bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
"The Earth reversed her Hemispheres": Dickinson's Global Antipodality
Authors: Giles Paul
Published: May 2011

This essay takes issue with conventional biographical approaches to Emily Dickinson and argues that her conception of authorship instead involved a sustained aesthetic of impersonality. Rather than incorporating Dickinson within an excessively domesticated or genteel context, it would be more helpful to consider ways in which Dickinson remaps the idea of selfhood onto more extensive spatial and temporal domains. The essay consequently traces the poet's deliberate reorientation of religious discourses and her interest in scientific ideas such as astronomy, geography, geology, and the theory of evolution, all of which were specifically concerned in the nineteenth century with the displacement of human consciousness. Dickinson's poetry internalizes a rhetoric of paradoxical opposition through which projections of physical distance become reversed, with the idea of near and far being brought creatively, and sometimes comically, into juxtaposition. Hence the idea of "circumference," for Dickinson, implies a global rather than just a transcendentalist consciousness. This in turn is related to both her interest in the hemispheric South and in antipodean metaphors more generally. The essay concludes by suggesting that Dickinson uses transnational formations to highlight constant reversals of perspective and the prismatic or comparative slant necessarily presented to any given observer. In this way, it argues, Dickinson's poetry should be seen as radically exceeding its domestic circumference, since it self-consciously relates her proximate New England environment to the rotation of the spheres.
"The Ache of Modernism": James Joyce's Pomes Penyeach and Their Literary Context
Authors: Lennartz Norbert
Published: May 2011

It has become a habit in recent literary criticism to read Joyce's collection of poems, Pomes Penyeach , in terms of a biographical sketch reflecting the impact that his relationship with Amalia Popper and his mother's death had on his life between 1913 and 1927. A closer look at the poems, however, clearly reveals that the biographical foundation of the collection is tenuous and that Joyce utilizes late-Victorian forms and images to redefine the modernist age as a period that is remote from the Georgian idiom and, to a significant extent, in line with the dreariness of the decadent period. Deeply rooted in nineteenth-century literary contexts ranging from Matthew Arnold to William Butler Yeats, these poems deal with festering existential wounds, "the ache of modernism," from which the speakers, in the wake of Thomas Hardy's tragic heroine Tess, suffer. The woman who hears her dead lover's voice summoning her in the graveyard, the father who senses impenetrable darkness descending on his child's delicate shoulders, or the elderly man who ruthlessly watches his physical deterioration in the mirror—they all give expression to a feeling of paralysis and ontological pessimism that radically breaks with the Romantic tradition and serves as a dark matrix for Joyce's later experimental narratives. When, in "The Nightpiece," even the speaker vanishes, and the emptiness of the night assumes the form of an ecclesiastical building, Joyce shows that he is familiar with a pervasive rhetoric of nihilism, making him an apt mediator between late-Victorian poets of despair and modern writers of absurdity.
The Sun without Rays and the Eclipse of 272
Authors: Pedroni Luigi
Published: May 2011

An anomalous coin of the emperor Aurelian portrays a bare-headed sun god on the obverse and a scene of Aurelian sacrificing on the reverse. This study suggests that the lack of solar rays in the depiction of Sol is a reference to an annular eclipse that occurred in the year 272, during which the sun lost most of its rays, and that this eclipse was viewed as a sign of divine assistance for Aurelian at the Battle of Emesa against queen Zenobia of Palmyra. The coin therefore is to be interpreted in the broader context of Aurelian’s known support for the god Sol Invictus, as represented, for example, by his construction of a temple of Sol in Rome.
A Late Antique Silver Reliquary in Toronto
Authors: Noga-Banai Galit , Safran Linda
Published: May 2011

A previously unpublished casket now in Toronto shares some formal and compositional features with the small corpus of known silver reliquaries produced in the eastern Mediterranean during Late Antiquity; at the same time, it differs from these in iconographic (and orthographic) particulars and in style. Investigation of a wide range of comparanda in diverse media reveals that the principal message of the reliquary’s decoration is the adoration of the cross on Golgotha, conflated with the baptism of Christ to symbolize the source of life. It was likely made in Palestine during the reign of Heraclius and perhaps can be associated with that emperor’s restoration of the True Cross to Jerusalem. As the first attested silver reliquary with figural decoration from that region, it significantly expands our knowledge of artistic production in Palestine in the early seventh century.
Text, Image, and the “Visionary Body” in Early Byzantine Hagiography: Incubation and the Rise of the Christian Image Cult
Authors: Dal Santo Matthew J.
Published: May 2011

This study reasserts the importance of images for the Christian saints’ cult during the sixth and seventh centuries, and draws attention to the abundant extant pilgrims’ eulogiai that that have been largely overlooked heretofore. In particular, it highlights the existence of a fiercely contested debate in early Byzantium about the visibility of the disembodied human soul, and specifically the role that images of the Christian saints and angels played in adjudicating the claims of the various parties to this controversy. It contends that references to images of the saints in pre-iconoclastic hagiography should not be automatically dismissed as anachronistic interpolations, but viewed from the perspective of a debate about the nature of the saints’ “visionary body.” It also argues that the widespread availability of images of the saints in contexts of worship formed an established of the saints’ cult in the early Byzantine period, especially in incubatory shrines.
The Digital Wunderkammer: Flickr as a Platform for Amateur Cultural and Heritage Content
Authors: Terras Melissa
Published: May 2011

Many memory institutions are now digitizing their holdings to provide online access. Although recent developments in technology have allowed users to create high quality digital resources outside institutional boundaries, little consideration has been given to the potential contribution that the general public can make to digitizing cultural heritage. This article seeks to scope the growing trend of the creation of digital images of cultural and heritage materials beyond library, art gallery, or museum walls, particularly focusing on the use of the image-hosting site Flickr ( www.flickr.com ) as a forum for hosting, discussing, and collecting vintage ephemera. This article discusses how Flickr is currently being used and provides empirical data that demonstrates that the most successful examples of this approach can teach best practice to traditional memory institutions in how to make their collections useful, interesting, and used by online communities. The use of a common, centralized access point to image-based heritage allows a central point for discussing and accessing collections. Furthermore, the adoption of Flickr by libraries and archives can extend the use of collections and the interaction that this affords both the institution and the individual.
Iannis Xenakis and the Presocratic Foundations of a New Music
Authors: Lee Jonathan Scott
Published: May 2011

Paradoxes abound in the music of Iannis Xenakis (1922–2001), a music almost paradigmatically "difficult," recalcitrant to traditional modes of musical and aesthetic analysis, and yet shockingly direct in its aural richness and in its impact on listeners. In his theoretical writings, Xenakis makes repeated references to Presocratic philosophers—in particular, to Heraclitus and Parmenides—using these archaic texts to help make a case for his own "stochastic music." Xenakis's interest here is in finding ways to integrate the stasis characteristic of Parmenides's account of the real with the constant flux of the real that Heraclitus describes. Xenakis goes further, however, to develop an account of listening as "experimental" on the basis of his distinctive reading of the Presocratic tradition. Thalleïn , a composition for large chamber ensemble, provides a vivid illustration and test case both for Xenakis's interpretation of the Presocratics and for his approach to listening as experiment.
O Megalexandros : Falling In and Out of Dreams
Authors: Ravetto-Biagioli Kriss
Published: May 2011

Made on the eve of Greece's entry into the European Community in 1981, Theo Angelopoulos's Megalexandros does not acquiesce to the political mood of the moment but foregrounds Greece's status as a crypto-colony or client state. Set at the turn of the century, the film reminds its viewers of the role of Great Britain, France, and Russia in the Greek War of Independence (1821–1830), as well as of their ongoing gunboat diplomacy in Greek national politics. Megalexandros is loosely based on the 1870 Dilessi Affair, which involved the kidnapping and eventual murder of a group of British aristocrats and one Italian count by Greek bandits at Marathon. Angelopoulos claims that Megalexandros is one of the simplest films he has made because it follows a linear narrative, but the interweaving of numerous citations of poems, tragedies, histories, and iconographies, as well as references to traditional oral narratives and local customs, make the film extremely complex and nuanced. Complex historical, ideological, and aesthetic references used in the film will be analyzed in order to show how Angelopoulos makes a critical contribution to the on-going debates about European identity politics.
Differential Activity of NADPH-Producing Dehydrogenases Renders Rodents Unsuitable Models to Study IDH1R132 Mutation Effects in Human Glioblastoma
Authors: Atai Nadia A. , Renkema-Mills Nynke A. , Bosman Joost , Schmidt Nadja , Rijkeboer Denise , Tigchelaar Wikky , Bosch Klazien S. , Troost Dirk , Jonker Ard , Bleeker Fonnet E. , Miletic Hrvoje , Bjerkvig Rolf , De Witt Hamer Philip C. , Van Noorden Cornelis J. F.
Published: May 2011

The somatic IDH1R132 mutation in the isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 gene occurs in high frequency in glioma and in lower frequency in acute myeloid leukemia and thyroid cancer but not in other types of cancer. The mutation causes reduced NADPH production capacity in glioblastoma by 40% and is associated with prolonged patient survival. NADPH is a major reducing compound in cells that is essential for detoxification and may be involved in resistance of glioblastoma to treatment. IDH has never been considered important in NADPH production. Therefore, the authors investigated NADPH-producing dehydrogenases using in silico analysis of human cancer gene expression microarray data sets and metabolic mapping of human and rodent tissues to determine the role of IDH in total NADPH production. Expression of most NADPH-producing dehydrogenase genes was not elevated in 34 cancer data sets except for IDH1 in glioma and thyroid cancer, indicating an association with the IDH1 mutation. IDH activity was the main provider of NADPH in human normal brain and glioblastoma, but its role was modest in NADPH production in rodent brain and other tissues. It is concluded that rodents are a poor model to study consequences of the IDH1R132 mutation in glioblastoma.
Proteolytic Cleavage of Versican and Involvement of ADAMTS-1 in VEGF-A/VPF-Induced Pathological Angiogenesis
Authors: Fu Yineng , Nagy Janice A. , Brown Lawrence F. , Shih Shou-Ching , Johnson Pamela Y. , Chan Christina K. , Dvorak Harold F. , Wight Thomas N.
Published: May 2011

Malignant tumors and chronic inflammatory diseases induce angiogenesis by overexpressing vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A/VPF). VEGF-A-induced pathological angiogenesis can be mimicked in immunoincompetent mice with an adenoviral vector expressing VEGF-A164 (Ad-VEGF-A164). The initial step is generation of greatly enlarged “mother” vessels (MV) from preexisting normal venules by a process involving degradation of their rigid basement membranes. Immunohistochemical and Western blot analyses revealed that versican, an extracellular matrix component in the basement membranes of venules, is degraded early in the course of MV formation, resulting in the appearance of a versican N-terminal DPEAAE fragment associated with MV endothelial cells. The protease ADAMTS-1, known to cleave versican near its N terminus to generate DPEAAE, is also upregulated by VEGF-A in parallel with MV formation and localizes to the endothelium of the developing MV. The authors also show that MMP-15 (MT-2 MMP), a protease that activates ADAMTS-1, is upregulated by VEGF-A in endothelial cells in vitro and in vivo. These data suggest VEGF-A initiates MV formation, in part, by inducing the expression of endothelial cell proteases such as ADAMTS-1 and MMP-15 that act in concert to degrade venular basement membrane versican. Thus, versican is actively processed during the early course of VEGF-A-induced pathological angiogenesis.
Instrumented Model Rock Blasting
Authors: Hafsaoui Abdellah , Talhi Korichi
Published: May 2011

Literature review information and model scale rock blasting tests have been utilized to study the effects of some blast and fragmentation parameters on peak p-wave stress. A method for modeling scale blasting in sandstone blocks with dimensions of 515×335×215 mm3 has been studied and the results from a blast experiment instrumented with a pressure gauge are given. The dynamic and static properties of the sandstone are also given. The instrumented tests in such blocks using pressure gauges and the effects of blast and fragmentation parameters on peak p-wave stress are studied.
Evaluating the Compaction Quality of Backfills by Stress Wave Velocities
Authors: Lai Jiunnren , Wu Shengmin , Chiang Chih-Hung
Published: May 2011

In engineering practices, sand-cone tests are usually performed to assess the compaction quality of backfilled materials of highway embankments or earth dams. However, performing the sand-cone test is time consuming and can only obtain the physical but not the engineering properties of backfills. The objective of this paper is to investigate the feasibility of evaluating the compaction quality of backfills using stress wave propagation velocities. To achieve this goal, a backfill material with low plasticity used in the earth dam of the Hushan Reservoir in Taiwan was collected and tested. The calibration curves for the relationship among moisture content, dry density, and stress wave velocities were obtained. In order to verify the validity of the laboratory calibration curves, field tests were also performed on a trial embankment at the site of the reservoir. Comparing with values measured in the field using the traditional sand-cone test, the proposed method underestimates the water content and overestimates the dry density of the compacted backfills. The resulting error is less than 10 %. It is thus concluded that the proposed method is a promising tool for the evaluation of the compaction quality of backfills.
Arabic death discourse in translation: Euphemism and metaphorical conceptualization in Jordanian obituaries
Authors: Al-Kharabsheh Aladdin
Published: May 2011

Some events are too distasteful and coarse to be approached without linguistic ‘gymnastics’ or ‘maneuvering’. One of these is undoubtedlydeath, a timeless taboo in which psychological, religious, and social interdictions coexist. This paper investigates the conceptualization and translation of the euphemistic metaphorical encoding operative in Arabic death discourse, particularly in a selected corpus consisting of 450 obituaries, drawn from three respectable Jordanian newspapers, where the sentimentalization of death, deriving from orthodox Muslim beliefs, provided a fertile soil for the burgeoning of metaphorical fatalism-laden euphemism. Given the pervasiveness of metaphor to refer to human mortality, the present study utilizes the influential “Conceptual Metaphor Theory” advanced by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) to account for the different conceptual metaphors, and their relevant linguistic instantiations which substituted the notions ofdeathanddying. The analysis also reveals that the translation hurdles encountered essentially originate from the fact that Arabic and English offer conflicting prototypical models ofagency, thereby landing the translator with the laborious task of negotiating the meaning between two contrasting cultural models, which has been found to strip the source language text from its dynamism, and, consequently, to procure irredressable translation loss, however satisfactory the translation equivalents may be.
The first aboriginal intermediaries: Interpreting and interpreted
Authors: Wakabayashi Judy
Published: May 2011

The challenges of interlinguistic and crosscultural communication at their extreme are epitomized in the initial contacts between Europeans and Aboriginal Australians. After sketching the linguistic encounters of the Australian continent’s original inhabitants with Asians and pre-settlement European explorers, this paper focuses on the circumstances, role and representations of the first identifiable Aboriginal interpreters — man, woman, child — in the early years of the colony. How do contact narratives represent interpreting and how might these fragmentary records — and their gaps and distortions — be interpreted through a close reading? Were the Aboriginal interpreters able to retake some of their lost agency by appropriating the colonizer’s language to their own purposes or manipulating the interpreting situations? Were they successful in bridging worlds, and how were they viewed by the two sides between which they mediated? This paper foregrounds these marginal figures who were nevertheless key linguistic and cultural mediators when the Indigenous oral societies grounded in a cosmology known as the Dreaming first encountered a society dominated by the English language and written forms and rooted in an alien worldview.
‘Translator studies’: Liang Shiqiu’s discourse on translation
Authors: Bai Liping
Published: May 2011

Liang Shiqiu is a prominent translator in 20thcentury China. This article offers an analysis of his direct and indirect discourse on translation. It demonstrates that Liang’s discourse on translation, including attitudes to and functions of translation, faithfulness and appropriate degree of literalism, is in line with his discourse on literature, culture and some traditional Confucian ideas like ‘cheng’, ‘li’ and ‘zhongyong’. It is fascinating to discover that Liang’s attitude toward the value of traditional Chinese thinking, particularly Confucianism, at a time when it was strongly denounced during the New Culture Movement, was greatly influenced by Irving Babbitt, his teacher at Harvard.
Effect of the genotype: Environmental interaction on phenotype variation of the bunch weight in white wine varieties
Authors: Sivcev Branislava , Petrovic Nevena , Rankovic-Vasic Zorica , Radovanovic Dragica , Vukovic Ana , Vujadinovic Mirjam
Published: May 2011

The aim of this paper is to establish the interaction of phenotypical
variations, components of yield for the widest spread wine varieties and
external factors of the Danube region in the central Serbia. The number of
fruitful buds per vine for twenty-one varieties was the same, whereas the
yield and the components of the yield were different. The growing season,
from bud burst to full ripening of the grapevine and the sum of active
temperatures for the same period, were of crucial importance. In the factor
analysis, three factors have been singled out: the first factor couples the
mean air temperature; the second factor delineates the values according to
genotype characteristics, sugar content and acids in the must, and the third
factor indicates that bunch weight had the major effect on the yield of
grapes. By the application of bunch analysis, a hierarchy tree was formed to
include the four groups of varieties. The most numerous group, consisting of
18 varieties, is characterized by top quality grapes (21.5% sugar content),
medium yield (1.52 kg/m2) and a proportional relation of total acids (7.5
g/l) and this is achieved during the middle of the ripening period.
Condition and length-weight relationship of the horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus L.) and the Mediterranean horse mackerel (Trachurus mediterraneus L.) from the eastern Adriatic sea
Authors: Santic M. , Radja Biljana , Paladin Antonela
Published: May 2011

The length-weight relationship and variation of condition factor in relation
to the total length (TL) of Trachurus trachurus (Linnaeus, 1758) and
Trachurus mediterraneus (Steindachner, 1868) were studied. Samples were
collected in the eastern Adriatic Sea using bottom-trawl during 2008 and
2009. The b values for males, females and total sample showed that the
growth of T. trachurus was isometric, i.e. equal in length and weight. The
growth of the males and females of T. mediterraneus was positively
allometric while the total sample (males, female and immature) showed
isometric growth. The condition factor was calculated indicating the
smallest values in immature specimens. The highest values of condition
factor for males and females of both species were observed in the range of
TL from 16 to 19 cm and 31 to 33 cm, respectively.
Chemical analysis and antimicrobial activities of the essential oils of Satureja thymbra L. and Thymbra spicata L. and their main components
Authors: Markovic Tatjana , Chatzopoulou Paschalina , Siljegovic Jovana , Nikolic M. , Glamoclija Jasmina , Ciric Ana , Sokovic Marina
Published: May 2011

This work covers the chemical composition and antimicrobial activities of the
essential oils isolated from Satureja thymbra and Thymbra spicata analyzed
using GC/MS. The main components of S. thymbra oil were thymol (33.8 %),
?-terpinene (30.8 %) and p-cymene (11.8 %). The main components in T. spicata
oil were carvacrol (74.5 %) and ?-terpinene (11.2 %). The oils and their main
components, thymol and carvacrol, were assayed by applying the microdilution
method for antibacterial and antifungal activity against food poisoning,
plant, animal and human pathogenic microorganisms. The oil of T. spicata and
carvacrol showed the highest antimicrobial activity.
Vegetation recording in forests: Comparison of the Chinese and European approaches
Authors: Zhang Qiao-Ming , Wang De-Xiang , Fischer Anton
Published: May 2011

The field approach underlying a vegetation study influences the results of
biodiversity assessments. In our paper we compared two main field survey
approaches for forest vegetation recording, the Chinese and the European
(?phytosociological?) one, for their differences and efficiency when applied
to the plant communities of temperate forests. The Chinese approach uses a
design with different plot sizes for recording the tree, shrub and herb layer
species, respectively, while the European one uses the same plot size for
recording all layers and species. The two approaches result in significant
differences in species richness (Simpson?s diversity index and the
Shannon-Wiener index), while there is no difference in the evenness index.
The European approach has the ability to survey the number of different
species more precisely than the Chinese one. For detecting the general
patterns of diversity, however, the two approaches have the same ability,
demonstrated here for the altitudinal gradient.
A new cave Pseudoscorpion (Pseudoscorpiones: Chthoniidae): Chthonius (Chthonius) lupinus n.sp. from Bosnia-Herzegovina
Authors: Curcic B.P.M. , Dimitrijevic R.N. , Curcic Nina
Published: May 2011

A new cavernicolous pseudoscorpion pertaining to the genus Chthonius
(Chthonius) C. L. Koch, from Herzegovina (Bosnia-Herzegovina) is erected. Its
relations with close congeners are briefly discussed. The new species
Chthonius (Chthonius) lupinus n. sp. is an endemic form presently known only
from its type locality (Vucija pecina Cave, Mt. Leotar, nr. Trebinje,
Herzegovina).
Solvent-Free Synthesis of 5-Benzylidene-2-Thioxothiazolidin-4-Ones and Thiazolidine-2,4-Diones Catalysed by Glycine under Microwave Irradiation
Authors: Yang Ben-Yong , Yang De-Hong
Published: May 2011

A novel and clean synthesis of 5-benzylidene-2-thioxothiazolidin-4-ones and thiazolidine-2,4-diones has been achieved in good yields by condensation of aromatic aldehydes with rhodanine or thiazolidine-2,4-dione under microwave irradiation using glycine as the catalyst.
Roles of StearoylCoA Desaturase-1 in the Regulation of Cancer Cell Growth, Survival and Tumorigenesis
Authors: Igal R. Ariel
Published: May 2011

The development and maintenance of defining features of cancer, such as unremitting cell proliferation, evasion of programmed cell death, and the capacity for colonizing local tissues and distant organs, demand a massive production of structural, signaling and energy-storing lipid biomolecules of appropriate fatty acid composition. Due to constitutive activation of fatty acid biosynthesis, cancer cell lipids are enriched with saturated (SFA) and, in particular, monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), which are generated by StearoylCoA desaturase-1, the main enzyme that transforms SFA into MUFA. An increasing number of experimental and epidemiological studies suggest that high levels of SCD1 activity is a major factor in establishing the biochemical and metabolic perturbations that favors the oncogenic process. This review examines evidence that suggests the critical implication of SCD1 in the modulation of multiple biological mechanisms, specifically lipid biosynthesis and proliferation and survival signaling pathways that contribute to the development and progression of cancer.
Lycopene Enhances Antioxidant Enzyme Activities and Immunity Function in N-Methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine–Induced Gastric Cancer Rats
Authors: Luo Cong , Wu Xian-Guo
Published: May 2011

To investigate anticancer effect of lycopene, we examined the effects of lycopene on the oxidative injury and immunity activities of N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG)-induced gastric cancer rats. The animals were divided into five groups. Group I served as the normal control and was given corn oil orally for 20 weeks. Group II were induced with MNNG 200 mg/kg body weight by oral gavage at days 0 and 14, and saturated NaCl (1 mL per rats) was given once every three days for four weeks until the end of the experimental period. Group III, IV and V were posttreated with lycopene (50, 100 and 150 mg/kg body weight, dissolved in corn oil) from the sixth week of MNNG (as in group II) induction up to the end of the experimental period. In the presence of MNNG, MDA and immunity levels were significantly increased, whereas enzymatic (SOD, CAT, and GPx) antioxidant activities were decreased in the treated rats compared with normal control rats. Administration of lycopene to gastric carcinoma-induced rats largely up-regulated the redox status and immunity activities to decrease the risk of cancer compared to group II. We conclude that up-regulation of antioxidants and immunity by lycopene treatment might be responsible for the anticancer effect in gastric carcinoma.
The Effect of Ultrasound on the Functional Properties of Wheat Gluten
Authors: Zhang Haihua , Claver Irakoze P. , Zhu Ke-Xue , Zhou Huiming
Published: May 2011

In this study, the effect of ultrasound on the foaming and emulsifying properties of wheat gluten as well as its electrophoretic and rheology properties were investigated. The foam capacity and foam stability of ultrasound treated wheat gluten proteins gradually increased as the treatment power increased, and were more pronounced at 100% power level. Excluding those of the raw wheat gluten, the lowest emulsifying capacity values and emulsifying stability were obtained with the samples ultrasound treated at 60% power level. In general, ultrasound treatment did not cause major changes on the protein electrophoretic patterns of gluten samples at the power levels used. Ultrasound affected the storage and the loss moduli with typical U-shape alteration.
Spatial and Temporal Homogeneity of Solar Surface Irradiance across Satellite Generations
Authors: Posselt Rebekka , Mueller Richard , Stöckli Reto , Trentmann Jörg
Published: May 2011

Solar surface irradiance (SIS) is an essential variable in the radiation budget of the Earth. Climate data records (CDR’s) of SIS are required for climate monitoring, for climate model evaluation and for solar energy applications. A 23 year long (1983–2005) continuous and validated SIS CDR based on the visible channel (0.45–1 μm) of the MVIRI instruments onboard the first generation of Meteosat satellites has recently been generated using a climate version of the well established Heliosat method. This version of the Heliosat method includes a newly developed self-calibration algorithm and an improved algorithm to determine the clear sky reflection. The climate Heliosat version is also applied to the visible narrow-band channels of SEVIRI onboard the Meteosat Second Generation Satellites (2004–present). The respective channels are observing the Earth in the wavelength region at about 0.6 μm and 0.8 μm. SIS values of the overlapping time period are used to analyse whether a homogeneous extension of the MVIRI CDR is possible with the SEVIRI narrowband channels. It is demonstrated that the spectral differences between the used visible channels leads to significant differences in the solar surface irradiance in specific regions. Especially, over vegetated areas the reflectance exhibits a high spectral dependency resulting in large differences in the retrieved SIS. The applied self-calibration method alone is not able to compensate the spectral differences of the channels. Furthermore, the extended range of the input values (satellite counts) enhances the cloud detection of the SEVIRI instruments resulting in lower values for SIS, on average. Our findings have implications for the application of the Heliosat method to data from other geostationary satellites (e.g., GOES, GMS). They demonstrate the need for a careful analysis of the effect of spectral and technological differences in visible channels on the retrieved solar irradiance.
Vaccinations in Older Adults: Focus on Pneumococcal, Influenza and Herpes zoster infections
Authors: Kau Lang , Sadowski Cheryl A. , Hughes Christine
Published: May 2011

Pneumococcal, influenza and herpes zoster infections cause significant morbidity and mortality in the aging population. Effective vaccines are available in Canada to prevent and minimize illnesses caused by these infections. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the epidemiology of pneumococcal, influenza and herpes zoster infections in older adults, as well as available vaccines and recommended immunization schedules. In addition, the benefits of these vaccines on patient outcomes and the role of pharmacists in improving immunization rates are highlighted.

A literature review was conducted to examine the clinical outcomes related to the use of pneumococcal, influenza and herpes zoster vaccines in adults 65 years and older. All 3 vaccines are beneficial in reducing complications of these infections and are well tolerated in older adults. Studies have shown that the uptake of these vaccines remains suboptimal and the burden of illness caused by these infections continues to affect the quality of life of older adults. Pharmacists are well positioned to screen seniors for vaccine indications during routine assessments, as well as provide education to improve patient awareness, vaccine uptake and health outcomes in older adults.
Reading Grade Level of Plan B Instructions and Patient Information Materials on Emergency Contraception
Authors: Hocevar Sarah , Yuksel Nesé
Published: May 2011

Background:

Plan B recently became a schedule III product in Canada. Patients can now access Plan B without a pharmacist consult and may rely only on the packaging information provided to learn about the medication. It is recommended that health information materials directed at patients be written at or below a grade 8 level. We assessed the reading grade level of the Plan B packaging information and of patient information materials on Plan B and emergency contraception.

Methods:

Plan B packaging information was obtained from the manufacturer, and a convenience sample of 10 patient information materials on Plan B and emergency contraception were collected from pharmacies and clinics in Edmonton, Alberta, and from Canadian websites. The Fry graph and SMOG formula were used to measure readability of the materials.

Results:

The Plan B packaging information had a mean reading grade level of 12.8. The mean reading grade level of patient information materials was 12.9 for print materials and 13.4 for online materials.

Conclusions:

Plan B packaging information and patient information materials relating to Plan B and emergency contraception are written at reading grade levels beyond the recommendations for patient health literature.
Management of High Blood Pressure in Those without Overt Cardiovascular Disease Utilising Absolute Risk Scores
Authors: Nelson Mark R.
Published: May 2011

Increasing blood pressure has a continuum of adverse risk for cardiovascular events. Traditionally this single measure was used to determine who to treat and how vigorously. However, estimating absolute risk rather than measurement of a single risk factor such as blood pressure is a superior method to identify who is most at risk of having an adverse cardiovascular event such as stroke or myocardial infarction, and therefore who would most likely benefit from therapeutic intervention. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk calculators must be used to estimate absolute risk in those without overt CVD as physician estimation is unreliable. Incorporation into usual practice and limitations of the strategy are discussed.
Vascular Calcification in an Adolescent Treated with Long-Term Peritoneal Dialysis
Authors: Ekim Mesiha , Fitoz Suat , Ozcakar Z. Birsin , Yalcinkaya Fatos
Published: May 2011

The reason of high mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is cardiovascular disease and arterial calcification has been accepted as an additive factor on this status. In this report we described vascular and cardiac valvular calcifications in an adolescent on CAPD.
Derivation of Two New Human Embryonic Stem Cell Lines from Nonviable Human Embryos
Authors: Gavrilov Svetlana , Marolt Darja , Douglas Nataki C. , Prosser Robert W. , Khalid Imran , Sauer Mark V. , Landry Donald W. , Vunjak-Novakovic Gordana , Papaioannou Virginia E.
Published: May 2011

We report the derivation and characterization of two new human embryonic stem cells (hESC) lines (CU1 and CU2) from embryos with an irreversible loss of integrated organismic function. In addition, we analyzed retrospective data of morphological progression from embryonic day (ED) 5 to ED6 for 2480 embryos not suitable for clinical use to assess grading criteria indicative of loss of viability on ED5. Our analysis indicated that a large proportion ofin vitrofertilization (IVF) embryos not suitable for clinical use could be used for hESC derivation. Based on these combined findings, we propose that criteria commonly used in IVF clinics to determine optimal embryos for uterine transfer can be employed to predict the potential for hESC derivation from poor quality embryos without the destruction of vital human embryos.
Association between Body Mass Index and Bone Mineral Density in Patients Referred for Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry Scan in Ajman, UAE
Authors: Fawzy Tarek , Muttappallymyalil Jayakumary , Sreedharan Jayadevan , Ahmed Amal , Alshamsi Salma Obaid Saeed , Al Ali Mariyam Saif Salim Humaid Bin Bader , Al Balsooshi Khawla Ahmed
Published: May 2011

Body Mass Index (BMI) is a good indicator for measurements of Bone Mineral Density (BMD) which measures the density of minerals present in the bones using a special scan. This study was conducted to assess the association between BMI and status of BMD among 101 individuals who underwent Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) scan. 39 subjects had normal and 62 had low bone mineral density. BMD was low in 82.4% of people with normal BMI, 78.1% among overweight, and 44.2% among obese. There was a statistically significant association between these two variables (). Low BMD was recorded in 59.1% of females and 76.9% of males. Association between advancing age and lower BMI is an important risk factor in the occurrence of low BMD.
Job demands and resources and their associations with early retirement intentions through recovery need and work enjoyment
Authors: Schreurs Bert , De Cuyper Nele , Van Emmerik I.J. Hetty , Notelaers Guy , De Witte Hans
Published: May 2011

Orientation: Job characteristics play a major role in shaping employees’ early retirement decisions.Research purpose: The objective of this study was to examine the mechanisms through which job characteristics associate with early retirement intention, using the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model as a theoretical framework.Motivation of the study: Early retirement presents a threat to existing health and pension systems, and to organisational functioning. Therefore, it is important to examine how workrelated factors contribute to early retirement decisions.Research design, approach and method: Two parallel processes were theorised to shape early retirement intention: a health impairment process (i.e. job demands → recovery need → early retirement intention) and a motivational process (i.e. job resources → work enjoyment → early retirement intention). Survey data were collected from a heterogeneous sample of 1812 older workers (age > 45). Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses.Main findings: Job demands and job resources were both associated with work enjoyment, which was associated with early retirement intention. Recovery need did not add to the prediction of early retirement intention.Practical/managerial implications: To retain older workers, companies should promote work conditions and practices that keep older workers motivated. Good health may be a necessary condition for retaining older workers, but it does not appear to be a sufficient one.Contribution/value-add: The results suggest that – for early retirement intention – the motivational process is more prominent than the health impairment process.
Workplace bullying: A perspective from the Job Demands-Resources model
Authors: Van den Broeck Anja , Baillien Elfi , De Witte Hans
Published: May 2011

Orientation: Workplace bullying is characterised as a counterproductive interpersonal behaviour, yielding severe consequences for both the individual and the organisation. The occurrence of workplace bullying is often attributed to a stressful work environment.Research purpose: The purpose of the study was to test the work environment hypothesis by applying the Job Demands-Resources model to workplace bullying. We expected job demands and job resources to relate to both perpetrators’ and actors’ reports of workplace bullying.Motivation for the study: We aimed to extend the outcomes examined in the Job Demands- Resources model to a specific form of counterproductive interpersonal behaviour, namely workplace bullying. From the point of view of the literature on bullying, we aimed to substantiate the well-known work environment hypothesis with empirical data.Research design, approach and method: We applied structural equation modelling on questionnaire data of a large heterogeneous sample of Flemish employees (N = 749).Main findings: Job demands and job resources interacted in the prediction of perpetrators’ reports of bullying: job demands associated positively to perpetrators’ reports of bullying particularly under the condition of high job resources. Job demands related positively to targets’ reports of bullying, while job resources related negatively. These associations were (partially) mediated by emotional exhaustion.Practical/managerial implications: These results suggest that workplace bullying may indeed be reduced by good job design, that is, by limiting the job demands and increasing job resources. Particular prevention plans may be developed for exhausted employees, as they are vulnerable to workplace bullying, in terms of both becoming perpetrators and victims.Contribution/value-add: This study attests to the predictive validity of the JD-R model for perpetrators’ and targets’ reports of workplace bullying. The findings also underline the complex and multi-causal nature of workplace bullying.
The Job Demands–Resources model: Challenges for future research
Authors: Demerouti Evangelia , Bakker Arnold B.
Published: May 2011

Motivation: The motivation of this overview is to present the state of the art of Job Demands–Resources (JD–R) model whilst integrating the various contributions to the special issue.Research purpose: To provide an overview of the JD–R model, which incorporates many possible working conditions and focuses on both negative and positive indicators of employee well-being. Moreover, the studies of the special issue were introduced.Research design: Qualitative and quantitative studies on the JD–R model were reviewed to enlighten the health and motivational processes suggested by the model.Main findings: Next to the confirmation of the two suggested processes of the JD–R model, the studies of the special issue showed that the model can be used to predict work-place bullying, incidences of upper respiratory track infection, work-based identity, and early retirement intentions. Moreover, whilst psychological safety climate could be considered as a hypothetical precursor of job demands and resources, compassion satisfaction moderated the health process of the model.Contribution/value-add: The findings of previous studies and the studies of the special issue were integrated in the JD–R model that can be used to predict well-being and performance at work. New avenues for future research were suggested.Practical/managerial implications: The JD–R model is a framework that can be used for organisations to improve employee health and motivation, whilst simultaneously improving various organisational outcomes.
Sensitivity of interglacial Greenland temperature and δ18O to orbital and CO2 forcing: climate simulations and ice core data
Authors: Masson-Delmotte V. , Braconnot P. , Hoffmann G. , Jouzel J. , Kageyama M. , Landais A. , Lejeune Q. , Risi C. , Sime L. , Sjolte J. , Swingedouw D. , Vinther B.
Published: May 2011

Abstract. The sensitivity of interglacial Greenland temperature to orbital and CO2 forcing is investigated using the NorthGRIP ice core data and coupled ocean-atmosphere IPSL-CM4 model simulations. These simulations were conducted in response to different interglacial orbital configurations, and to increased CO2 concentrations. These different forcings cause very distinct simulated seasonal and latitudinal temperature and water cycle changes, limiting the analogies between the last interglacial and future climate. However, the IPSL-CM4 model shows similar magnitudes of Arctic summer warming and climate feedbacks in response to 2 × CO2 and orbital forcing of the last interglacial period (126 000 yr ago). The IPSL model produces a remarkably linear relationship between top of atmosphere incoming summer solar radiation and simulated changes in summer and annual mean central Greenland temperature. This contrasts with the stable isotope record from the Greenland ice cores, showing a multi-millennial lagged response to summer insolation. During the early part of interglacials, the observed lags may be explained by ice sheet-ocean feedbacks linked with changes in ice sheet elevation and the impact of meltwater on ocean circulation, as investigated with sensitivity studies. A quantitative comparison between ice core data and climate simulations requires to explore the stability of the stable isotope – temperature relationship. Atmospheric simulations including water stable isotopes have been conducted with the LMDZiso model under different boundary conditions. This set of simulations allows to calculate a temporal Greenland isotope-temperature slope (0.3–0.4 ‰ per °C) during warmer than present Arctic climates, in response to increased CO2, increased ocean temperature and orbital forcing. This temporal slope appears twice as small as the modern spatial gradient and is consistent with other ice core estimates. A preliminary comparison with other model results implies that other mechanisms could also play a role. This suggests that further simulations and detailed inter-model comparisons are also likely to be of benefit. Comparisons with Greenland ice core stable isotope data reveals that IPSL/LMDZiso simulations strongly underestimate the amplitude of the ice core signal during the last interglacial, which could reach +8–10 °C at fixed-elevation. While the model-data mismatch may result from missing positive feedbacks (e.g. vegetation), it could also be explained by a reduced elevation of the central Greenland ice sheet surface by 300–400 m.
Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation
Authors: Chelazzi C. , Villa G. , De Gaudio A. R.
Published: May 2011

Postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is common among surgical patients and associated with a worse outcome. Pathophysiology of POAF is not fully disclosed, and several perioperative factors could be involved. Direct cardiac stimulation from perioperative use of catecholamines or increased sympathetic outflow from volume loss/anaemia/pain may play a role. Metabolic alterations, such as hypo-/hyperglycaemia and electrolyte disturbances, may also contribute to POAF. Moreover, inflammation, both systemic and local, may play a role in its pathogenesis. Strategies to prevent POAF aim at reducing its incidence and ameliorate global outcome of surgical patients. Nonpharmacological prophylaxis includes an adequate control of postoperative pain, the use of thoracic epidural analgesia, optimization of perioperative oxygen delivery, and, possibly, modulation of surgery-associated inflammatory response with immunonutrition and antioxidants. Perioperative potassium and magnesium depletion should be corrected. The impact of those interventions on patients outcome needs to be further investigated.
Evaluation of Habitat Suitability for Rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) in Orang National Park Using Geo-Spatial Tools
Authors: Sarma Pranjit Kumar , Mipun B. S. , Talukdar Bibhab Kumar , Kumar Rajeev , Basumatary Ajit Kumar
Published: May 2011

Orang National Park (Orang NP) is one of the important conservation areas in the Brahmaputra valley within North East India biogeographic zone covering an area of 78.8 km2. It is one of the prime habitats of one horned rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) in its distribution range in south Asia. Satellite imagery of November 2008 was used to evaluate the rhino habitat pattern in the park. A habitat suitability model for one horned rhino was prepared using primary and secondary sources. Result indicates that out of total geographical area of the park 25.85% is covered by woodland. About 26.06% is covered by wet alluvial grassland and 17.97% is covered by dry savannah grassland. Similarly degraded grassland is covering 15.23% and eastern seasonal swamp forest is covering 1.72% of the park. About 8.22% of the park is covered by water body and 6.83% is covered by sandy area. The habitat suitability model for rhino shows that 25.13% of the park is most suitable habitat for rhino, 13.62% is moderately suitable and 61.23% is less suitable habitat for rhino in the park. This information will help the park managers to conserve rhino and its habitat in Orang NP.