like
viruses (NLV) detected in a prolonged hotel outbreak of
gastroenteritis
Authors: CHEESBROUGH J. S. , GREEN J. , GALLIMORE C. I. , WRIGHT P. A. , BROWN D. W. G.
Published: July 2002

A protracted outbreak of Norwalk-like virus (NLV)-associated gastroenteritis occurred in a
large hotel in North-West England between January and May 1996. We investigated the
pattern of environmental contamination with NLV in the hotel during and after the outbreak.
In the ninth week, 144 environmental swabs taken from around the hotel were tested for NLV
by nested RT–PCR. The sites were categorized according to the likelihood of direct
contamination with vomit/faeces. The highest proportion of positive samples were detected in
directly contaminated carpets, but amplicons were detected in sites above 1·5 m which are
unlikely to have been contaminated directly. The trend in positivity of different sites paralleled
the diminishing likelihood of direct contamination. A second environmental investigation of the
same sites 5 months after the outbreak had finished were all negative by RT–PCR. This study
demonstrates for the first time the extent of environmental contamination that may occur
during a large NLV outbreak.
Population dynamics, breeding patterns and spatial use of the garden dormouse (Eliomys quercinus) in an Alpine habitat
Authors: Bertolino Sandro , Viano Cristina , Currado Italo
Published: July 2002

Population dynamics, breeding patterns and spatial use of the garden dormouse Eliomys quercinus were studied for 3 years in a larch woodland in the Alps. Animals were caught with live‐traps, once a month from May to September, and marked with transponder tags. Population density ranged from a minimum of 8.3 individuals/10 ha to a maximum of 49.4 individuals/10 ha when juveniles became trappable. The activity season of the garden dormouse lasts 5 months and allows the animals to reproduce only once a year. Birth rates fell between the middle of June and the middle of August. The dormouse population was characterized by high stability and adults continued to live in the same area from year to year. The main factor limiting the survival of individuals was winter mortality. Survival on the trapping grid through hibernation was 36–50% for adults and c. 32% for juveniles. During the mating season, males and females were aggregated and overlapped their ranges, and after the mating season, they spread out. The tendency of the reproductive females to have separate non‐overlapping ranges is indicative of a probable territorial behaviour in females during gestation and lactation.
Geographic variation in the Tete veld rat Aethomys ineptus (Rodentia: Muridae) from southern Africa
Authors: Chimimba C. T.
Published: July 2002

The Tete veld rat Aethomys ineptus Thomas & Wroughton, 1908 is a newly recognized, widely distributed species in southern Africa. Analysis of geographic variation among samples of A. ineptus from southern Africa across a more comprehensive geographical range than has previously been considered suggests that the species has a clinal pattern of variation in which overall cranial size was positively and significantly correlated with longitude. While the suggested clinal pattern of cranial size variation may be valid, the status of some operational taxonomic units, however, may require further refinement involving additional sampling as well as other systematic techniques, such as DNA analysis, cytogenetics and geometric morphometrics. These additional studies may have to include geographic information systems, step‐wise multiple regression, and trend‐surface analysis involving a wide range of environmental parameters to identify factors that may explain the nature and extent of the delineated pattern of geographic variation within A. ineptus from southern Africa. Consequently, the seven previously recognized subspecies recently assigned to A. ineptus in southern Africa (A. chrysophilus tzaneenensis Jameson, 1909; A. c. pretoriae Roberts, 1913; A. c. magalakuini Roberts, 1926; A. c. capricornis Roberts, 1926; A. c. tongensis Roberts, 1931; A. c. fouriei Roberts, 1946; and A. c. harei Roberts, 1946) are only provisionally synonymized.
Annual and seasonal variation of survival rates in the garden dormouse (Eliomys quercinus)
Authors: Schaub Michael , Vaterlaus‐Schlegel Christian
Published: July 2002

Annual local survival of the garden dormouse Elyomis quercinus, a small, hibernating rodent, was studied by Cormack–Jolly–Seber models. The survival rates differed significantly between the 4 years of the study; the average rate was 0.38 (95% confidence interval: 0.25–0.52). Survival rates were not significantly different between sexes. Because all garden dormice were captured after weaning, pre‐weaning survival could not be estimated. After weaning, the annual survival rates did not differ between age cohorts. In order to find out which phases within the annual cycle were more prone to mortality, survival was studied on a bimonthly scale as well. Survival during hibernation was estimated to be close to unity, while survival during the active phase of life in summer was considerably lower. The winter temperatures of the study years were similar to the long‐year average; thus garden dormice were well adapted to these average conditions. Although hibernation is energetically challenging, it is not necessarily accompanied by increased mortality, as found in other studies focusing on survival during hibernation.
The Southern Shift in Memphis, Tennessee
Authors: Fridland Valerie
Published: July 2002

This article investigates the Southern Vowel Shift—a
possibly interrelated series of rotations in vowel space
currently affecting the dialects of southern speakers—in
terms of examining its classification as a chain-shift
process and, more generally, providing a descriptive account
of the phonetic character of the changes in each individual
vowel class. Based on the work of Labov (1991, 1994) and
Feagin (1986), it has been suggested that the Southern
Shift involves changes in both the front vowels and the
back vowels, with the tense and lax front vowel nuclei
essentially switching places and the back vowels moving
forward. The relationship of these changes in the front
vowels and those in the back vowels has not been firmly
established, but they appear to be driven by different
social and linguistic forces. What is happening to the
low front, the mid, and the low back vowel classes in the
Southern Shift has only been superficially explored. A
detailed instrumental analysis of the vowel systems of
25 native Memphians of selected ages, socioeconomic classes,
and genders is presented, revealing the movement of vowel
classes which seem to be playing an important role in the
instigation or perpetuation of the Southern Shift. This
analysis points out discrepancies about how previously
cited vocalic changes are embedded in mid-southern speech
and provides a picture of how these changes are affecting
other changes in the system. The results suggest that,
while many of the changes cited in the literature are indeed
present in the sample, the interrelatedness of these changes
and their prognosis to move to completion are not so clear.
Relational Psychotherapy Mothers' Group: A developmentally informed intervention
for at-risk mothers
Authors: LUTHAR SUNIYA S. , SUCHMAN NANCY E.
Published: July 2002

The Relational Psychotherapy Mothers' Group (RPMG), a developmentally informed,
supportive psychotherapy designed to serve heroin-addicted mothers with children up to 16 years
of age, aims at addressing psychosocial vulnerabilities, and facilitating optimal parenting, among
at-risk mothers. We present preliminary evidence on the efficacy of RPMG as an “add
on” treatment in comparison with standard methadone counseling alone. At the end of the
24-week treatment period, mothers receiving RPMG plus standard methadone counseling
demonstrated lower levels of risk for child maltreatment, greater involvement with their children,
and more positive psychosocial adjustment than women who received methadone counseling
alone. Children of RPMG participants also reflected fewer problems in multiple areas. At 6
months posttreatment, RPMG recipients continued to be at a relative advantage, although the
magnitude of group differences was often attenuated. Notably, urinalyses indicated that RPMG
mothers showed greater improvements in levels of opioid use over time than comparison
mothers.