bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Travel Guidebook: Catalyst for Self-Directed Travel
Authors: Roberson, Jr. Donald N.
Published: March 2015

An increasing number of travelers are using various sources in order to enhance their travel experience. One overlooked resource is the travel guidebook. To this end, the purpose of this study was to understand the role of the guidebook in the travel experience. Research questions focused
on how the traveler is using the guidebook. The study utilized “on the spot” interviews of tourists as well as a questionnaire. Sixty-one tourists or groups of tourists with a total of 137 people were interviewed. As a follow-up, a questionnaire about travel and guidebooks was
completed by 98 tourists. Findings from this research indicate the following ideas. Tourist guidebooks are a catalyst for travel by allowing freedom of movement and increased knowledge of their visit. Tourist guidebooks add an educational component to travel. Most independent travelers are
using some type of guidebook. More and more independent travelers are using the Internet for travel questions, and many of them are carrying this information in hand-held electronic devices. The guidebook has become a liberating aspect of travel by allowing the traveler to become more self-directed.
This new information is often self-modeled while looking and following the concepts within the guidebook.
Statistics of work and orthogonality catastrophe in discrete level systems: an application to fullerene molecules and ultra-cold trapped Fermi gases
Authors: Sindona Antonello , Pisarra Michele , Gravina Mario , Vacacela Gomez Cristian , Riccardi Pierfrancesco , Falcone Giovanni , Plastina Francesco
Published: March 2015

The sudden introduction of a local impurity in a Fermi sea leads to an anomalous disturbance of its quantum state that represents a local quench, leaving the system out of equilibrium and giving rise to the Anderson orthogonality catastrophe. The statistics of the work done describe the energy fluctuations produced by the quench, providing an accurate and detailed insight into the fundamental physics of the process. We present here a numerical approach to the non-equilibrium work distribution, supported by applications to phenomena occurring at very diverse energy ranges. One of them is the valence electron shake-up induced by photo-ionization of a core state in a fullerene molecule. The other is the response of an ultra-cold gas of trapped fermions to an embedded two-level atom excited by a fast pulse. Working at low thermal energies, we detect the primary role played by many-particle states of the perturbed system with one or two excited fermions. We validate our approach through the comparison with some photoemission data on fullerene films and previous analytical calculations on harmonically trapped Fermi gases.
Attempts to prepare an all-carbon indigoid system
Authors: Yildizhan Şeref , Hopf Henning , Jones Peter G
Published: March 2015

First attempts are described to prepare a precursor for an all-carbon analog of indigo, the tetracyclic triene4. Starting from indan-2-one (9) the α-methylene ketone13was prepared. Upon subjecting this compound to a McMurry coupling reaction, it dimerized to the bis-indene derivative17, rather than providing the tetramethyl derivative of4, the hydrocarbon14. In a second approach, indan-1-one (18) was dimerized to the conjugated enedione21through the bis-1-indene dimer19. All attempts to methylenate21failed, however. When19was treated with the Tebbe reagent, the dimer23was produced, presumably through a Cope reaction of the intermediately generated isomer22. The bis-indene derivative23can be alkylated with 1,2-dibromoethane to produce a 1:1 mixture of the spiro compounds24and25. Although9could be reductively dimerized to30, the conversion of this olefin to14failed.
Effects of Chronic Psychosocial Stress on Reduction of Basal Glucocorticoid Levels and Suppression of Glucocorticoid Levels Following Dexamethasone Administration in Animal Model of PTSD
Authors: Starcevic Ana , Petricevic Sasa , Djulejic Vuk , Radojicic Zoran , Starcevic Branislav , Filipovic Branislav
Published: March 2015

Aim: To further examine the neurobiological mechanisms and their outcomes responsible for the PTSD sequelae induced by laboratory animal model and to explore the effects of chronic psychosocial paradigm. We tested the hypothesis that our animal model of PTSD would display abnormalities in glucocorticoid levels that are manifest in people with PTSD and that psychosocially stressed rats exhibit a significantly greater suppression of corticosterone levels than control rats following the administration of dexamethasone.Methods: Animals were divided into two groups. The experimental group was scheduled to exposure to two types of stressors: double exposure to acute immobilization stress, and combined predator-threat stress and daily social stress. There was also administration of dexamethasone in combination with stress exposure.Results: There was a statistical difference between masses of thymus in the stress group and stress group with dexamethasone appliance (p=0.024). We found statistical significance between baseline cortisol and stress induced levels of cortisol and between stress induced group and return to baseline group.Conclusion: Significant changes in HPA activity, reductions in basal glucocorticoid levels and enhanced dexamethasone induced inhibition of glucocorticoid levels have been manifested. All of this is manifested in PTSD patients also as many other stress induces changes.
A Study of the Interaction between Hepatitis C Virus Infection and Pulmonary Disorders: Assessment of Interferon Gamma and Alpha-1-Antitrypsin
Authors: Ezzeldin Nada , Saad-Hussein Amal , Radwan Mohamed , El-Lebedy Dalia , Kafoury Mona , Fraouk Hebatallah , Kandil Dina
Published: March 2015

Objectives: To study lung diseases in chronic HCV infection and vice versa and to find immunological and/or hereditary interrelating factors.Material and Methods: Study included 134 individuals, all were subjected to screening for anti-HCV antibodies by ELISA, HCV-RNA by real time PCR, pulmonary function tests, quantitative assay of interferon gamma and alpha-1- antitrypsin in serum by ELISA and genotyping of alpha-1- antitrypsin gene by Light Cycler PCR.Results: 76.5% of chronic HCV patients had abnormal PFT (P = 0.03), mainly reduced DLCO and reversible airway obstruction, and 41.6% of chest diseased patients were HCV-positive with a significant decrease in large and small airways functions. Interferon therapy improved PFT parameters. Only 33% of chronic HCV infection affected by chest abnormality responded to interferon therapy while 50% of chest free patients did. Serum IFN-Î³ was higher in HCV and chest patients than in control (P=0.02). All serum Î±1AT deficient patients had M/null genotype.Conclusions: A pathogenic role of chronic HCV infection in lung diseases is evident. Interferon treatment may reduce chest complications and improve pulmonary functions. However, chest affection may reduce the response to interferon treatment. M/null genotype of Î±1AT gene might play a role in chronic HCV infection and chest co-affection.
Diagnostic Value of 2D Strain Imaging In Patients with Suspected Coronary Artery Disease
Authors: Teferici Daniela , Qirko Spiro , Petrela Elizana , Bara Petrit
Published: March 2015

Background: Strain imaging (SI) has been shown to quantify regional myocardial function in both acute ischemic myocardium and infarcted myocardium. The aim of this study is to determine the diagnostic value of SI for the detection of coronary lesions in pts with chest pain, but without apparent wall motion abnormalities. Methods: SI for advanced wall motion analysis was performed in 59 pts with suspicious stable angina (SA) and in 57 pts with suspicious unstable angina (UA), prior to coronary angiography (CAG). Longitudinal strain was measured in 3 apical views. For the identification of ischemia a magnitude parameter, being defined as a reduction of the peak systolic strain, was used. A homogenous pattern of strain was defined as relatively uniform distribution of the peak systolic strain. Heterogeneity of strain was considered abnormal; these segments were called strain (+) and the rest were called strain (-). Results: Out of the 59 SA patients, 28 had >70% stenosis (ischemic-SA) and 31 had normal coronary anatomy or 50% stenosis (normal-SA). Of the 28 patients in the ischemic-SA group, 9 patients (32%) showed a homogeneous pattern of peak systolic strain throughout the wall (strain negative) and 19 patients (67%) showed heterogeneity of strain (strain positive). 31 patients with normal coronary anatomy or <50% stenosis (normal-SA), 6 patients (19%) showed heterogeneity of strain (strain positive) and 25 patients (80%) showed a homogeneous pattern of peak systolic strain throughout the wall (strain negative). The positive predictive value of strain was 76% in the SA group. In the group of 57 UA patients, 32 had >70% stenosis (ischemic-UA), and 25 had normal coronary anatomy or 50% stenosis (normal-UA). From the 32 patients in the ischemic-UA group, 7 patients (22%) were determined to be strain negative, and 25 patients (78%) were determined to be strain positive. Out of 25 patients with normal coronary anatomy or 50% stenosis (normal-UA), 25 patients (80%) showed a homogeneous pattern of peak systolic strain throughout the wall (strain negative) and 6 patients (19%) showed heterogeneity of strain (strain positive). The positive predictive value of strain was 80.6% in the UA group. Sensitivity and specificity of 2D strain was evaluated using diagnostic test. The results were: 68% and 80.6% respectively in the stable angina group and 78% and 76% respectively in the unstable angina group.Conclusion: Ultrasound-based SI demonstrates a strong correlation with CAG and it has potential as a non-invasive diagnostic tool for detecting CAD in pts with chest pain and without wall motion abnormalities.
Effects of Glucose Control on Hematological Indices in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus
Authors: VarÄ±m Ceyhun , Kaya Tezcan , Nalbant Ahmet , UÃ§ar AyÅŸenur , Tamer Ali
Published: March 2015

Aim: We aimed to investigate the effects of diabetes treatment modalities on haematological parameters and leukocyte formula in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.Materials and Methods: The study included 102 patients with type 2 diabetes, out of which 51 receiving insulin treatment and 51 receiving oral antidiabetics (OAD). Hemogram data of insulin and OAD treated groups were compared.Results HbA1c levels were 11.12 Â± 2.09 mg/dl in insulin group and 7.94 Â± 2.1 mg/dl in OAD group p=0.001. Platelet counts were 27866.67 Â± 77693 109/L before treatment and 258941.18 Â± 69068.2 109/L in OAD group at six months, p: 0.015 whereas; 293011.76 Â± 73711.21 109/L before treatment and 289492.86 Â± 82631.49 109/L in insulin group at six months p: 0.821. Monocyte counts were 0.47 Â± 0.12 109/L before the treatment and 0.57 Â± 0.12 109/L in mix insulin therapy subgroup at six months, p:0.004; monocyte percentage was % 6.11 Â± 1.74 before the treatment and %7.51 Â± 2.57 in mix insulin subgroup at six months p:0.039;Â  Basophiles counts were 0.1 Â± Â 0.02 109/L before treatment and 0.09 Â± 0.04 109/L in intensive insulin therapy subgroup at six months, p: 0.005; Lymphocyte and basophils counts were significantly decreased at six months insulin treatment as compared to the pretreatment values.Conclusion: This study showed that, glucose control effects; blood indices HbA1C, basophiles, eosinophils, platelets and lymphocytes counts.
Evaluation of Homocysteine, Folic Acid and Vitamin B12 Levels among Egyptian Children with Idiopathic Epilepsy
Authors: Abd El Dayem Soha M. , Saleh Osama N. , Emara Nahed A. , Kandil Manal E. , Shatla Rania H. , Elgammal Sara
Published: March 2015

Objective: To evaluate relationship between homocysteine (Hcy), folic acid and vitamin B12 with anti-epileptic drugs in epileptic patients and their role in epilepsy control.Patient and Methods: The study included 60 patients with idiopathic epilepsy and thirty non-epileptic children of the same age and sex served as controls. All cases were subjected to physical and neurological examination and electroencephalogram (EEG). Serum level of folic acid, homocysteine (Hcy) and vitamin B12 were done for both epileptic patients and controls. Non parametric test, one way ANOVA and Pearsonâ€™s correlation were used for analysis of data.Result: 44 patients (73.3%) had generalized epilepsy and the remaining patients had partial epilepsy (simple or complex). 37 patients (61.6%) were in grade I, 3 patients (5 %) were in grade II and the remaining 20 patients (33.3 %) were in grade III epilepsy. Vitamin B12 was significantly higher in epileptic patients. Duration of anti-epileptic drug treatment was correlated significantly to folic acid and Hcy level.Conclusion: antiepileptic drugs might upset the homeostatic balance of Hcy and its cofactors and cause abnormalities of their serum levels. The duration of anti-epileptic drug treatment was related to decrease of folic acid and increase in homocysteine levels.
Stroke Risk Factors, Course and Long-Term Functional Outcome of First-Ever Stroke in Women
Authors: Lasek-Bal Anetta , Szymszal Jan , Kazibutowska Zofia
Published: March 2015

BACKGROUND: Recently, many studies regarding stroke in men and women showing differences in its incidence and course have been conducted, but the cause of sex differences remains unclear.AIM: The objective of study was to assess the incidence of selected stroke risk factors, the course and long-term consequences of first-ever stroke in women.MATERIAL AND METHODS: 304 women and 207 men with first-ever stroke were studied. We assessed: age at which stroke occurred; presence of hypertension, lipid disorders, coronary disease, atrial fibrillation, diabetes, carotid/cerebral artery stenoses; stroke aetiology, state on days 1 (NIHSS) and 90 (Rankin).RESULTS: The age at which first-ever stroke occurred was higher in women (p = 0.030). Atrial fibrillation occurred more frequently in them (p = 0.0007). Hypertension and coronary disease occurred less commonly in women under 55 (p = 0.038 and 0.035 respectively). In women < 55, lipid disorders (p = 0.004) and diabetes (p = 0.018) were observed more rarely, they were more common in > 55 group (p = 0.042 and 0.023). In women, carotid artery stenoses were less common (p = 0.07), cardiogenic stroke more common (p = 0.001). They were in worse neurological state both on day 1 (p = 0.001) and 90 (p = 0.033) of disease.CONCLUSIONS: Cardiogenic stroke is significantly more common in women. Women exhibit more severe post-stroke disability, resulting in more frequent use of institutional care.
HCV Seroconversion in two Egyptian Hemodialysis Units: Role of Detection Method and Patients Isolation
Authors: Nasser Mohamed Elâ€“Tayeb , Younes Khaled Mohamed , Sany Dawlat Hussein , Youssef Samar Samir , Mahmoud Mohamed , El-Sayed Bassim Samy
Published: March 2015

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients on hemodialysis (HD).Â  Routine HCV viremia screening is recommended in those patients but it is not applied.Aim: To evaluate the seroconversion rate in HD patients based on viremia detection compared to antibody (Ab), and to assess the role of isolation on the rate of seroconversion in those patients.Materials and Methods: One hundred ESRD patients from two HD units using same infection control criteria were enrolled in the study; only one unit was applying isolation for HCV patients. Patients were followed up for 12 month; HCV positivity was tested at the begining of the study and after 12 month of HD. HCV Ab and viremia were detected by third generation ELISA and PCR respectively.Results: The seroconversion rate was 0% based on HCV Ab detection by ELISA, compared with the 16 % seroconversion rate based on viremia detection by PCR. Notably, viremia seroconversion was seen only in the HD unit lacking the isolation system.Conclusion: HCV screening in HD units should be based on viremia detection; isolation in HD units prevents HCV spreading.
Human Brucellosis in the Republic of Macedonia by Regions Depending on Vaccination Procedures in Sheep and Goats
Authors: Stojmanovski Zharko , Zdravkovska Milka , Taleski Vaso , Jovevska Svetlana , Markovski Velo
Published: March 2015

Background: Besides the strategy based on test-and-slaughter policy for seropositive sheep and goats after an evaluation of the situation, vaccination measure of those animals against brucellosis with Rev 1 vaccine in 2008 have been implemented.Aims: To examine the influence of the new measure for control and eradication of brucellosis in sheep and goats on the incidence of human brucellosis before and after vaccination with B. melitensis Rev.1.Material and methods: This is a retrospective study in which comparison of the incidence of human brucellosis in the three regions has been made depending on the vaccination procedure in sheep and goats one year before the implementation of the vaccination (2007) and 4 years later. Data for the infected sheep and goats were obtained from the Food and Veterinary Agency and data for human brucellosis were obtained from the Institute of Public Health of the Republic of Macedonia.Results: The greatest decrease in the incidence of human brucellosis (from 124.3 to 19.7/100,000 inhabitants) was registered in the region 3 where mass vaccination of sheep and goats was conducted. The highest incidence rate of brucellosis in sheep and goats was registered in 2007 (2010/100,000 sheep and goats) and the lowest in 2011 (156/100,000 sheep and goats). Periodic prevalence of brucellosis in sheep and goats prior to vaccination was 6882/100,000 sheep and goats and after vaccination 3698/100,000 sheep and goats (p<0.05). There was a moderate positive correlation between the number of infected individuals with brucellosis and the number of infected sheep and goats (r=0.26).Conclusion: Decline of the incidence of human brucellosis is one of the major indicators for successfully implemented new control programs and strategies for prevention and eradication of brucellosis in sheep and goats. Vaccination was good measure to control brucellosis in the 3 regions.
Una nueva especie de Meloe Linnaeus, 1758 del suroeste de Marruecos incluida en el grupo de M. (Eurymeloe) rugosus Marsham, 1802 (Coleoptera: Meloidae)
Authors: Ruiz José L. , García-París M.
Published: March 2015

Las colecciones científicas del Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC, Madrid) albergan un extenso material entomológico recogido en Marruecos a principios del siglo XX por el insigne naturalista M. Martínez de la Escalera. El estudio morfológico del material del género Meloe Linnaeus, 1758 (Coleoptera: Meloidae) revela la existencia de poblaciones morfológicamente diferenciadas en las regiones costeras de Essaouira e Ifni. Estas poblaciones se encuadran en el grupo de Meloe rugosus Marsham, 1802 dentro del subgénero Eurymeloe Reitter, 1911. Sus características diferenciales y constantes respecto al resto de las especies norteafricanas y europeas del grupo, permiten tratar a este conjunto de poblaciones como una entidad taxonómicamente independiente que se describe aquí, Meloe baamarani n. sp. Esta especie nueva se caracteriza por presentar la coloración del cuerpo y apéndices negra, de aspecto mate; pilosidad negra, corta; cabeza ancha y de sienes ampliamente redondeadas, sin surco longitudinal medio; antenas largas, con los artejos III a VIII más largos que anchos, subcilíndricos; pronoto transverso, con los lados netamente convergentes hacia atrás, sin surco mediano; punteado de cabeza y pronoto denso; edeago estrecho, lóbulo medio largo y robusto, sinuado dorsalmente, con los dientes ventrales próximos al ápice. En la región occidental del noroeste africano M. baamarani puede confundirse únicamente con Meloe mediterraneus Müller, 1925, especie con la que comparte un aspecto general similar, pero de la que se diferencia por numerosos caracteres morfológicos, entre los que se incluyen la microrreticulación del tegumento, la ausencia de surco medio en la cabeza, la morfología y macroescultura del pronoto, y la configuración de la genitalia masculina.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:D5A8AFFA-D7E9-4E65-8E73-C6AC58AF20B6
Efficacy of superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery bypass in cerebrovascular steno-occlusive diseases: Hemodynamics assessed by perfusion computed tomography
Authors: Kwon Woo-Keun , Kwon Taek-Hyun , Park Dong-Hyuk , Kim Joo-Han , Ha Sung-Kon
Published: March 2015

Objectives: Our purpose of this study was to assess the cerebral hemodynamic improvement with perfusion computed tomography (CT), before and after superficial temporal artery (STA) to middle cerebral artery (MCA) bypass surgery in patients with cerebrovascular steno-occlusive diseases including both moyamoya disease and nonmoyamoya steno-occlusions. Materials and Methods: Twenty-four STA-MCA bypasses were performed to 22 patients with symptomatic cerebrovascular steno-occlusive diseases, including both moyamoya disease and nonmoyamoya steno-occlusive diseases. Brain perfusion CT images were obtained before and after the bypass surgery. The relative parameters such as cerebral blood volume (CBV), cerebral blood flow (CBF), and mean transit time (MTT) derived from the perfusion CT were collected and analyzed to assess the efficacy of STA-MCA bypass. Results: The CBF increased, and MTT decreased after the bypass surgery in both moyamoya group and nonmoyamoya group. The increase of CBF in nonmoyamoya group and the decrease of MTT delay in moyamoya group, overall group were statistically significant (P < 0.05). No significant postoperative change in CBV was noted. During the postoperative follow-up period, none of the 22 patients experienced any repeated ischemic/hemorrhagic attacks nor any newly developed neurologic deficits. Conclusion: The STA-MCA bypass is an effective surgical management for patients with cerebrovascular steno-occlusive diseases, such as moyamoya disease and internal carotid artery/MCA steno-occlusion. And perfusion CT can be used as an effective quantitative modality to assess the cerebral perfusion before and after the STA-MCA bypass surgery.
Impact of pollution controls in Beijing on atmospheric oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs) during the 2008 Olympic Games: observation and modeling implications
Authors: Liu Y. , Yuan B. , Li X. , Shao M. , Lu S. , Li Y. , Chang C.-C. , Wang Z. , Hu W. , Huang X. , He L. , Zeng L. , Hu M. , Zhu T.
Published: March 2015

Abstract. Oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs) are important products of the photo-oxidation of hydrocarbons. They influence the oxidizing capacity and the ozone-forming potential of the atmosphere. In the summer of 2008, 2 months of emission restrictions were enforced in Beijing to improve air quality during the Olympic Games. Observational evidence reported in related studies that these control measures were efficient in reducing the concentrations of primary anthropogenic pollutants (CO, NOx and non-methane hydrocarbons, i.e., NMHCs) by 30–40%. In this study, the influence of the emission restrictions on ambient levels of OVOCs was explored using a neural network analysis with consideration of meteorological conditions. Statistically significant reductions in formaldehyde (HCHO), acetaldehyde (CH3CHO), methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) and methanol were found to be 12.9, 15.8, 17.1 and 19.6%, respectively, when the restrictions were in place. The effect of emission controls on acetone was not detected in neural network simulations, probably due to pollution transport from surrounding areas outside Beijing. Although the ambient levels of most NMHCs were reduced by ~35% during the full control period, the emission ratios of reactive alkenes and aromatics closely related to automobile sources did not present much difference (< 30%). A zero-dimensional box model based on the Master Chemical Mechanism version 3.2 (MCM3.2) was applied to evaluate how OVOC production responds to the reduced precursors during the emissions control period. On average, secondary HCHO was produced from the oxidation of anthropogenic alkenes (54%), isoprene (30%) and aromatics (15%). The importance of biogenic sources for the total HCHO formation was almost on par with that of anthropogenic alkenes during the daytime. Anthropogenic alkenes and alkanes dominated the photochemical production of other OVOCs such as acetaldehyde, acetone and MEK. The relative changes of modeled HCHO, CH3CHO, methyl vinyl ketone and methacrolein (MVK + MACR) before and during the pollution controlled period were comparable to the estimated reductions in the neural network, reflecting that current mechanisms can largely explain secondary production of those species under urban conditions. However, it is worth noting that the box model overestimated the measured concentrations of aldehydes by a factor of 1.4–1.7 without consideration of loss of aldehydes on aerosols, and simulated MEK was in good agreement with the measurements when primary sources were taken into consideration. These results suggest that the understanding of the OVOCs budget in the box model remains incomplete, and that there is still considerable uncertainty in particular missing sinks (unknown chemical and physical processes) for aldehydes and absence of direct emissions for ketones.
Effect of oxidant concentration, exposure time, and seed particles on secondary organic aerosol chemical composition and yield
Authors: Lambe A. T. , Chhabra P. S. , Onasch T. B. , Brune W. H. , Hunter J. F. , Kroll J. H. , Cummings M. J. , Brogan J. F. , Parmar Y. , Worsnop D. R. , Kolb C. E. , Davidovits P.
Published: March 2015

Abstract. We performed a systematic intercomparison study of the chemistry and yields of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) generated from OH oxidation of a common set of gas-phase precursors in a Potential Aerosol Mass (PAM) continuous flow reactor and several environmental chambers. In the flow reactor, SOA precursors were oxidized using OH concentrations ranging from 2.0 × 108 to 2.2 × 1010 molec cm−3 over exposure times of 100 s. In the environmental chambers, precursors were oxidized using OH concentrations ranging from 2 × 106 to 2 × 107 molec cm−3 over exposure times of several hours. The OH concentration in the chamber experiments is close to that found in the atmosphere, but the integrated OH exposure in the flow reactor can simulate atmospheric exposure times of multiple days compared to chamber exposure times of only a day or so. In most cases, for a specific SOA type the most-oxidized chamber SOA and the least-oxidized flow reactor SOA have similar mass spectra, oxygen-to-carbon and hydrogen-to-carbon ratios, and carbon oxidation states at integrated OH exposures between approximately 1 × 1011 and 2 × 1011 molec cm−3 s, or about 1–2 days of equivalent atmospheric oxidation. This observation suggests that in the range of available OH exposure overlap for the flow reactor and chambers, SOA elemental composition as measured by an aerosol mass spectrometer is similar whether the precursor is exposed to low OH concentrations over long exposure times or high OH concentrations over short exposure times. This similarity in turn suggests that both in the flow reactor and in chambers, SOA chemical composition at low OH exposure is governed primarily by gas-phase OH oxidation of the precursors rather than heterogeneous oxidation of the condensed particles. In general, SOA yields measured in the flow reactor are lower than measured in chambers for the range of equivalent OH exposures that can be measured in both the flow reactor and chambers. The influence of sulfate seed particles on isoprene SOA yield measurements was examined in the flow reactor. The studies show that seed particles increase the yield of SOA produced in flow reactors by a factor of 3 to 5 and may also account in part for higher SOA yields obtained in the chambers, where seed particles are routinely used.
Measuring acetic and formic acid by proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometry: sensitivity, humidity dependence, and quantifying interferences
Authors: Baasandorj M. , Millet D. B. , Hu L. , Mitroo D. , Williams B. J.
Published: March 2015

Abstract. We present a detailed investigation of the factors governing the quantification of formic acid (FA), acetic acid (AA), and their relevant mass analogues by proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS), assess the underlying fragmentation pathways and humidity dependencies, and present a new method for separating FA and AA from their main isobaric interferences. PTR-MS sensitivities towards glycolaldehyde, ethyl acetate, and peroxyacetic acid at m/z 61 are comparable to that for AA; when present, these species will interfere with ambient AA measurements by PTR-MS. Likewise, when it is present, dimethyl ether can interfere with FA measurements. For a reduced electric field (E/N) of 125 Townsend (Td), the PTR-MS sensitivity towards ethanol at m/z 47 is 5–20 times lower than for FA; ethanol will then only be an important interference when present in much higher abundance than FA. Sensitivity towards 2-propanol is <1% of that for AA, so that propanols will not in general represent a significant interference for AA. Hydrated product ions of AA, glycolaldehyde, and propanols occur at m/z 79, which is also commonly used to measure benzene. However, the resulting interference for benzene is only significant when E/N is low (≲100 Td). Addition of water vapor affects the PTR-MS response to a given compound by (i) changing the yield for fragmentation reactions and (ii) increasing the importance of ligand switching reactions. In the case of AA, sensitivity to the molecular ion increases with humidity at low E/N but decreases with humidity at high E/N due to water-driven fragmentation. Sensitivity towards FA decreases with humidity throughout the full range of E/N. For glycolaldehyde and the alcohols, the sensitivity increases with humidity due to ligand switching reactions (at low E/N) and reduced fragmentation in the presence of water (at high E/N). Their role as interferences will typically be greatest at high humidity. For compounds such as AA where the humidity effect depends strongly on the collisional energy in the drift tube, simple humidity correction factors (XR) will only be relevant for a specific instrumental configuration. We recommend E/N ~ 125 Td as an effective condition for AA and FA measurements by PTR-MS, as it optimizes between the competing E/N-dependent mechanisms controlling their sensitivities and those of the interfering species. Finally, we present the design and evaluation of an online acid trap for separating AA and FA from their interfering species at m/z 61 and 47, and we demonstrate its performance during a field deployment to St. Louis, USA, during August–September of 2013.
Plume-based analysis of vehicle fleet air pollutant emissions and the contribution from high emitters
Authors: Wang J. M. , Jeong C.-H. , Zimmerman N. , Healy R. M. , Wang D. K. , Ke F. , Evans G. J.
Published: March 2015

Abstract. An automated identification and integration method has been developed to investigate in-use vehicle emissions under real-world conditions. This technique was applied to high time resolution air pollutant measurements of in-use vehicle emissions performed under real-world conditions at a near-road monitoring station in Toronto, Canada during four seasons, through month-long campaigns in 2013–2014. Based on carbon dioxide measurements, over 100 000 vehicle-related plumes were automatically identified and fuel-based emission factors for nitrogen oxides; carbon monoxide; particle number, black carbon; benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX); and methanol were determined for each plume. Thus the automated identification enabled the measurement of an unprecedented number of plumes and pollutants over an extended duration. Emission factors for volatile organic compounds were also measured roadside for the first time using a proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer; this instrument provided the time resolution required for the plume capture technique. Mean emission factors were characteristic of the light-duty gasoline dominated vehicle fleet present at the measurement site, with mean black carbon and particle number emission factors of 35 mg kg−1 and 7.7 × 1014 kg−1, respectively. The use of the plume-by-plume analysis enabled isolation of vehicle emissions, and the elucidation of co-emitted pollutants from similar vehicle types, variability of emissions across the fleet, and the relative contribution from heavy emitters. It was found that a small proportion of the fleet (< 25%) contributed significantly to total fleet emissions; 95, 93, 76, and 75% for black carbon, carbon monoxide, BTEX, and particle number, respectively. Emission factors of a single pollutant may help classify a vehicle as a high emitter. However, regulatory strategies to more efficiently target multi-pollutants mixtures may be better developed by considering the co-emitted pollutants as well.
Organic N and P in eutrophic fjord sediments – rates of mineralization and consequences for internal nutrient loading
Authors: Valdemarsen T. , Quintana C. O. , Flindt M. R. , Kristensen E.
Published: March 2015

Abstract. Nutrient release from the sediments in shallow eutrophic estuaries may counteract reductions of the external nutrient load and prevent or prolong ecosystem recovery. The magnitude and temporal dynamics of this potential source, termed internal nutrient loading, is poorly under\\-stood. We quantified the internal nutrient loading driven by microbial mineralization of accumulated organic N (ON) and P (OP) in sediments from a shallow eutrophic estuary (Odense Fjord, Denmark). Sediments were collected from eight stations within the system and nutrient production and effluxes were measured over a period of ~ 2 years. Dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) effluxes were high initially but quickly faded to low and stable levels after 50–200 days, whereas PO43− effluxes were highly variable in the different sediments. Mineralization patterns suggested that internal N loading would quickly (< 200 days) fade to insignificant levels, whereas internal PO43− loading could be sustained for extended time (years). When results from all stations were combined, internal N loading and P loading from the fjord bottom was up to 121 × 103 kg N yr−1 (20 kg N ha−1 yr−1) and 22 × 103 kg P yr−1 (3.6 kg P ha−1 yr−1) corresponding to 6 (N) and 36% (P) of the external nutrient loading to the system. We conclude that the internal N loading resulting from degradation of accumulated ON is low in shallow eutrophic estuaries, whereas microbial mineralization of accumulated OP is a potential source of P. Overall it appears that, in N-limited eutrophic systems, internal nutrient resulting from mineralization of ON and OP in sediments is of minor importance.
Aggregation in environmental systems: seasonal tracer cycles quantify young water fractions, but not mean transit times, in spatially heterogeneous catchments
Authors: W. Kirchner J.
Published: March 2015

Abstract. Environmental heterogeneity is ubiquitous, but environmental systems are often analyzed as if they were homogeneous instead, resulting in aggregation errors that are rarely explored and almost never quantified. Here I use simple benchmark tests to explore this general problem in one specific context: the use of seasonal cycles in chemical or isotopic tracers (such as Cl−, δ18O, or δ2H) to estimate timescales of storage in catchments. Timescales of catchment storage are typically quantified by the mean transit time, meaning the average time that elapses between parcels of water entering as precipitation and leaving again as streamflow. Longer mean transit times imply greater damping of seasonal tracer cycles. Thus, the amplitudes of tracer cycles in precipitation and streamflow are commonly used to calculate catchment mean transit times. Here I show that these calculations will typically be wrong by several hundred percent, when applied to catchments with realistic degrees of spatial heterogeneity. This aggregation bias arises from the strong nonlinearity in the relationship between tracer cycle amplitude and mean travel time. I propose an alternative storage metric, the young water fraction in streamflow, defined as the fraction of runoff with transit times of less than roughly 0.2 years. I show that this young water fraction (not to be confused with event-based "new water" in hydrograph separations) is accurately predicted by seasonal tracer cycles within a precision of a few percent, across the entire range of mean transit times from almost zero to almost infinity. Importantly, this relationship is also virtually free from aggregation error. That is, seasonal tracer cycles also accurately predict the young water fraction in runoff from highly heterogeneous mixtures of subcatchments with strongly contrasting transit time distributions. Thus, although tracer cycle amplitudes yield biased and unreliable estimates of catchment mean travel times in heterogeneous catchments, they can be used reliably to estimate the fraction of young water in runoff.
Introduction:
Authors: Gertsman Elina
Published: March 2015

The organizing principle of this gathering of articles is the inquiry into the agentic potential of later medieval devotional objects. In my introduction, I provide exploratory remarks on the ontology of living images, and broadly outline their histories as well as the theoretical and disciplinary concerns that they raise. I then consider the ways that the essays presented here target and engage with these concerns. As a group, the articles interrogate animate and animated objects whose enlivening stands at the intersection of visual, literary, and performative cultures. Although interdisciplinary in nature, all articles retain a focus on viewing practices, on the interaction between the object and the beholder: as such, they stand at the crux of current scholarly interest in materiality and agency inherent in, and attributed to, medieval images. The material presented here focuses on the later Middle Ages but spans a wide range of geographical locations, from Spain to Poland.
The Bounty of the Earth:
Authors: Novershtern Avraham
Published: March 2015

I. J. Schwartz's book Kentucky (1925) includes six long epic poems telling variegated life experiences, both of Jews and non-Jews (mostly African-Americans) set against the background of post–Civil War Kentucky. This was a marginal topic in American Yiddish poetry, which centered mostly around the New York urban landscape. The longest and most significant text in the book, “Nayerd” (New Earth), tells the story of three generations in a typical, almost normative Jewish family making its way in the new environment. On the one hand, the epic narrator depicts the financial success of the protagonist, as well as the gradual distancing of his family from its Jewish cultural baggage, as an inevitable process that is pointless to bemoan. On the other hand, the family's confrontation with the Jewish experience remains one of the main topics in the poem. “Nayerd” is a narrative poem that lacks any overriding ideological thesis. It presents the life experiences of its protagonists by means of a pragmatic psychological and moral approach that appears to be very American, thus challenging implicitly the main tenets of the American Yiddish poetry of its time.
On Jacob Glatshteyn's Sacco and Vanzetti Poem
Authors: Rosenwald Lawrence
Published: March 2015

Jacob Glatshteyn's poem about Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, the celebrated Italian anarchists executed for murder on August 23, 1927, is both the greatest poem about the two men and among the least widely known; the goal of this article is to make the poem more broadly available for discussion. The means of arriving at that goal include a rigorously literal translation and a set of commentaries on particular lines of the poem, on its general themes and patterns, and on the relation between this poem and other poems on the subject. Among the themes explored are the poem's temporality, its portrait of the city, its dramatization of character, its shifting refrains, its Christian imagery, and its broad range of pity and curiosity.
From Jewish Jesus to Black Christ:
Authors: Glaser Amelia
Published: March 2015

This article examines shared metaphors in Yiddish poems about lynchings and pogroms in the 1930s. Leftist Yiddish poets in particular often equated lynching victims, as well as pogrom victims, with Jesus. The poet Berish Weinstein serves as a case study, for he used strikingly similar motifs in his poems about anti-Semitic and anti-Black violence. It is no coincidence that a rise in poems about race violence occurred during the most heated years of the Scottsboro trial, an event that became a symbol of American racism for the Communist Party. Yiddish writing about violence against African Americans reveals the commitment of many Jews in the 1930s to move from ethnic particularism toward leftist universalism. However, this examination of shared poetic motifs shows that in writing about racism in America, many Jews were also implicitly responding to the rise of Nazism in Europe.
“Women and poets see the truth arrive”:
Authors: Barnat Dara
Published: March 2015

Walt Whitman is a crucial figure in the Jewish American poetic tradition. Though scholars have periodically noted Whitman's influence on this tradition, the breadth of Jewish American poets who have embraced Whitman's aesthetics and ethos, from the mid-nineteenth century to date, has yet to be recognized, notwithstanding Allen Ginsberg. This essay presents an intriguing example of a Jewish American poet responding pre–World War II to the non-Jewish Whitman: the political poet Muriel Rukeyser. Rukeyser adopts aspects of Whitman's work to create a more democratic, socially informed, and inclusive America in general and Jewish America in particular. This case of intertextuality demonstrates how a Jewish minority writer, in order to negotiate their position in America, turns to a non-Jewish American majority writer.
Stanley Kunitz's Cracked Vocation
Authors: Cocola Jim
Published: March 2015

Though Stanley Kunitz was among the most decorated poets of his generation, he did not secure his first college teaching position until he was in his forties, and it wasn't until he was well into his fifties that he began to receive widespread acclaim for his work. Ultimately, these early fissures in Kunitz's vocation were problems of professionalization that can be traced back to his origins. As the youngest son of a hardscrabble immigrant widow in a gritty industrial city, Kunitz transcended his difficult childhood, but found it more complicated to contend with his heritage as he shaped a career for himself. Though Kunitz made isolated attempts to reckon with his Jewish and Lithuanian roots, his more usual course was to de-emphasize that heritage. But if Kunitz's poetics proved to be a poetics of sublimation in the main, there are also instances in which the sorrows of his station shine through—as, for instance, in the masterful short poem “An Old Cracked Tune,” where Kunitz takes pains to reassert his beleaguered identity, to think through the terms of the prejudices he faced up to, and, in his own terms, “to embrace a wounded name.”
RECOGNIZING THE PUBLIC RIGHT TO HEALTHCARE: THE APPROACH OF BRAZILIAN COURTS
Authors: Perlingeiro Ricardo
Published: March 2015

This paper considers aspects of the judicialization of health care policy in Brazil.  It discusses the issue in the context of the separation of the powers of government, judicial protection of the public right to healthcare, the so-called “technical administrative discretionary prerogatives,” and finally, the need for a budget to provide for the efficacy of court decisions. To further the analysis of Brazil’s treatment of the judicialization of politics this paper also compares Brazil’s experience with the experience of other countries witnessing the same phenomenon.
ALGUNAS REFLEXIONES SOBRE LA DELEGACION LEGISLATIVA EN ESTADOS UNIDOS DE NORTEAMÉRICA Y EN LA REPÚBLICA ARGENTINA
Authors: Alianak Raquel Cynthia
Published: March 2015

El trabajo analiza aspectos sobresalientes  de la delegación legislativa en una visión comparativa histórica y actual entre los sistemas jurídicos de Estados Unidos de Norteamérica y la República Argentina. Este relevante instituto es focalizado comparativamente en su evolución, a través de los distintos estadios de interpretación  judicial por los que ha atravesado en ambos regímenes legales.
Protection for the Sentient in the Nonideal World: A Review of Robert Garner’s A Theory of Justice for Animals
Authors: Milburn Josh
Published: March 2015

Presenting a series of powerful arguments, Robert Garner proposes that animal rights must be considered within the discourse on justice. The book offers an ideal theory of animal rights as well as a more achievable nonideal theory which we must use to get to the ideal, rejecting an array of alternative positions. The work contains much that is of value to animal ethicists, such as a novel consideration of the argument from marginal cases, and much that will be convincing for those political thinkers and ethicists not already convinced of the moral significance of nonhuman animals. The text occasionally falls into an unfortunate "us and them" dynamic, and practical considerations are, in places, underdeveloped. These shortcomings do not detract from the value of the work, and the book comes highly recommended: It is readable, rigorous and, most importantly, highly convincing.
“A Provisional Alignment”: Toward the Formation of a “We” (That We Are)
Authors: Gustafsson Simone
Published: March 2015

This article is a review of Tom Tyler’s CIFERAE: A Bestiary in Five Fingers, a timely and crucial contribution to critical animal studies scholarship. CIFERAE is a remarkable and careful analysis of epistemological anthropocentrism+in particular, what Tyler calls a "first-and-foremost anthropocentrism"--and the ways in which animals "figure" in the history of Western thought. Moreover, the text prompts a critique of "the human" and the formation of the "we." As such, Tyler’s philosophical investigation or bestiary pertains not only to theories of knowledge, but it holds significant ethical and political implications.
Micro-Dosing of Lime, Phosphorus and Nitrogen Fertilizers Effect on Maize Performance on an Acid Soil in Kenya
Authors: Kisinyo P. O. , Opala P. A. , Palapala V. , Gudu S. O. , Othieno C. O. , Ouma E.
Published: March 2015

High cost of inorganic fertilizers and lime has precluded their use by smallholder farmers to remedy the problem of soil acidity and infertility in Kenya. To address the problem, we tested a precision technique referred to as micro-dosing, which involves application of small, affordable quantities of inorganic inputs on an acid soil in Busia County, Kenya. Experimental treatments were N-fertilizer (0 and 37.5 kg N ha-1), P-fertilizer (0 and 13 kg P ha-1) and lime (0, 0.77 and 1.55 tons lime ha-1). 37.5 kg N and 13 kg P ha-1 are 50% of the recommended fertilizer rates for maize production in Kenya while 0.77 and 1.55 tons lime ha-1 are 25 and 50% of the actual requirement. Soil chemical changes, maize grain yield and nutrient recovery were determined. Lime and P-fertilizer significantly affected only the top-soil pH, Ca, Mg and available P, while the effects of N-fertilizer were evident on both top- and sub-soil N likely due to its faster mobility than P and lime. Grain P-fertilizer recovery efficiencies were 14 and 16-27% due to 13 kg P and 13 kg P + 0.77-1.55 tons lime ha-1, respectively. N-fertilizer recovery efficiencies were 37 and 42-45% due to 37.5 kg N and 37.5 kg N + 0.77-1.55 tons lime ha-1, respectively. Fertilizers applied to supply 37.5 kg N, 13 kg P and 0.77-1.55 tons lime ha-1 increased grain yield above the control by 134, 39 and 12-22%, respectively, therefore micro-dosing of these inputs can increase maize production on Kenyan acid soils.