bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Sentence verification and delusions: a content-specific deficit
Authors: ROSSELL S. L. , SHAPLESKE J. , DAVID A. S.
Published: July 2002

Background. A sentence verification task was developed
to investigate
semantic memory in schizophrenia.

Methods. The test consisted of three types of sentence
(true, unlikely and nonsense) and seven
different types of content (neutral, persecutory, grandiose,
political, religious, relationships and
somatic) representing common delusional themes present in schizophrenic
patients. Sixty-three
schizophrenic patients and 66 matched control subjects were asked to make

true/false judgements to 143 sentences.

Results. Overall accuracy was similar across the two groups;

sentences with some emotional themes
and sentences of the unlikely type produced the most violations.
Significant differences between the
two subject groups were found specifically on nonsense sentences with persecutory
and religious
themes. Patients made significantly more incorrect responses (acceptance)
to nonsense sentences
that had an emotional content congruent with their delusional
beliefs, past or present, and also on
unlikely sentences (incorrect rejections) whose content was not congruent
with their delusions.
Further analysis of response bias in the patients showed, overall,
that there were more incorrect
rejections (a reflection of the large number of unlikely sentence
errors) and more incorrect responses
to sentences congruent with patients delusions. Furthermore,
analysis of those patients currently
experiencing delusions revealed more incorrect responses to sentences congruent
with their
delusional ideas compared with patients not currently deluded.

Conclusions. These findings are indicative of cognitive
bias in schizophrenia towards certain
emotional themes that may underlie illogical semantic connections and delusions.
Conserved geometrical base-pairing patterns in RNA
Authors: LEONTIS NEOCLES B. , WESTHOF ERIC
Published: July 2002

1. INTRODUCTION 399

2. DEFINITIONS 401

3. CIS BASEPAIRS 410

3.1 Cis Watson–Crick/Watson–Crick 410

3.2 Wobble pairings 411

3.3 Cis Watson–Crick/Hoogsteen pairings 416

3.4 Bifurcated pairings 417

3.5 Cis open and water-inserted 421

4. TRANS BASEPAIRS 423

4.1 Trans Watson–Crick/Watson–Crick 423

4.2 Trans wobble pairs 424

4.3 Trans Watson–Crick/Hoogsteen pairs 424

4.4 Trans Hoogsteen/Hoogsteen pairs 430

4.5 Trans bifurcated pairings 432

5. SHALLOW-GROOVE PAIRINGS 432

5.1 Hoogsteen/Shallow-groove pairs 433

5.2 Watson–Crick/Shallow-groove pairings 438

5.3 Shallow-groove/Shallow-groove pairings 440

6. SIDE-BY-SIDE BASES 446

7. DEFINING A LIBRARY OF ISOSTERIC PAIRINGS 446

8. CONCLUSIONS 451

9. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 452

10. REFERENCES 452

RNA molecules fold into a bewildering variety of complex 3D structures.
Almost every new RNA structure obtained at high resolution reveals new,
unanticipated structural motifs, which we are rarely able to predict at the current
stage of our theoretical understanding. Even at the most basic level of specific
RNA interactions – base-to-base pairing – new interactions continue to be
uncovered as new structures appear. Compilations of possible non-canonical base-pairing geometries have been presented in previous reviews and monographs
(Saenger, 1984; Tinoco, 1993). In these compilations, the guiding principle
applied was the optimization of hydrogen-bonding. All possible pairs with
two standard H-bonds were presented and these were organized according to
symmetry or base type. However, many of the features of RNA base-pairing
interactions that have been revealed by high-resolution crystallographic analysis
could not have been anticipated and, therefore were not incorporated into these
compilations. These will be described and classified in the present review. A
recently presented approach for inferring basepair geometry from patterns of
sequence variation (Gautheret & Gutell, 1997) relied on the 1984 compilation of
basepairs (Saenger, 1984), and was extended to include all possible single H-bond
combinations not subject to steric clashes. Another recent review may be
consulted for a discussion of the NMR spectroscopy and thermodynamic effects
of non-canonical (‘mismatched’) RNA basepairs on duplex stability (Limmer,
1997).
Trade-offs, the allocation of reproductive effort, and the evolutionary psychology of human mating
Authors: Gangestad Steven W. , Simpson Jeffry A.
Published: July 2002

This response reinforces several major themes in our target article: (a) the importance of sex-specific, within-sex variation in mating tactics; (b) the relevance of optimality thinking to understanding that variation; (c) the significance of special design for reconstructing evolutionary history; (d) the replicated findings that women's mating preferences vary across their menstrual cycle in ways revealing special design; and (e) the importance of applying market phenomena to understand the complex dynamics of mating. We also elaborate on three points: (1) Men who have indicators of genetic fitness may provide more direct benefits when female demand for extra-pair and short-term sex is very low; (2) both men and women track ecological cues to make mating decisions; and (3) more research on female orgasm is needed.
Adaptive timing, attention, and movement control
Authors: Grossberg Stephen
Published: July 2002

Examples of how LTP and LTD can control adaptively-timed
learning that modulates attention and motor control are given. It is
also suggested that LTP/LTD can play a role in storing memories. The
distinction between match-based and mismatch-based learning may
help to clarify the difference.
Folk taxonomies and folk theories: The case of Williams syndrome
Authors: Johnson Susan C.
Published: July 2002

Work with people with Williams syndrome is reviewed relative
to Atran's claim that the universality of taxonomic rank in the
animal and plant domains derives from a biological construal of
generic species. From this work it is argued that a biological
construal of animals is not necessary for the construction of the
adult taxonomy of animals and therefore that the existence of
an animal (or plant) taxonomy cannot be taken as evidence of a
biological domain.
Evolutionary functions of neuroendocrine response to social environment
Authors: Flinn Mark , Baerwald Charles , Decker Seamus , England Barry
Published: July 2002

The human neuroendocrine system is highly sensitive to the
social environment. Hormones such as testosterone and cortisol are
released in response to a wide variety of social stimuli. The
evolutionary functions of this sensitivity are not well understood.
Longitudinal monitoring of hormones, behavior, and social environment
is a promising research paradigm for solving these evolutionary
puzzles.
Vygotsky and cognitive science: Language and the unification of the social and
computational mind. William Frawley. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997.
Pp. 384.
Authors: Beals Diane
Published: July 2002

Vygotsky's social psycholinguist approach is not incompatible with computational
approaches to the study of mind. In this way William Frawley sets the stage for a Vygoskyan
cognitive science. Socioculturalists' theorizing on the work of the human mind has long
maintained boundaries against cognitive science's information processing approaches and
language, and vice versa. Frawley argues that no such division is entirely necessary and offers
powerful ways of linking the two ways of thinking. Frawley's background in both
Vygotskyan and other sociocultural theories, as well as in cognitive science and computational
theories, places him in an important position to make these links.
Target–error resemblance in French word substitution speech errors and the
mental lexicon
Authors: ARNAUD PIERRE J. L.
Published: July 2002

The word substitution errors from a corpus of 2,400 French slips of the tongue were grouped
into several categories: contaminational, semantic, formal, and mixed cases; substitutions of
syntagmatic codependents also occurred. Semantic and formal substitutions involved a
resemblance between target and error. In addition, all substitutions exhibited a strong degree of
word class and gender identity. The various types of resemblance were analyzed with reference to
three-layer models of lexicalization. They did not make a lemma layer necessary, but stronger
evidence came from another error category – semantic blends.
Topological complexity
Authors: BLANCHARD F , HOST B , MAASS A
Published: July 2002

In a topological dynamical system $(X,T)$ the complexity function of a cover ${\cal C}$ is the minimal cardinality of a sub-cover of $\bigvee_{i=0}^n T^{-i}{\cal C}$. It is shown that equicontinuous transformations are exactly those such that any open cover has bounded complexity. Call scattering a system such that any finite cover by non-dense open sets has unbounded complexity, and call 2-scattering a system such that any such 2-set cover has unbounded complexity: then all weakly mixing systems are scattering and all 2-scattering systems are totally transitive. Conversely, any system that is not 2-scattering has covers with complexity at most $n+1$. Scattering systems are characterized topologically as those such that their cartesian product with any minimal system is transitive; they are consequently disjoint from all minimal distal systems. Finally, defining $(x,y)$, $x\ne y$, to be a complexity pair if any cover by two non-trivial closed sets separating $x$ from $y$ has unbounded complexity, we prove that 2-scattering systems are disjoint from minimal isometries; that in the invertible case the complexity relation is contained in the regionally proximal relation and, when further assuming minimality, coincides with it up to the diagonal.
On the multiplicity function of generic group extensions with continuous spectrum
Authors: AGEEV OLEG N.
Published: July 2002

A modification of the method of geometric models is proposed and applied to the study of multiplicity functions of group extensions.

It is proved that, for some generic set of the automorphisms T of the Lebesgue space with respect to the standard topology, for any M\subseteq {\mathbb N} \cup \{\infty\}(1\in M) there exists a generic set of weakly mixing group extensions T' of transformation T with M(T')=M, where M(T) denotes the set of essential spectral multiplicities of the unitary operator corresponding to the transformation T.
Invariant measures of full dimension for some expanding maps
Authors: GATZOURAS DIMITRIOS , PERES YUVAL
Published: July 2002

It is an open problem to determine for which maps $f$, any
compact invariant set $K$ carries an ergodic invariant measure of the same
Hausdorff dimension as $K$. If $f$ is conformal and
expanding, then it
is a known consequence of the thermodynamic formalism that
such measures do exist.
(We give a proof here under minimal smoothness assumptions.)
If $f$ has the form
$f(x_1,x_2)=(f_1(x_1),f_2(x_2))$, where $f_1$
and $f_2$ are conformal and expanding maps satisfying
$\inf \vert Df_1\vert\geq\sup\vert Df_2\vert$, then for a large class of
invariant sets $K$, we show that ergodic invariant measures of dimension
arbitrarily close to the dimension of $K$ do exist. The proof is
based on approximating $K$ by self-affine sets.
Deviation for interval exchange transformations
Authors: ZORICH ANTON
Published: July 2002

Consider a long piece of a trajectory $x, T(x), T(T(x)), \ldots, T^{n-1}(x)$
of an interval exchange transformation $T$. A generic interval exchange
transformation is uniquely ergodic. Hence, the ergodic theorem predicts that
the number $\chi_i(x,n)$ of visits of our trajectory to the $i$th subinterval
would be approximately $\lambda_i n$. Here $\lambda_i$ is the length of the
corresponding subinterval of our unit interval $X$. In this paper we give an
estimate for the deviation of the actual number of visits to the $i$th
subinterval $X_i$ from one predicted by the ergodic theorem.

We prove that for almost all interval exchange
transformations the following bound is valid:
$$
\max_{\ssty x\in X \atop \ssty 1\le i\le m}
\limsup_{n\to +\infty} \frac {\log | \chi_i(x,n) -\lambda_in|}{\log n}
= \frac{\theta_2}{\theta_1} < 1.
$$
Roughly speaking the error term is bounded by $n^{\theta_2/\theta_1}$. The
numbers $0\le \theta_2 < \theta_1$ depend only on the permutation $\pi$
corresponding to the interval exchange transformation (actually, only on the
Rauzy class of the permutation). In the case of interval exchange of two
intervals we obviously have $\theta_2=0$. In the case of exchange of three
and more intervals the numbers $\theta_1, \theta_2$ are the two top Lyapunov
exponents related to the corresponding generalized Gauss map on the space of
interval exchange transformations.

The limit above ‘converges to the bound’ uniformly for
all $x\in X$ in the following sense. For any $\varepsilon >0$ the ratio
of logarithms would be less than $\theta_2(\pi)/\theta_1(\pi)+\varepsilon $
for all $n\ge N(\varepsilon)$, where $N(\varepsilon)$ does not depend on the
starting point $x\in X$.
Equilibrium states for S-unimodal maps
Authors: BRUIN HENK , KELLER GERHARD
Published: July 2002

For S-unimodal maps $f$, we study equilibrium states maximizing the free energies $F_t(\mu) := h(\mu) - t\int \log|f'|\,d\mu$ and the pressure function $P(t):=\sup_\mu F_t(\mu)$. It is shown that if $f$ is uniformly hyperbolic on periodic orbits, then $P(t)$ is analytic for $t\approx 1$. On the other hand, examples are given where no equilibrium states exist, where equilibrium states are not unique and where the notions of equilibrium state for $t=1$ and of observable measure do not coincide.
Ornamental Non-Entities?: Older Women, Historians and the Writings of
Ellen Osler and Wilmot Cumberland
Authors: MONTIGNY EDGAR-ANDRE
Published: July 2002

This article addresses the subject of the role of older women in
nineteenth-century North America. Existing historical
accounts of the lives and position
of older women in Canada and north-eastern USA are both partial and
flawed, focusing mainly upon negative images of older women in poverty or
in subjugated, passive domestic roles. These images of women's roles are based
upon nineteenth-century guides and manuals which tended to portray later
life as bleak, unfulfilling and restricted. However, through an examination of
diaries and other biographical material describing the everyday lives of middle
class women, contrasting evidence emerges of active and powerful roles and
positive views of later life. It is argued that the examples discussed are not
exceptional cases but rather are representative of a wider nineteenth-century
pattern of older women undertaking satisfying and vital social roles within
their family and community networks.
Global adaptive partial state feedback tracking control of rigid-link flexible-joint
robots
Authors: Dixon W.E. , Zergeroglu E. , Dawson D.M. , Hannan M.W.
Published: July 2002

This paper presents a solution to the global adaptive partial state feedback control problem for rigid-link, flexible-joint (RLFJ) robots. The proposed tracking controller adapts for parametric uncertainty throughout the entire mechanical system while only requiring link and actuator position measurements. A nonlinear filter is employed to eliminate the need for link velocity measurements while a set of linear filters is utilized to eliminate the need for actuator velocity measurements. A backstepping control strategy is utilized to illustrate
global asymptotic link position tracking. An output feedback controller that adapts for parametric uncertainty in the link dynamics of the robot manipulator is presented as an extension. Experimental results are provided as verification of the proposed controller.
Clifford algebra of points, lines and planes
Authors: Selig J. M.
Published: July 2002

The Clifford algebra for the group of rigid body motions is described. Linear elements, that is points, lines and planes are identified as homogeneous elements in the

algebra. In each case the action of the group of rigid motions on the linear elements is found. The relationships between these linear elements are found in terms of operations in the algebra. That is, incidence relations, the conditions for a point to lie on a line for example are found. Distance relations, like the distance between a point and a plane are found. Also the meet and join of linear elements, for example, the line determined by two planes

and the plane defined by a line and a point, are found. Finally three examples of the use of the

algebra are given: a computer graphics problem on the visibility of the apparent crossing of a pair of lines, an assembly problem concerning a double peg-in-hole assembly, and a problem

from computer vision on finding epipolar lines in a stereo vision system.
SOME PROPERTIES OF VECTOR AUTOREGRESSIVE PROCESSES WITH
MARKOV-SWITCHING COEFFICIENTS
Authors: Yang Minxian
Published: July 2002

Some statistical properties of a vector autoregressive
process with Markov-switching coefficients are considered.
Sufficient conditions for this nonlinear process to be
covariance stationary are given. The second moments of
the process are derived under the conditions. The autocovariance
matrix decays at exponential rate, permitting the application
of the law of large numbers. Under the stationarity conditions,
although sharing the “mean-reverting” property
with conventional linear stationary processes, the process
offers richer short-run dynamics such as conditional heteroskedasticity,
asymmetric responses, and occasional nonstationary behavior.
A NOTE ON BAYESIAN INFERENCE IN ASSET PRICING
Authors: Knight J.L. , Satchell S.E.
Published: July 2002

In this paper the authors extend results by Harvey
and Zhou (1990, Journal of Financial Econometrics
26, 221–254) and Kandel, McCulloch, and Stambaugh
(1995, Review of Financial Studies 8(1), 1–53)
to derive the posterior distribution of a key parameter
in a Bayesian analysis of asset pricing models. It is shown
that this distribution depends upon the same terms that
constitute the standard asset pricing test of Jobson and
Korkie (1985, Canadian Journal of Administrative Science
12, 114–138). Contrary to the view held by other
authors, we find straightforward expressions for the posterior
distribution that can be calculated without resorting to
Monte Carlo methods.
SADDLEPOINT APPROXIMATIONS FOR NONCENTRAL QUADRATIC FORMS
Authors: Marsh Patrick W.N.
Published: July 2002

Many estimators and tests are of the form of a
ratio of quadratic forms in normal variables. Excepting
a few very special cases little is known about the density
or distribution of these ratios, particularly if we allow
for noncentrality in the quadratic forms. This paper assumes
this generality and derives saddlepoint approximations
for this class of statistics. We first derive and prove
the existence of an exact inversion based on the joint
characteristic function. Then the saddlepoint algorithm
is applied and the leading term found, and analytic justification
of the asymptotic nature of the approximation is given.
As an illustration we consider the calculation of sizes
and powers of F-tests, where a new exact result
is found.
THE ET INTERVIEW: PROFESSOR JAMES TOBIN
Authors: Shiller Robert J.
Published: July 2002

Professor James Tobin is a figure of truly historic significance
in the economics profession. He is one of the major developers of
modern macroeconomic theory. He has contributed fundamental knowledge
to the theory of investment, of consumption, of money and banking, and
of economic growth. His theoretical work made possible the development
of the capital asset pricing model that has been a central paradigm in
modern finance. His work on limited-dependent variable models has
started a field within econometrics.
Effects of the 1997–98 El Niño drought on rain forests of Mount Kinabalu, Borneo
Authors: Aiba Shin-Ichiro , Kitayama Kanehiro
Published: July 2002

We examined the effects of the 1997–98 El Niño drought on nine rain forests of Mount Kinabalu, Borneo, at four altitudes (700, 1700, 2700 and 3100 m) on contrasting geological substrata (ultrabasic versus non-ultrabasic). Measurements of rainfall and atmospheric aridity indicated that the departure from normal conditions during the drought became greater with increasing altitude. During 1997–99 (drought period) compared to 1995–97 (pre-drought period), median growth rates of stem diameter of trees decreased for both smaller (4.8–10 cm) and larger (≥ 10 cm) diameter classes in the six upland forests (≥ 2700 m on ultrabasic substrata and ≥ 1700 m on non-ultrabasic substrata), but for neither diameter class in the other forests. The majority of species decreased or did not change growth rates during 1997–99, whereas some did increase. Tree mortality increased during 1997–99, at the larger diameter class in the two lowland forests (700 m) on both substrata, and at least at the smaller diameter class in the four upland forests (≥ 1700 m) on non-ultrabasic substrata. In two of these upland forests, mortality was restricted to particular understorey species. Mortality did not significantly increase in the three upland forests (≥ 1700 m) on ultrabasic substrata; this suggests that the adaptation to nutrient-poor soils might have provided the resistance to drought.
Estimating the assimilation of mangrove detritus by fiddler crabs in Laguna Joyuda, Puerto Rico, using dual stable isotopes
Authors: France Robert
Published: July 2002

Dual stable isotope analyses (δ13C and δ15N) of fiddler crabs from a forest-fringed, land-locked lagoon in Puerto Rico indicated the differential assimilation of material from ingested sediments. Fiddler crabs preferentially selected for nitrogen-fixing benthic microalgae (cyanobacteria) over vascular plant detritus. These results question the assumption that mangrove detritus is always the principal source of energy to estuarine consumers. Previous research from this lagoon as well as from Amazonia suggests that the magnitude of land-water ecotonal coupling may be low for these particular tropical systems where benthic algal productivity is presumably high.
Marriage, family labour and the stem
family household: traditional Japan in
a comparative perspective
Authors: SAITO OSAMU
Published: July 2002

John Hajnal's classic essay published in 1965 on European marriage
patterns contrasted western with eastern Europe in terms of age at
marriage and proportion never-married. In a more recent article, ‘Two
kinds of pre-industrial household formation system’, which is indeed a
development from his 1965 essay, the life-cycle is taken into explicit
consideration by use of the concept of household formation. In addition,
he makes some geographical alterations to his previous argument: the
‘West’ is narrowly defined to cover ‘north-west’ European countries,
whereas the ‘East’ now extends beyond the eastern European boundaries
to Asian countries such as China and India.

To this formulation there can be two kinds of response from scholars
specializing in the Far East, especially traditional Japan. One is concerned
with the lack of full discussion of a stem family system in Hajnal's article.
He suggests that while some versions of this system are ‘compatible with
the general north-west European household formation rules’ and some
others are not, ‘[n]o kind of stem family system can be classified as a joint
household system’; but unfortunately, no detailed stem family household
formation rules are specified, nor is there any discussion of Japan's family
system, which has been regarded as a typical example of the stem type.
The acquisition of relative clauses by Tamil children
Authors: LAKSHMANAN USHA
Published: July 2002

This paper reports the findings of a cross-sectional study that investigated
the acquisition of relative clauses by 27 Tamil-speaking
children, who ranged in age from 2;11 to 6;6. A picture-cued production
task was used to elicit relative clauses from the child subjects. An
analysis of the subjects' responses revealed that children below the age
of 5;0 relativized significantly less often than the older children;
furthermore, when they did produce relative clauses, they exhibited a
strong preference for the tag relative and produced significantly fewer
participial relatives than the older children. The findings also indicated
that the younger children produced a significantly greater number of
pragmatically inappropriate responses than the older children. It is
argued that the observed age-related differences in Tamil children's
relativizations very likely stem from performance factors and that the
younger children are probably not inferior to the older children with
respect to their grammatical and pragmatic competence.
Understanding completion entailments in the absence of agency cues
Authors: WAGNER LAURA
Published: July 2002

This study investigated the role that agency information plays in children's early interpretations of grammatical aspect morphology, in particular, the progressive -ing and simple past forms. Fifty-nine children (two-, four- and five-year olds) were presented with a forced-choice sentence-to-scene matching task very similar to the one used by Weist and colleagues (Weist, 1991; Weist, Wysocka & Lyytinen, 1991; Weist, Lyytinen, Wysocka & Atanassova, 1997), except that here the scenes contained only information about the relative completion of the object of the event and no information about the state of the agent of the event. In contrast to previous research, the children here did not succeed at this object-oriented task until as late as age five; moreover, also contra previous work, when they did succeed, their performance tracked the formal entailments of grammatical aspect. Thus, subjects consistently matched the perfective sentence to the completed event (reflecting the perfective's entailment of completion) but never consistently matched the imperfective sentence to either scene (reflecting the imperfective's lack of entailments). It is argued that agent-oriented meaning, in particular, intentionality, has priority in the mapping process over object-oriented completion entailments.
Domain and Its Model Based on Neural Networks
Authors: Zhu Xiaolin , Xu Hanzhen , Lin Junqing
Published: July 2002

This paper presents a concept on the subjective ship domain. The factors related to the
domain are discussed. A method based on the neural networks is used to establish a model
of the domain that considers the effects of visibility and manoeuvrability, which can react
quickly to various ships within a certain range.
On Your Watch: Automation on the Bridge
Authors: Lützhöft M. H. , Dekker S. W. A.
Published: July 2002

In this paper, we discuss the grounding of the Royal Majesty, reconstructed from the perspective of the crew. The aim is particularly to understand the role of automation in shaping crew assessments and actions. Automation is often introduced because of quantitative promises that: it will reduce human error; reduce workload; and increase efficiency. But as demonstrated by the Royal Majesty, as well as by numerous research results, automation has qualitative consequences for human work and safety, and does not simply replace human work with machine work. Automation changes the task it was meant to support; it creates new error pathways, shifts consequences of error further into the future and delays opportunities for error detection and recovery. By going through the sequence of events that preceded the grounding of the Royal Majesty, we highlight the role that automation plays in the success and failure of navigation today. We then point to future directions on how to make automated systems into better team players.
Valuing ecotourism in a sacred lake of the Sikkim Himalaya, India
Authors: MAHARANA I. , RAI S.C. , SHARMA E.
Published: July 2002

Although monetary valuation of natural ecosystems is difficult, such valuation helps to draw attention to their importance, and highlight conservation needs, especially in developing countries. The recreational value of Khecheopalri, a lake situated in the West District of Sikkim State, India, which has recreational, biodiversity and sacredness values, was assessed. The demand curve function for recreation increased with decreases in travel cost and distance for Sikkimese visitors. The recreational value of the lake was similar to other protected sites in India; however, all these sites had very low values compared to sites elsewhere in the world. Willingness to pay for maintenance and preservation of the lake by all types of visitors ranged from US$ 0.88 for members of the local community to US$ 7.19 for international tourists. The lake showed high recreational/sacredness values that were attributed to conservation of the site for biodiversity and pilgrimage. A large number of lakes in the Hindu-Kush Himalayan region, if properly managed and marketed for ecotourism, can bring economic development that can be linked with conservation.
The MarCon algorithm: A systematic market approach to distributed
constraint problems
Authors: PARUNAK H. VAN DYKE , WARD ALLEN C. , SAUTER JOHN A.
Published: July 2002

MarCon (Market-based Constraints) applies market-based
control to distributed constraint problems. It offers a
new approach to distributing constraint problems that avoids
challenges faced by current approaches in some problem
domains, and it provides a systematic method for applying
markets to a wide array of problems. Constraint agents
interact with one another via the variable agents
in which they have a common interest, using expressions
of their preferences over sets of assignments. Each variable
integrates this information from the constraints interested
in it and provides feedback that enables the constraints
to shrink their sets of assignments until they converge
on a solution. MarCon originated in a system for supporting
human product designers, and its mechanisms are particularly
useful for applications integrating human and machine intelligence
to explore implicit constraints. MarCon has been tested
in the domain of mechanical design, in which its set-narrowing
process is particularly useful.
The prevalence of diphtheria immunity in healthy population in Poland
Authors: WALORY J. , GRZESIOWSKI P. , HRYNIEWICZ W.
Published: July 2002

The degree of seroprotection against diphtheria in Poland was evaluated by determination of IgG antibodies to Corynebacterium diphtheriae toxin (IgG-DTAb). The study population consisted of 4829 healthy subjects aged from 1 day to 85 years from 7 regions of Poland. Serum samples collected between 1996 and 1998 were assayed for IgG-DTAb antibodies using a toxoid enzyme immunoassay. Neutralization of toxin in Vero cells was performed as a reference method with the WHO standard for human diphtheria antitoxin. The study revealed a lack of seroprotection (IgG-DTAb < 0·1 IU/ml) in 23 % of individuals, basic seroprotection (0·1–1·0 IU/ml) in 64 %, and effective seroprotection (> 1·0 IU/ml) in 13 %. The non-protected group consisted of non-vaccinated children below 2 months of age (10 %), individuals between 2 months and 18 years old (20 %) and greater than 19 years old (70 %). Of the adults, 32 % were seronegative, 63 % had basic seroprotection and only 5 % were fully protected; 43 % of adults between 30 and 64 years, who had not been vaccinated at least during the previous 10 years were not protected against diphtheria. The geometric mean titre (GMT) of IgG-DTAb was 0·25 IU/ml in the total population. Age-related GMTs differed significantly from each other and were higher (0·44 IU/ml) in individuals from 2 months to 18 years old, compared with 0·14 IU/ml and 0·17 IU/ml in children under 2 months and adults, respectively. No significant difference was found in the GMTs of men and women in all age groups. We conclude that the currently used vaccination programme in Poland is highly effective and assures protection against diphtheria in the majority of the population in the 10-year period following the last booster. However, a significant proportion of adults between 30 and 64 years lack protection and this indicates a need for booster immunization for this group.
Comparisons of ELISA and Western blot assays for detection
of Cryptosporidium antibody
Authors: FROST F. J. , de la CRUZ A. A. , MOSS D. M. , CURRY M. , CALDERON R. L.
Published: July 2002

A seroprevalence survey was conducted using ELISA and Western blot
(WB) assays for
antibody to three Cryptosporidium antigens on 380 blood
donors in Jackson County, Oregon.
The purpose was to determine if either assay could detect serological evidence
of an outbreak
which occurred in Talent, Oregon 6 months earlier. The ELISA, which tested
for combined
IgG, IgA and IgM, and the WB, which tested separately for IgG and IgA,
detected an almost
twofold increase in serological response for persons who consumed Talent
drinking water
during the previous 11 months. The increases, however, were statistically

significant (P<0·05)
only for the WB. The identification of serological evidence of infection,
using sera collected 6
months after the end of the outbreak in a population not selected because
of
cryptosporidiosis-like illness, suggests that assays of Cryptosporidium-specific

IgG and IgA may assist in
estimating the magnitude of asymptomatic infections in the population.
Natural transmission of foot-and-mouth disease virus between
African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) and impala (Aepyceros
melampus) in the Kruger National Park, South Africa
Authors: BASTOS A. D. S. , BOSHOFF C. I. , KEET D. F. , BENGIS R. G. , THOMSON G. R.
Published: July 2002

VP1 gene sequences of SAT-2 type foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) viruses recovered from
impala and African buffalo in the Kruger National Park (KNP) were used to determine intra-
and interspecies relationships of viruses circulating in these wildlife populations. On this basis
five distinct lineages of SAT-2 virus were identified in routine sampling of oesophageo-pharyngeal epithelium from buffalo between 1988 and 1996. Different lineages were associated
with discrete geographic sampling localities. Over the period 1985–95, four unrelated epizootics
occurred in impala in defined localities within the KNP. Evidence for natural transmission of
FMD between buffalo and impala is presented for the most recent 1995 outbreak, with data
linking the 1985 and 1988/9 impala epizootics to viruses associated with specific buffalo herds.
Investigation of human infections with verocytotoxin-producing strains of Escherichia coli (VTEC) belonging to
serogroup O118 with evidence for zoonotic transmission
Authors: BEUTIN L. , BÜLTE M. , WEBER A. , ZIMMERMANN S. , GLEIER K.
Published: July 2002

Twenty verocytotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC) O118 strains isolated between 1996 and 1998
from human patients in Germany were analysed for their serotypes, their virulence markers
and their epidemiological relatedness. Three strains were typed as O118[ratio ]H12, these carried only
the VT2d-Ount variant gene and were not associated with diarrhoea or haemolytic uraemic
syndrome (HUS). Seventeen strains were serotyped as O118[ratio ]H16 or O118[ratio ]non-motile (NM).
These carried all the genes for VT1, eae and EHEC-haemolysin. The O118[ratio ]H16/NM strains
were from diarrhoea (13 cases) and HUS (2 cases). Sixteen of the patients were young infants
and most infections were associated with a rural environment. Evidence for zoonotic
transmission from cattle to humans was found in two cases. The epidemiological relationship
between the human and bovine O118[ratio ]H16/NM isolates was indicated by homogeneous
plasmid patterns and by very similar XbaI restriction patterns obtained by pulsed-field gel
electrophoresis. VTEC O118[ratio ]H16/NM are emerging pathogens in Germany and should be
classified as new enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) types.
HBV, HCV and HDV infections in Albanian refugees in Southern Italy (Apulia region)
Authors: CHIRONNA M. , GERMINARIO C. , LOPALCO P. L. , QUARTO M. , BARBUTI S.
Published: July 2002

The seroprevalence of hepatitis B, C and D markers was assessed in a sample of 670 Albanian
refugees in Southern Italy in 1997. The mean age was 25 years (S.D. = 12·3). Of study subjects
62·1% (95% CI: 58·4–65·7) were positive for anti-HBc antibodies and 13·6% (95% CI:
10·9–16·1) for HBsAg. The prevalence of anti-HBs was 47·6% (95% CI: 43·8–51·3).
Among HBsAg carriers the prevalence of HBeAg was 7·7% (95% CI: 2·2–13·1). The highest carrier
rate for HBsAg (25·5%; 95% CI: 16·7–34·3) was found in the age group 21–25 years. A
relevant finding was a prevalence of HBsAg of 8·1% in children 10 years and under. The
prevalence of anti-HCV antibodies was 0·3% (95% CI: 0·0–0·7) while only one of the HBsAg
carriers was positive for anti-HDV (1·1%, 95% CI: 0–3·2). In Albania, hepatitis B infection
represents a public health priority that should be addressed by a universal vaccination
campaign.
Growth and development of giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) cubs at Beijing Zoo
Authors: Peng Jianjun , Jiang Zhigang , Liu Weixing , Huang Shiqiang , Zhang Jingguo , Wang Wanming
Published: July 2002

We studied the postnatal body weight gain and development of 11 male and nine female giant panda Ailuropoda melanoleuca cubs born at Beijing Zoo from 1985 to 1998. Growth rates of the cubs appeared to be sexually dimorphic from the fourth month after birth; the male grew slightly faster than the female cubs. Growth rates between artificially fed and naturally fed cubs were significantly different from the fourth month after birth. The growth rate of the artificially fed cubs was slightly higher than that of the cubs fed by their mothers, indicating that the substitute milk satisfied the nutrient needs of the cubs. The body length of the cubs increased rapidly after birth; 8‐month‐old cubs were three times longer than newborn cubs. Chest circumferences of 8‐month‐old cubs also increased to twice that of newborn cubs. Tail length relative to body length was reduced from 14.9% at birth to about 8.6% in 8‐month‐old cubs. Cubs started to grow teeth when they were 3 months old. By the age of 1 year, the cubs had fully grown deciduous teeth. The teeth formula of one 1‐year‐old cub was 2·1·3·0/2·1·3·0=24. We recorded the changes in fur colour, development of the sense organs and limbs of the giant panda cubs. Finally, we compared the body weight and life‐history parameters of giant pandas with those of bears and raccoons and discussed the management regime for the care of captive‐born giant panda cubs.
Reproductive behaviour and food consumption associated with the captive breeding of platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus)
Authors: Holland Norm , Jackson Stephen M.
Published: July 2002

A female platypus Ornithorhynchus anatinus was intensively monitored with the use of video equipment in captivity at Healesville Sanctuary, Victoria, Australia to record feeding and behavioural changes that occurred as a result of only the second successful raising of young platypus (twins) in captivity. These results revealed the female to be inactive (not leaving the burrow) for periods up to 6 days, and mating occurred 15–21 days before eggs were laid. The nest was built over 5 nights between 5 and 9 days before the eggs were laid. The eggs were thought to have been laid during a 4‐day period when the female was confined to her burrow. Once the eggs were laid there was a slow initial rate of feeding which sharply rose 20 days after the eggs were laid. The first time the female spent a day away from the young was 39 days after the eggs were laid, after which she decreasingly nested with them until she spent only 8% of the time with them when they emerged from the burrow, 131 and 136 days after the eggs are thought to have been laid. She rarely went in the nest after day 155, suggesting that the lactation period is c. 135–145 days, assuming 10 days for incubation. The time of emergence also corresponded with the peak in the female's food consumption, which correlates well with the high demands of late lactation, with the daily food intake reaching c. 90–100% of body weight 140 days after the eggs are thought to have hatched. This captive breeding of the platypus has provided the first records of the gestation period, food consumption in relation to breeding stage, the time the female spends with her young during their development, and a partial growth curve of developing platypus.
What is a purely functional language?
Authors: SABRY AMR
Published: July 2002

Functional programming languages are informally classified into

pure and impure languages.
The precise meaning of this distinction has been a matter of controversy.
We therefore
investigate a formal definition of purity. We begin by showing that some
proposed definitions
which rely on confluence, soundness of the beta axiom, preservation of
pure observational
equivalences and independence of the order of evaluation, do not withstand
close scrutiny.
We propose instead a definition based on parameter-passing independence.

Intuitively, the definition implies that functions are pure mappings from

arguments to results; the operational
decision of how to pass the arguments is irrelevant. In the context

of Haskell, our definition
is consistent with the fact that the traditional call-by-name denotational
semantics coincides
with the traditional call-by-need implementation. Furthermore, our definition
is compatible
with the stream-based, continuation-based and monad-based integration of
computational
effects in Haskell. Finally, we observe that call-by-name reasoning principles
are unsound in
compilers for monadic Haskell.
Notes on Avicenna's Concept of Thingness (šay'iyya)
Authors: Wisnovsky Robert
Published: July 2002

Did classical kalām debates about how thing (šay') and existent (maw[gcaron]ūd) relate to each other pave the way for Avicenna's distinction between essence (māhiyya) and existence (wu[gcaron]ūd)? There are some indications that the concept of thingness (šay'iyya) may have played a bridging role between the mutakallimūn's discussions and those of Avicenna. Nevertheless, Avicenna's appeals to thingness occur most densely in passages devoted to analyzing the relationship between efficient and final causes, an entirely Aristotelian topic. A philological question arises: should these passages be emended to read causality (sababiyya) in place of thingness (šay'iyya)? I argue that the balance of evidence compels us to retain thingness. For Avicenna, thingness is the respect in which the final cause is prior to the efficient cause (as well as to the formal and material causes); existence, by contrast, is the respect in which the efficient cause is prior to the final cause. In fact, over the course of Avicenna's career a progression from the kalām problematic of šay' v. maw[gcaron]ūd to his own problematic of māhiyya v. wu[gcaron]ūd can be detected in his discussions of efficient and final causation.
Comment: District general hospitals have a future
Authors: Overstall PW
Published: July 2002

Reports on the death of the district general hospital (DGH) are premature. Despite frequent predictions of doom these hospitals are in good shape and over the years have shown a continuing readiness to adapt to changes in medical practice, technological advances and political fashion. The development of community services is not a threat to the DGH, but rather an opportunity to evaluate carefully what the DGH does best.
Linguistic historiography: a survey with particular reference to French Linguistics at the turn of the century
Authors: Sanders Carol
Published: July 2002

A growing interest in both the history and the historiography of linguistics has in recent times been seen by many as an indication of the discipline's increasing maturity, despite the fact that in the opening sentence of his recent book (1998), Seuren laments the still insufficient volume of scholarship in this area. There was a boom in the publishing of histories of linguistics in the 1960s and early 1970s: the beginnings of a critical historiography were established, and journals and professional associations were founded. The 1990s saw a new wave of activity: apart from a plethora of edited volumes, several histories appeared and to the now established journals (Historiographia Linguistica, Histoire-Epistémologie-Langage) has been added another (Beiträge zur Geschichte der Sprachwissenschaft, started in 1991). Among the histories are one-volume publications by Koerner and Asher (eds.) (1995), Malmberg (1991), Swiggers (1997) and Seuren (1998), as well as multi-volume editions: Lepschy (ed.) which appeared first in Italian (vol.1 in 1990), then in English (vol. 1 in 1994), Auroux, vol.1 in 1989, and Schmitter (1987), which is the first of a planned eight-volume series in German. A trilingual volume is scheduled to start appearing (Koerner, Auroux, Niederehe and Versteegh (eds.), in preparation). In all this, there have been many ‘persistent questions’ (to use a phrase from Koerner, 1995), but there have also been some shifts of emphasis. Unavoidably selective, this article will attempt to survey more recent work, referring back to older work for certain key points only (for earlier work, see Koerner, 1978b; Ayres-Bennett, 1987; Swiggers, 1987). As certain questions tend to recur, concerning, for example, the chronological versus the thematic, the descriptive versus the theoretical, or breadth versus depth of coverage, I shall try to characterise briefly a number of recent approaches, before examining certain key issues in greater detail. Finally, I shall look at two examples from the founding period of contemporary linguistics in France.
Response to “Difference and the Delivery of Healthcare”
(Special Section) (CQ Vol 7, No 1)
Authors: Koch Tom , Braun Kathryn , Pietsch James H.
Published: July 2002

In a special issue of this journal, a range of
authors addressed the critical problem of difference in
bioethics. To what extent do class, culture, ethnicity,
and race affect the ethical decisions that patients and
professionals must make in a medical context? Those arguing
for an understanding of cultural influences in bioethical
decisionmaking—for example, Hern, Koenig, Moore,
and Marshall—typically argue from the perspective
of individual case studies to demonstrate the importance
of these social constructs. Others, like Erika Blacksher,
however, worry that this approach will obscure the
uniqueness of individual decisionmakng patterns, allowing
all persons of a single group to be aggregated as if their
class, cultural construct, or religious affiliation were
the single motive element in their medicolegal decisionmaking.
There is, she cautions, a risk of misuse if a professional
care provider reflexively assumes individual patient or
surrogate reactions on the basis of ethnicity or culture.
Operations Which Preserve Path-Width at Most Two
Authors: BARÁT JÁNOS , HAJNAL PÉTER
Published: July 2002

The number of excluded minors for the class of graphs with path-width at most two is
very large. To give a practical characterization of the obstructions, we introduce some
operations which preserve path-width at most two. We give a list of ten graphs such that
any graph with path-width more than two can be reduced – by taking minors and applying
our operations – to one of the graphs on our list. We think that our operations and
excluded substructures give a far more transparent description of the class of graphs with
path-width at most two than Kinnersley and Langston's characterization by 110 excluded
minors (see [4]).