bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An analysis of the climate variability over the Mediterranean sea by means of the surface water vapour density
Authors: Schiano M. E. , Sparnocchia S. , Cappa C. , Bozzano R.
Published: September 2005

Many studies suggest that the climate of the Mediterranean region is shifting toward a more tropical regime. In order to verify this supposed modification, an analysis is performed using the water vapour density at the sea surface. Previous experimental results in the region show that this parameter can evidence when the tropical features of the Mediterranean climate predominate. Compared to the other common indicators like the air temperature, it gives a more comprehensive picture of any possible variation by analysing the combined effect of two distinct parameters, the air temperature and the humidity, providing at the same time additional information on the surface marine thermal stratification. The work was performed using data from the European Centre for Medium‐range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) ERA‐40 project covering the period ranging from 1958 to 2001. Yearly averages and maxima of the water vapour density were obtained from the daily mean values. The number of days of the year in which these daily means were greater/equal to 15 gm−3, and the first and the last day of the year when they crossed this threshold were also evaluated. The investigation is carried out for the whole basin and its three main subbasins, namely, the western, the central and the eastern Mediterranean, separately. The results confirm that the occurrence of tropical features in the Mediterranean climate has been increasing in the last two decades, with a widening of the period affected by the condition and enhancement of the extreme values. This trend is detectable over the whole basin notwithstanding the very high interannual variability. The good agreement with the results obtained in other works where different variables or proxy data were used confirms that the surface water vapour density is a good indicator for detecting long term climate variability. Copyright © 2005 Royal Meteorological Society.
Palaeoclimatic reconstruction from Loch Lomond Readvance glaciers in the West Drumochter Hills, Scotland
Authors: Benn Douglas I. , Ballantyne Colin K.
Published: September 2005

Geomorphological mapping in the West Drumochter Hills provides evidence of a readvance of locally nourished glaciers during the Loch Lomond (Younger Dryas) Stade, in the form of an icefield 67.7 km2 in area drained by outlet glaciers. The icefield limits accord broadly with those proposed by Sissons (1980) but all geomorphic, stratigraphic and sedimentological evidence conflicts with a recent proposal that the landforms in the area reflect southwestwards retreat of the last ice sheet. Up‐valley continuity of recessional moraines indicates that the ice remained active and close to climatic equilibrium during the earlier stages of glacier retreat, consistent with slow warming following the coldest part of the stade. The pattern of equilibrium line altitudes (ELAs) across the icefield is consistent with transfer of snow by westerly and southerly winds. The ELA of the reconstructed icefield as a whole is 622–629 m, although this figure is likely to be lower than the regional (climatic) ELA because the icefield probably received additional snow blown from adjacent plateau surfaces and slopes. Inclusion of potential snow‐blow areas in the ELA calculation yields a value of 648–656 m; the climatic ELA is therefore likely to have lain between 622 and 656 m. Mean June to August temperature at the ELA, based on chironomid assemblages at two sites, falls within the range 4.0 ± 0.7°C. Empirical relationships between temperature and precipitation at modern glacier ELAs indicate that mean annual precipitation (MAP) at the ELA was 1977 ± 464 mm, statistically indistinguishable from modern values. Comparison with precipitation values calculated for the Isle of Mull on the west coast suggest that the precipitation gradient across the Central Highlands of Scotland was steeper during the Loch Lomond Stade than at present, probably as the result of efficient scavenging of precipitation from westerly airflows by the West Highland Icefield. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Re‐interpretation of the Meikirch pollen record, Swiss Alpine Foreland, and implications for Middle Pleistocene chronostratigraphy
Authors: Preusser Frank , Drescher‐Schneider Ruth , Fiebig Markus , Schlüchter Christian
Published: September 2005

The Meikirch drilling site in the Swiss Midlands north of Bern is re‐interpreted using a combination of sedimentological logging, pollen analyses and luminescence dating. The sedimentary sequence comprises about 70 m of lacustrine deposits, overlain by about 39 m of coarse glacial outwash interpreted to represent at least two independent ice advances. Pollen analyses of the apparently complete limnic sequence reveal a basal late glacial period followed by three warm phases that are interrupted by two stadial periods (Meikirch complex). The warm periods were previously correlated with the Holsteinian and Eemian Interglacials. According to luminescence dating, and with consideration of evidence for Middle Pleistocene climate patterns at other central European sites, a correlation of the Meikirch complex with marine isotope stage (MIS) 7 is now proposed. If this correlation is correct, it implies the presence of three intervals with interglacial character during MIS 7. However, the late Middle Pleistocene vegetational features of the Meikirch complex show significant differences when compared with the pollen record from the Velay region, central France. Possible explanations for this discrepancy are distinct Middle Pleistocene patterns of atmospheric circulation over central Europe and a different distribution of vegetation refugia compared to the Eemian Interglacial and the Holocene. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Quaternary glaciation of the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia
Authors: Osmaston Henry A. , Mitchell Wishart A. , Osmaston J. A. Nigel
Published: September 2005

Central Ethiopia comprises a high plateau at 2000–3000 m, formed from Tertiary lava flows and bisected by the Eastern African Rift. Ten volcanic mountains rise to altitudes of just over 4000 m, but on only three has Quaternary glaciation been substantiated by published field observations. On the Bale Mountains (4400 m), a previous report based on limited evidence proposed an ice‐cap extending to 600 km2. Based on aerial photographs and ground surveys, this paper reports evidence of a more complex situation. A wide spread of large erratic boulders on the plateau records a central ice cap of 30 km2, though ice probably extended for a further 40 km2. Further north two groups of deeply incised and clearly glaciated valleys contain moraines and roches moutonnées (60 km2). On interfluves between them and on the open north slopes are moraines from an earlier stage of the same glaciation or from a distinct older event. Altogether about 180 km2 may have been glaciated. Cores dated by 14C from inside and outside the glaciated area suggest that at least the northern valley glaciers may date from the Last Glacial Maximum. Estimated equilibrium line altitudes for these glaciers and the ice‐cap are 3750–4230 m. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Holocene solifluction, climate variation and fire in a subarctic landscape at Pippokangas, Finnish Lapland, based on radiocarbon‐dated buried charcoal
Authors: Matthews John A. , Seppälä Matti , Dresser P. Quentin
Published: September 2005

A large number of radiocarbon dates from charcoal layers buried beneath stacked solifluction lobes at Pippokangas, in the northern boreal zone of Finnish Lapland, are used to reconstruct a Holocene history of solifluction. Although the site is surrounded by Scots pine forest, the solifluction lobes occur on the lower slopes of a kettle hole, the microclimate of which prevents the growth of trees. Samples from the upslope end of charcoal layers have enabled the recognition of four synchronous phases of solifluction lobe initiation: 7400–6700, 4200–3400, 2600–2100 and 1500–500 cal. yr BP. Rates of lobe advance are shown to be lobe‐dependent and age‐dependent: initially, average rates were commonly 0.14–0.19 cm yr−1, later falling to 0.02–0.07 cm yr−1 or less as the lobes approached the bottom of the slope. The absence of charcoal prior to 8000 cal. yr BP, together with single IRSL and TL dates, indicate a relatively stable early Holocene landscape. The onset of solifluction around 7400 cal. yr BP. appears to have followed the immigration of pine around the site, which increased the frequency of forest fires. Phases of solifluction activity seem to have been triggered by millennial‐scale variations in effective moisture (the climatic hypothesis), rather than episodic burning of the surface vegetation cover (the geoecological hypothesis), although climate may also have affected fire frequency and severity. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Variation in the phytic acid content of soybeans and its effect on consistency of tofu made from soybean varieties with high protein content
Authors: Toda Kyoko , Takahashi Koji , Ono Tomotada , Kitamura Keisuke , Nakamura Yoshiyuki
Published: September 2005

The relationships of contents of phytic acid and protein to the breaking stress of tofu were examined using soybeans of three Japanese varieties with high protein content harvested in different locations from the years 2001 to 2003. The phytic acid content was more variable than protein content within different cultivating locations and years for the same variety and showed significant negative correlation to the breaking stress of tofu made with 0.25% MgCl2 for all the varieties (P < 0.001, r = −0.60). In particular, Sachiyutaka variety was characterized by the highest negative correlation between the breaking stress of tofu and the phytic acid content in soymilk (P < 0.001, r = −0.73). As MgCl2 concentration increased, the correlation between the phytic acid content and the breaking stress of tofu was reduced, and finally there was no significant correlation between them when the breaking stress reached a maximum at the particular MgCl2 concentration which is probably concerned with varietial characteristics of soybeans. These results support the idea that the variation in the content of phytic acid, which can act as a buffer against coagulation of soy protein, accounts for the fluctuation in consistency of tofu made with lower MgCl2 concentrations (ca. 0.25%) using soybeans of the same variety with different cultivating conditions. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry
Effect of storage and heating on phytosterol concentrations in vegetable oils determined by GC/MS
Authors: Thanh Tran T , Vergnes Marie‐France , Kaloustian Jacques , El‐Moselhy Tarek F , Amiot‐Carlin Marie‐Jo , Portugal Henri
Published: September 2005

Phytosterols can be of value in decreasing cardiovascular risk of coronary heart disease. β‐Sitosterol was the most abundant sterol in the three oils studied (sunflower, olive and ‘4 oil mixture’). The total phytosterol level was the highest in the ‘4 oil mixture’ compared with the other oils studied. Tests performed on the effect of aging (heating at 50 °C for several weeks and at 100 °C for 1 h) did not show any significant variation in the phytosterol content. In contrast, heating at 200 °C for 1 h led to a 50–60% decrease of phytosterol in the oils studied and in the standard solutions. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry
Study on distribution pattern of stable carbon isotope ratio of Chinese honeys by isotope ratio mass spectrometry
Authors: Pang Guo‐Fang , Fan Chun‐Lin , Cao Yan‐Zhong , Zhang Jin‐Jie , Li Xue‐Min , Li Zeng‐Yin , Jia Guang‐Qun
Published: September 2005

The δ 13C values of 26 varieties of Chinese pure single‐flower honeys, 323 census samples of six varieties of single‐flower honeys and one multi‐flower honey as well as 20 888 commercial honey samples from 135 honey‐related enterprises in 25 provinces of China were analysed by stable carbon isotope ratio mass spectrometry between 1998 and 2004. It was found that the δ 13C values of different Chinese honeys fell within the ranges of values proposed by JW White. This shows that White's theory of the stable carbon isotope ratio of honeys is applicable to Chinese honeys and further demonstrates that the theory is universal to honeys from all over the world. The study also confirmed that the δ 13C values of honeys do not bear much relation to the environment in which the honey plants are grown, e.g. geographical area, water and soil, climate, etc., but do vary slightly with the honey plant species. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry
Thermo‐ and pH‐Sensitivities of Thiosemicarbazone‐Incorporated, Fluorescent and Amphiphilic Poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide)
Authors: Li Cheng , Meng Ling‐Zhi , Lu Xiao‐Ju , Wu Zhao‐Qiang , Zhang Li‐Fen , He Yong‐Bing
Published: September 2005

Summary: Novel hydrophobic comonomer (p‐methacrylamido)acetophenone thiosemicarbazone was synthesized and polymerized with N‐isopropylacrylamide to get a series of amphiphilic copolymers. The self‐aggregation behavior and thermo‐sensitive character of the (co)polymers were confirmed by TEM observation, fluorescence spectra, and cloud point measurement. Fluorescence emission of copolymer was significantly strengthened or switched off at an excitation wavelength of 320 nm upon the addition of acid or base, respectively. Thermo‐sensitivity, pH‐sensitivity, and pharmacologically versatile thiosemicarbazone groups were integrated into these novel fluorescent and amphiphilic copolymers, which will develop the novel applications of amphiphilic copolymer and environment‐responsive materials.

Fluorescence intensity at 393 nm of polymer 2 in water at 18 °C excited at 320 nm upon addition of acid and base.

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Fluorescence intensity at 393 nm of polymer 2 in water at 18 °C excited at 320 nm upon addition of acid and base.
Eburnamine derivatives and the brain
Authors: Vas Ádám , Gulyás Balázs
Published: September 2005

The Apocynaceae plant family contains a great number of so called eburnamine–vincamine alkaloids. Quite a few of these alkaloids exert varied pharmacological activities on the cell multiplication, cardiovascular system, and brain functions. Many derviatives were also synthesized to find pharmacologically active compunds better characterized and safer to be administered than the natural plant alkaloids themselves. We concentrate on the eburnamine structures with cerebral activities in this review. Vincamine, vinburnine, vindeburnol, apovincaminate, and vinpocetine (cis‐ethyl‐apovincaminate) all share modulatory effects on brain circulation and neuronal homeostasis, bear antihypoxic and neuroprotective potencies to various degrees. The most eminent compound of this class of alkaloids is vinpocetine. Since its introduction to the market as a neuroprotective agent many non clinical and clinical studies proved vinpocetine's effects on calmodulin dependent phosphodiesterase E1, on sodium, calcium channels, peripheral benzodiazepine receptor, and glutamate receptors as well as its clinical usefulness in the treatment of post‐ischaemic stroke disease states and various disorders of cerebrovascular origin. Lately, positron emission tomography studies proved that vinpocetine has a rapid uptake in the primate and human brain with a heterogenous distribution pattern (preference areas: thalamus, basal ganglia, and visual cortex) both after intravenous and oral administration. Vinpocetine exerts beneficial effects in cerebral glucose metabolism and regional cerebral blood flow in chronic post‐stroke patients. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Med Res Rev
Determination of the spatial structure of glutathione by residual dipolar coupling analysis
Authors: Klochkov Anton V. , Khairutdinov Bulat I. , Tagirov Murat S. , Klochkov Vladimir V.
Published: September 2005

The approach based on analysis of the residual 1H13C dipolar couplings in molecules partially aligned in a lyotropic liquid crystalline medium was used in the NMR investigation of the reduced glutathione (Glu–Cys–Gly; GSH) structure in a lyotropic medium (cetylpyridinium chloride–n‐hexanol). The spatial structure of GSH in solution was established on the basis of the experimental data for observed couplings only. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Ideal tetrafunctional amphiphilic PEG/PDMS conetworks by a dual‐purpose extender/crosslinker. II. Characterization and properties of water‐swollen membranes
Authors: Erdodi Gabor , Kennedy J. P.
Published: September 2005

Select characteristics and properties of a series of ideal tetrafunctional amphiphilic conetworks consisting of random poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) segments crosslinked by a novel dual‐purpose crosslinker/extender were determined. The overall composition of the conetworks was varied in the 16–40% PEG range, and membranes were prepared by polymerizing/crosslinking charges in molds. Membranes were characterized by equilibrium swelling (both in water and n‐heptane) and by determining their oxygen permeabilities and select mechanical properties. Swelling in water increases, whereas in heptane it decreases with increasing PEG content. Significant swelling in both solvents indicates bicontinuous (bipercolating) PEG and PDMS phases. Bicontinuity is reached with ∼13% PEG in the conetworks. The oxygen permeabilities of optically clear water‐swollen membranes containing 24, 32, and 40 wt % PEG are ∼350, ∼245 and ∼185 barrers, respectively, i.e., oxygen permeability decreases by increasing the hydrophilic constituent. These oxygen permeabilities are far superior to those of contemporary soft contact lenses. The tensile strengths and moduli of water‐swollen membranes decrease, while elongations increase, with increasing PEG content. Dry membranes exhibit first order transitions at −52 and ∼46 °C indicating phase‐separated crystalline PDMS and PEG domains, respectively. Both dry and water‐swollen membranes are optically clear, indicating the presence of PEG and PDMS domains with dimensions well below the wavelength of visible light. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 4965–4971, 2005
Ideal tetrafunctional amphiphilic PEG/PDMS conetworks by a dual‐purpose extender/crosslinker. I. Synthesis
Authors: Erdodi Gabor , Kennedy Joseph P.
Published: September 2005

The synthesis of a new type of amphiphilic conetwork (APCN) consisting of well‐defined hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and hydrophobic polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) segments is described. The conetwork is ideal (the lengths of each PEG and PDMS chain segments, respectively, are identical) and tetrafunctional (exactly four chains emanate from each crosslink site). The synthesis of the conetworks was achieved by the use of a novel dual‐purpose extender/crosslinker Y (bis [(dimethylsilyl)oxy]‐[(etoxydimethylsilyl)oxy]phenylsilane, (SiPh(SiH)2OEt)), in two steps: (1) Synthesis of a new linear random multiblock copolymer (MBC) (AY)n(BY)m, where A is the hydrophilic PEG and B is the hydrophobic segment, and (2) Crosslinking the multiblocks by catalytic condensation of the SiOEt groups in the Y units. The extender/crosslinker fulfills two totally different functions: First, it extends two incompatible hydrophilic and hydrophobic prepolymers (PEG and PDMS) to a random MBC, and, subsequently, it cross‐links the multiblocks to the target APCN. The synthesis and characterization of the extender/crosslinker is also presented. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 4953–4964, 2005
Fabrication and microstructures of Si composite nanocone arrays
Authors: Meng X. M. , Shang N. G. , Lee C. S. , Bello I. , Lee S. T.
Published: September 2005

Multi‐layer Si composite cones with nano‐scale diameter were fabricated by a simple ion sputtering method, and characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and electron energy loss spectroscopy. SEM observation showed that the as‐fabricated nanocone arrays on silicon substrates had a high density of 1010–1011 cm2, diameters of less than 70 nm, and heights of about 200 nm. Cross‐section HRTEM characterization revealed that the nanocones were composed of one‐, two‐ or three‐layer structures. The layer in these cones were identified to be pure Si, FeSi or 3C–SiC, and to have obvious orientation relationships. The formation mechanisms of the nanocones were discussed. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Formation of micrometer sized quasicrystals in slowly cooled Zr–Ti–Nb–Cu–Ni–Al alloys
Authors: Kühn U. , Eckert J. , Mattern N. , Schultz L.
Published: September 2005

The solidification behavior of copper mold cast Zr60Ti6Nb2Cu14Ni9Al9 and Zr60Ti2Nb6Cu14Ni9Al9 alloys has been investigated. The phase formation of the alloy with a ratio of Ti:Nb = 3:1 depends very sensitively on changes of the cooling conditions, exhibiting three competing phases: a glassy, an icosahedral quasicrystalline (i phase) and a crystalline phase, which are arranged very closely in the part of the sample with the highest cooling rate. Decreasing the cooling rate leads to a fully crystalline microstructure. In contrast, the alloy with a ratio of Ti:Nb = 1:3 forms predominantly an i phase and presents only a low volume fraction of a residual glassy phase at the interfaces of the quasicrystals. Besides a specific cooling rate a content of Cu + Ni + Al of about 32 at% and a content of Ti + Nb of about 8 at% is required for the formation of an as‐cast i phase in these Zr‐based alloys, because of a decrease of their glass‐forming ability linked with more pronounced icosahedral short‐range ordering in the melt. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Non‐centrosymmetric molybdates CsLiMoO4 and CsLiMoO4·⅓H2O: crystal growth, polymorphism, efficient Stokes and anti‐Stokes generation and cascaded self‐frequency [χ(3)(SRS) → χ(2)(SFM)] conversion effects
Authors: Becker P. , Bohatý L. , Fröhlich R. , Eichler H. J. , Ueda K. , Takaichi K. , Hanuza J. , Maczka M. , Rhee H. , Kaminskii A. A.
Published: September 2005

New nonlinear‐laser properties of the non‐centrosymmetric cubic crystals CsLiMoO4 and CsLiMoO4 ·⅓H2O were studied by stimulated Raman scattering spectroscopy (SRS). Multiple Stokes and anti‐Stokes generation sidebands in the visible and near‐IR under picosecond laser pumping have been observed for the first time. All recorded Raman induced lasing components were identified and attribute to two of the SRS‐promoting A1(ν1)‐stretching (ωSRS1 ≈ 925 cm–1) and E(ν2)‐bending (ωSRS2 ≈ 310 cm–1) vibration modes of the $ {\rm MoO_4^{-2} } $ units of the crystals. The estimation measurement of the steady‐state Raman gain coefficients in the near‐IR region for both first Stokes generations in the CsLiMoO4·⅓H2O crystal showed that they are not less than 3.1 cm · GW–1. Besides of high‐order Stokes and anti‐Stokes lasing in this hydrated molybdate cascaded χ(3) → χ(2) sum‐frequency mixing interaction was observed under one‐micron pumping. Large single crystals of optical quality of both compounds were grown and characterized with respect to their structure and structural stability. Ferroic phase transitions, that occur in CsLiMoO4 are suppressed in the novel compound CsLiMoO4·⅓H2O. We classify these molybdates as attractive SRS‐active crystalline materials. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Ionic conductivity in PEO‐KOH polymer electrolytes and electrochemical cell performance
Authors: Hassan M. F. , Arof A. K.
Published: September 2005

Polyethylene oxide (PEO) and potassium hydroxide (KOH) alkaline solid polymer electrolytes were prepared by the solution cast technique. The PEO:KOH wt% ratio in the alkaline solid polymer electrolyte system which exhibits the highest room temperature conductivity is 60:40. The conductivity was 3.10 × 10–5 S cm–1. X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used to study the characteristics of the PEO polymer electrolyte films. The Rice and Roth model was used to evaluate the number density of charge carriers. Knowing the number density of charge carriers enabled the mobility and diffusion coefficient to be calculated. An all solid‐state Ni(OH)2/MH rechargeable metal hydride cell has been fabricated using the highest conducting PEO‐KOH alkaline solid polymer electrolyte. The cell was charged at a constant current of 2 mA and discharged at 0.5 mA. The discharge characteristics improved upon cycling and the plateau voltage maintained above 1.3 V for more than 2 hours during the 16th cycle. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Integrals for fully correlated Gaussians in relative coordinates
Authors: Harris Frank E. , Monkhorst Hendrik J.
Published: September 2005

This article considers the integrals needed in energy computations on Coulombic systems using many‐particle basis functions that are products of Gaussians in all the relative coordinates rij. The formulas presented are applicable to systems with arbitrary numbers of particles and with wave functions containing arbitrary nonnegative powers of all the r. Recursive procedures for evaluating the integrals are also given, and graph‐theoretic representations are provided for multinomials entering the formulation. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2006
Correlation and spin polarization in quantum dots: Local spin density functional theory revisited
Authors: Borgh M. , Toreblad M. , Koskinen M. , Manninen M. , Åberg S. , Reimann S. M.
Published: September 2005

Using quantum dot artificial atoms as a simple toy model, we reflect on the question of whether spin density functional theory (SDFT) can accurately describe correlation effects in low‐dimensional fermion systems. Different expressions for the local density approximation of the exchange‐correlation energy for the two‐dimensional electron gas, such as the much‐used functional of Tanatar and Ceperley, and the recent suggestion by Attaccalite et al., are compared with the results of a numerical diagonalization of the many‐body Hamiltonian matrix in the limit of small electron numbers. For systems with degeneracies, as shown in the present work for the example of a spin triplet with S = 1, the direct comparison with configuration interaction (CI) methods demonstrates that the spin representation of SDFT may, under certain circumstances, produce artificial energy splittings between states that belong to the same spin multiplet. For a singlet ground state with S = Sz = 0, however, the correlation functions of the CI solutions confirm the spin‐density wave states found earlier within the SDFT method. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2005
Modular chemical geometry and symbolic calculation
Authors: Barnett Michael P. , Capitani Joseph F.
Published: September 2005

We discuss (a) the construction of formulas for the puckering of 4 and 5 atom rings from simple geometrical principles; (b) the application of these formulas to the study of cyclobutanes and heterocyclic analogues; (c) the way the derivations are represented (i.e., the style facilitates symbolic calculations for many more chemical topics; (d) interfacing the Gaussian package and Mathematica; and (e) some representations of molecular properties in Mathematica and algorithmic operations on these. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2006
The effect of provider‐level ascertainment bias on profiling nursing homes
Authors: Roy Jason , Mor Vincent
Published: September 2005

Profiling health care providers for the purpose of public reporting and quality improvement has become commonplace. Recently, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began publishing measures of quality for every Medicare/Medicaid‐certified nursing home in the country. The facility‐specific quality indicators (QIs) reported by CMS are based on quarterly measures from the minimum data set (MDS). However, some QIs from the MDS are potentially subject to ascertainment bias. Ascertainment bias would occur if there was variation in the way items that make up QIs are measured by nurses from each facility. This is potentially a problem for difficult‐to‐measure items such as pain and pressure ulcers. To assess the impact of ascertainment bias on profiling, we utilize data from a reliability study of nursing homes from six states. We develop methods for profiling providers in situations where the data consist of a response variable for each subject based on assessments from an internal rater, and, for a subset of subjects in each facility, a response variable based on assessments from an independent (external) rater. The internal assessments are potentially subject to provider‐level ascertainment bias, whereas the independent assessments are considered the ‘gold standard’. Our methods extend popular Bayesian approaches for profiling by using the paired observations from the subset of subjects with error‐prone and error‐free assessments to adjust for ascertainment bias. We apply the methods to MDS merged with the reliability data, and compare the bias‐corrected profiles with those of standard approaches. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Minmax designs for planning the second phase in a two‐phase case–control study
Authors: Schill W. , Wild P.
Published: September 2005

Two‐phase designs, in which a subsample with validation or complete information data is sampled stratified both on outcome and covariate from a first‐phase study with incomplete data, have been proposed over 10 years ago and have been proven to result in efficient estimates with respect to standard designs. The efficiency depends, however, on the sampling fractions within each stratum. Our aim is to present a strategy for obtaining an optimized design, i.e. sampling fractions, that makes use of available phase‐one data of an existing case–control study considered as the first‐phase sample when the focus is on estimating a parameter vector. No global optimal design exists and local optimal designs depend on scenarios comprising the true disease model and the association between the phase‐one and phase‐two information. We develop an admissibility test that rejects scenarios inconsistent with the phase‐one data and, for the selected scenarios, determine a minmax D‐ or A‐optimal design that protects against worst‐case scenarios. This work is applied on two examples. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Dirichlet form approach to infinite-dimensional Wiener processes with singular interactions
Authors: Osada Hirofumi
Published: September 2005

We construct infinite-dimensional Wiener processes with interactions by constructing specific quasi-regular Dirichlet forms. Our assumptions are very mild; accordingly, our results can be applied to singular interactions such as hard core potentials, Lennard-Jones type potentials, and Dyson's model. We construct nonequilibrium dynamics.
Plasma Fibrinogen Level: an Independent Risk Factor for Long‐term Survival in Chinese Patients with Peripheral Artery Disease?
Authors: Cheuk Bernice L.Y. , Cheung Grace C.Y. , Lau Silvana S.F. , Cheng Stephen W.K.
Published: September 2005

Fibrinogen, an inflammatory marker as well as a fundamental part of the coagulation cascade, is suggested to play a significant role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and complications of atherothrombotic diseases. The aim of this study was to determine if plasma fibrinogen is an independent risk factor for long‐term survival in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD). Altogether, 139 Chinese patients (88 men, 51 women) with PAD were consecutively recruited for the study. Atherothrombotic risk factors and fibrinogen levels were determined at presentation, and all patients were followed up for mortality prospectively. The mean follow‐up was 6 years. All variables were first correlated with survival rates using Kaplan‐Meier analysis and compared by means of the log‐rank test. Significant risk factors were identified, and multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to evaluate the independent contribution of the fibrinogen level to the risk of mortality. During follow‐up, 95 patients (68.3%) died. The overall survival rate was 77.7% at 3 years, 56.8% at 5 years, and 31.2% at 10 years (standard errors 0.05, 0.06, and 0.07, respectively). All‐cause mortality rate increased with an elevated fibrinogen level. Eighty percent of patients with a fibrinogen level > 3.4 g/L had a survival time of less than 3 years (p = 0.002). This relation was also demonstrated within patients with critical ischemia. The plasma fibrinogen level was thus identified as an independent risk factor for mortality in PAD patients after adjusting for confounding factors.
Consequences of refuge for the functional response ofDermestes ater(Coleoptera: Dermestidae) toMusca domestica(Diptera: Muscidae)
Authors: Menezes Luciana C. C. R. , Rossi Marcelo N. , Reigada Carolina
Published: September 2005

It is well known that a predator has the potential to regulate a prey population only if the predator responds to increases in prey density and inflicts greater mortality rates. Predators may cause such density‐dependent mortality depending on the nature of the functional and numerical responses. Yet, few studies have examined the relationship between the addition of refuges and the characteristic of functional response fits. We investigated whether addition of a refuge changed the type of functional response exhibited byDermestes ateronMusca domestica, comparing the inherent ability ofD. aterto kill houseflies in the absence and in the presence of refuge. An additional laboratory experiment was also carried out to assess handling and searching times exhibited byD. ater. Logistic regression analyses revealed a type III functional response for predator–prey interaction without refuge, and results were described by the random predator equation. The mean number of prey killed did not differ between experimental habitats, indicating that the addition of refuge did not inhibit predation. However, predators that interacted with prey without refuge spent less time searching for prey at higher densities, increasing predatory interaction. We concluded that this interaction may be weak, because data from experiments with refuge fitted poorly to models. However, the high variability and the nonsignificance of the data from the experiment with refuge show the importance of refuge for promoting spatial heterogeneity, which may prevent prey extinction.
Pre-UV-Treatment of Cells Results in Enhanced Host Cell Reactivation of a UV Damaged Reporter Gene in CHO-AA8 Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells but Not in Transcription-Coupled Repair Deficient CHO-UV61 Cells
Authors: Liu Lili , Rainbow Andrew J.
Published: September 2005

We have used a non-replicating recombinant adenovirus, Ad5MCMVlacZ, which expresses the β-galactosidase reporter gene, to examine both constitutive and inducible repair of UV-damaged DNA in repair proficient CHO-AA8 Chinese hamster ovary cells and in mutant CHO-UV61 cells which are deficient in the transcription-coupled repair (TCR) pathway of nucleotide excision repair. Host cell reactivation (HCR) of β-galactosidase activity for UV-irradiated Ad5MCMVlacZ was significantly reduced in non-irradiated CHO-UV61 cells compared to that in non-irradiated CHO-AA8 cells suggesting that repair in the transcribed strand of the UV-damaged reporter gene in untreated cells utilizes TCR. Prior UV-irradiation of cells with low UV fluences resulted in a transient enhancement of HCR for expression of the UV-damaged reporter gene in CHO-AA8 cells but not in TCR deficient CHO-UV61 cells. These results suggest the presence of an inducible DNA pathway in CHO cells that results from an enhancement of TCR or a mechanism that involves the TCR pathway.
Comparison of Established Cell Lines at Different Passages by Karyotype and Comparative Genomic Hybridization
Authors: Wenger Sharon L. , Senft Jamie R. , Sargent Linda M. , Bamezai Ramesh , Bairwa Narendra , Grant Stephen G.
Published: September 2005

Two established cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and Ishikawa, were both obtained directly from a cell repository and through another laboratory. The karyotypes from the two MCF-7 cell lines had up to 83 chromosomes and similarities for chromosomal gain and structural abnormalities. The two Ishikawa cell lines had up to 60 chromosomes with only a missing X as the common chromosome abnormality. CGH studies were performed by co-hybridizing the two Ishikawa or MCF-7 cell lines to normal metaphases. The differences seen between the two MCF-7 cell cultures reflect changes due to passage number and culture conditions. For Ishikawa, DNA polymorphic data and mutation studies suggest that the two cell lines are not derived from the same established tumor cell line. Our study shows the utilization of CGH in comparing cell lines originating from the same specimen. Our study also demonstrates the necessity for periodically evaluating cell lines to confirm their origin.
An Improved Culture System of Mouse Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes for Analysis of Radiation-Induced Chromosome Aberrations
Authors: Kanda Reiko , Shang Yi , Tsuji Satsuki , Eguchi-Kasai Kiyomi , Hayata Isamu
Published: September 2005

There is an incentive to develop a culture system of mouse peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) to serve as models for studying genotoxic effects in humans exposed to mutagens, including ionizing radiation. However, many past approaches have been laborious, complex and only partly reproducible. In the present study, we established an improved culture system of mouse PBLs by removing blood and/or plasma, which was found to inhibit in vitro mitotic stimulation or proceeding cell cycles of lymphocytes. We compared the reactions of isolated PBLs to mitogens between the classical method and the present improved one. Then, we applied this method to the cytogenetic analysis using chemically induced premature chromosome condensation (PCC) as well as the conventional analysis, and demonstrated that the frequency of excess fragments observed in PCC cells might be useful to quantify the radiation-induced damages on chromosomes.
A Relation Between a Between-Item Multidimensional IRT Model and the Mixture Rasch Model
Authors: Rijmen Frank , De Boeck Paul
Published: September 2005

Two generalizations of the Rasch model are compared: the between-item multidimensional model (Adams, Wilson, and Wang, 1997), and the mixture Rasch model (Mislevy & Verhelst, 1990; Rost, 1990). It is shown that the between-item multidimensional model is formally equivalent with a continuous mixture of Rasch models for which, within each class of the mixture, the item parameters are equal to the item parameters of the multidimensional model up to a shift parameter that is specific for the dimension an item belongs to in the multidimensional model. In a simulation study, the relation between both types of models also holds when the number of classes of the mixture is as small as two. The relation is illustrated with a study on verbal aggression.
JOHN LOCKE, ‘MATTERS INDIFFERENT’, AND THE RESTORATION OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND
Authors: ROSE JACQUELINE
Published: September 2005

John Locke is famous for his liberal and tolerationist works, published in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution, which attacked the belligerent intolerance of the Restoration Church of England. But his early writings, the Two tracts on government, were composed in the period between 1660 and 1662 when the details of the church settlement were the subject of heated debate. The thought of the young Locke defended an uncompromising settlement which would rigidly enforce uniformity in religious worship and secure the restored monarchy from clerical subversion. Whilst scholars have previously focused on the changes in Locke's thought from royalist Anglicanism to whig toleration, this article focuses on the Tracts in their own right. By placing them in the context of the Restoration debate on adiaphora, ceremonial ‘matters indifferent’, the typicality or otherwise of Locke's early thought can be discerned. This article argues that the legalistic understanding of adiaphora meant that this debate touched on political authority and obedience as well as theological questions, not least because matters indifferent fell under the purview of the monarch as supreme governor of the church.
A RUSSIAN BOURGEOIS'S ARCTIC ENLIGHTENMENT
Authors: JONES ADRIAN
Published: September 2005

Studies of Europe's Enlightenment have been enriched by attending to its real and imagined impacts on indigenous peoples and of indigenous peoples on Europeans. Applying these methods to new-settled eighteenth-century societies offers another standpoint on the Enlightenment. This study is a sample: a civic history of a relatively new – in European terms – place suggests the possibilities. In 1792, a bourgeois, Vasilii Krestinin, from Russia's White Sea shore, published a history of Archangel, founded in 1584. Krestinin's view from a new Arctic society is as far from Europe's elegant metropoles and eloquent lumières as the ship captains, Pacific Islanders, and cat killers in influential recent studies of the Enlightenment. Just as these studies – and others on readers and reading – transformed studies of the Enlightenment, historians can use sources from new societies to observe answers and actions of people casting themselves as Enlighteners. This study of enlightened sensibility in an Arctic society suggests how the Enlightenment – viewed from settler societies – became anxious, how it fanned nationalisms, and how it was ensnared by naïve presuppositions that progress was a prerequisite of power.
JEAN-PAUL MARAT'S THE CHAINS OF SLAVERY IN BRITAIN AND FRANCE, 1774–1833
Authors: HAMMERSLEY RACHEL
Published: September 2005

Originally published in London in 1774 and subsequently republished in French in 1793 and 1833, Marat's The chains of slavery offers an interesting case study on the exchange of ideas between Britain and France during the late eighteenth century. It is suggested that the key to understanding this hitherto neglected work lies in reading it alongside other publications by Marat from the 1770s and in setting it firmly in the context in which it was published and disseminated in both Britain and France. Prompted by debates surrounding the election of 1774, the work embodies Marat's own particular version of the British commonwealth tradition, and can be linked to the Wilkite movement in both Newcastle and London. Despite its British origins, Marat and his followers were able to utilize the work after 1789 in order to engage in a number of French debates. It thus constitutes one of the means by which English republican ideas made their way across the Channel.
MODERNISM AND THE COMMON WRITER
Authors: HILLIARD CHRISTOPHER
Published: September 2005

This article re-examines the resistance to literary modernism in interwar Britain from the angle of popular literary theory and practice. Drawing on the papers of some of the notable working-class writers of this period, it disputes Jonathan Rose's claim that a rejection of modernist ‘obscurantism’ was a response distinctive to working-class autodidacts. Moreover, many middle-class readers responded to modernism in the same terms that Rose takes to be peculiar to a working-class intelligentsia. Negative reactions to modernism are better explained as a response conditioned by a literary discourse in which plebeian autodidacts as well as middle-class readers participated. The article approaches this discourse via the aspiring authors who joined writing clubs in the interwar period. Because these people were at once fairly typical readers and writers, their ideas and practices disclose more about popular understandings of literature than debates in the national press or literary reviews do. Their ideas about what constituted good writing and their hostility to modernism were underpinned by a popular conception of literature that derived from English romanticism.
YOUNG WOMEN, WORK, AND LEISURE IN INTERWAR ENGLAND
Authors: TODD SELINA
Published: September 2005

Interwar England witnessed the emergence of a new generation of socially and financially independent young working-class women who worked in offices, shops, and factories, ‘dressed like actresses’, and were prominent leisure consumers, indulging in cosmetics and confectionery and frequenting the cinema and dance hall. This article analyses that development. A synthesis of qualitative and quantitative material indicates that age- and gender-specific roles were shaped by material factors rather than by ‘custom’ as existing social histories imply. It is argued that individuals' financial contribution to their household shaped the allocation of leisure and spending money, and that young women's increasing earning opportunities, and rising economic importance to the household, thus enabled them to become prominent leisure consumers. However, close attention to life histories also demonstrates that mother–daughter relationships were not simply economically determined, being characterized by mutual emotional as well as financial support. Maternal aspirations for their daughters, and expanding employment opportunities, shaped the emergence of youth as a life stage marked by a degree of personal independence and commercial consumption.
A diminazene-resistant strain ofTrypanosoma brucei bruceiisolated from a dog is cross-resistant to pentamidine in experimentally infected albino rats
Authors: ANENE B. M. , EZEOKONKWO R. C. , MMESIRIONYE T. I. , TETTEY J. N. A. , BROCK J. M. , BARRETT M. P. , DE KONING H. P.
Published: September 2005

Trypanosomosis is a major cause of mortality for dogs in Nigeria and treatment with diminazene aceturate has steadily become less effective, either as a result of low quality of the locally available diminazene preparations or of drug resistance. To investigate these alternatives, samples of locally obtained drugs were analysed for diminazene aceturate content and a strain ofTrypanosoma brucei bruceiwas isolated from a diminazene-refractory dog in Nsukka, south-eastern Nigeria, and used to infect albino rats. The quality of diminazene aceturate-based preparations was variable, with two preparations containing less than 95% of the stated active compound. Rats infected withT. bruceiisolated from the dog were treated 7 and 10 days after infection either with 7 mg/kg diminazene aceturate (intraperitoneally, once) or with 4 mg/kg pentamidine isethionate (intramuscularly, 7 consecutive days). Relapse rates were 100% for both trypanocides in the groups of rat treated 10 days post-infection, and 83% and 50% of rats treated 7 days after infection relapsed to diminazene aceturate and pentamidine isethionate, respectively. Careful consideration of physiological parameters showed that pentamidine was only marginally superior to diminazene aceturate as applied in this study. It was concluded that dogs in Nigeria are infected with genuinely diminazene aceturate-resistant trypanosomes that appear to be cross-resistant to pentamidine isethionate.
Asymptotic approximation of eigenvalues of vector equations
Authors: CHAPMAN S. J. , SALAZAR J. D.
Published: September 2005

A vectorial extension of the Keller–Rubinow method of computing asymptotic approximations of eigenvalues in bounded domains is presented. The method is applied to the problem of a multimode step-profile cylindrical optical fibre, including the effects of polarisation. A comparison of the asymptotic results with the exact eigenvalues is made when these are available, and the agreement is shown to be good.