bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
When the Future Finally Arrives
Authors: Crosslin Matt
Published: March 2012

This chapter examines how the World Wide Web could possibly change over the next 10 years into a concept increasingly being referred to as “Web 3.0,” and how these changes might affect education. It examines how Web 3.0 concepts such as cloud computing, the Semantic Web, and the three-dimensional (3-D) Web are currently being explored and realized. A possible future online learning scenario is also described and analyzed to help visualize these possibilities for education. The author hopes that providing an understanding of and insight into how the Internet and related technologies may continue to develop and evolve in the next several years will help educators be better prepared for the future of online learning.
Scenarios of Next Generation Grid Applications in Collaborative Environments
Authors: Andronikou Vassiliki , Kyriazis Dimosthenis , Kardara Magdalini , Halkos Dimitrios , Varvarigou Theodora
Published: March 2012

The Grid has the potential to make a significant advance beyond the Internet, by turning it from a passive information medium into an active tool for creating and exploring new knowledge. Nowadays, this potential is becoming a reality and is emerging to Next Generation Grids (NGG) thanks to the far more cost-effective and universally applicable technology. Taking into consideration that Grids started delivering benefits to their adopters, this book chapter focuses on providing a business–technical presentation of two potential NGG applications, from two competitive and highly dynamic markets, including complex collaborations, which have shown rapid growth over the past decades; the supply chain management and the Cargo Transportation Logistics. The authors present a set of NGG components, the adoption of which in the aforementioned application domains addresses efficiently a set of technical issues ranging from performance to dynamic negotiation, and tackle the main trends and challenges in the corresponding business sectors.
Taxonomy and State of the Art of Service Discovery Mechanisms and Their Relation to the Cloud Computing Stack
Authors: Kousiouris George , Kyriazis Dimosthenis , Varvarigou Theodora , Oliveros Eduardo , Mandic Patrick
Published: March 2012

Service Discovery mechanisms are gaining interest in the last years due to the growing bulk of information available, especially to distributed computing infrastructures like Grids and Clouds. However a vast number of characteristics of these implementations exist, each one suitable for a number of purposes. The aim of this chapter is to extract a taxonomy of these characteristics found in modern Service Discovery systems and produce a categorization of existing implementations in a grouped and comparative way, based on these features. Furthermore, the mapping of these characteristics to the Cloud business model is produced, in order to assist in selecting the suitable solutions for each provider based on his/her location in the value chain or identify gaps in the existing implementations.
Leveraging the Power of the Grid with Opal
Authors: Krishnan Sriram , Clementi Luca , Ding Zhaohui , Li Wilfred
Published: March 2012

Grid systems provide mechanisms for single sign-on, and uniform APIs for job submission and data transfer, in order to allow the coupling of distributed resources in a seamless manner. However, new users face a daunting barrier of entry due to the high cost of deployment and maintenance. They are often required to learn complex concepts relative to Grid infrastructures (credential management, scheduling systems, data staging, etc). To most scientific users, running their applications with minimal changes and yet getting results faster is highly desirable, without having to know much about how the resources are used. Hence, a higher level of abstraction must be provided for the underlying infrastructure to be used effectively. For this purpose, we have developed the Opal toolkit for exposing applications on Grid resources as simple Web services. Opal provides a basic set of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that allows users to execute their deployed applications, query job status, and retrieve results. Opal also provides a mechanism to define command-line arguments and automatically generates user interfaces for the Web services dynamically. In addition, Opal services can be hooked up to a Metascheduler such as CSF4 to leverage a distributed set of resources, and accessed via a multitude of interfaces such as Web browsers, rich desktop environments, workflow tools, and command-line clients.
Overview of Biomedical Engineering
Authors: Azar Ahmad Taher
Published: March 2012

Biomedical Engineering is a branch that unites engineering methods with biological and medical sciences in order to enhance the quality of our lives. It focuses on understanding intricate systems of living organisms, and on technology development, algorithms, methods, and advanced medical knowledge, while enhancing the conveyance and success of clinical medicine. With engineering principles, biomedical engineering improves the procedures and devices to overcome health care and medical problems by combining both biology and medicine with engineering principals. In the field of Biomedical Engineering, engineers usually need to have background knowledge from such different fields of engineering as electronics, mechanical, and chemical engineering. Specialties in this field like bioinstrumentation, biomechanics, biomaterials, medical imagining, clinical engineering, bioinformatics, telemedicine and rehabilitation engineering, which will be introduced in this chapter together with an overview of the field of biomedical engineering.
Health Systems for Syndromic and Epidemiological Surveillance
Authors: Job Débora Helena , Gomes Antônio Tadeu Azevedo , Ziviani Artur
Published: March 2012

Health surveillance practices date back to decades ago. Traditionally, such practices to gather health data have been manual; more recently, however, computerized health information systems have been applied to enhance and facilitate health information acquisition for surveillance. The so-called health surveillance systems put in practice the systematic acquisition of health data, which is stored and processed for expert analysis. This chapter makes a survey of health surveillance systems dedicated to syndromic and epidemiological surveillance, identifying the different design and technological strategies adopted in the development of such systems. The aims of such a survey are: (1) to provide practitioners with some information about the collective expertise of health information system architects in the design and implementation of syndromic and epidemiological surveillance systems; and (2) to pave the way for the establishment of software product lines dedicated to such systems.
Distributed Monitoring and Supervising System for E-Health Applications
Authors: Folea Silviu , Hulea Mihai , Avram Camelia , Astilean Adina
Published: March 2012

The system presented in this chapter is mainly destined to offer support and to monitor chronic and elderly patients. In accordance with the new tendencies in the field, it integrates innovative components for data acquisition systems, Web-based virtual instrumentation, personalized user interfaces, and relational data in a complex, modular, flexible, and opened structure. Compared with other similar integrated communication systems, which are based on Wi-Fi technology, the presented one has as distinctive features: small dimensions, low power consumption, and a considerable autonomy. A large set of experiments and the corresponding results illustrates the functionality of the configurable virtual web instrument principle materialized in the E-Health Monitoring and Supervising System (EMSS) that has many possible applications. As an example, a cheap, easy to use, and personalized support destined to improve the quality of life for subjects suffering from chronic diseases or elderly patients was chosen. The implementation of the complete application included a model for gesture recognition, which allows the classification and assessment of the characteristics of the subject’s movement, highlighting even small progresses of the monitored patients.
RFID in E-Health
Authors: Hawrylak Peter J. , Schimke Nakeisha , Hale John , Papa Mauricio
Published: March 2012

Electronic healthcare or E-Health promises to offer better care at lower cost. This is critical as the cost of healthcare continues to increase and as the population ages. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is one form of wireless technology that will be part of the E-Health environment. RFID provides the ability to identify, track, and monitor patients and staff members. This enables better resource allocation, reduction of medical errors, and increased independence for patients. One part of E-Health is the Electronic Medical Record (EMR). New developments in RFID technology now enable the storage of all or part of the EMR on an RFID tag that remains with the patient. This chapter investigates the use of RFID in E-Health, how RFID can be used to store the EMR, and the security and privacy risks associated with using RFID to store the EMR.
The Right to Public Privacy under Surveillance
Authors: Akrivopoulou Christina M.
Published: March 2012

This chapter is critically commenting on the augmenting policy of public surveillance through the ‘Public Camera Surveillance’ system (CCTV technology) in Greece and in other countries such as the UK, USA, Canada, and Australia. It presents the arguments in favor and against such policies and the main threats that such policy-making poses for the freedom of the individual as represented in the relevant jurisprudence of the ECtHR. The main argument of the presentation underlines the need for the interpretive deduction of a right to anonymity or otherwise of a right to public privacy from the traditional notion of privacy. This right enables the individual to enjoy his/her privacy in public, thus allowing him/her to circulate in public assured that his/her presence will remain anonymous and permitting him/her to merge within the rest of the crowd. Such a right is specifically valuable in order to protect the political autonomy of the individual as a participant of demonstrations and public movements or manifestations under the precondition that his/her deeds do not merit the state’s intervention. The presentation closes with some remarks on the changing social and political ethos that brings forward the demand of public surveillance as a need for public safety.
Data Retention and Security in Europe
Authors: Raventós Clara Marsan
Published: March 2012

This chapter describes today’s environment of telecommunications data, one where a permanent tension between security, on the one hand, and privacy, on the other, are in a fragile equilibrium. Against this background, the chapter explores the contours of a new right to digital privacy in Europe, a right that belongs to one’s personal development and freedom. Firstly, it looks at how it has been jurisprudentially conceived in Germany (in particular through the two recent cases on “on-line searches” [2008] and on the law implementing the Data Retention EC Directive [2010]). Secondly, it explores how this acquis on the right to digital privacy is increasingly present in other member states. Finally, it will be argued that an international agreement on the right to digital privacy should be put in place through the concurrence of all private (ITs) and public stakeholders involved. The latter should agree on the minimum content of this right, as well as on the different channels to enforce it (through legal remedies but also other mechanisms such as “privacy by design”).
Private Power and New Media
Authors: Daly Angela
Published: March 2012

The focus of this chapter will be the recent conduct of various corporations in withdrawing Internet services provided to information portal WikiLeaks in light of the controversy surrounding WikiLeaks’ publishing classified documents of correspondence between the US State Department and its diplomatic missions around the world in late 2010. The implications for freedom of expression (especially the right to access information) on the Internet will be examined in the wake of WikiLeaks, particularly in the context of the infringer being a private actor, and one comprising a mono- or oligopoly. The motivation of these private actors in contributing to the suppression of WikiLeaks will be assessed to examine whether it constitutes an example of Birnhack and Elkin-Koren’s “invisible handshake,” i.e. the “emerging collaboration” between the state and multinational corporations on the Internet that they posit is producing “the ultimate threat.” The legal recourse open to WikiLeaks and its users for the infringement of fundamental rights will be examined, especially the First Amendment to the US Constitution since the geographic location for these events has mostly been the USA. Finally, the postscript to the WikiLeaks controversy will be considered: the “information warfare” conducted by hackers will be examined to determine whether the exercise of power of these Internet corporations in a way which infringes fundamental rights can be checked by technological means, and whether hackers are indeed the true electronic defenders of freedom of expression.
Addressing Social Inclusion via eDemocracy Applications
Authors: Karamagioli Evika
Published: March 2012

Public participation is considered to be the remedy for the democratization of political processes. As technological progress advances, more trust is put in Information and Communication Technologies as tools to democratize the political processes by enhancing and assisting citizens’ involvement in political processes. Such examples are initiatives like eDemocracy and eParticipation, among others. However, experts emphasize that technology as any kind of “tool” is not unbiased, and it does involve serious considerations of social import. The emergence of the digital divide is a proof that these tools, if not handled appropriately, could cause even greater impact to the already existing social exclusion. At this point, social inclusion has re-emerged not only as a strategy for confronting social exclusion in general but also the digital divide, which keeps citizens from participating in political processes. This chapter indicates and concludes on how social inclusion functions not only as a prerequisite for public participation via ICT but also, through appropriate regulatory mechanisms, represents a solution for combating the problems of exclusion that eDemocracy faces.
The (Rebuttable) Presumption of the European Union Member States as ‘Safe Countries’ under the Dublin Regulation
Authors: Contartese Cristina
Published: March 2012

The purpose of this chapter is to analyze a particular aspect of the so-called Dublin Regulation, whose aim is to determine the European Union (EU) Member State responsible for examining an asylum application, that is, the presumption that the EU Member States are “safe countries.” Although the notion of “safe country” is on the base of the Dublin Regulation functioning mechanism, as it implies that any EU Member States can transfer an asylum seeker to any other EU country which is responsible, the authors contend that the safety of an EU Member State can be given as presumed for the purpose of asylum seekers. The analysis of the present work starts, firstly, with the examination of the notion of “safe country” under the Dublin Regulation. In the second part, relying on the European Court of Human Rights’ (ECHR) case-law, it will be discussed to what extent the Court of Strasbourg clarifies the notion of “safe countries” and the test it applies to it. Finally, the Commission’s proposal for a recasting of the Dublin Regulation will be analysed with the aim of foresee possible future developments of the EU law mechanisms to rebut such a presumption as applied to the EU Member States. It will emerge that in order to assess the safety of an EU Member State, attention has to be given to the prohibition of both direct and indirect refoulement as well as to the effective remedy at the EU Member State’s domestic level.
Inequality in the Freedom of Movement in the Union
Authors: Fournier Knut
Published: March 2012

New member States of the Union are under gradually more strict transitional agreements that limit the freedom of movement of their citizens. In the case of Romania and Bulgaria, the latest admitted countries, this denied equality has had serious consequences in terms of human rights and application of the EU laws. Because freedom of movement is not protected enough by the texts and the institutions, States now represent a growing threat to this fundamental freedom of the Union. In a dramatic move over the 2010 summer, the French government took advantage of this insufficient protection to deport members of the Roma minority to Romania and Bulgaria, thus creating a precedent of massive deportations of Union citizens to a member State of the Union.
IT Risk Evaluation Model Using Risk Maps and Fuzzy Inference
Authors: Bodea Constanta- Nicoleta , Dascalu Maria-Iuliana
Published: March 2012

A risk evaluation model for IT projects using fuzzy inference is proposed. The knowledge base for fuzzy processes is built using a causal and cognitive map of risks. This map was specially developed for IT projects and takes into account the typical lifecycle and the risk taxonomy created by the Software Engineering Institute. The model was used to compute the technological risk of an e-testing project. This project was positioned on the middle level of the risk map, implying that the probability of encountering technological difficulties depends on the number of technologies used and their market maturity. A software system for validating the model was also developed.
Knowledge Management in Construction Projects
Authors: An Min , Ahmad Hesham S.
Published: March 2012

Knowledge is now becoming the most valuable asset of the construction organisations to gain competitive advantages by improving quality while reducing cost and time of work completion in projects. Knowledge Management (KM) is the most effective way to deal with the intellectual capital of the organisations through facilitating the capturing and sharing of existing knowledge and creating new innovative knowledge. The most useful knowledge in construction projects is tacit knowledge since it includes the people ideas, perceptions and experiences that can be shared and re-used to improve experiences and enhance abilities of employees for problem-solving and decision-making. Many of methods have been adopted to deal with knowledge in the construction organisations, but they are still far from enough, particularly in dealing with tacit knowledge gained from construction projects. This paper presents a methodology for dealing with tacit knowledge efficiently and effectively in construction projects. A case study has been conducted to evaluate the proposed KM method and to test its importance and usefulness in the construction industry.
Critical Behavioral Competencies for IT Project Managers
Authors: Taylor Hazel , Woelfer Jill Palzkill
Published: March 2012

What behavioral competencies do experienced IT project managers apply when facing critical situations in their projects, and how have they developed those competencies? In this paper, the authors answer these questions. The authors interviewed 23 experienced IT project managers from 11 organizations, focusing on critical situations that they now managed differently from their earlier, novice, practices, and on how they had learned to develop these different approaches. The authors discuss a variety of management development and training interventions. They use a thematic analysis to identify the key competencies being applied and learning methods experienced by this set of managers. Results suggest that IT project managers are drawing on a different set of competencies from those required for project management in other industries. Additionally, this paper reveals the importance of informal learning channels, often involving project experiences, for the development of IT project management competencies.
Processes in R&D Collaboration
Authors: Bor Sanne , Boersma Kees
Published: March 2012

This paper examines the process leading to a formalised co-operation. A comparative case study of Research and Development (R&D) collaborations illustrates how, during the process of formalising, the creation of shared understanding of the co-operation is supported or hindered. When participants are involved in setting goals, writing work plans, and creating the rules for the co-operation, each participant will have a better understanding of their relationship with others, their own role and responsibility and those of the others. In this study, the authors identify five possible factors that encourage or discourage the partners to use the process of formalising for the purpose of sensemaking.
Runaway Information Technology Projects
Authors: Wright M. Keith , Capps Charles J.
Published: March 2012

This paper presents an in-depth insider’s case study of a “runaway” information systems (IS) project in a U.S. State government agency. Because such projects are politically sensitive matters and often obscured from public view, details of how such projects operate are not well understood. This case study adds new details to the body of knowledge surrounding IS project escalation and de-escalation. The authors’ resulting project narrative details how this project went out of control for so long, raising important questions for future research in theory development for both IS project escalation and de-escalation. The paper argues that a punctuated equilibrium approach to analyzing “runaway” IS projects are a more fruitful area to explore than are “stage models.”
Working Together with Computers
Authors: Tiwary Uma Shanker , Siddiqui Tanveer J.
Published: March 2012

The objective of this chapter is twofold. On one hand, it tries to introduce and present various components of Human Computer Interaction (HCI), if HCI is modeled as a process of cognition; on the other hand, it tries to underline those representations and mechanisms which are required to develop a general framework for a collaborative HCI. One must try to separate the specific problem solving skills and specific problem related knowledge from the general skills and knowledge acquired in interactive agents for future use. This separation leads to a distributed deep interaction layer consisting of many cognitive processes. A three layer architecture has been suggested for designing collaborative HCI with multiple human and computational agents.
Improving Audio Spatialization Using Customizable Pinna Based Anthropometric Model of Head-Related Transfer Functions
Authors: Gupta Navarun , Barreto Armando
Published: March 2012

The role of binaural and immersive sound is becoming crucial in virtual reality and HCI related systems. This chapter proposes a structural model for the pinna, to be used as a block within structural models for the synthesis of Head-Related Transfer Functions, needed for digital audio spatialization. An anthropometrically plausible pinna model is presented, justified and verified by comparison with measured Head-Related Impulse Responses (HRIRs). Similarity levels better than 90% are found in this comparison. Further, the relationships between key anthropometric features of the listener and the parameters of the model are established, as sets of predictive equations. Modeled HRIRs are obtained substituting anthropometric features measured from 10 volunteers into the predictive equations to find the model parameters. These modeled HRIRs are used in listening tests by the subjects to assess the elevation of spatialized sound sources. The modeled HRIRs yielded a smaller average elevation error (29.9o) than “generic” HRIRs (31.4o), but higher than the individually measured HRIRs for the subjects (23.7o).
Recent Trends in Speech Recognition Systems
Authors: Aggarwal R. K. , Dave M.
Published: March 2012

Ways of improving the accuracy and efficiency of automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems have been a long term goal of researchers to develop the natural language man machine communication interface. In widely used statistical framework of ASR, feature extraction technique is used at the front-end for speech signal parameterization, and hidden Markov model (HMM) is used at the back-end for pattern classification. This chapter reviews classical and recent approaches of Markov modeling, and also presents an empirical study of few well known methods in the context of Hindi speech recognition system. Various performance issues such as number of Gaussian mixtures, tied states, and feature reduction procedures are also analyzed for medium size vocabulary. The experimental results show that using advanced techniques of acoustic models, more than 90% accuracy can be achieved. The recent advanced models outperform the conventional methods and fit for HCI applications.
Enhancing Robustness in Speech Recognition using Visual Information
Authors: Farooq Omar , Datta Sekharjit
Published: March 2012

The area of speech recognition has been thoroughly researched during the past fifty years; however, robustness is still an important challenge to overcome. It has been established that there exists a correlation between speech produced and lip motion which is helpful in the adverse background conditions to improve the recognition performance. This chapter presents main components used in audio-visual speech recognition systems. Results of a prototype experiment conducted on audio-visual corpora for Hindi speech have been reported of simple phoneme recognition task. The chapter also addresses some of the issues related to visual feature extraction and the integration of audio-visual and finally present future research directions.
Human Computer Interaction for Effective Metasearching
Authors: Ali Rashid , Beg M. M. Sufyan
Published: March 2012

Metasearching is the process of combining search results of different search systems into a single set of ranked results which, in turn, is expected to provide us the collective benefit of using each of the participating search systems. Since, user is the direct beneficiary of the search results; this motivates the researchers in the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) to measure user satisfaction. A user is satisfied if he receives good quality search results in response to his query. To measure user satisfaction, we need to obtain feed back from user. This feedback might also be used to improve the quality of metasearching. The authors discuss the design of a metasearch system that is based on human computer interaction. We compare our method with two other methods Borda’s method and modified Shimura technique. The authors use Spearman’s footrule distance as the measure of comparison. Experimentally, the method performs better than the Borda’s method. The authors argue that the method is significant as it models the user feedback based metasearching and has spam-fighting capabilities.
Science of Emoticons
Authors: Ptaszynski Michal , Maciejewski Jacek , Dybala Pawel , Rzepka Rafal , Araki Kenji , Momouchi Yoshio
Published: March 2012

Emoticons are string of symbols representing body language in text-based communication. For a long time they have been considered as unnatural language entities. This chapter argues that, in over 40-year-long history of text-based communication, emoticons have gained a status of an indispensable means of support for text-based messages. This makes them fully a part of Natural Language Processing. The fact the emoticons have been considered as unnatural language expressions has two causes. Firstly, emoticons represent body language, which by definition is nonverbal. Secondly, there has been a lack of sufficient methods for the analysis of emoticons. Emoticons represent a multimodal (bimodal in particular) type of information. Although they are embedded in lexical form, they convey non-linguistic information. To prove this argument the authors propose that the analysis of emoticons was based on a theory designed for the analysis of body language. In particular, the authors apply the theory of kinesics to develop a state of the art system for extraction and analysis of kaomoji, Japanese emoticons. The system performance is verified in comparison with other emoticon analysis systems. Experiments showed that the presented approach provides nearly ideal results in different aspects of emoticon analysis, thus proving that emoticons possess features of multimodal expressions.
A Survey of Mobile Vision Recognition Applications
Authors: Molineux Andrew , Cheverst Keith
Published: March 2012

In recent years, vision recognition applications have made the transition from desktop computers to mobile phones. This has allowed a new range of mobile interactions and applications to be realised. However, this shift has unearthed new issues in mobile hardware, interactions and usability. As such the authors present a survey into mobile vision recognition, outlining a number of academic and commercial applications, analysing what tasks they are able to perform and how they achieve them. The authors conclude with a discussion on the issues and trends found in the survey.
Use of Rotor State Feedback to Improve Closed-Loop Stability and Handling Qualities
Authors: Horn Joseph F. , Guo Wei , Ozdemir Gurbuz Taha
Published: March 2012

A rotorcraft control law that uses rotor state feedback (RSF) is presented and demonstrated in simulation. The baseline control law uses a model following/dynamic inversion approach to control the roll, pitch, and yaw axes. The RSF control law was designed to integrate seamlessly with
the baseline control law and can be readily engaged or disengaged. The RSF control gains were designed using linear quadratic regulator synthesis. Linear analyses showed that RSF could allow for the feedback gains on rates and attitude to be increased to values that would result in closed-loop
instability without the use of RSF. The increased gains can be used to increase bandwidth and improve disturbance rejection. The controller was tested on a nonlinear model in both non–real-time and piloted simulations, and results confirmed the linear analysis. The RSF control law design
has potential to improve handling qualities by allowing higher bandwidth and better disturbance rejection with reduced risk of closed-loop instability.
The Holy Spirit and the early Church: The experience of the Spirit
Authors: Van Oort Johannes
Published: March 2012

Firstly, the present article explored the occurrence of special gifts of the Holy Spirit (charismata) both in the New Testament and in a number of early Christian writers (e.g. Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian and Augustine). Secondly, it indicated how this experience of special charismata exerted its influence on the formulation of the most authoritative and ecumenical statement of belief, viz. the Creed of Nicaea-Constantinople (381).
Coadministration of Cyclosporin a with Prednisolone in Acute Interstitial Pneumonia Complicating Polymyositis/Dermatomyositis
Authors: Shimojima Yasuhiro , Ishii Wataru , Matsuda Masayuki , Katoh Nagaaki , Tazawa Ko-ichi , Sekijima Yoshiki , Ikeda Shu-ichi
Published: March 2012

Objective

To investigate clinical effectiveness of prednisolone (PSL) and cyclosporin A (CyA), particularly continuous intravenous administration of the latter, in patients with interstitial pneumonia (IP) associated with polymyositis/dermatomyositis (PM/DM).

Methods

We reviewed the clinical findings and therapeutic outcomes of patients with PM/DM who had received PSL and CyA (PSL + CyA, n = 21 for DM and 2 for PM) or the former alone (n = 12 for DM and 7 for PM). All patients receiving PSL + CyA had active IP.

Results

Fifteen of the 21 DM patients receiving PSL + CyA showed favorable therapeutic outcomes of IP (recovery group), while the remaining 6 died of respiratory failure (death group). Before treatment PaO2 in room air and %VC were significantly lower, and the total CT score was significantly higher in the death group than in the recovery one. Continuous intravenous administration of CyA was performed in 6 patients for severe IP requiring oxygen therapy, and of these 2 showed complete recovery from it.

Conclusions

Coadministration of PSL and CyA, particularly continuous intravenous infusion of the latter, from the early phase of illness may be a potent therapeutic option for PM/DM patients with decreases in PaO2 and %VC and/or a high total CT score suggestive of a poor prognosis.
Assessment of Earning Capacity, Third Edition
Authors: Slesnick Frank
Published: March 2012

The book being reviewed was written by a vocational expert. Dr. Shahnasarian has a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Florida State University and is president of Career Consultants of America, Inc. located in Tampa, Florida. As such, the book is of greatest interest to other vocational experts. Nevertheless, since vocational experts work so closely with forensic economists in many cases, the book is potentially useful to economists as well.
Riparian zone processes and soil water total organic carbon (TOC): implications for spatial variability, upscaling and carbon exports
Authors: Grabs T. , Bishop K. H. , Laudon H. , Lyon S. W. , Seibert J.
Published: March 2012

Abstract. Groundwater flowing from hillslopes through riparian (near stream) soils often undergoes chemical transformations that can substantially influence stream water chemistry. We used landscape analysis to predict total organic carbon (TOC) concentrations profiles and groundwater levels measured in the riparian zone (RZ) of a 67 km2 catchment in Sweden. TOC exported from 13 riparian soil profiles was then estimated based on the riparian flow-concentration integration model (RIM). Much of the observed spatial variability of riparian TOC concentrations in this system could be predicted from groundwater levels and the topographic wetness index (TWI). Organic riparian peat soils in forested areas emerged as hotspots exporting large amounts of TOC. Exports were subject to considerable temporal variations caused by a combination of variable flow conditions and changing soil water TOC concentrations. From more mineral riparian gley soils, on the other hand, only small amounts with relatively time-invariant concentrations were exported. Organic and mineral soils in RZs constitute a heterogeneous landscape mosaic that controls much of the spatial variability of stream water TOC. We developed an empirical regression-model based on the TWI to move beyond the plot scale to predict spatially variable riparian TOC concentration profiles for RZs underlain by glacial till.
Volcanic synchronisation of the EPICA-DC and TALDICE ice cores for the last 42 kyr BP
Authors: Severi M. , Udisti R. , Becagli S. , Stenni B. , Traversi R.
Published: March 2012

Abstract. The age scale synchronisation between the Talos Dome and the EPICA Dome C ice cores was carried on through the identification of several common volcanic signatures. This paper describes the rigorous method, using the signature of volcanic sulphate, which was employed for the last 42 kyr of the record. Using this tight stratigraphic link, we transferred the EDC age scale to the Talos Dome ice core, producing a new age scale for the last 12 kyr. We estimated the discrepancies between the modelled TALDICE-1 age scale and the new scale during the studied period, by evaluating the ratio R of the apparent duration of temporal intervals between pairs of isochrones. Except for a very few cases, R ranges between 0.8 and 1.2, corresponding to an uncertainty of up to 20% in the estimate of the time duration in at least one of the two ice cores. At this stage our approach does not allow us to unequivocally identify which of the models is affected by errors, but, taking into account only the historically known volcanic events, we found that discrepancies up to 200 yr appear in the last two millennia in the TALDICE-1 model, while our new age scale shows a much better agreement with the volcanic absolute horizons. Thus, we propose for the Talos Dome ice core a new age scale (covering the whole Holocene) obtained by a direct transfer, via our stratigraphic link, from the EDC modelled age scale by Lemieux-Dudon et al. (2010).
An integrated uncertainty and ensemble-based data assimilation approach for improved operational streamflow predictions
Authors: He M. , Hogue T. S. , Margulis S. A. , Franz K. J.
Published: March 2012

Abstract. The current study proposes an integrated uncertainty and ensemble-based data assimilation framework (ICEA) and evaluates its viability in providing operational streamflow predictions via assimilating snow water equivalent (SWE) data. This step-wise framework applies a parameter uncertainty analysis algorithm (ISURF) to identify the uncertainty structure of sensitive model parameters, which is subsequently formulated into an Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) to generate updated snow states for streamflow prediction. The framework is coupled to the US National Weather Service (NWS) snow and rainfall-runoff models. Its applicability is demonstrated for an operational basin of a western River Forecast Center (RFC) of the NWS. Performance of the framework is evaluated against existing operational baseline (RFC predictions), the stand-alone ISURF and the stand-alone EnKF. Results indicate that the ensemble-mean prediction of ICEA considerably outperforms predictions from the other three scenarios investigated, particularly in the context of predicting high flows (top 5th percentile). The ICEA streamflow ensemble predictions capture the variability of the observed streamflow well, however the ensemble is not wide enough to consistently contain the range of streamflow observations in the study basin. Our findings indicate that the ICEA has the potential to supplement the current operational (deterministic) forecasting method in terms of providing improved single-valued (e.g., ensemble mean) streamflow predictions as well as meaningful ensemble predictions.
Rockfall hazard and risk assessments along roads at a regional scale: example in Swiss Alps
Authors: Michoud C. , Derron M.-H. , Horton P. , Jaboyedoff M. , Baillifard F.-J. , Loye A. , Nicolet P. , Pedrazzini A. , Queyrel A.
Published: March 2012

Abstract. Unlike fragmental rockfall runout assessments, there are only few robust methods to quantify rock-mass-failure susceptibilities at regional scale. A detailed slope angle analysis of recent Digital Elevation Models (DEM) can be used to detect potential rockfall source areas, thanks to the Slope Angle Distribution procedure. However, this method does not provide any information on block-release frequencies inside identified areas. The present paper adds to the Slope Angle Distribution of cliffs unit its normalized cumulative distribution function. This improvement is assimilated to a quantitative weighting of slope angles, introducing rock-mass-failure susceptibilities inside rockfall source areas previously detected. Then rockfall runout assessment is performed using the GIS- and process-based software Flow-R, providing relative frequencies for runout. Thus, taking into consideration both susceptibility results, this approach can be used to establish, after calibration, hazard and risk maps at regional scale. As an example, a risk analysis of vehicle traffic exposed to rockfalls is performed along the main roads of the Swiss alpine valley of Bagnes.
Arctic surface temperatures from Metop AVHRR compared to in situ ocean and land data
Authors: Dybkjær G. , Tonboe R. , Høyer J.
Published: March 2012

Abstract. The ice surface temperature (IST) is an important boundary condition for both atmospheric and ocean and sea ice models and for coupled systems. An operational ice surface temperature product using satellite Metop AVHRR infra-red data was developed for MyOcean. The IST can be mapped in clear sky regions using a split window algorithm specially tuned for sea ice. Clear sky conditions are prevailing during spring in the Arctic while persistent cloud cover limits data coverage during summer. The cloud covered regions are detected using the EUMETSAT cloud mask. The Metop IST compares to 2 m temperature at the Greenland ice cap Summit within STD error of 3.14 °C and to Arctic drifting buoy temperature data within STD error of 3.69 °C. A case study reveal that the in situ radiometer data versus satellite IST STD error can be much lower (0.73 °C) and that the different in situ measures complicates the validation. Differences and variability between Metop IST and in situ data are analysed and discussed. An inter-comparison of Metop IST, numerical weather prediction temperatures and in situ observation indicates large biases between the different quantities. Because of the scarcity of conventional surface temperature or surface air temperature data in the Arctic the satellite IST data with its relatively good coverage can potentially add valuable information to model analysis for the Arctic atmosphere.
Towards high resolution mapping of 3-D mesoscale dynamics from observations: preliminary comparison of retrieval techniques and models within MESCLA project
Authors: Buongiorno Nardelli B. , Guinehut S. , Pascual A. , Drillet Y. , Ruiz S. , Mulet S.
Published: March 2012

Abstract. Within the MyOcean R&D project MESCLA (MEsoSCale dynamical Analysis through combined model, satellite and in situ data), different estimates of the vertical velocities derived from observations have been compared. Two main approaches have been considered, one based on the retrieval of 3-D fields from the observations alone and one based on the analyses provided by MyOcean MERCATOR models. The motivation for this double approach is that, while data assimilation in numerical models is crucial to obtain more accurate analyses and forecasts, its results might be significantly influenced by specific model configurations (e.g. forcing, parameterization of smaller scale processes and spatial resolution). On the other hand, the purely observation-based approach is limited by the underlying assumptions of simplified dynamical models and by the relatively low resolution of present products. MESCLA tested innovative methods for the high resolution mapping of 3-D mesoscale dynamics from observations, developing new products that might be used to gradually build the next generations of operational observation-based products.
The Many Faces of Malaysian English
Authors: Thirusanku Jantmary , Yunus Melor Md.
Published: March 2012

This paper provides a brief description on the aspect of Malaysian English lexis. It starts off with the developmental cycles of new varieties of English based on three main models by three main scholars, namely, Kachru’s three concentric circles of Englishes (1994), Moag’s life-cycle model (1982), and Schneider’s dynamic model (2007). It discusses the emergence and development of Malaysian English, the nonnative variety. It also explains Baskaran’s three levels of the lectal continuum; acrolect, mesolect, and basilect. The nonnative features involved in the Malaysian English lexis are also discussed briefly; the acrolect: borrowing, the mesolect, and basilect mixing, with examples. Generally, it discusses the emergence of the new varieties, the indigenisation of English in Malaysia, and the current status of English in Malaysia.
Comparison of the Effects of Adenosine, Inosine, and Their Combination as an Adjunct to Reperfusion in the Treatment of Acute Myocardial Infarction
Authors: Shafy Abdel , Molinié Vincent , Cortes-Morichetti Miguel , Hupertan Vincent , Lila Nermine , Chachques Juan C.
Published: March 2012

Adenosine and inosine are both key intracellular energy substrates for nucleotide synthesis by salvage pathways, especially during ischemic stress conditions. Additionally they both possess cell protective and cell repair properties. The objective of this study is to detect potential advantages of the combination of adenosine and inosine versus each drug alone, in terms of ventricular function, infarct size reduction and angiogenesis. Myocardial ischemia was created in rodents and treated with adenosine, inosine or their combination. Results of experiments showed that the combination of both drugs significantly reduced infarct size and improved myocardial angiogenesis and ventricular function. The two compounds, while chemically similar, use different intracellular pathways, allowing for complementary biological activities without overlapping. The drug combination at specific 1 : 5 adenosine : inosine dose ratio demonstrated positive cardiologic effects, deserving further evaluation as an adjunct to reperfusion techniques during and after acute coronary syndrome. The association of adenosine and inosine may contribute to reduce myocardial infarction morbidity and mortality rates.
The Ancestry of Genetic Segments
Authors: Campbell R. B.
Published: March 2012

Recombination within a DNA segment during the neutral fixation process is studied to determine the number of individuals in previous generations which carry genetic material ancestral to that region in the present generation. If , where is the population size and is the probability of a recombination event within that region per individual in a generation, the ancestors of all the base pairs in that segment were probably in the same individual in an arbitrary generation in the asymptotic past (prior to the most recent common ancestor) and all the base pairs in that segment share a common coalescent. If , the ancestors of the base pairs in a segment are probably spread among several individuals in asymptotic generations; hence, there is not an ancestral individual, but an ancestral pool, and the coalescents of base pairs do not coincide. The overlap of the ancestral pools of unlinked genetic segments is less than where and are the relative frequencies of the two ancestral pools, which provides that the size of the ancestral pool for the human genome is close to the .80 upper bound which ensues from the Poisson progeny distribution.
How Baccalaureate Nursing Students Value an Interprofessional Patient Safety Course for Professional Development
Authors: Abbott Amy A. , Fuji Kevin T. , Galt Kimberly A. , Paschal Karen A.
Published: March 2012

Nursing students need foundation knowledge and skills to keep patients safe in continuously changing health care environments. A gap exists in our knowledge of the value students place on interprofessional patient safety education. The purpose of this exploratory, mixed methods study was to understand nursing students’ attitudes about the value of an interprofessional patient safety course to their professional development and its role in health professions curricula. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from formative course performance measures, course evaluations, and interviews with six nursing students. The qualitative themes of awareness, ownership, and action emerged and triangulated with the descriptive quantitative results from student performance and course evaluations. Students placed high value on the course and essential nature of interprofessional patient safety content. These findings provide a first step toward integration of interprofessional patient safety education into nursing curricula and in meeting the Institute of Medicine’s goals for the nursing profession.