bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Growth in NOx emissions from power plants in China: bottom-up estimates and satellite observations
Authors: Wang S. W. , Zhang Q. , Streets D. G. , He K. B. , Martin R. V. , Lamsal L. N. , Chen D. , Lei Y. , Lu Z.
Published: January 2012

Abstract. Using OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) tropospheric NO2 columns and a nested-grid 3-D global chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem), we investigated the growth in NOx emissions from coal-fired power plants and their contributions to the growth in NO2 columns in 2005–2007 in China. We first developed a unit-based power plant NOx emission inventory for 2005–2007 to support this investigation. The total capacities of coal-fired power generation have increased by 48.8% in 2005–2007, with 92.2% of the total capacity additions coming from generator units with size ≥300 MW. The annual NOx emissions from coal-fired power plants were estimated to be 8.11 Tg NO2 for 2005 and 9.58 Tg NO2 for 2007, respectively. The modeled summer average tropospheric NO2 columns were highly correlated (R2 = 0.79–0.82) with OMI measurements over grids dominated by power plant emissions, with only 7–14% low bias, lending support to the high accuracy of the unit-based power plant NOx emission inventory. The ratios of OMI-derived annual and summer average tropospheric NO2 columns between 2007 and 2005 indicated that most of the grids with significant NO2 increases were related to power plant construction activities. OMI had the capability to trace the changes of NOx emissions from individual large power plants in cases where there is less interference from other NOx sources. Scenario runs from GEOS-Chem model suggested that the new power plants contributed 18.5% and 10% to the annual average NO2 columns in 2007 in Inner Mongolia and North China, respectively. The massive new power plant NOx emissions significantly changed the local NO2 profiles, especially in less polluted areas. A sensitivity study found that changes of NO2 shape factors due to including new power plant emissions increased the summer average OMI tropospheric NO2 columns by 3.8–17.2% for six selected locations, indicating that the updated emission information could help to improve the satellite retrievals.
Regional and global modelling of aerosol optical properties with a size, composition, and mixing state resolved particle microphysics model
Authors: Yu F. , Luo G. , Ma X.
Published: January 2012

Abstract. There exist large uncertainties in the present modelling of physical, chemical, and optical properties of atmospheric particles. We have recently incorporated an advanced particle microphysics (APM) model into a global chemistry transport model (GEOS-Chem) and a regional weather forecasting and chemistry model (WRF-Chem). Here we develop a scheme for calculating regional and global aerosol optical depth (AOD) from detailed aerosol information resolved by the APM model. According to GEOS-Chem-APM simulations, secondary species reside mainly as secondary particles (60–90%) in most parts of the globe, but in certain regions a large fraction (up to 50–80%) can become coated on various primary particles. Secondary species coated on black carbon and primary organic carbon particles significantly increase the size and hygroscopicity of these particles and thus impact their optical properties. The GEOS-Chem-APM model captures the global spatial distributions of AOD derived from AERONET, MODIS, and MISR measurements, generally within a factor of ~2. Our analysis indicates that modeled annual mean AODs at all sky and clear sky conditions differ by ~20% globally averaged and by >50% in some regions. A comparison of the time series of WRF-Chem-APM predicted AOD over the northeastern United States in June 2008 with those from seven AERONET sites shows that, overall, the model captures the absolute values as well as the variations of AOD at the AERONET sites (including dramatic changes associated with the crossing of high AOD plumes), although substantial differences exist during some periods. Both GEOS-Chem and WRF-Chem simulations indicate that AOD over the northeastern US is dominated by secondary particles and have large spatiotemporal variations.
Role of sediment denitrification in water column oxygen dynamics: comparison of the North American east and west coasts
Authors: Bianucci L. , Fennel K. , Denman K. L.
Published: January 2012

Abstract. The occurrence of hypoxic conditions in the coastal ocean has been increasing in the last decade. Low oxygen concentrations, either natural or anthropogenically driven, can severely affect coastal marine ecosystems. A deeper understanding of the oxygen cycle is required in order to improve numerical models and to predict the timing and severity of hypoxia. In this study we investigate the effect of sediment denitrification on oxygen concentrations in bottom waters over the continental shelf. We used a coupled physical-biological model based on the Regional Ocean Modelling System (ROMS) to compare summer simulations with and without denitrification within the sediments for two North American shelves: the Middle Atlantic Bight (MAB) and the Vancouver Island Shelf (VIS). These regions belong to Western and Eastern Boundary Current Systems, respectively, and are characterized by different physical and biological dynamics. Both models assume coupled nitrification-denitrification within the sediments. Denitrification represents a loss of bioavailable nitrogen through the production of dinitrogen gas, with the potential to affect biogeochemical cycles. In our MAB model, denitrification within the sediments efficiently decreases the total pool of available nutrients, since recycled nitrogen supports most of the primary production in that region. The diminished primary production and consequent decrease of organic matter flux to the seafloor leads to less sediment oxygen consumption and higher oxygen concentrations in bottom waters. However, on the VIS changes in regenerated nitrogen barely affect primary production due to the efficient supply of new nutrients through wind-driven upwelling during summer and the nutrient-rich coastal current. We recommend that modelling experiments focusing on oxygen dynamics (as well as oxygen budget calculations) should include this process in coastal regions where regenerated primary production dominates productivity.
Factors promoting larch dominance in Eastern Siberia: fire versus growth performance and implications for carbon dynamics
Authors: Schulze E.-D. , Wirth C. , Mollicone D. , von Lüpke N. , Ziegler W. , Achard F. , Mund M. , Prokushkin A. , Scherbina S.
Published: January 2012

Abstract. The relative roles of fire and climate in determining canopy species composition and aboveground carbon stocks were investigated. Measurements were made along a transect extending from the dark taiga zone of Central Siberia, where Picea and Abies dominate the canopy, into the Larix zone of Eastern Siberia. We test the hypotheses that the change in canopy species composition is based (1) on climate-driven performance only, (2) on fire only, or (3) on fire-performance interactions. We show that the evergreen conifers Picea obovata and Abies sibirica are the natural late-successional species both in Central and Eastern Siberia, provided there has been no fire for an extended period of time. There are no changes in the climate-driven performance of the observed species. Fire appears to be the main factor explaining the dominance of Larix. Of lesser influence were longitude, hydrology and active-layer thickness. Stand-replacing fires decreased from 300 to 50 yr between the Yenisei Ridge and the upper Tunguska. Repeated non-stand-replacing surface fires eliminated the regeneration of Abies and Picea. With every 100 yr since the last fire, the percentage of Larix decreased by 20 %. Biomass of stems of single trees did not show signs of age-related decline. Relative diameter increment was 0.41 ± 0.20 % at breast height and stem volume increased linearly over time with a rate of about 0.36 t C ha−1 yr−1 independent of age class and species. Stand volumes reached about 130 t C ha−1 (equivalent to about 520 m3 ha−1). Individual trees of Larix were older than 600 yr. The maximum age and biomass seemed to be limited by fungal rot of heart wood. 60 % of old Larix and Picea and 30 % of Pinus sibirica trees were affected by stem rot. Implications for the future role of fire and of plant diseases are discussed.
Partial Derivative Fitted Taylor Expansion: an efficient method for calculating gas/liquid equilibria in atmospheric aerosol particles – Part 2: Organic compounds
Authors: Topping D. , Lowe D. , McFiggans G.
Published: January 2012

Abstract. A flexible mixing rule is presented which allows the calculation of activity coefficients of organic compounds in a multi-component aqueous solution. Based on the same fitting methodology as a previously published inorganic model (Partial Differential Fitted Taylor series Expansion; PD-FiTE), organic PD-FiTE treats interactions between binary pairs of solutes with polynomials of varying order. The numerical framework of organic PD-FiTE is not based on empirical observations of activity coefficient variation, rather a simple application of a Taylor Series expansion. Using 13 example compounds extracted from a recent sensitivity study, the framework is benchmarked against the UNIFAC model. For 1000 randomly derived concentration ranges and 10 relative humidities between 10 and 99%, the average deviation in predicted activity coefficients was calculated to be 3.8%. Whilst compound specific deviations are present, the median and inter-quartile values across all relative humidity range always fell within ±20% of the UNIFAC value. Comparisons were made with the UNIFAC model by assuming interactions between solutes can be set to zero within PD-FiTE. In this case, deviations in activity coefficients as low as −40% and as high as +70% were found. Both the fully coupled and uncoupled organic PD-FiTE are up to a factor of ≈12 and ≈66 times more efficient than calling the UNIFAC model using the same water content, and ≈310 and ≈1800 times more efficient than an iterative model using UNIFAC. The use of PD-FiTE within a dynamical framework is presented, demonstrating the potential inaccuracy of prescribing fixed negative or positive deviations from ideality when modelling the evolving chemical composition of aerosol particles.
Shoreline recovery from storms on the east coast of Southern Africa
Authors: Corbella S. , Stretch D. D.
Published: January 2012

Abstract. Episodic extreme waves due to sea storms can cause severe coastal erosion. The recovery times of such events are important for the analysis of risk and coastal vulnerability. The recovery period of a storm damaged coastline represents a time when the coastline is most vulnerable and nearby infrastructure is at the greatest risk. We propose that identification of the beach recovery period can be used as a coastal management tool when determining beach usage. As a case study, we analyse 37 yr of beach profile data on the east coast of South Africa. Considering beach length and cross-sectional area, we establish a global recovery period and rate and identify the physical characteristics of the coastlines that either accelerate or retard recovery. The beaches in the case study were found to take an average of two years to recover at a rate of approximately 90 m3 m−1 yr−1. Beach profiles with vegetated dunes recovered faster than urbanized beaches. Perpendicular beach structures have both positive and negative effects on beach recovery. Coastlines with rock outcrops in the surf zone tend to recover slowly and long-term sediment loss was identified in cases where storm damaged beaches have not recovered to pre-erosion levels.
Relationship between isoseismal area and magnitude of historical earthquakes in Greece by a hybrid fuzzy neural network method
Authors: Tselentis G-A. , Sokos E.
Published: January 2012

Abstract. In this paper we suggest the use of diffusion-neural-networks, (neural networks with intrinsic fuzzy logic abilities) to assess the relationship between isoseismal area and earthquake magnitude for the region of Greece. It is of particular importance to study historical earthquakes for which we often have macroseismic information in the form of isoseisms but it is statistically incomplete to assess magnitudes from an isoseismal area or to train conventional artificial neural networks for magnitude estimation. Fuzzy relationships are developed and used to train a feed forward neural network with a back propagation algorithm to obtain the final relationships. Seismic intensity data from 24 earthquakes in Greece have been used. Special attention is being paid to the incompleteness and contradictory patterns in scanty historical earthquake records. The results show that the proposed processing model is very effective, better than applying classical artificial neural networks since the magnitude macroseismic intensity target function has a strong nonlinearity and in most cases the macroseismic datasets are very small.
Savvy Marketing Strategies for BCIA Certificants
Authors: Shaffer Fredric , Crawford Judy
Published: January 2012

Consumer and military interest in biofeedback and neurofeedback services has increased. BCIA-accredited didactic training programs report greater enrollment. BCIA's applications for our three certification programs (biofeedback, neurofeedback, and pelvic muscle dysfunction biofeedback) are 20% higher than 2010. This is the time to redouble your marketing efforts to take advantage of our field's rising popularity. Although new media services offer unprecedented opportunities to communicate with your audience, they also carry unparalleled risks.
A Guy Named Tom
Authors: Williams Richard
Published: January 2012

Thomas Budzynski was well known for his creativity and achievements, but he was a friend to many who enjoyed his wit and humility. He was both a dedicated scholar and a sensitive human being who put the welfare of others before himself. Despite his widespread recognition as a pioneer, he was always just “a guy named Tom” who was loved and cherished by all who knew him. A tribute is offered to this part of him that endures in memory as much as his numerous contributions.
Image Guided Placement of Extracorporeal Life Support through Bi-Caval Dual Lumen Venovenous Membrane Oxygenation in an Interventional Radiology Setting – Initial Experience
Authors: De Bucourt Maximilian , Teichgräber Ulf K.M.
Published: January 2012

Purpose

To report our initial results of venovenous ECMO placement of a novel bicaval dual lumen catheter in six consecutive patients with severe respiratory failure.

Methods

The dual lumen catheters (Avalon elite, Avalon Laboratories, Rancho Dominguez, CA, USA; available in 13, 16, 19, 20, 23, 27, and 31 French) were inserted with ultrasound-guided puncture via the right internal jugular vein. The devices were placed with the proximal drainage inlet in the SVC, with the distal drainage inlet tip in the IVC, and with the return outlet in the right atrium under fluoroscopy.

Results

All catheter placements (1 × 19, 1 × 23, 1 × 27 and 3 × 31 French) were performed successfully: after insertion, adequate flows and gas exchange were obtained in all patients. Median support time was 9.5 days (range 3–41). We did not observe any cannulation-related events, especially no cannula displacement, no cannula thrombosis, no necessary repositioning, and no device failure. Decannulation and extubation was attained in 4/6 (66.7%) patients. 2/6 (33.3%) patients died (on day 3 and on day 10) while still under ECMO because of disease progression not controllable by medical means undertaken. The overall survival and hospital discharge rate in our small sample volume was 66.7% (4/6 patients)

Conclusions

Our initial results suggest that single cannulation dual lumen venovenous ECMO catheter placement can be performed successfully and safely in an Interventional Radiology setting. The technique reported is feasible, easy to use, and the outcome seems to be comparable to other performing implanting specialties.
Secondary IOL Implantation without Capsular Support: A Laser Flare Cell Meter Study
Authors: Cellini Mauro , Strobbe Ernesto , Toschi Pier Giorgio , Campos Emilio C.
Published: January 2012

Phacoemulsification and the contemporary implantation of intraocular lens (IOL) within the capsular bag represent the standard of care in cataract surgery, but sometimes a primary IOL implant is not possible due to intraoperative complications or preexisting conditions so that a secondary implantation of IOL within the anterior or posterior chamber is necessary. The aim of our study was to assess the degree of inflammation due to a secondary implant of claw lenses, angle-supported IOLs, and scleral-fixated IOLs by means of an objective, repeatable, and noninvasive device, the laser flare cell meter, which evaluates aqueous flare and cells within the anterior chamber in vivo and to show the contribution of the single IOLs to the genesis of inflammation.
Varieties of Parametric Classes of Exact Solutions in General Relativity Representing Static Fluid Balls
Authors: Pant Neeraj
Published: January 2012

We have presented a method of obtaining parametric classes of spherically symmetric analytic solutions of the general relativistic field equations in canonical coordinates. A number of previously known classes of solutions have been rediscovered which describe perfect fluid balls with infinite central pressure and infinite central density though their ratio is positively finite and less than one. From the solution of one of the newly discovered classes, we have constructed a causal model in which outmarch of pressure and density is positive and monotonically decreasing, and pressure-density ratio is positive and less than one throughout within the balls. Corresponding to this model, we have maximized the Neutron star mass 2.40MΘ
with the linear dimensions of 28.43 kms and surface red shift of 0.4142.
LET'S ALL SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGE!
Authors: Brewer John M.
Published: January 2012

In this article Professor Brewer suggests that guidance workers need some terminological facilities—or perhaps terminal facilities in the vagarious use of words—in order to avoid bringing confusion out of chaos in their professional discussions. It goes well in this issue of the magazine (the Convention number) because “the language difficulty” was apparent on several occasions at Cleveland!
Occupational Information in Counseling: Present Practices and Historical Development
Authors: CLARK FLORENCE E. , MURTLAND CLEO
Published: January 2012

The need for a scientific approach to the collection and dissemination of occupational information has probably never been more acute. The extensive development of personnel programs in schools, industry, and community agencies points to a parallel need for a thorough understanding of the background and growth of techniques in occupational information and research.

This report was prepared by two members of the National Vocational Guidance Association who have long been active in the practical aspects of an occupational research program. Counselors of young people and adults and instructors in schools of education will find this material very helpful. It represents the culmination of a number of years of intensive study stimulated by the executive committee of the Occupational Research Division of the National Vocational Guidance Association which, in 1943, was asked for similar materials for use in Latin American countries.

This committee, composed of: Margaret E. Bennett, Florence E. Clark, Mary P. Corre, Mary J. Drucker, Forrest H. Kirkpatrick, Robert Hoppock, Cleo Murtland, William F. Patterson, Lester J. Schloerb, Carroll L. Shartle, Marion R. Trabue, and Marguerite W. Zapoleon, Chairman, also reviewed the manuscript and their suggestions together with those of Fred C. Smith, Chairman of the Publications Committee, members of the Editorial Board of OCCUPATIONS, and a number of others, were used in the revision here published.—M. R. TRABUE, President, NVGA; LESTER J. SCHLOERB, Chairman, Occupational Research Division
‘Superparameterization’ and statistical emulation in the Lorenz '96 system
Authors: Wilks D. S.
Published: January 2012

An idealized ‘superparameterization’, or abbreviated but dynamically explicit representation of small‐scale influences on the conventionally resolved larger scales of a dynamical model, is constructed within the Lorenz '96 system. The feasibility of abstracting the greater portion of its information content using computationally much faster statistical summaries, or emulators, is investigated through integration of a large number of ensemble forecasts. Even though based on an extremely small training‐sample size, consistent with an assumed high computational expense for running a full superparameterization, some of the statistical emulator formulations perform nearly as well as the superparameterization forecast ensembles. As in previous studies, better forecast characteristics are generally achieved when autocorrelated random forcing is included, both in the otherwise deterministic superparameterization and in its statistical emulators. Copyright © 2012 Royal Meteorological Society
The importance of friction in mountain wave drag amplification by Scorer parameter resonance
Authors: Teixeira M. A. C. , Argaín J. L. , Miranda P. M. A.
Published: January 2012

A mechanism for amplification of mountain waves, and their associated drag, by parametric resonance is investigated using linear theory and numerical simulations. This mechanism, which is active when the Scorer parameter oscillates with height, was recently classified by previous authors as intrinsically nonlinear. Here it is shown that, if friction is included in the simplest possible form as a Rayleigh damping, and the solution to the Taylor–Goldstein equation is expanded in a power series of the amplitude of the Scorer parameter oscillation, linear theory can replicate the resonant amplification produced by numerical simulations with some accuracy. The drag is significantly altered by resonance in the vicinity of n/l0 = 2, where l0 is the unperturbed value of the Scorer parameter and n is the wave number of its oscillation. Depending on the phase of this oscillation, the drag may be substantially amplified or attenuated relative to its non‐resonant value, displaying either single maxima or minima, or double extrema near n/l0 = 2. Both non‐hydrostatic effects and friction tend to reduce the magnitude of the drag extrema. However, in exactly inviscid conditions, the single drag maximum and minimum are suppressed. As in the atmosphere friction is often small but non‐zero outside the boundary layer, modelling of the drag amplification mechanism addressed here should be quite sensitive to the type of turbulence closure employed in numerical models, or to computational dissipation in nominally inviscid simulations. Copyright © 2012 Royal Meteorological Society
UNIQUENESS OF MEROMORPHIC FUNCTIONS SHARING ONE VALUE
Authors: WU CHUN , MU CHUNLAI , LI JIANGTAO
Published: January 2012

In this paper, we study the uniqueness of meromorphic functions concerning differential polynomials sharing nonzero finite values, and obtain some results which improve the results of Yang and Hua, Xu and Qiu, Fang and Hong, and Dyavanal, among others.
Dietary patterns and bone mineral status in young adults: the Northern Ireland Young Hearts Project
Authors: Whittle Claire R. , Woodside Jayne V. , Cardwell Chris R. , McCourt Hannah J. , Young Ian S. , Murray Liam J. , Boreham Colin A. , Gallagher Alison M. , Neville Charlotte E. , McKinley Michelle C.
Published: January 2012

Studies of individual nutrients or foods have revealed much about dietary influences on bone. Multiple food or nutrient approaches, such as dietary pattern analysis, could offer further insight but research is limited and largely confined to older adults. We examined the relationship between dietary patterns, obtained bya posteriorianda priorimethods, and bone mineral status (BMS; collective term for bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD)) in young adults (20–25 years;n489). Diet was assessed by 7 d diet history and BMD and BMC were determined at the lumbar spine and femoral neck (FN).A posterioridietary patterns were derived using principal component analysis (PCA) and threea prioridietary quality scores were applied (dietary diversity score (DDS), nutritional risk score and Mediterranean diet score). For the PCA-derived dietary patterns, women in the top compared to the bottom fifth of the ‘Nuts and Meat’ pattern had greater FN BMD by 0·074 g/cm2(P = 0·049) and FN BMC by 0·40 g (P = 0·034) after adjustment for confounders. Similarly, men in the top compared to the bottom fifth of the ‘Refined’ pattern had lower FN BMC by 0·41 g (P = 0·049). For thea prioriDDS, women in the top compared to the bottom third had lower FN BMD by 0·05 g/cm2after adjustments (P = 0·052), but no other relationships with BMS were identified. In conclusion, adherence to a ‘Nuts and Meat’ dietary pattern may be associated with greater BMS in young women and a ‘Refined’ dietary pattern may be detrimental for bone health in young men.
The Ambrosetti–Prodi problem for elliptic systems with Trudinger–Moser nonlinearities
Authors: Ribeiro Bruno
Published: January 2012

In this work we study the following class of elliptic systems:

where Ω ⊂ ℝ2 is a smooth bounded domain, H is a C1 function in [0, +∞)×[0, +∞) which is assumed to be in the critical growth range of Trudinger–Moser type and f1, f2 ∈ Lr (Ω), r > 2. Under suitable hypotheses on the functions a, b, c ∈ C($(\bar\sOm)$ and using variational methods, we prove the existence of two solutions depending on f1 and f2.
Lifts and vertex pairs in solvable groups
Authors: Cossey James P. , Lewis Mark L.
Published: January 2012

Suppose G is a p-solvable group, where p is odd. We explore the connection between lifts of Brauer characters of G and certain local objects in G, called vertex pairs. We show that if χ is a lift, then the vertex pairs of χ form a single conjugacy class. We use this to prove a sufficient condition for a given pair to be a vertex pair of a lift and to study the behaviour of lifts with respect to normal subgroups.
The Darboux problem involving the distributional Henstock–Kurzweil integral
Authors: Lu Yueping , Ye Guoju , Wang Ying , Liu Wei
Published: January 2012

In this paper, using the Schauder Fixed Point Theorem and the Vidossich Theorem, we study the existence of solutions and the structure of the set of solutions of the Darboux problem involving the distributional Henstock–Kurzweil integral. The two theorems presented in this paper are extensions of the previous results of Deblasi and Myjak and of Bugajewski and Szufla.
Algebras of generalized functions with smooth parameter dependence
Authors: Burtscher Annegret , Kunzinger Michael
Published: January 2012

We show that spaces of Colombeau generalized functions with smooth parameter dependence are isomorphic to those with continuous parametrization. Based on this result we initiate a systematic study of algebraic properties of the ring $\tilde{\mathbb{K}}_\mathrm{sm}$ of generalized numbers in this unified setting. In particular, we investigate the ring and order structure of $\tilde{\mathbb{K}}_\mathrm{sm}$ and establish some properties of its ideals.
Exposure of small mammals to ticks and rickettsiae in Atlantic Forest patches in the metropolitan area of Recife, North-eastern Brazil
Authors: DANTAS-TORRES FILIPE , ALÉSSIO FILIPE MARTINS , SIQUEIRA DANIEL BARRETO , MAUFFREY JEAN-FRANÇOIS , MARVULO MARIA FERNANDA V. , MARTINS THIAGO F. , MORAES-FILHO JONAS , CAMARGO MARIA CECÍLIA G. O. , D'AURIA SANDRA REGINA NICOLETTI , LABRUNA MARCELO B. , SILVA JEAN CARLOS RAMOS
Published: January 2012

Between December 2007 and March 2009, small mammals were captured in 6 Atlantic Forest patches in Brazil. We assessed tick-host associations and whether they differ among forest strata, sites, seasons, and host age classes or between sexes. Moreover, we assessed the exposure of animals toRickettsiaspp. In total, 432 animals were captured and 808 ticks were found on 32·9% of them. Significant differences were found among host species, collection sites, and forest strata; microhabitat preference was a strong risk factor for tick infestation. The highest tick density rates were recorded in forest fragments settled in rural areas; 91·3% of the ticks were collected from animals trapped in these forest fragments. A high prevalence (68·8%) of antibodies toRickettsiaspp. was detected among animals. This study suggests that disturbed Atlantic Forest fragments provide an environment for ticks and small mammals, which are highly exposed to rickettsiae. It also indicates that forest patches settled in rural areas are usually associated with higher small mammal diversity as well as with higher tick density rates.
A review of nosocomial norovirus outbreaks: infection control interventions found effective
Authors: GREIG J. D. , LEE M. B.
Published: January 2012

The purpose of this study was to review documented outbreaks of enteric illness associated with nosocomial norovirus infections and to identify modes of transmission, morbidity and mortality patterns, and recommendations for control. Searches of electronic databases, public health publications, and federal, state/provincial public health websites were completed for 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2010. Computer-aided searches of literature databases and systematic searches of government websites identified 54 relevant outbreak reports. Transmission routes included person-to-person (18·5%), foodborne (3·7%) and in the majority (77·8%) the route was unknown. Actions taken during the outbreak to control infection included restricting the movements of patients and staff (22·5%), enhanced environmental cleaning (13·6%) and hand hygiene (10·3%). Rapid identification of norovirus outbreaks in hospitals is vital for the immediate implementation of infection control measures and isolation of infected individuals in this mainly immunocompromised population. Studies that statistically evaluate infection control measures are needed.
Nesting habitat of the Tucuman ParrotAmazona tucumanain an old-growth cloud-forest of Argentina
Authors: RIVERA LUIS , POLITI NATALIA , BUCHER ENRIQUE H.
Published: January 2012

Tucuman ParrotAmazona tucumanabreeds in the cloud-forest of south-eastern Bolivia and north-western Argentina (or Southern Yungas forest). We studied the nesting requirements of the Tucuman Parrot and assessed cavity availability, reuse, and spatial pattern of nests in El Rey National Park – one of the last mature, undisturbed areas of the Southern Yungas forest. We recorded 44 nesting attempts in seven tree species, with most nests (95%) being located in live canopy trees > 60 cm DBH. Most parrot nest-cavities occurred inBlepharocalix salicifolius(60%) and cavities in this species were selected significantly more than expected based on availability. Nests were shallower and higher than nests of otherAmazonaspecies. For all years combined, mean nest density of Tucuman Parrot was 0.24 ± 0.04 nest ha-1and the distance to the nearest active nest was significantly greater than the distance between all trees used as nests. Nesting pairs of Tucuman Parrot were separated by 144.1 ± 152.8 m, while potential nest-trees were 66.0 ± 55.4 m apart. Density of suitable cavities for nesting was 4.6 cavities ha-1. Approximately 16 suitable cavities were available for each breeding pair (0.24 breeding pair ha-1and four suitable cavities ha-1) and 5% of the suitable cavities available were occupied, suggesting that suitable cavities are not a limiting resource. However, due to the territorial behaviour of breeding pairs, some of these cavities are unavailable to other breeding pairs. The spatial requirements of Tucuman Parrot for nesting could limit management actions intended to increase the density of nesting pairs.
The Azure Jay may reproduce in plantations of Araucaria angustifolia in southern Brazil
Authors: BOESING ANDREA LARISSA , ANJOS LUIZ DOS
Published: January 2012

We undertook field observations of the Azure Jay Cyanocorax caeruleus in Araucaria plantations and a secondary forest in southern Brazil from 2007 to 2010. During the breeding season, the territory and the flock sizes in Araucaria plantations (31.6–42.2 ha; 2–3 individuals) seemed to be smaller than in the secondary forest (64.5–72.6 ha; 5–6 individuals). One active nest was monitored in October–November 2009 and indicated cooperative breeding by the Azure Jay, as for the majority of American jays. The fact that reproduction was documented in Araucaria plantations may be positive for the conservation of this species, since natural areas of mixed rainforest are becoming increasingly scarce.
Approximating Cayley Diagrams Versus Cayley Graphs
Authors: TIMÁR ÁDÁM
Published: January 2012

We construct a sequence of finite graphs that weakly converge to a Cayley graph, but there is no labelling of the edges that would converge to the corresponding Cayley diagram. A similar construction is used to give graph sequences that converge to the same limit, and such that a Hamiltonian cycle in one of them has a limit that is not approximable by any subgraph of the other. We give an example where this holds, but convergence is meant in a stronger sense. This is related to whether having a Hamiltonian cycle is a testable graph property.
The Gerrymanderers Are Coming! Legislative Redistricting Won't Affect Competition or Polarization Much, No Matter Who Does It
Authors: Masket Seth E. , Winburn Jonathan , Wright Gerald C.
Published: January 2012

Redistricting received substantial attention in the popular media in 2011, as states redrew state legislative and congressional district boundaries. Many reformers continue to argue for a de-politicization of the redistricting process, claiming that partisan redistricting is responsible for declining electoral competition and increasing legislative polarization. Our analysis of evidence from state legislatures during the last decade suggests that the effects of partisan redistricting on competition and polarization are small, considerably more nuanced than reformers would suggest, and overwhelmed by other aspects of the political environment.
Smith (and Jones) Go to Washington: Democracy and Vice-Presidential Selection
Authors: Uscinski Joseph
Published: January 2012

The American vice president's most notable constitutional function is that of succession: if the president unexpectedly leaves office, the vice president becomes president. The process of selecting vice-presidential running mates has fallen into fewer hands over time, moving from the electorate, to party bosses and delegates, to a single person: the presidential candidate. The selection process presents challenges for democratic governance: electoral considerations may provide presidential candidates with incentive to choose vice-presidential running mates who differ from themselves politically. In cases of succession, this can lead to undemocratic outcomes and unstable policy.
The Never-Ending Drug War: Obstacles to Drug War Policy Termination
Authors: Scherlen Renee
Published: January 2012

Why does the war on drugs continue after 40 years? This article combines theories of policy termination and prospect theory to explain the drug war's persistence. After reviewing the case for termination, the article turns to policy termination theory. As previous case studies have demonstrated, rationality and economic reasoning alone fail to persuade politicians to end existing policies. In the case of the drug war, specific characteristics of the drug policy and the current political environment, as well as typical institutional and bureaucratic constraints, create substantial obstacles to end the drug war. Perceptions of the risks and benefits of drug war termination also create difficulties. The article concludes that a number of factors need to shift before drug war policy termination can take place.
Engaging the Reluctant? Service Learning, Interpersonal Contact, and Attitudes toward Homeless Individuals
Authors: Knecht Thomas , Martinez Lisa M.
Published: January 2012

This article examines the extent to which service-learning courses affect students' attitudes and opinions. Elsewhere, we used a pre/postsurvey field experiment to demonstrate that volunteering with a homeless person tends to erode the stereotypes held by the domiciled—a confirmation of the venerable contact hypothesis. Here we use the same research design to assess whether students in service-learning courses exhibit a similar type of opinion change after spending a day with a homeless person. We find that even with limited contact a significant number of service-learning students came away from their time with homeless individuals holding fewer stereotypes and with a more nuanced perspective on the causes and consequences of homelessness. Nevertheless, working with a homeless person did have a negative effect on some students and contact generally failed to change students' views on public policy.
The Senate Budget Committee: The Impact of Polarization on Institutional Design
Authors: Bafumi Joseph
Published: January 2012

The Senate Budget Committee is a unique and potentially powerful institution in the US legislature. It was begun to help coordinate the federal budget making process in the US Senate. Long-term trends and short-term institutional dynamics have weakened the coordinating capacity of the committee to the point that the budget process was entirely ignored in 2011. This article explores these changes. It shows evidence for Democrats and Republicans on the committee moving further apart ideologically since the 1970s resulting in more partisanship and less deliberation on the committee. It also shows how a combination of a narrow Democratic majority on the committee along with a recent uptick in ideological heterogeneity among Democrats but without prospects for bipartisanship, resulted in no budget process in 2011.
‘That's the way they do it in Europe’: Redefining Culture in a Greek Border Region
Authors: Gintidis Dimitris
Published: January 2012

This article aims at portraying the symbolic and material impact of cross-border and entrepreneurial EU-funded projects on the local public sphere of Evros, a Greek region bordering with Turkey. Often construed as ‘European policies’ at the local level, such projects reflect a complex interaction between the ‘European’, the ‘national’ and the ‘local’. In order to unravel the dynamics of such interaction, I focus on the case of local cultural associations. These associations stood as typical bearers of a romantic nationalist discourse; this local enactment of Greek nationalism was also related with specific forms of symbolic capital, through ostensibly ‘disinterested patriotic action’. The introduction of EU-funded projects in the local public sphere challenged such historically constructed practices. At the same time, these projects were mediated by the representatives of the Greek State and were locally appropriated as a reformulation of older national policies and funding channels. The article argues that the implementation of those projects brought about two significant changes in the local public sphere: the dissemination of cross-border policies throughout the 1990s and 2000s, and the growing importance of a new, market-oriented perception of public action, in local cultural associations.
Expressions, Mediations, and Exclusions in Post-secular Societies: Introduction
Authors: Grinell Klas , Strandberg Urban
Published: January 2012

Modernist theories of development and democratization predicted that secularization would lead to the disappearance of religion. This has not happened. But contemporary democratic states are secular and define religion as a private matter. At the same time, a politics of recognizing religiosity is deeply rooted in the modern state, and it is obvious that intangible values play an important role and have a valid claim to public spaces. On the metaphorical agora, the square that constitutes the middle ground between the cathedral and the parliament, commitment born in the cathedral is transformed into rational arguments that can be presented in parliament. But who governs the square? Do spiritual values need a public defence? Can or should all religious commitments and expressions be transformed into profane arguments? How could public spaces be designed and maintained to promote peaceful mediations between profane, sacred and other principled commitments? By assembling artistic and academic thinkers who do not confine themselves to intellectual analysis, but demand our involvement and our realization that we are part of the processes we are considering, this Focus contributes to a discussion of religiosity and public spaces in post-secular societies.
Sacred Space and the Mediating Roles of Architecture
Authors: Barrie Thomas
Published: January 2012

The creation, roles, and experience of meaningful places in contemporary urban environments can be effectively informed through understandings of pertinent aspects of sacred architecture. To do so, this paper will discuss the mediating roles traditionally performed by sacred architecture and, in particular, its traditional role as an in-between place believed by its creators to establish connections to the understandings they sought or the gods they worshipped. Enduring themes of sacred places will be presented in the context of their communicative capacity and ritual uses, as a means to offer interpretations appropriate to today. The case study of the recently completed Oakland (CA) Cathedral will serve to illustrate contemporary positions and iterations. The conclusion suggests that the sacred place was (and still is), an intermediate zone created in the belief that it had the ability to engage, elucidate and transform, and that a re-introduction and repositioning of the mediating roles performed by the built environment can inform the creation of engaging and meaningful places today.
The processing of subject–object ambiguities in native and near-native Mexican Spanish
Authors: JEGERSKI JILL
Published: January 2012

This self-paced reading study first tested the prediction that the garden path effect previously observed during the processing of subject–object ambiguities in native English would not obtain in a null subject language like Spanish. The investigation then further explored whether the effect would be evident among near-native readers of Spanish whose native language was a non-null subject language like English. Twenty-three near-native and 33 native readers of Mexican Spanish read sentences like Cuando el escultor acabó/volvió la obra tenía tres metros de altura “When the sculptor finished/came back the piece was three meters in height”. The results suggest that (i) Spanish differs from English for this type of processing and (ii) native and near-native processing can be guided by largely similar principles, at least where lexical information like verb transitivity is concerned.
Myofibroblasts in the Infarct Area: Concepts and Challenges
Authors: Daskalopoulos Evangelos P. , Janssen Ben J.A. , Blankesteijn W. Matthijs
Published: January 2012

Myofibroblasts are differentiated fibroblasts that hold a key role in wound healing and remodeling following myocardial infarction (MI). A large repertoire of stimuli, such as mechanical stretch, growth factors, cytokines, and vasoactive peptides, induces myofibroblast differentiation. Myofibroblasts are responsible for the production and deposition of collagen, leading to the establishment of a dense extracellular matrix that strengthens the infarcted tissue and minimizes dilatation of the infarct area. In addition, cells contributing to fibrosis act on sites distal from the infarct area and promote collagen deposition in noninfarcted tissue, thus contributing to adverse remodeling and consequently to the development of congestive heart failure (CHF). Current drugs that are used to treat post-MI CHF do influence fibroblasts and myofibroblasts; however, their therapeutic efficacy is far from being regarded as ideal. Novel therapeutic agents targeting (myo)fibroblasts are being developed to successfully prevent the cardiac remodeling of sites remote from the infarct area and therefore hinder the establishment of CHF. The purpose of this review article is to discuss the basic concepts of the myofibroblasts' actions in cardiac wound healing processes, factors that influence them, currently available pharmacological agents, and future challenges in this area.
Insights into the nature of cometary organic matter from terrestrial analogues
Authors: Court Richard W. , Sephton Mark A.
Published: January 2012

The nature of cometary organic matter is of great interest to investigations involving the formation and distribution of organic matter relevant to the origin of life. We have used pyrolysis–Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to investigate the chemical effects of the irradiation of naturally occurring bitumens, and to relate their products of pyrolysis to their parent assemblages. The information acquired has then been applied to the complex organic matter present in cometary nuclei and comae. Amalgamating the FTIR data presented here with data from published studies enables the inference of other comprehensive trends within hydrocarbon mixtures as they are progressively irradiated in a cometary environment, namely the polymerization of lower molecular weight compounds; an increased abundance of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon structures; enrichment in 13C; reduction in atomic H/C ratio; elevation of atomic O/C ratio and increase in the temperature required for thermal degradation. The dark carbonaceous surface of a cometary nucleus will display extreme levels of these features, relative to the nucleus interior, while material in the coma will reflect the degree of irradiation experienced by its source location in the nucleus. Cometary comae with high methane/water ratios indicate a nucleus enriched in methane, favouring the formation of complex organic matter via radiation-induced polymerization of simple precursors. In contrast, production of complex organic matter is hindered in a nucleus possessing a low methane/water ration, with the complex organic matter that does form possessing more oxygen-containing species, such as alcohol, carbonyl and carboxylic acid functional groups, resulting from reactions with hydroxyl radicals formed by the radiolysis of the more abundant water. These insights into the properties of complex cometary organic matter should be of particular interest to both remote observation and space missions involving in situ analyses and sample return of cometary materials.