bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Computing Postgraduate Programmes in the UK and Brazil
Authors: Barroca Leonor , Gimenes Itana M. S.
Published: December 2012

Education can benefit from experiences and collaborations across different countries and cultures. The authors carried out a study to analyse the experiences of the use of Web 2.0 tools in distance education in the UK and propose a set of lessons that can be applied in the Brazilian context. The recent economic growth in Brazil has resulted in a strong demand for further education. Distance education has emerged as a strong contestant to address this demand. The authors present, in this chapter, the case of the provision of postgraduate education for professionals at a distance. Distance education in Brazil is currently gathering support as it offers great potential to address the big geographic and social divides. However, there are many barriers and misconceptions that perpetuate a climate of distrust. Their study draws a set of lessons learned focusing on the benefits that distance education can bring to the development of professional postgraduate education in technical and engineering areas, in the light of the experience of The Open University (OU) in the UK. They emphasise the support that Web 2.0 can bring to these experiences, but also draw attention to the quality that the production process plays in the learning experiences. These lessons address the following: support for skills development with Web 2.0 technologies, the role of the digital educator, open educational resources, open education and social dimension, and quality and pedagogy in the educational process.
Assessing E-Health in Africa
Authors: D’Andrea Alessia , Ferri Fernando , Grifoni Patrizia
Published: December 2012

The aim of this chapter is to discuss the e-health readiness assessment in Africa by analysing the ICT usage and the different barriers for the implementation of e-health technologies. Moreover, the chapter analyses the e-health prospective by describing tree different e-health application areas: (1) electronic medical records, (2) telemedicine, and (3) e-commerce of health products.
Information Therapy (Ix) Service and Patients’ Preference
Authors: Gavgani Vahideh Zarea
Published: December 2012

To establish, encourage and support a successful Information Therapy service in a developing country, it is essential to identify the preferences of patients, their information needs and attitudes toward CHI and Ix. In this paper, the author examines the attitudes of patients receiving health information and information prescription in Iran. An exploratory survey with an open interview and structured questionnaire was conducted to gather data from patients of educational hospitals and clinics in Tabriz, Iran. Tabriz’s diverse dialects and literacy levels mimic a developing nation, ensuring that the findings are transferable to other developing countries. The study reveals that patients’ information needs are generally related to basic issues of health. The level of literacy impacts neither the demand for health information nor the patients’ preferred channel to receive CHI and information prescription. A localized approach, considering the socioeconomic and cultural aspects of a developing country like Iran and its limitation in using applications of information and communication technology, would make the Information Therapy and Consumer Health Information Services successful.
Bring Out Your Data
Authors: Grissom Thomas E. , DuKatz Andrew , Kordylewski Hubert A. , Dutton Richard P.
Published: December 2012

Recent healthcare legislation, financial pressures, and regulatory oversight have increased the need to create improved mechanisms for performance measurement, quality management tracking, and outcomes-based research. The Anesthesia Quality Institute (AQI) has established the National Anesthesia Clinical Outcomes Registry (NACOR) to support these requirements for a wide-range of customers including individual anesthesiologists, anesthesia practices, hospitals, and credentialing agencies. Concurrently, the availability of increased digital sources of healthcare data make it possible to capture massive quantities of data in a more efficient and cost-effective manner than ever before. With NACOR, AQI has established a user-friendly, automated process to effectively and efficiently collect a wide-range of anesthesia-related data directly from anesthesia practices. This review will examine the issues guiding the evolution of NACOR as well as some potential pitfalls in its growth and usage.
Protecting a Distributed Voting Schema for Anonymous and Secure Voting Against Attacks of Malicious Partners
Authors: Obermeier Sebastian , Böttcher Stefan
Published: December 2012

A distributed protocol is presented for anonymous and secure voting that is failure-tolerant with respect to malicious behavior of individual participants and that does not rely on a trusted third party. The proposed voting protocol was designed to be executed on a fixed group of N known participants, each of them casting one vote that may be a vote for abstention. Several attack vectors on the protocol are presented, and the detection of malicious behavior like spying, suppressing, inventing, and modifying protocol messages or votes by the protocol is shown. If some participants stop the protocol, a fair information exchange is achieved in the sense that either all votes are guaranteed to be valid and accessible to all participants, or malicious behavior has been detected and the protocol is stopped, but the votes are not disclosed.
Applications of Intelligent Agents in Hospital Search and Appointment System
Authors: Edwards Tyrone , Sankaranarayanan Suresh
Published: December 2012

Access to the correct healthcare facility is a major concern for most people, many of whom gather information about the existing hospitals and healthcare facilities in their locality. After gathering such information, people must do a comparison of the information, make a selection, and then make an appointment with the concerned doctor. The time spent for this purpose would be a major constraint for many individuals. Research is currently underway in this area on incorporating Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to improve the services available in the health industry. This paper proposes an agent based approach to replicate the same search operations as the individual would otherwise do, by employing an intelligent agent. The proposed agent based system has been simulated and also validated through implementation on an individual’s smart phone or a PDA using JADE-LEAP agent development kit.
Intelligent Store Agent for Mobile Shopping
Authors: Brown Ryan Anthony , Sankaranarayanan Suresh
Published: December 2012

The conventional shopping process involves a human being visiting a designated store and perusing first the items available. A purchase decision is then made based on the information so gathered. However, a number of unique challenges a human shopper would face, if he/she prefers to execute this process using a mobile device, such as a phone. Taking this aspect into consideration, the authors propose the use of an Intelligent Agent for performing the Mobile Shopping on behalf of customers. In this situation, the agents gather information about the products through the use of ‘Store Coordinator Agents’ and then use them for comparing with the user preferences. The proposed agent based system is composed of two agents, viz., a User Agent and Store Coordinator Agent. The implementation of the scheme so proposed has been done using JADE-LEAP development kit and the performance results are discussed in the paper.
Learning to Accept Uncertainty as a Quality of Care Dimension
Authors: Kazandjian Vahé A.
Published: December 2012

Uncertainty in clinical decision-making is integral to the pathways chosen while applying available knowledge to a patient’s care process. This chapter explores the ways in which uncertainty can be incorporated into the understanding of better performance approaches, and is thus proposed as an enabling dimension of performance. Tracing the keystone definitions of uncertainty from Hippocrates to Osler, the discussion addresses the dimensions of decision - making appropriateness, its timeliness, the expected and actual value of the care services, and the role of systematic communication between providers of care as well as with patients. The crucial role of Health Information Technology is emphasized, and a unifying model is proposed where the inclusion of uncertainty as a dimension of performance promotes an encompassing evaluation of the quality of health care services.
Risk Perception as a Patient Safety Dimension
Authors: Moumtzoglou Anastasius
Published: December 2012

Clinical risk management has been shaped by the growing consciousness of the number of errors, incidents, and near-misses that occur in healthcare and their impact on the safety of patients. Instead, patient safety emphasizes performance, team and system orientation, the regulatory framework, and patient centeredness. However, the patient safety movement, dealing either with the person or system approach, is only one aspect of patient safety. Risk perception, as a patient safety dimension, comes into play through personalized self-care. As a result, tailored health communication, that is, any combination of information and behavior change strategies, intended to reach one specific person based on information unique to that person, and derived from an individual assessment, is essential.
Peer-to-Peer Network-Based Image Retrieval
Authors: Su Chun-Rong , Chen Jiann-Jone
Published: December 2012

Performing Content-Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) in Internet connected databases through Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network (P2P-CBIR) helps to effectively explore the large-scale image database distributed over connected peers. Decentralized unstructured P2P framework is adopted in our system to compromise with the structured one while still reserving flexible routing control when peers join/leave or network fails. The P2P- CBIR search engine is designed to provide multi-instance query with multi-feature types to effectively reduce network traffic while maintaining high retrieval accuracy. In addition, the proposed P2P-CBIR system is also designed in the way to provide scalable retrieval function, which can adaptively control the query scope and progressively refine the accuracy of retrieved results. To reflect the most updated local database characteristics for the P2P-CBIR users, reconfiguring system at each regular interval time can effectively reduce trivial peer routing and retrieval operations due to imprecise configuration. Experiments demonstrated that the average recall rate of the proposedP2P-CBIR with reconfiguration is higher than the one without about 20%, and the latter outperforms previous methods, i.e., firework query model (FQM) and breadth-first search (BFS) about 20% and 120%, respectively, under the same range of TTL values.
Design and Implementation of Binary Tree Based Proactive Routing Protocols for Large MANETS
Authors: Pandey Pavan Kumar , Biswas G. P.
Published: December 2012

The Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) is a collection of connected mobile nodes without any centralized administration. Proactive routing approach is one of those categories of proposed routing protocol which is not suitable for larger network due to their high overhead to maintain routing table for each and every node. The novelty of this approach is to form a binary tree structure of several independent sub-networks by decomposing a large network to sub-networks. Each sub-network is monitored by an agent node which is selected by several broadcasted regulations. Agent node maintains two routing information; one for local routing within the sub-network and another for routing through all other agent node. In routing mechanism first source node checks for destination within sub-network then source sends destination address to respective parent agent node if destination is not available in local routing, this process follows up to the destination node using agent mode. This approach allowed any proactive routing protocol with scalability for every routing mechanism. The proposed approach is thoroughly analyzed and its justification for the connectivity through sub-networks, routing between each source to destination pair, scalability, etc., are given, which show expected performance.
Grouping the Similar among the Disconnected Bloggers
Authors: Agarwal Nitin , Mahata Debanjan
Published: December 2012

Social interactions are an essential ingredient of our lives. People convene groups and share views, opinions, thoughts, and perspectives. Similar tendencies for social behavior are observed in the World Wide Web. This inspires us to study and understand social interactions evolving in online social media, especially in the blogosphere. In this chapter, the authors study and analyze various interaction patterns in community and individual blogs. This would lead to better understanding of the implicit ties between these blogs to foster collaboration, improve personalization, predictive modeling, and enable tracking and monitoring. Tapping interactions among bloggers via link analysis has its limitations due to the sparse nature of the links among the blogs and an exponentially large search space. The authors present two methodologies to observe interaction within the blogs via observed events addressing the challenges with link analysis-based approaches by studying the opinion and sentiments of the bloggers towards the events and the entities associated with the events. The authors present two case studies: (1) “Saddam Hussein’s Verdict” and (2) “The Death of Osama Bin Laden.” Through these case studies, they leverage their proposed models and report their findings and observations. Although the models offer promising opportunities, there are a few limitations. The authors discuss these challenges and envisage future directions to make the model more robust.
On Group Extraction and Fusion for Tag-Based Social Recommendation
Authors: Xu Guandong , Gu Yanhui , Yi Xun
Published: December 2012

With the recent information explosion, social websites have become popular in many Web 2.0 applications where social annotation services allow users to annotate various resources with freely chosen words, i.e., tags, which can facilitate users’ finding preferred resources. However, obtaining the proper relationship among user, resource, and tag is still a challenge in social annotation-based recommendation researches. In this chapter, the authors aim to utilize the affinity relationship between tags and resources and between tags and users to extract group information. The key idea is to obtain the implicit relationship groups among users, resources, and tags and then fuse them to generate recommendation. The authors experimentally demonstrate that their strategy outperforms the state-of-the-art algorithms that fail to consider the latent relationships among tagging data.
Facebook Comparison Research
Authors: Terantino Joseph M.
Published: December 2012

This chapter discusses the adoption of the social networking site Facebook for use in foreign language courses. By comparing university faculty and student perceptions, the study presented aims to determine if faculty and students view the potential of using Facebook for foreign languages differently. It also aims to determine if there is specific reasoning behind the current relative lack of use of Facebook for foreign languages. Data was collected via faculty and student surveys modeled after the work of Roblyer, McDaniel, Webb, Herman, and Witty (2010) in addition to follow-up interviews. The survey responses from the foreign language faculty (n=29) and students (n=152) indicate that both faculty and students utilize Facebook for personal use; however, the nature of this use varies. In addition, although students are more likely to have used Facebook previously for academic purposes than were the foreign language faculty members, there were mixed results in both groups concerning the use of Facebook for foreign language courses. Last, the results of follow-up interviews reveal that both faculty and students feel there is an array of potentially useful tools available on Facebook for language learning and teaching; however, faculty indicated a need for further training to implement these tools in their teaching. Based on these findings, the chapter ends with a discussion of practical implications and directions for future research.
The “Online Teaching, Design, and Development” Course
Authors: Hai-Jew Shalin
Published: December 2012

“Online Teaching, Design and Development” was created as a 5-week instructor-facilitated online course to support the instructors at Kansas State University (K-State) in creating online courses and whole degree programs in the distance mode. This dual-track course accommodated both K-12 and university-level instructors, from on- and off-campus. This chapter describes how the course was conceptualized, structured, and deployed. This describes the curricular design and strategies; the creation of the various digital learning objects, the creation of the rubric evaluation structure, the assignment design, and the interactivity plan; and the course housekeeping management. Faculty members (learners) were recruited from both main and branch campuses at K-State and from other institutions of higher education using the Axio™ Learning/Course Management System (L/CMS), which was showcased in the curriculum. The lessons learned from the four years that this course has been offered (twice annually at minimum) include insights on the challenges of learner retention, the importance of learner incentives and record-keeping, and curriculum design and evolution. The curriculum was structured to have faculty build parts of an online course as they proceeded, so that all academic work done was also professional academic work towards building their online course(s). This chapter describes an online learning design structure that was sufficiently open to accommodate a variety of domain fields and teaching approaches and that encouraged peer support among faculty in the co-building of their respective courses.
Using Public Relations Process in Setting up Websites
Authors: Özkanal Berrin
Published: December 2012

Information and communication technologies play a key role in public relations applications in creating an effective communication between institutions and target audiences and student support services of distance education institutions. The necessity of making use of new communication technologies by educational institutions is because they obtain and spread information. While distance education provides students an opportunity of independent and individual study, it also should make teaching and learning process easier and more interesting for students. The aim of this study is to propose a model for open and distance education universities in using public relations process in setting up websites. It can be put forward if the public relations process is applied in public relations applications carried out on the Web.
The Role of Authentic Science Research and Education Outreach in Increasing Community Resilience
Authors: Hall Cynthia , Easley Regina , Howard Joniqua , Halfhide Trina
Published: December 2012

Active, multi-dimensional learning is needed to establish higher-level scientific inquiry. Researchers who are engaged in scientific discovery are a valuable resource to communicate the link between science, society, and sustainability. Nontraditional settings like faith-based organizations and hobbies can play an important role in fostering greater scientific understanding. This chapter highlights the role that community structure (social, racial, and economic demographics) plays in developing successful project components by considering various theoretical frameworks to communicate sustainability principles to underserved communities. The researchers in these case studies presented the topics of ocean acidification and healthy soil to inner-city communities in Tampa, FL and Philadelphia, PA by utilizing authentic science research activities. Learners maximized the opportunities to construct new hypotheses and improve decision-making related to environmental stewardship behaviors and food security issues. A secondary but transformative outcome was increased interest in STEM fields among youth in cities with traditionally low performing schools.
Effect of packing on changes in erythrocyte osmotic fragility and malondialdehyde concentration in donkeys administered with ascorbic acid
Authors: Olaifa Folashade , Ayo Joseph O. , Ambali Suleiman F. , Rekwot Peter I.
Published: December 2012

Experiments were performed with the aim of investigating the effect of packing on erythrocyte osmotic fragility (EOF) and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration in donkeys, and the effect of ascorbic acid (AA). Twelve apparently healthy donkeys raised under the traditional extensive system served as experimental subjects. Six donkeys administered orally with AA (200 mg/kg) and subjected to packing were used as experimental animals, whilst six others not administered with AA served as controls. Blood samples were collected pre- and post-packing from all the donkeys for the determination of MDA and EOF. At 0.3% Sodium Chloride (NaCl) concentration, the percentage haemolysis was 93.69% ± 2.21% in the control donkeys and the value was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than the value of 71.31% ± 8.33%, recorded in the experimental donkeys. The post-packing MDA concentration obtained in the control donkeys was 39.62 µmol ± 4.16 µmol, and was not significantly different (P > 0.05) from the value of 35.97 µmol ± 2.88 µmol recorded in the experimental donkeys. In conclusion, the increase in haemolysis obtained in the donkeys suggested that packing induced oxidative stress, which was ameliorated by AA administration.
Power quality improvement in switched mode power supplies using two stage DC-DC converter
Authors: Singh Shikha , Bhuvaneswari G , Singh Bhim
Published: December 2012

This paper deals with an improved power quality multiple output switched mode power supply (SMPS) using two stage DCDC converter. A non-isolated buck-boost DC-DC converter is used as the first stage whereas single ended primary inductance converter (SEPIC) is used in the second stage. The first stage of buck-boost converter is designed in discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) for inherent power factor (PF) correction. Design and simulations of the two stage DC-DC converter with load variations on the SMPS are performed in MATLAB software to demonstrate the effectiveness of the multiple output DC-DC converter to have a stiff voltage regulation and negligible ripple.Keywords: DC-DC converter; Two stage; PFC; THD; Buck-boost converter; SEPIC; SMPS; Power quality
PMBLDCG based stand-alone wind energy conversion system for small scale applications
Authors: Singh Bhim , Sharma Shailendra
Published: December 2012

This paper deals with a permanent magnet brushless DC generator (PMBLDCG) based stand-alone wind energy conversion system (WECS) for small scale power generation. A buck-boost DC-DC converter is used for controlling the PMBLDCG speed to achieve optimum energy output from the wind turbine without sensing wind speeds. An uncontrolled diode bridge rectifier is used in between PMBLDCG terminals and input of a buck-boost converter. The buck boost converter feeds the generated power to a battery energy storage system (BESS) and consumer loads. A single-phase voltage source inverter (VSI) is used at the DC bus to feed regulated voltage and frequency AC supply to consumer loads. The performance of the voltage and frequency controller is demonstrated as a maximum power point tracker, a load leveler, an active filter along with a voltage and frequency controller.Keywords: Permanent Magnet Brushless DC Generator, Buck Boost Converter, Battery, Wind Power, Maximum Power Point Tracking
Evaluation of the new ESR network software for the retrieval of direct sun products from CIMEL CE318 and PREDE POM01 sun-sky radiometers
Authors: Estellés V. , Campanelli M. , Smyth T. J. , Utrillas M. P. , Martínez-Lozano J. A.
Published: December 2012

Abstract. The European Skynet Radiometers network (EuroSkyRad or ESR) has been recently established as a research network of European PREDE sun-sky radiometers. Moreover, ESR is federated with SKYNET, an international network of PREDE sun-sky radiometers mostly present in East Asia. In contrast to SKYNET, the European network also integrates users of the CIMEL CE318 sky–sun photometer. Keeping instrumental duality in mind, a set of open source algorithms has been developed consisting of two modules for (1) the retrieval of direct sun products (aerosol optical depth, wavelength exponent and water vapor) from the sun extinction measurements; and (2) the inversion of the sky radiance to derive other aerosol optical properties such as size distribution, single scattering albedo or refractive index. In this study we evaluate the ESR direct sun products in comparison with the AERosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) products. Specifically, we have applied the ESR algorithm to a CIMEL CE318 and PREDE POM simultaneously for a 4-yr database measured at the Burjassot site (Valencia, Spain), and compared the resultant products with the AERONET direct sun measurements obtained with the same CIMEL CE318 sky–sun photometer. The comparison shows that aerosol optical depth differences are mostly within the nominal uncertainty of 0.003 for a standard calibration instrument, and fall within the nominal AERONET uncertainty of 0.01–0.02 for a field instrument in the spectral range 340 to 1020 nm. In the cases of the Ångström exponent and the columnar water vapor, the differences are lower than 0.02 and 0.15 cm, respectively. Therefore, we present an open source code program that can be used with both CIMEL and PREDE sky radiometers and whose results are equivalent to AERONET and SKYNET retrievals.
Impact of the marine atmospheric boundary layer on VSLS abundances in the eastern tropical and subtropical North Atlantic Ocean
Authors: Fuhlbrügge S. , Krüger K. , Quack B. , Atlas E. , Hepach H. , Ziska F.
Published: December 2012

Abstract. During the DRIVE ("Diurnal and Regional Variability of Halogen Emissions") ship campaign we investigated the variability of the halogenated very short-lived substances (VSLS) bromoform (CHBr3), dibromomethane (CH2Br2) and methyl iodide (CH3I) in the marine atmospheric boundary layer in the eastern tropical and subtropical North Atlantic Ocean during May/June 2010. Highest VSLS mixing ratios were found near the Mauritanian coast and close to Lisbon (Portugal). Air mass origins were calculated with 5-day backward trajectories starting at the surface and at the boundary layer top. We identified predominantly air masses from the open North Atlantic with some coastal influence in the Mauritanian upwelling area, due to the prevailing NW winds. Maximum VSLS mixing ratios above the Mauritanian upwelling were 8.92 ppt for bromoform, 3.14 ppt for dibromomethane and 3.29 ppt for methyl iodide, with an observed maximum diurnal variability up to 50% for bromoform, 26% for dibromomethane and 56% for methyl iodide. A relationship was found between the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL) height and bromoform, dibromomethane and methyl iodide abundances. Lowest MABL heights above the Mauritanian upwelling area coincide with highest VSLS mixing ratios and vice versa above the open ocean. Significant high anti-correlations confirm this relationship for the whole cruise. We conclude that especially above oceanic upwelling systems MABL height variations are an important driver for VSLS mixing ratio variations and elevated atmospheric abundances and may explain the so far observed missing VSLS sources in this region.
Assessment of the quality of OSIRIS mesospheric temperatures using satellite and ground-based measurements
Authors: Sheese P. E. , Strong K. , Llewellyn E. J. , Gattinger R. L. , Russell J. M. , Boone C. D. , Hervig M. E. , Sica R. J. , Bandoro J.
Published: December 2012

Abstract. The Optical Spectrograph and InfraRed Imaging System (OSIRIS) on the Odin satellite is currently in its 12th year of observing the Earth's limb. For the first time, continuous temperature profiles extending from the stratopause to the upper mesosphere have been derived from OSIRIS measurements of Rayleigh-scattered sunlight. Through most of the mesosphere, OSIRIS temperatures are in good agreement with coincident temperature profiles derived from other satellite and ground-based measurements. In the altitude region of 55–80 km, OSIRIS temperatures are typically within 4–5 K of those from the SABER, ACE-FTS, and SOFIE instruments on the TIMED, SciSat-I, and AIM satellites, respectively. The mean differences between individual OSIRIS profiles and those of the other satellite instruments are typically within the combined uncertainties and previously reported biases. OSIRIS temperatures are typically within 2 K of those from the University of Western Ontario's Purple Crow Lidar in the altitude region of 52–79 km, where the mean differences are within combined uncertainties. Near 84 km, OSIRIS temperatures exhibit a cold bias of 10–15 K, which is due to a cold bias in OSIRIS O2 A-band temperatures at 85 km, the upper boundary of the Rayleigh-scatter derived temperatures; and near 48 km OSIRIS temperatures exhibit a cold bias of 5–15 K, which is likely due to multiple-scatter effects that are not taken into account in the retrieval.
Iron fluxes to Talos Dome, Antarctica, over the past 200 kyr
Authors: Vallelonga P. , Barbante C. , Cozzi G. , Gabrieli J. , Schüpbach S. , Spolaor A. , Turetta C.
Published: December 2012

Abstract. Atmospheric fluxes of iron (Fe) over the past 200 kyr are reported for the coastal Antarctic Talos Dome ice core, based on acid leachable Fe concentrations. Fluxes of Fe to Talos Dome were consistently greater than those at Dome C, with the greatest difference observed during interglacial climates. We observe different Fe flux trends at Dome C and Talos Dome during the deglaciation and early Holocene, attributed to a combination of deglacial activation of dust sources local to Talos Dome and reorganization of atmospheric transport pathways with the retreat of the Ross Sea ice shelf. This supports similar findings based on dust particle sizes and fluxes and Rare Earth Element fluxes. We show that Ca and Fe should not be used as quantitative proxies for mineral dust, as they all demonstrate different deglacial trends at Talos Dome and Dome C. Considering that a 20 ppmv decrease in atmospheric CO2 at the coldest part of the last glacial maximum occurs contemporaneously with the period of greatest Fe and dust flux to Antarctica, we conclude that the maximum contribution of aeolian dust deposition to Southern Ocean sequestration of atmospheric CO2 is approximately 20 ppmv.
Future changes in Mekong River hydrology: impact of climate change and reservoir operation on discharge
Authors: Lauri H. , de Moel H. , Ward P. J. , Räsänen T. A. , Keskinen M. , Kummu M.
Published: December 2012

Abstract. The transboundary Mekong River is facing two ongoing changes that are expected to significantly impact its hydrology and the characteristics of its exceptional flood pulse. The rapid economic development of the riparian countries has led to massive plans for hydropower construction, and projected climate change is expected to alter the monsoon patterns and increase temperature in the basin. The aim of this study is to assess the cumulative impact of these factors on the hydrology of the Mekong within next 20–30 yr. We downscaled the output of five general circulation models (GCMs) that were found to perform well in the Mekong region. For the simulation of reservoir operation, we used an optimisation approach to estimate the operation of multiple reservoirs, including both existing and planned hydropower reservoirs. For the hydrological assessment, we used a distributed hydrological model, VMod, with a grid resolution of 5 km × 5 km. In terms of climate change's impact on hydrology, we found a high variation in the discharge results depending on which of the GCMs is used as input. The simulated change in discharge at Kratie (Cambodia) between the baseline (1982–1992) and projected time period (2032–2042) ranges from −11% to +15% for the wet season and −10% to +13% for the dry season. Our analysis also shows that the changes in discharge due to planned reservoir operations are clearly larger than those simulated due to climate change: 25–160% higher dry season flows and 5–24% lower flood peaks in Kratie. The projected cumulative impacts follow rather closely the reservoir operation impacts, with an envelope around them induced by the different GCMs. Our results thus indicate that within the coming 20–30 yr, the operation of planned hydropower reservoirs is likely to have a larger impact on the Mekong hydrograph than the impacts of climate change, particularly during the dry season. On the other hand, climate change will increase the uncertainty of the estimated reservoir operation impacts: our results indicate that even the direction of the flow-related changes induced by climate change is partly unclear. Consequently, both dam planners and dam operators should pay closer attention to the cumulative impacts of climate change and reservoir operation on aquatic ecosystems, including the multibillion-dollar Mekong fisheries.
Effect of Visible Light on Human Sperm Motility
Authors: Veena K , Skandhan KP , Siraj MVP , Amith S
Published: December 2012

The study was carried out on 14 human semen good-quality samples, selected from a total number of 33 samples collected in a dark room close to laboratory. The mode of collection was masturbation. Samples remained in dark, and liquefaction time was observed under dim (red) light. This time was considered as the zero hour of the experiment. After liquefaction, each sample was divided into 2 parts. One portion was kept in the same dark laboratory and the other portion was shifted to the illuminated laboratory. The intensity of light present in dark, illuminated laboratory and on microscopic platform was measured with lux meter. From zero hour, every hour, up to 10 hours samples in dark and light were observed for percentage as well as quality of motility. The results showed that spermatozoa in light deteriorated earlier in their percentage and quality of motility, whereas in dark the quality of motility was superior. The spermatozoa survived for a large number of hours here. The Authors believe that female genital system where dark exists must be experiencing the same where spermatozoa remain increased in longevity and better quality. This study reveals that available knowledge on sperm motility does not match with what probably happens in female genital system.
Metabolic Syndrome in Canadian Adults and Adolescents: Prevalence and Associated Dietary Intake
Authors: Setayeshgar Solmaz , Whiting Susan J. , Vatanparast Hassanali
Published: December 2012

Background.Metabolic syndrome (MetS) includes five chronic disease risk factors which doubles the risk of CVD and increases the risk of diabetes fivefold.Objective.To determine the prevalence of MetS and its risk factors in Canadians (12–79 y) and to compare the dietary intake in Canadians with MetS and without MetS.Subjects and Methods.Cycle 1 of Canadian health measures survey, CHMS data, 2007–2009, was used. To identify MetS cases, the most recent criteria were used for adults and adolescents. Ethnical cut points for waist measurement were applied for adults.Results and Conclusion.The prevalence of MetS among 12–79 y Canadians was 18.31% with the lowest prevalence in adolescents (3.50%). Using ethnical cut points to define abdominal obesity increased the prevalence of MetS by 0.5% in adults. The most prevalent defining component of MetS in Canadians identified with MetS was abdominal obesity. Reduced HDL-C was equally prevalent among adolescents. Canadians with MetS consumed significantly more diet soft drinks, but less dairy products, dietary fat, and sugar-sweetened beverages compared to Canadians without MetS. Known cases of diabetes with MetS had healthier beverage choices compared to individuals without the diagnosis of diabetes, indicating adherence to nutrition recommendations.
The Ideal Laboratory Information System
Authors: Sepulveda Jorge L. , Young Donald S.
Published: December 2012

Context.—Laboratory information systems (LIS) are critical components of the operation of clinical laboratories. However, the functionalities of LIS have lagged significantly behind the capacities of current hardware and software technologies, while the complexity of the information produced by clinical laboratories has been increasing over time and will soon undergo rapid expansion with the use of new, high-throughput and high-dimensionality laboratory tests. In the broadest sense, LIS are essential to manage the flow of information between health care providers, patients, and laboratories and should be designed to optimize not only laboratory operations but also personalized clinical care.

Objectives.—To list suggestions for designing LIS with the goal of optimizing the operation of clinical laboratories while improving clinical care by intelligent management of laboratory information.

Data Sources.—Literature review, interviews with laboratory users, and personal experience and opinion.

Conclusions.—Laboratory information systems can improve laboratory operations and improve patient care. Specific suggestions for improving the function of LIS are listed under the following sections: (1) Information Security, (2) Test Ordering, (3) Specimen Collection, Accessioning, and Processing, (4) Analytic Phase, (5) Result Entry and Validation, (6) Result Reporting, (7) Notification Management, (8) Data Mining and Cross-sectional Reports, (9) Method Validation, (10) Quality Management, (11) Administrative and Financial Issues, and (12) Other Operational Issues.
Lycurgus, Athenian orator
Authors: Faraguna Michele
Published: December 2012

The primary evidence for the life and activity of Lycurgus, Athenian politician and orator (ca. 390–324BCE), comes from the biography of him in theLives of the ten orators, which is appended to Plutarch'sMoralia(841a–4a), and from a number of laws and decrees he proposed.
Mazaios
Authors: Heckel Waldemar
Published: December 2012

Mazaios (Mazday) (ca. 385–ca. 328bce) had been satrap of Cilicia (Hilik) and, at the time of Alexander's campaign, he ruled thelambdashapedsatrapy Abarnahara, which stretched along the Phoenician coast and Euphrates River.
Medism
Authors: Keaveney Arthur P.
Published: December 2012

In this expression “Mede” is the equivalent of “Persian”.
Mercenaries
Authors: Sekunda Nicholas V.
Published: December 2012

The fact that a Greek citizen possessed his own weapons and had been trained how to use them left open mercenary service as a lucrative and socially respectable career option.
Miltiades
Authors: Krentz Peter
Published: December 2012

Miltiades (ca. 550–489bce), son of Kimon, a prominent Athenian aristocrat, spent several decades ruling the Thracian Chersonese (Gallipoli) Peninsula before returning to Athens, to lead the Athenians against the Persians at Marathon in 490. Herodotus tells his story in several places, not always in chronological order (6.34–41, 103–111, 132–140).
Oligarchy
Authors: Jordović Ivan
Published: December 2012

Oligarchy is a type of constitution where most citizens are excluded from offices and basic political activity: these remain in the hands of a socio‐politically qualified minority.
Parmenion
Authors: Heckel Waldemar
Published: December 2012

Parmenion, son of Philotas, was Macedon's foremost general during the reigns of Philip II of Macedon and Alexander III, The Great. Born ca. 400
bce
, Parmenion was the father of the hipparch (cavalry commander) Philotas and of Nikanor, who commanded the hypaspists (shield‐bearers: the elite of the infantry). Attalos, the uncle of Philip's last wife, Cleopatra Eurydice, was Parmenion's son‐in‐law, and his liquidation at the end of 335 was Parmenion's guarantee of loyalty. In 334 he transported most of the infantry and cavalry from Sestos to Abydos, and at the beginning of the Persian campaign he commanded the infantry: twelve thousand Macedonians, seven thousand allies, and five thousand mercenaries. Parmenion's contribution to the great victories at the GRANIKOS and ISSOS are obscured by the tendency of Alexander historians to focus on the achievements of the king, who led the attack on the right; Parmenion was instructed to maintain a defensive position on the Macedonian left. At Gaugamela some hostile writers went so far as to blame the old general for Alexander's failure to capture the Great King after the latter had turned in flight. In 330 Parmenion was left in ECBATANA (HAMA‐DAN), as Alexander pushed on in pursuit of Darius; although it appears that he was to rejoin the king at a later point, Alexander decided to leave him behind, once he realized that the forthcoming campaign would require mobility and would be less dependent on heavy infantry.
Pausanias, Spartan Regent
Authors: Lupi Marcello
Published: December 2012

Pausanias (ca. 510/505–470/465
bce
), son of Kleombrotos, was a member of the Spartan royal house of the Agiads (
see
spartan kings).
Peisistratos
Authors: Lewis Sian
Published: December 2012

Peisistratos (c. 600–527bce) ruledAthensas tyrant for twenty years; he made Athens prosperous and successful, and his rule is said by Aristotle to have been considered a golden age (Ath. Pol. 16.7). Yet the democratic ideology which emerged after the fall of thetyrannyled to Peisistratos' political and architectural legacy being devalued in the Athenian tradition.
Perdikkas III
Authors: Worthington Ian
Published: December 2012

Perdikkas III was king of Macedonia from 365 to 359bce. He was an educated man; he knew Plato, and the philosopher Euphraeus of Oreus went to live at his court.
Persia and Greece
Authors: Keaveney Arthur P.
Published: December 2012

The first encounter between Greek and Persian forces came in 547bce, when Cyrus the Great defeated Croesus of Lydia.
Phalanx (Macedonian)
Authors: Sekunda Nicholas V.
Published: December 2012

The Macedonian phalanx was a typical Greek hoplite phalanx until the emergency reforms of Philip II in 359/8bce; even then, essentially, the only things that changed were the use of a different type of spear, the use of different types of shields, and the greater level of training, which allowed for a greater range of tactical formation.
Pheidon of Argos
Authors: Kōiv Mait
Published: December 2012

Pheidon was a king
(basileus)
or tyrant of Argos in the Archaic period (eighth to sixth century
bce
).
Philippi
Authors: Landucci Franca
Published: December 2012

The monumental archaeological ruins of Philippi, still visible about 10 km north of Kavala in eastern Macedonia between the Strymon and Nestos rivers, testify to the importance of the city in the Roman imperial age, when it was a “miniature Rome” (Torelli and Mavrojannis 1997: 260).
Philosophy, Classical Greece
Authors: Napolitano Linda
Published: December 2012

The termphilosophiaemerges from a testimony about Pythagoras, who, after reaching the Egyptians and becoming their disciple, allegedly brought back to the Greeks, “first among men, the study of every kind ofphilosophy” (DK 14 A 4) – a study he interpreted religiously. This eastern origin has been the object of a long and yet unresolved argument: it is, however, likely that a transplant of such knowledge into Greece entailed a wholly new interpretation.
Philotas
Authors: Heckel Waldemar
Published: December 2012

The son of the eminent general Parmenion, Philotas was the commander of Alexander III, The Great's Companion Cavalry from at least 334
bce
until his death in 330.
Poteidaia
Authors: Psoma Selene
Published: December 2012

Poteidaia was a colony of Corinth founded on the isthmus of Pallene in the Chalcidice by Euagoras, son of the tyrant Periander (Nic. Dam. inFGrH90 F 59).
Pythioi(Spartan)
Authors: Samotta Iris
Published: December 2012

Thepythioiwere Spartan ambassadors to the Delphic oracle of Apollo Pythios.
Satraps' revolt
Authors: Facella Margherita
Published: December 2012

For the year 362–361BCEDiodorus (15.90.1–92.5) reports that the inhabitants of the Asiatic coast, together with some of the Satraps, rose up against the Persian king, Artaxerxes II, in what is conventionally called the “great satraps' revolt.”
Selinous
Authors: De Vido Stefania
Published: December 2012

Selinous, a Greek colony on the southern coast of Sicily, was founded by Megara Hyblaea (in 627
BCE
: Thuc. 6.4.1–2; in 650
BCE
: Diod. Sic. 13.59.4): the first generation of colonists occupied the entire urban area, and in a short time the
Polis
extended its boundaries from the Mazaro River (
Emporion
: Diod. Sic. 11.86.2) to Minoa (
apoikia
of Selinous: Hdt. 5.46.2).
Social War, Classical Greece
Authors: Dreher Martin
Published: December 2012

The Social War was a military conflict betweenATHENSand her allies in the Second Athenian Confederacy (seeATHENIAN CONFEDERACY, SECOND). It lasted from 357 to 355BCEand weakened the position of Athens in the Greek world. Our main source,DIODORUS OF SICILY, already uses the phrase “social war” (16.7.3:polemon symmachikon).
Sumptuary legislation, Greece
Authors: Blok Josine H.
Published: December 2012

The collective descriptor “sumptuary laws” takes its name from the Latinleges sumptuariae(laws onsumptus, “luxury”) – which refers to a category of laws issued in late republican Rome.
Tagos
Authors: Sprawski Sławomir
Published: December 2012

Tagos
was the name of a city official in
THESSALY
and in various regions of central (e.g.,
DELPHI
) and northern Greece (e.g., Mieza and Tyrissa:
SEG
47.999). In Thessaly a board of
tagoi
is attested for the first time in Atrax, in the late sixth century
BCE
(
SEG
45.553). Until the end of the fourth century they seem to have been minor officials, although their precise functions are difficult to determine. Some believe that they were responsible for the mobilization of citizens and served as commanders of military detachments (Helly 1995). From ca. 300
BCE
they are attested as chief magistrates in various Thessalian cities. They are always listed in groups or
collegia
, frequently of five, although their numbers vary between cities.
Tribute
Authors: Fantasia Ugo
Published: December 2012

In the ancient Greek world liability to aphoros(the usual Greek word for “tribute”), mostly paid in Bullion or money, embodied the submission of a community to a sovereign power.
Trireme
Authors: Rankov Boris
Published: December 2012

The trireme (Greektrieres, Latintriremis) was for almost a millennium the most common type of warship in the ancient Mediterranean. The nature of the ship's oar‐system has been a matter of debate for historians since the early sixteenth century.
Xenoi
Authors: Zelnick‐Abramovitz Rachel
Published: December 2012

The basic sense of the wordxenos(pluralxenoi) is “foreigner” – an outsider who stays for a short while in another community without becoming a full member of it.Xenoiusually applies to freeborn foreigners, since slaves – althoughxenoiby definition – had their special terminology.
Zaleukos of Lokroi
Authors: Papakonstantinou Zinon
Published: December 2012

Zaleukos was a lawgiver of Lokroi Epizephyrioi. Ephoros (
FGrH
70 F 139) maintains that he was the first to introduce written laws, and late chronographers suggest that he was active in the mid‐seventh century
BCE
. Although the date might be approximately accurate, many details about his life as transmitted by late traditions of dubious value are almost certainly spurious creations.
Brasidas
Authors: Powell Anton
Published: December 2012

Brasidas (d. 422bce) was Sparta's most influential commander in the Archidamian War (431–421) against Athens Our main source, the Athenian historian and general Thucydides, was outmaneuvered by Brasidas at Amphipolis in 424 and exiled in consequence. But if he was biased concerning Brasidas, it was through excess of respect. Brasidas was a rarity (“a good speaker ‐ for a Spartan,” Thuc. 4.84). Yet sparta repeatedly trusted Brasidas for vital campaigns; his career reveals Spartan military values in general.