bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Compassionate Love as a Predictor of Reduced HIV Disease Progression and Transmission Risk
Authors: Kremer Heidemarie , Ironson Gail , Kaplan Lauren , Stuetzle Rick , Fletcher Mary A.
Published: November 2013

Objectives. This study examined if compassionate love (CL) predicts HIV disease progression and transmission risk. Scientific study of CL emerged with Underwood’s working model of other-centered CL, defining five criteria: free choice, cognitive understanding, valuing/empowering, openness/receptivity for spirituality, andresponse of the heart.Method. This 10-year cohort study collected 6-monthly interviews/essays on coping with HIV and trauma of 177 people with HIV in South Florida. Secondary qualitative content analysis on other-centered CL inductively added the component of CL towards self. Deductively, we coded the presence of the five criteria of CL and rated the benefit of CL for the recipient on a 6-point Likert scale. Growth-curve modeling (reduced to 4 years due to cohort effects) investigated if CL predicts CD4 slope (HIV disease progression) and cumulative viral load detection (transmission risk).Results. Valuing/empowering and cognitive understanding were the essential criteria for CL to confer long-term benefits. CL had a higher benefit for recipients if given out of free choice. High scores of CL towards self were reciprocal with receiving (93%) and giving (77%) other-centered CL. Conversely, those rated low on CL towards self were least likely to score high on receiving (38%) and giving (49%) other-centered CL. Growth-curve modeling showed that CL towards self predicted 4-year cumulative undetectable viral load (independent from sociocultural differences, substance use disorder, baseline CD4 and viral load). Those high versus low on CL self were 2.25 times more likely to have undetectable viral load at baseline and 1.49 times more likely to maintain undetectable viral load over time. CL towards self predicted CD4 preservation after controlling for differences in CL giving.Conclusions. CL towards self is potentially the seed of being expressive and receptive of CL. Health care professionals prepared to walk the extra mile for those who neglect and isolate themselves may break a vicious circle since those lacking CL self were least likely to receive CL from others. Future studies should examine whether any enhancement of CL towards self may translate into slower disease progression and reduction of transmission risk.
Atypical B12 Deficiency with Nonresolving Paraesthesia
Authors: Haider S. , Ahmad N. , Anaissie E. J. , Abdel Karim N.
Published: November 2013

Vitamin B12 deficiency can present with various hematological, gastrointestinal and neurological manifestations. We report a case of elderly female who presented with neuropathy and vitamin B12 deficiency where the final work-up revealed polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal gammopathy, and skin changes (POEMS). This case suggests that, although POEMS syndrome is a rare entity, it can present with vitamin-B12 deficiency and thus specific work up for early diagnosis of POEMS should be considered in patients with B12 deficiency unresponsive to therapy.
Performance Enhancement of Optical CDMA by Differential-Phase Method for Radio-over-Fiber Transmissions
Authors: Cheng Hsu-Chih , Yen Chih-Ta , Ding Ing-Jr
Published: November 2013

The study proposes the differential-phase optical code-division multiple-access (OCDMA) network for radio-over-fiber (RoF) transmissions, and the characteristics are numerically analyzed. The network coder/decoders (codecs) are structured on the basis of arrayed-waveguide-grating (AWG) routers with complementary Walsh-Hadamard (CWH) signature codes. In the proposed system, the network requires only two AWG routers to accomplish spectral encoding of radio base station (RBS) and decoding of control station for the complementary keying, thus resulting in a simpler and low cost system. Performance analyses are evaluated with the dominant noise of phase-induced intensity noise (PIIN) in spectral code OCDMA network. By the proposed AWG-based OCDMA with the differential-phase scheme, it is possible to establish interference-free and low crosstalk beat noise RoF systems.
Generalized Contractions of Rational Type in Ordered Partial Metric Spaces
Authors: Jiang Shujun , Li Zhilong
Published: November 2013

Without the continuity and nondecreasing property of the comparison function, we in this paper prove some fixed point theorems of generalized contractions of rational type in ordered partial metric spaces, which generalize and improve the corresponding results of Luong and Thuan. An example is given to support the usability of our results.
Relativity and the Tunneling Problem in a “Reduced” Waveguide
Authors: Mielke Eckehard W. , Marquina Carmona Miguel A.
Published: November 2013

Wave packets are considered as solutions of the Maxwell equations in a reduced waveguide exhibiting tunneling due to a stepwise change of the index of refraction. We discuss several concepts of “tunneling time” during the propagation of an electromagnetic pulse and analyze their compatibility with standard relativity.
Impact of a Diagnostic Pressure Equation Constraint on Tornadic Supercell Thunderstorm Forecasts Initialized Using 3DVAR Radar Data Assimilation
Authors: Ge Guoqing , Gao Jidong , Xue Ming
Published: November 2013

A diagnostic pressure equation constraint has been incorporated into a storm-scale three-dimensional variational (3DVAR) data assimilation system. This diagnostic pressure equation constraint (DPEC) is aimed to improve dynamic consistency among different model variables so as to produce better data assimilation results and improve the subsequent forecasts. Ge et al. (2012) described the development of DPEC and testing of it with idealized experiments. DPEC was also applied to a real supercell case, but only radial velocity was assimilated. In this paper, DPEC is further applied to two real tornadic supercell thunderstorm cases, where both radial velocity and radar reflectivity data are assimilated. The impact of DPEC on radar data assimilation is examined mainly based on the storm forecasts. It is found that the experiments using DPEC generally predict higher low-level vertical vorticity than the experiments not using DPEC near the time of observed tornadoes. Therefore, it is concluded that the use of DPEC improves the forecast of mesocyclone rotation within supercell thunderstorms. The experiments using different weighting coefficients generate similar results. This suggests that DPEC is not very sensitive to the weighting coefficients.
Age Group and Individual Differences in Attentional Orienting Dissociate Neural Mechanisms of Encoding and Maintenance in Visual STM
Authors: Shimi Andria , Kuo Bo-Cheng , Astle Duncan E. , Nobre Anna C. , Scerif Gaia
Published: November 2013

Selective attention biases the encoding and maintenance of representations in visual STM (VSTM). However, precise attentional mechanisms gating encoding and maintenance in VSTM and across development remain less well understood. We recorded EEG while adults and 10-year-olds used cues to guide attention before encoding or while maintaining items in VSTM. Known neural markers of spatial orienting to incoming percepts, that is, Early Directing Attention Negativity, Anterior Directing Attention Negativity, and Late Directing Attention Positivity, were examined in the context of orienting within VSTM. Adults elicited a set of neural markers that were broadly similar in preparation for encoding and during maintenance. In contrast, in children these processes dissociated. Furthermore, in children, individual differences in the amplitude of neural markers of prospective orienting related to individual differences in VSTM capacity, suggesting that children with high capacity are more efficient at selecting information for encoding into VSTM. Finally, retrospective, but not prospective, orienting in both age groups elicited the well-known marker of visual search (N2pc), indicating the recruitment of additional neural circuits when orienting during maintenance. Developmental and individual differences differentiate seemingly similar processes of orienting to perceptually available representations and to representations held in VSTM.
Distractor Expectancy Effects on Interval Timing
Authors: Penney Trevor B. , Yim Edward N. K. , Ng Kwun Kei
Published: November 2013

The influence of non-temporal distractor stimuli on interval timing under conditions expected to elicit covert shifts of attention was examined using seconds range stimuli and the duration bisection task. Distractor stimuli appeared in positions peripheral to the timing signal on half of the trials, but participants were instructed to maintain fixation on the timing stimulus while their eye positions were monitored using an eye-tracker. In Experiment 1, participants ignored the distractors, whereas in Experiment 2 participants counted the distractors. In both experiments, trials with distractors were judged as longer than equivalent duration trials without distractors. Presenting a cue that indicated whether or not the subsequent trial would include distractors (Experiment 3) eliminated this lengthening effect. Taken together, these results suggest that when the presence of distractor stimuli during a trial is uncertain, distractor expectation captures attention that would otherwise be allocated to timing, with the result that perceived duration is shorter on trials in which distractors are absent.
New Mycomya species from the Himalayas (Diptera, Mycetophilidae): 3. Subgenera Cesamya and Mycomyopsis
Authors: VÄISÄNEN RAUNO
Published: November 2013

Mycomya Rondani specimens from the Himalayas, mostly Nepal and Myanmar, are revised. Altogether four species of the subgenus Cesamya Koçak & Kemal and eleven species of the subgenus Mycomyopsis Väisänen are recorded from the Himalayas and the Indian subcontinent. The paper includes a key to the Himalayan species of Mycomya of the two subgenera. The following fourteen new species are described: M. aix, M. alticola, M. banteng, M. cissa, M. ducula, M. irena, M. goral, M. jeti, M. kaa, M. naja, M. niltava, M. pitta, M. sachak, and M. sanar. The holotype of M. unipectinata Edwards from Sri Lanka was also examined and its genitalia are described.
Systematical studies on the species of the subgenus Bombus (Thoracobombus) (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Bombus Latreille) in Turkey
Authors: BARKAN N. P. , AYTEKİN A. M.
Published: November 2013

The aim of this study was to analyze the 12 species which belong to the subgenus Bombus (Thoracobombus) by identifying, collating and testing the applicability of geometrics morphometrics for distinguishing the species. This was carried out on 133 females and 42 males which were collected from various localities in Turkey. After digitizing landmarks on the right fore wings, 2-dimensional Cartesian coordinates were calculated and by Procrustes analysis the coordinates were standardized and superimposed. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and Canonical Variates Analysis (CVA) were performed to show the distribution of all species. Then, deformations which appeared in thin-plate splines were observed. Mean values of all the specimens were calculated and Sequential, Agglomerative, Hierarchical, and Nesting clustering method (SAHN) was performed with these data to obtain the dissimilarity trees. It can be concluded that all species were found to have consistently different wing shapes from each other. In females, the species B. armeniacus, B. mesomelas and B. pomorum which resemble each other, were also found to be similar based on their wing morphometry. Both in females and males, the subspecies B. sylvarum citrinofasciatus and B. sylvarum daghestanicus and the species B. humilis and B. laesus exposed high similarity in wing morphometry. In males, results showed that the species B. armeniacus and B. mesomelas and the species B. humilis and B. zonatus have very similar wing shape.
Tanyproctus (Tanyproctus) arher (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae: Tanyproctini), a new species from the Socotra Island, Yemen
Authors: Bezděk ALEŠ , Sehnal RICHARD , Král DAVID
Published: November 2013

Tanyproctus (Tanyproctus) arher Bezděk, Sehnal & Král, new species, is described from Socotra Island (Yemen), based on external morphology including male genitalia.
Change-Point Analysis of Polar Zone Radiosonde Temperature Data
Authors: Jandhyala V. K. , Liu P. , Fotopoulos S. B. , MacNeill I. B.
Published: November 2013

A comprehensive change-point analysis of annual radiosonde temperature measurements collected at the surface, troposphere, tropopause, and lower-stratosphere levels at both the South and North Polar zones has been done. The data from each zone are modeled as a multivariate Gaussian series with a possible change point in both the mean vector as well as the covariance matrix. Prior to carrying out an analysis of the data, a methodology for computing the large sample distribution of the maximum likelihood estimator of the change point is first developed. The Bayesian approach for change-point estimation under conjugate priors is also developed. A simulation study is carried out to compare the maximum likelihood estimator and various Bayesian estimates. Then, a comprehensive change-point analysis under a multivariate framework is carried out on the temperature data for the period 1958–2008. Change detection is based on the likelihood ratio procedure, and change-point estimation is based on the maximum likelihood principle and other Bayesian procedures. The analysis showed strong evidence of change in the correlation between tropopause and lower-stratosphere layers at the South Polar zone subsequent to 1981. The analysis also showed evidence of a cooling effect at the tropopause and lower-stratosphere layers, as well as a warming effect at the surface and troposphere layers at both the South and North Polar zones.
E–ε
Model of Spray-Laden Near-Sea Atmospheric Layer in High Wind Conditions
Authors: Rastigejev Yevgenii , Suslov Sergey A.
Published: November 2013

In-depth understanding and accurate modeling of the interaction between ocean spray and a turbulent flow under high wind conditions is essential for improving the intensity forecasts of hurricanes and severe storms. Here, the authors consider the E–ε closure for a turbulent flow model that accounts for the effects of the variation of turbulent energy and turbulent mixing length caused by spray stratification. The obtained analytical and numerical solutions show significant differences between the current E–ε model and the lower-order turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) model considered previously. It is shown that the reduction of turbulent energy and mixing length above the wave crest level, where the spray droplets are generated, that is not accounted for by the TKE model results in a significant suppression of turbulent mixing in this near-wave layer. In turn, suppression of turbulence causes an acceleration of flow and a reduction of the drag coefficient that is qualitatively consistent with field observations if spray is fine (even if its concentration is low) or if droplets are large but their concentration is sufficiently high. In the latter case, spray inertia may become important. This effect is subsequently examined. It is shown that spray inertia leads to the reduction of wind velocity in the close proximity of the wave surface relative to the reference logarithmic profile. However, at higher altitudes the suppression of flow turbulence by the spray still results in the wind acceleration and the reduction of the local drag coefficient.
Evaluation of EarthCARE Cloud Profiling Radar Doppler Velocity Measurements in Particle Sedimentation Regimes
Authors: Kollias Pavlos , Tanelli Simone , Battaglia Alessandro , Tatarevic Aleksandra
Published: November 2013

The joint European Space Agency–Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (ESA–JAXA) Earth Clouds, Aerosols and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) mission is scheduled for launch in 2016 and features the first atmospheric Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) with Doppler capability in space. Here, the uncertainty of the CPR Doppler velocity measurements in cirrus clouds and large-scale precipitation areas is discussed. These regimes are characterized by weak vertical motion and relatively horizontally homogeneous conditions and thus represent optimum conditions for acquiring high-quality CPR Doppler measurements. A large dataset of radar reflectivity observations from ground-based radars is used to examine the homogeneity of the cloud fields at the horizontal scales of interest. In addition, a CPR instrument model that uses as input ground-based radar observations and outputs simulations of CPR Doppler measurements is described. The simulator accurately accounts for the beam geometry, nonuniform beam-filling, and signal integration effects, and it is applied to representative cases of cirrus cloud and stratiform precipitation. The simulated CPR Doppler velocities are compared against those derived from the ground-based radars. The unfolding of the CPR Doppler velocity is achieved using simple conditional rules and a smoothness requirement for the CPR Doppler measurements. The application of nonuniform beam-filling Doppler velocity bias-correction algorithms is found necessary even under these optimum conditions to reduce the CPR Doppler biases. Finally, the analysis indicates that a minimum along-track integration of 5000 m is needed to reduce the uncertainty in the CPR Doppler measurements to below 0.5 m s−1 and thus enable the detection of the melting layer and the characterization of the rain- and ice-layer Doppler velocities.
Mémorisation des parrains : l’influence de la congruence du parrainage réexaminée à l’aide du modèle de flexibilité de l’encodage
Authors: Trendel Olivier , Warlop Luk
Published: November 2013

Plusieurs études ont montré qu’un parrainage congruent conduit à une meilleure mémorisation du parrain. L’expérience menée ici démontre qu’une marque est mieux identifiée après un parrainage peu congruent et qu’en outre, pour un niveau faible d’opportunité à traiter le parrainage, les concurrents du parrain peu congruents sont quant à eux moins bien identifiés.
Richard Arwed Pfeifer – a pioneer of ‘medical pedagogy’ and an opponent of Paul Schröder
Authors: Steinberg Holger , Carius Dirk , Himmerich Hubertus
Published: November 2013

Richard Arwed Pfeifer (1877–1957) was one of the initiators and foster fathers of the renowned child-psychiatric and special needs education workgroup at Leipzig University under Paul Schröder (1873–1941) in the 1920s and 1930s. This paper is an account of their dispute concerning the interrelations between child and adolescent psychiatry and special needs education, as well as their disagreement about whether adolescent psychopaths should be admitted to specialized child psychiatric wards or elsewhere. Moreover, Pfeifer questioned the practical relevance of the separation of constitutional and environmentally-based psychopathy and fought eugenic research, which he found incompatible with the ethics of his profession as a remedial teacher and child psychiatrist.
Autism in flux: a history of the concept from Leo Kanner to DSM-5
Authors: Verhoeff Berend
Published: November 2013

In this paper, I argue that a new relation between past and present – a supposed historical continuity in the meaning of autism – is created by the histories written by the discipline itself. In histories of autism written by ‘practitioner-historians’, a sense of scientific progress and an essentialist understanding of autism legitimize and reinforce current understandings and research directions in the field of autism. Conceptual discontinuities and earlier complexities and disputes concerning classifying and delineating autism are usually left out of the positivist narrative of autism. In an alternative history of the concept of autism, I demonstrate that there have been major shifts in the type of symptoms, signs and impairments that were – and are – thought to be essential and specific for autism.
Through the lens of the hospital magazine: Downshire and Holywell psychiatric hospitals in the 1960s and 1970s
Authors: Prior Pauline , McClelland Gillian
Published: November 2013

An exploration of the pages of two psychiatric hospital magazines, Speedwell from Holywell Hospital, Antrim, and The Sketch from Downshire Hospital, Downpatrick, reveals the activity-filled lives of patients and staff during the 1960s and 1970s. This was a time of great change in mental health care. It was also a time of political turbulence in Northern Ireland. With large in-patient populations, both hospitals had a range of occupational and sporting activities available to patients and staff. The magazines formed part of the effort to promote the ethos of a therapeutic community. While hospital magazines may be viewed as one aspect of an institutional system that allowed people to cut themselves off from the wider society, they also provided opportunities for budding writers to express their views on life in a hospital from the service-user perspective. As such, they offer some valuable insights into the lives of psychiatric patients.
Spiritist delusions and spiritism in the nosography of French psychiatry (1850–1950)
Authors: Le Maléfan Pascal , Evrard Renaud , Alvarado Carlos S
Published: November 2013

At the turn of the twentieth century there was a wave of delusions which had a direct link to spiritism in their form and content. These so-called spiritist or mediumistic delusions were the object of detailed study, and clinicians assigned them a place in nosography, especially in France. This work of classification was carried out as a function of the convictions and paradoxes that these delusions aroused; it also made it possible to question the relationship between pathology and belief. It is therefore important to emphasize certain ideological views of psychiatry on para-normality. We observed both a reductionist discourse concerning these domains, and at the same time their utilization in the construction of psychiatric knowledge.
Forbes Winslow and his Journal
Authors: Berrios GE
Published: November 2013

During the 19th century, there were few periodicals dedicated to the inchoate discipline of alienism (now called ‘psychiatry’). Given the newness of alienism and the idiosyncratic structure of the British publishing industry at the time, for a private individual to start a new specialized journal was a major enterprise. Against all odds, Forbes Winslow managed to publish his journal from 1848 to 1860, and during this period the scholarly nature of his publication could not be matched by the Asylum Journal, the official publication of the Association of Medical Officers of Asylums and Hospitals for the Insane.

Under the title Psychological Medicine, Winslow offered a new view of alienism which he clearly conceived as a discipline broader than medicine. He strove to inform his readers about the conceptual and practical complexities that then (as now) beset and besiege the care of the mentally ill. He taught his readers that to understand and manage insanity, knowledge of philosophy and of the human sciences was as important as knowledge about the brain. In the 1850s this was a new message to impart.
Immigration and redistribution revisited: how different motivations can offset each other
Authors: Emmenegger Patrick , Klemmensen Robert
Published: November 2013

Despite compelling theoretical arguments, research has failed so far to provide conclusive empirical evidence on the relationship between preferences for redistribution and attitudes towards immigration. We argue that social scientists risk making erroneous inferences if the causal link connecting an independent variable to a given outcome is not carefully modelled. This is particularly true in the presence of multiple and partly offsetting intervening variables. We argue that there are at least four motivations linking attitudes towards redistribution and preferred levels of immigration. We observe a statistically significant association between attitudes towards redistribution and preferred levels of immigration, but only after the motivations have been explicitly integrated into the empirical analysis. If the motivations are not explicitly modelled, no systematic relationship between attitudes towards redistribution and preferred levels of immigration can be observed.
Fostering in the welfare states of the US and Norway
Authors: Berrick Jill Duerr , Skivenes Marit
Published: November 2013

This paper aims to explore the differences between Norwegian and US welfare state ideologies, and if or how they are reflected in the respective foster care systems and in the daily practices of foster parents. Our analysis combines a review of policy documents and legal regulations, with interviews in a sample of 141 exemplary foster parents (87 from the US and 54 from Norway). The paper identifies clear differences in how these two states take responsibility and provide services for families in general and foster parents in particular, examining distinct differences in the conditions foster parents have for exercising their parenting tasks. The findings from the interviews show how the conditions play out in real life for foster parents and foster children in relation to recruitment of caregivers, time and resources available to children, and how caregivers negotiate and advocate for children’s needs.
A state-of-the-art review of working poverty in advanced economies: theoretical models, measurement issues and risk groups
Authors: Crettaz Eric
Published: November 2013

While there is a growing awareness of the ‘re-emergence’ of working poverty, this topic remains relatively under-researched. This article provides an encompassing review of the literature dealing with the situation in Europe, North America and the Antipodes, with a focus on the theoretical models found in this literature, the definitions used and the risk groups identified. The main conclusion is that most publications were not based on a specific theoretical model, which has led to a flurry of definitions; moreover, conclusions on certain risk groups are divergent. The end of the article focuses on what remains to be done, because there are good reasons to think that working poverty might become a more pressing problem in the near future, and social policy researchers will have to have good theoretical frameworks and robust evaluation strategies in the years to come.
The temporal and spatial profiles of cell loss following experimental spinal cord injury: effect of antioxidant therapy on cell death and functional recovery
Authors: Ling Xiang , Bao Feng , Qian Hao , Liu Danxia
Published: November 2013

Background

Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI)-induced overproduction of endogenous deleterious substances triggers secondary cell death to spread damage beyond the initial injury site. Substantial experimental evidence supports reactive species (RS) as important mediators of secondary cell death after SCI. This study established quantitative temporal and spatial profiles of cell loss, characterized apoptosis, and evaluated the effectiveness of a broad spectrum RS scavenger - Mn (III) tetrakis (4-benzoic acid) porphyrin (MnTBAP) and a combination of MnTBAP plus nitro-L-arginine to prevent cell loss and neurological dysfunction following contusion SCI to the rat spinal cord.

Results

By counting the number of surviving cells in spinal cord sections removed at 1, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72 h and 1 week post-SCI and at 0 – 4 mm from the epicenter, the temporal and spatial profiles of motoneuron and glia loss were established. Motoneurons continued to disappear over a week and the losses decreased with increasing distance from the epicenter. Significant glia loss peaked at 24 to 48 h post-SCI, but only at sections 0–1.5 mm from the epicenter. Apoptosis of neurons, motoneurons and astrocytes was characterized morphologically by double immuno-staining with cell-specific markers and apoptosis indicators and confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. DNA laddering, ELISA quantitation and caspase-3 activation in the spinal cord tissue indicated more intense DNA fragments and greater caspase-3 activation in the epicenter than at 1 and 2 cm away from the epicenter or the sham-operated sections. Intraperitoneal treatment with MnTBAP + nitro-L-arginine significantly reduced motoneuron and cell loss and apoptosis in the gray and white matter compared with the vehicle-treated group. MnTBAP alone significantly reduced the number of apoptotic cells and improved functional recovery as evaluated by three behavioral tests.

Conclusions

Our temporal and spatial profiles of cell loss provide data bases for determining the time and location for pharmacological intervention. Our demonstration that apoptosis follows SCI and that MnTBAP alone or MnTBAP + nitro-L-arginine significantly reduces apoptosis correlates SCI-induced apoptosis with RS overproduction. MnTBAP significantly improved functional recovery, which strongly supports the important role of antioxidant therapy in treating SCI and the candidacy of MnTBAP for such treatment.
Functional characterization of an ornithine cyclodeaminase-like protein of Arabidopsis thaliana
Authors: Sharma Sandeep , Shinde Suhas , Verslues Paul E
Published: November 2013

Background

In plants, proline synthesis occurs by two enzymatic steps starting from glutamate as a precursor. Some bacteria, including bacteria such as Agrobacterium rhizogenes have an Ornithine Cyclodeaminase (OCD) which can synthesize proline in a single step by deamination of ornithine. In A. rhizogenes, OCD is one of the genes transferred to the plant genome during the transformation process and plants expressing A. rhizogenes OCD have developmental phenotypes. One nuclear encoded gene of Arabidopsis thaliana has recently been annotated as an OCD (OCD-like; referred to here as AtOCD) but nothing is known of its function. As proline metabolism contributes to tolerance of low water potential during drought, it is of interest to determine if AtOCD affects proline accumulation or low water potential tolerance.

Results

Expression of AtOCD was induced by low water potential stress and by exogenous proline, but not by the putative substrate ornithine. The AtOCD protein was plastid localized. T-DNA mutants of atocd and AtOCD RNAi plants had approximately 15% higher proline accumulation at low water potential while p5cs1-4/atocd double mutants had 40% higher proline than p5cs1 at low water potential but no change in proline metabolism gene expression which could directly explain the higher proline level. AtOCD overexpression did not affect proline accumulation. Enzymatic assays with bacterially expressed AtOCD or AtOCD purified from AtOCD:Flag transgenic plants did not detect any activity using ornithine, proline or several other amino acids as substrates. Moreover, AtOCD mutant or over-expression lines had normal morphology and no difference in root elongation or flowering time, in contrast to previous report of transgenic plants expressing A. rhizogenes OCD. Metabolite analysis found few differences between AtOCD mutants and overexpression lines.

Conclusions

The Arabidopsis OCD-like protein (AtOCD) may not catalyze ornithine to proline conversion and this is consistent with observation that three residues critical for activity of bacterial OCDs are not conserved in AtOCD. AtOCD was, however, stress and proline induced and lack of AtOCD expression increased proline accumulation by an unknown mechanism which did not require expression of P5CS1, the main enzyme responsible for stress-induced proline synthesis from glutamate. The results suggest that AtOCD may have function distinct from bacterial OCDs.
Looks like smoking, is it smoking?: Children’s perceptions of cigarette-like nicotine delivery systems, smoking and cessation
Authors: Faletau Julienne , Glover Marewa , Nosa Vili , Pienaar Fiona
Published: November 2013

Background

Alternative cigarette-like nicotine delivery systems have been met with diverse opinions. One concern has been for the effect on children. We investigate whether children can differentiate tobacco cigarette smoking from use of a nicotine inhaler and electronic cigarette. Their opinions on these devices was also of interest.

Methods

Two structured focus groups and twelve individual interviews were conducted with twenty Māori and Pacific children (6–10 years old) in low socioeconomic areas in Auckland, New Zealand. Children viewed short video clips on an iPad that demonstrated an actor smoking a tobacco cigarette, sucking a lollipop or using an electronic cigarette or a nicotine inhaler.

Results

Children did not recognise the inhaler or electronic cigarette. Some children did however notice anomalies in the ‘smoking’ behaviour. Once told about the products the children were mostly positive about the potential of the inhaler and electronic cigarette to assist smokers to quit. Negative perceptions were expressed, including views about the ill health effects associated with continued nicotine intake and the smoker’s inability to quit.

Conclusions

In a context unfamiliar with electronic cigarettes or nicotine inhalers, such as New Zealand, children may misperceive use of these products as smoking. Once these products are more common and the purpose of them is known, seeing people use them should normalise quitting behaviour, something the children were very supportive of.
Sedum tarokoense (Crassulaceae), a new species from a limestone area in Taiwan
Authors: Lu Chang-Tse , Lin Hung-Wen , Liou Wei-Ting , Wang Jenn-Che
Published: November 2013

Background

An unknown Sedum was found from the limestone region in Taiwan. After a detailed comparison with other congeners in Taiwan and neighboring countries, we identified this plant as a new species.

Results

This new taxon resembles S. nokoense Yamamoto, S. alfredii Hance, and S. uniflorum Hook. & Arn. subsp. oryzifolium (Makino) H. Ohba, but differs in leaf shape, sepal morphology, and seed testa micro-morphology. Ecologically, this new taxon occurs exclusively on limestone, while S. nokoense and S. alfredii grow in non-limestone areas and S. uniflorum subsp. oryzifolium is only found on sandy seashores.

Conclusions

Sedum tarokoense H.W. Lin & J.C. Wang is described as a new species. We provide a description, line drawing, and distribution map, as well as photograph, a key and a table to distinguish S. tarokoense from its related species.
The National Practice Benchmark for Oncology, 2013 Report on 2012 Data
Authors: Towle Elaine L. , Barr Thomas R. , Senese James L.
Published: November 2013

Today, in the face of price and quality pressures, it is necessary that every oncology business unit produce, monitor, and benchmark basic metrics to meet current business pressures for increased efficiency and efficacy of care.
An Interview with Paul Volcker
Authors: Feldstein Martin
Published: November 2013

Martin Feldstein interviewed Paul Volcker in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on July 10, 2013, as part of a conference at the National Bureau of Economic Research on “The First 100 Years of the Federal Reserve: The Policy Record, Lessons Learned, and Prospects for the Future.” Volcker was Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 1979 through 1987. Before that, he served stints as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from 1975 to 1979, as Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs in the US Department of the Treasury from 1969 to 1974, as Deputy Undersecretary for Monetary Affairs in the Treasury from 1963 to 1965, and as an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from 1952 to 1957. He has led and served on a wide array of commissions, including chairing the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board from its inception in 2009 through 2011.
Gifts of Mars: Warfare and Europe's Early Rise to Riches
Authors: Voigtländer Nico , Voth Hans-Joachim
Published: November 2013

Western Europe surged ahead of the rest of the world long before technological growth became rapid. Europe in 1500 already had incomes twice as high on a per capita basis as Africa, and one-third greater than most of Asia. In this essay, we explain how Europe's tumultuous politics and deadly penchant for warfare translated into a sustained advantage in per capita incomes. We argue that Europe's rise to riches was driven by the nature of its politics after 1350—it was a highly fragmented continent characterized by constant warfare and major religious strife. No other continent in recorded history fought so frequently, for such long periods, killing such a high proportion of its population. When it comes to destroying human life, the atomic bomb and machine guns may be highly efficient, but nothing rivaled the impact of early modern Europe's armies spreading hunger and disease. War therefore helped Europe's precocious rise to riches because the survivors had more land per head available for cultivation. Our interpretation involves a feedback loop from higher incomes to more war and higher land-labor ratios, a loop set in motion by the Black Death in the middle of the 14th century.
Entropy-Based Optimization of Nonlinear Separable Discrete Decision Models
Authors: Nakagawa Yuji , James Ross J. W. , Rego César , Edirisinghe Chanaka
Published: November 2013

This paper develops a new way to help solve difficult linear and nonlinear discrete-optimization decision models more efficiently by introducing a problem-difficulty metric that uses the concept of entropy from information theory. Our entropy metric is employed to devise rules for problem partitioning within an implicit enumeration method, where branching is accomplished based on the subproblem complexity. The only requirement for applying our metric is the availability of (upper) bounds on branching subproblems, which are often computed within most implicit enumeration methods such as branch-and-bound (or cutting-plane-based) methods. Focusing on problems with a relatively small number of constraints, but with a large number of variables, we develop a hybrid partitioning and enumeration solution scheme by combining the entropic approach with the recently developed improved surrogate constraint (ISC) method to produce the new method we call ISCENT. Our computational results indicate that ISCENT can be an order of magnitude more efficient than commercial solvers, such as CPLEX, for convex instances with no more than eight constraints. Furthermore, for nonconvex instances, ISCENT is shown to be significantly more efficient than other standard global solvers.

This paper was accepted by Dimitris Bertsimas, optimization.
Mitigation of Brown Stain in Ponderosa Pine Shop-Grade Lumber Using High Temperatures Early in Kiln Schedules
Authors: Mottern Daniel L. , Wagner Francis G. , McDonald Armando G.
Published: November 2013

Brown stain makes the appearance of ponderosa pine shop lumber look dark, streaky, and splotchy, which often results in lumber downgrading. When brown stain occurs in a piece of shop lumber, it is often sorted separately and ultimately sold for a discount. Manufacturers of ponderosa pine shop lumber have adopted low-temperature dry kiln schedules to mitigate brown stain effects. The low-temperature schedules are lengthy, often taking more than 100 hours of drying time. Preliminary high-temperature (>212°F [100°C]) drying schedules have reduced drying time while minimizing brown stain effects. The purpose of this study was to further explore drying schedules with high temperatures early in the schedules followed by conventional drying settings. Results showed that 10 hours of initial high-temperature drying can be used without brown stain affecting the visual grades of ponderosa pine shop lumber while reducing drying time up to 17 percent.
Laccase-Mediator Catalyzed Modification of Wood Fibers: Studies on the Reaction Mechanism and Making of Medium-Density Fiberboard
Authors: Euring Markus , Trojanowski Jerzy , Kharazipour Alireza
Published: November 2013

Owing to the constant increase of prices of the process for petrochemical resin and the possibility of harmful formaldehyde emissions from industrial produced medium-density fiberboards (MDF), enzymatic binder systems are discussed as an environmentally friendly alternative for gluing lignocelluloses such as wood fibers. In this work laccase-mediator systems (LMSs) were used to activate the lignin on wood fiber surfaces. Two different mediators were tested, vanillic acid (VAN) and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (HBA), of which HBA performed best. Carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonances (13C-NMR) and electron spin resonances (ESR) of LMS-treated thermomechanical pulp (TMP) fibers were determined for qualitative and quantitative analysis of lignin activation. Analysis outputs were transferred to produce MDF using a dry process. 13C-NMR revealed more structural changes in the wood fibers using LMS with HBA than LMS with VAN. ESR spectroscopy indicated a higher amount of phenoxy radicals after treatment with LMS containing HBA as a mediator. The data correlated well with the quality of MDF. The best mechanical technological properties were achieved by using HBA within the LMS, so that the European Norms could be fulfilled. But VAN also performed well, which showed a high potential to produce ecofriendly MDF by using LMSs in the future.
Life-Cycle Carbon from Waste Wood Used in District Heating and Other Alternatives
Authors: Lippke Bruce , Puettmann Maureen E.
Published: November 2013

Using wood wastes provides an opportunity to avoid fossil carbon emissions from the combustion of natural gas or other fossil fuels. Using a life-cycle assessment, a new biomass boiler sourced by forest residuals, sawmill residuals, and clean demolition material (CDM) was compared with an existing natural gas boiler for supplying heat to a large-scale district heating system. Potential alternative uses of these feedstocks, such as recycled or reprocessed products, and landfill alternatives were also evaluated for their relative impact on carbon emissions. We found a reduction in emissions from natural gas of 0.62 unit of carbon for every unit of carbon in the wood combusted. Temporary losses of forest carbon after initiating the collection of forest residuals were minimal over a short interval. These losses were more than offset by the joint production of wood products displacing fossil emissions. Carbon mitigation in the Pacific Northwest was increased from 5.5 metric tons/ha/y from the production of forest products with no collection of forest residuals to 6.5 metric tons/ha/y after completing the first rotation, an 18 percent reduction in fossil emissions per hectare of forest. The potential to recycle CDM into wood products may ultimately raise the efficiency in avoiding carbon emissions by 40 to 60 percent, although available wood quality and logistics currently favor use of CDM as biofuel feedstock. In the absence of any “incentives” or value for carbon mitigation, feedstock collection costs relative to low-cost fossil fuel will substantially limit the use of waste woods for biofuel or recycling alternatives.
Affordable Home Builder Demand for Green and Certified Wood Products
Authors: Estep Gregory D. , DeVallance David B. , Grushecky Shawn
Published: November 2013

Annual new housing starts in the United States decreased dramatically between 2005 and 2012. Consequently, products that are heavily tied to new housing starts, such as flooring, cabinetry, and moulding produced from Appalachian hardwoods, have suffered a corresponding decrease in demand. There may be opportunities to increase demand for these products, however, as demand in the green building sector increases. The present study evaluated the demand for certified wood products (CWPs) and green-labeled wood products in the central Appalachian affordable housing sector in 2011. The study also identified price premiums that affordable home builders were willing to pay for CWPs and green-labeled wood products. Results indicated that 50 percent of affordable housing respondents were planning future CWP purchases. Results also indicated that 62 percent of affordable housing respondents followed some type of green building standard. Additionally, more than 70 percent of affordable housing respondents suggested a willingness to pay an additional percentage for CWPs and local wood products. The use of CWPs was found to result from a combination of builder and homeowner preference. Last, of the housing builders who looked to purchase CWPs locally in 2011, only 17 percent were not able to locate the materials for purchase. The low percentage of unsuccessful procurement suggests CWPs are well distributed in areas near affordable housing projects in central Appalachia.
Relationship between Anatomical and Mechanical Properties of Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda)
Authors: Jeong Gi Young
Published: November 2013

The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of thinning and fertilization on mechanical properties of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) strands associated with growth ring number and height. A systematic link to forest management, anatomical properties, and mechanical properties was obtained by correlating the test results with anatomical properties. The modulus of elasticity (MOE) and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of strands from three loblolly pine trees increased with the increment in growth ring number, whereas the MOE and UTS showed different trends with the increment in height. Prediction of the MOE and UTS with specific gravity for the trees seemed to be unreliable. A natural tree had the greatest correlation between tangential latewood cell wall thickness and the mechanical properties. A thinned tree had the greatest correlation between ring width and the mechanical properties. A fertilized tree had the greatest correlation between density and the mechanical properties. However, the correlation between a specific anatomical property and mechanical properties was weak. Different combinations of anatomical properties predicted MOE and UTS of loblolly pine strands from different forest-managed trees more closely, indicating an R2 of 0.84 to 0.95.
Effect of the Cutting Speed on the Surface Quality of Black Spruce Cants Produced by a Chipper-Canter
Authors: Hernández Roger E. , Kuljich Svetka , Naffeti Oussema , Koubaa Ahmed
Published: November 2013

The effect of cutting speed on surface quality of black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill) B.S.P.) cants produced by a chipper-canter was evaluated. Four cutting speeds (18.9, 21.3, 24.2, and 27.1 m/s) were tested while feed speed was adjusted to obtain the same nominal chip length of 27.5 mm for each condition. For each speed, 15 logs were processed under frozen and unfrozen wood temperatures using 25 mm of cutting width at their small end. The surface quality was analyzed according to roughness and waviness standard parameters and to the depth of torn grain. The results showed that surface quality was not affected by the cutting speed. In contrast, surface was affected by the temperature of the logs and was better under unfrozen conditions. Quality of cants was also better at the small end of the log and generally at the upper part of the cant.
Collaborative practice in practice in enhancing the first year experience in Higher Education
Authors: Lumsden Eunice , Mcbryde-Wilding Heather , Rose Hannah
Published: November 2013

Transition into higher education presents challenges for students, whatever their age or previous educational history. One issue emerging on an English undergraduate programme was how to support students who self reported educational histories of continual formative feedback, model answers, revision guides and limited use of the library. This paper reports findings from an action research project which considered whether there was a mismatch between students’ previous educational histories and the academic expectations of the university. Findings indicated that academic expectations did not fully take account of the previous experience of students, which included continual formative support with assessments, model answers and revision guides. Students responses indicated limited previous guidance on how to search on the internet and libraries were rarely used prior to starting university. Transitional scaffolding was positively evaluated, students reporting greater confidence levels in accessing appropriate resources, high levels of student completion, retention and satisfaction.