bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Treatment of Verrucous Epidermal Nevus: Experience with 71 Cases
Authors: Lapidoth M. , Israeli H. , Ben Amitai D. , Halachmi S.
Published: July 2013

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical results of 71 cases with verrucous epidermal nevus (VEN) treated by cryotherapy or CO2 laser. Methods: The files and photographs of patients with VEN who were treated in the laser unit of a tertiary hospital between January 2005 and December 2011 were evaluated. Pretreatment and 12-month follow-up photographs were evaluated using a 5-point scale: ‘excellent' (75-100% clearance), ‘good' (50-75% clearance), ‘fair' (25-50% clearance), ‘poor' (<25% clearance) or ‘worse'. Results: Of 71 patients, 62 responded well to cryotherapy alone, and 9 facial VEN required CO2 laser treatment. Small VEN required relatively few treatments (mean 3.4) with 90% scoring ‘excellent' and 10% scoring ‘good'. Larger VEN required more treatments (mean 7.4) and did not respond as well, with 71% scoring ‘excellent', 14% scoring ‘good' and 14% scoring ‘fair'. Conclusion: Our experience suggests that cryotherapy is the ideal treatment for small facial VEN, while ablation by CO2 laser should be considered an option for resistant facial lesions.
A Single Neonatal Injury Induces Life-Long Deficits in Response to Stress
Authors: Victoria Nicole C. , Inoue Kiyoshi , Young Larry J. , Murphy Anne Z.
Published: July 2013

Approximately 500,000 infants are born prematurely each year in the United States. These infants typically require an extensive stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), where they experience on average 14 painful and invasive procedures each day. These procedures, including repeated heel lance, insertion of intravenous lines, and respiratory and gastric suctioning, typically result in an inflammatory response, inducing pain and stress in the newborn. Remarkably, the majority of these procedures are performed in the complete absence of pre- or post-emptive analgesics. Recent clinical studies report that former NICU patients have increased thresholds for pain and stress later in life as compared with term-born infants. However, to date, the mechanisms whereby early-life inflammation alters later-life response to stress and pain are not known. The present studies were conducted to determine if neonatal injury impairs adult responses to anxiety- and stress-provoking stimuli. As we have previously reported that early-life pain results in a significant increase in opioid peptide expression within the midbrain periaqueductal gray, the role of endogenous opioids in our behavioral studies was also examined. Male and female rats received an intraplantar injection of the inflammatory agent carrageenan (1%) on the day of birth. In adulthood, animals were assessed for changes in response to anxiety- and stress-provoking stimuli using the open field and forced swim tests, respectively. Injury-induced changes in sucrose preference and stress-induced analgesia were also assessed. As adults, neonatally injured animals displayed a blunted response to both anxiety- and stress-provoking stimuli, as indicated by significantly more time spent in the inner area of the open field and a 2-fold increase in latency to immobility in the forced swim test as compared to controls. No change in sucrose preference was observed. Using in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry, we observed a 2-fold increase in enkephalin mRNA and protein expression, respectively, in stress-related brain regions including the central amygdala and lateral septum. Administration of the opioid receptor antagonist naloxone reversed the attenuated responses to forced swim stress and stress-induced analgesia, suggesting the changes in stress-related behavior were opioid-dependent. Together, these data contribute to mounting evidence that neonatal injury in the absence of analgesics has adverse effects that are both long-term and polysystemic.
Role of HOXA9 and VEZF1 in Endothelial Biology
Authors: Bruderer Marco , Alini Mauro , Stoddart Martin J.
Published: July 2013

Proper development of the vascular system as one of the earliest and most critical steps during vertebrate embryogenesis is ensured by the exact spatial and temporal control of gene expression in cells forming the vessel network. Whereas the regulation of vascular system development is well elucidated on the level of ligand-receptor signaling, the processes on the transcriptional level are much less understood. As the signaling mechanisms in embryogenesis and pathological conditions are similar, the study of embryonic blood vessel development is of great interest for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases and cancer. This review discusses two transcription factors, HOXA9 and VEZF1, which are relevant for endothelial biology but are excluded in the bulk of transcription factor references discussing endothelial biology. To our knowledge, there is no comprehensive overview of these two transcription factors available to date. Here, we summarize the current knowledge of human HOXA9 and VEZF1 biology and function, we detail their target genes and roles in endothelial biology and propose that HOXA9 and VEZF1 also deserve consideration as relevant transcriptional regulators of endothelial biology. Due to their broad role in multiple aspects of endothelial biology, they might potentially become interesting targets for therapeutic manipulation of pathological blood vessel growth.
Current Management of Calcific Aortic Stenosis
Authors: Lindman Brian R. , Bonow Robert O. , Otto Catherine M.
Published: July 2013

Calcific aortic stenosis is a progressive disease with no effective medical therapy that ultimately requires aortic valve replacement (AVR) for severe valve obstruction. Echocardiography is the primary diagnostic approach to define valve anatomy, measure aortic stenosis severity, and evaluate the left ventricular response to chronic pressure overload. In asymptomatic patients, markers of disease progression include the degree of leaflet calcification, hemodynamic severity of stenosis, adverse left ventricular remodeling, reduced left ventricular longitudinal strain, myocardial fibrosis, and pulmonary hypertension. The onset of symptoms portends a predictably high mortality rate unless AVR is performed. In symptomatic patients, AVR improves symptoms, improves survival, and, in patients with left ventricular dysfunction, improves systolic function. Poor outcomes after AVR are associated with low-flow low-gradient aortic stenosis, severe ventricular fibrosis, oxygen-dependent lung disease, frailty, advanced renal dysfunction, and a high comorbidity score. However, in most patients with severe symptoms, AVR is lifesaving. Bioprosthetic valves are recommended for patients aged >65 years. Transcatheter AVR is now available for patients with severe comorbidities, is recommended in patients who are deemed inoperable, and is a reasonable alternative to surgical AVR in high-risk patients.
Hemodynamic and Cellular Response Feedback in Calcific Aortic Valve Disease
Authors: Gould Sarah T. , Srigunapalan Suthan , Simmons Craig A. , Anseth Kristi S.
Published: July 2013

This review highlights aspects of calcific aortic valve disease that encompass the entire range of aortic valve disease progression from initial cellular changes to aortic valve sclerosis and stenosis, which can be initiated by changes in blood flow (hemodynamics) and pressure across the aortic valve. Appropriate hemodynamics is important for normal valve function and maintenance, but pathological blood velocities and pressure can have profound consequences at the macroscopic to microscopic scales. At the macroscopic scale, hemodynamic forces impart shear stresses on the surface of the valve leaflets and cause deformation of the leaflet tissue. As discussed in this review, these macroscale forces are transduced to the microscale, where they influence the functions of the valvular endothelial cells that line the leaflet surface and the valvular interstitial cells that populate the valve extracellular matrix. For example, pathological changes in blood flow–induced shear stress can cause dysfunction, impairing their homeostatic functions, and pathological stretching of valve tissue caused by elevated transvalvular pressure can activate valvular interstitial cells and latent paracrine signaling cytokines (eg, transforming growth factor-β1) to promote maladaptive tissue remodeling. Collectively, these coordinated and complex interactions adversely impact bulk valve tissue properties, feeding back to further deteriorate valve function and propagate valve cell pathological responses. Here, we review the role of hemodynamic forces in calcific aortic valve disease initiation and progression, with focus on cellular responses and how they feed back to exacerbate aortic valve dysfunction.
Molecular and Cellular Aspects of Calcific Aortic Valve Disease
Authors: Towler Dwight A.
Published: July 2013

Calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) increasingly afflicts our aging population. One third of our elderly have echocardiographic or radiological evidence of calcific aortic valve sclerosis, an early and subclinical form of CAVD. Age, sex, tobacco use, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and type II diabetes mellitus all contribute to the risk of disease that has worldwide distribution. On progression to its most severe form, calcific aortic stenosis, CAVD becomes debilitating and devastating, and 2% of individuals >60 years are affected by calcific aortic stenosis to the extent that surgical intervention is required. No effective pharmacotherapies exist for treating those at risk for clinical progression. It is becoming increasingly apparent that a diverse spectrum of cellular and molecular mechanisms converge to regulate valvular calcium load; this is evidenced not only in histopathologic heterogeneity of CAVD, but also from the multiplicity of cell types that can participate in valve biomineralization. In this review, we highlight our current understanding of CAVD disease biology, emphasizing molecular and cellular aspects of its regulation. We end by pointing to important biological and clinical questions that must be answered to enable sophisticated disease staging and the development of new strategies to treat CAVD medically.
Reproductive seasonality in wild Sanje mangabeys (Cercocebus sanjei), Tanzania: Relationship between the capital breeding strategy and infant survival
Authors: McCabe Gráinne Michelle , Thompson Melissa Emery
Published: July 2013

The reproductive seasonality model states that it is adaptive for species in seasonally variable environments to temporally cluster reproductive events around periods of resource availability. Many studies have examined links between seasonal reproduction and phenological events, though few studies have fully tested the adaptive hypothesis by examining the effects of reproductive timing on outcomes. Our study tests the predictions of the model in an African cercopithecine, the Sanje mangabey, by examining the impact of food availability on the timing of conception, birth and weaning, and the relationship of reproductive timing and female energy balance (urinary C-peptide) to infant survival. From September 2008 through 2010, 28 infants were born. Distribution of conceptions was non-uniform, with a peak between January and March. There was a significant positive correlation between mean monthly fruit availability and number of conceptions per month. An increased food supply supports a positive energy balance, maximizing the potential for conception; a pattern found among many cercopithecines. Mothers that conceived within the peak period also exhibited higher levels of urinary C-peptide during preconception and early gestation, compared to conceptions outside the peak period. This strategy increased the probability of survival to year one, as it was significantly higher for infants conceived during the peak conceptive season. These results support the reproductive seasonality model and demonstrate that the timing of conception is critical for mangabey reproductive success.
The Secret of Life: Explorations of Nietzsche’s Conception of Life as Will to Power
Authors: McNeill William
Published: July 2013

Abstract

The essay presents a series of explorations of Nietzsche’s conception of life as will to power, relying extensively on fragments from Nietzsche’s later notebooks, but also commenting on key selections from Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil, and On the Genealogy of Morality. I argue that Nietzsche understands himself to be engaged in a unique kind of phenomenology of the body, and that will to power, as the primal force of life, should be understood not only as a creative and unifying life-force, but equally as a force of differentiation and obliteration.
The Syntax of Life: Gregory Bateson and the “Platonic View”
Authors: Baracchi Claudia
Published: July 2013

Abstract

The essay follows the fil rouge of ancient Greek thinking in the work of Gregory Bateson, an unusually multi-faceted and energetically nomadic intellect in the landscape of twentieth-century hyper-specialized disciplines, whose eclectic research focused on the question of life and of human participation in a living world. Through the reverberation of Neoplatonic motifs and echoing pre-Socratic intuitions, Bateson reflects on the “pattern which connects”—the λόγος that says one and all things, and the interpenetration of one and all things, thus operating as the connective tissue of all that is, the communicational web of contacts, exchanges, and transmissions, perhaps the nervous system of life.
Homeward Bound: Ḥusayn Muruwwah’s Integrative Quest for Authenticity
Authors: Di-Capua Yoav
Published: July 2013

Abstract

Ḥusayn Muruwwah was one of the most influential Arab intellectuals of the second half of the twentieth century. In the 1950s and 1960s he was critical in reinventing literary criticism and was at the vanguard of the postcolonial intelligentsia and its search for a new Arab culture. Before that he was cleric at Najaf, then a follower of Arab Liberalism, then a Marxist and, eventually a Communist. In the process of this intellectual metamorphosis Muruwwah moved from South Lebanon, to Najaf, Baghdad, Beirut, Damascus and Moscow. This article reconsiders the importance of Muruwwah’s personal narrative of displacement, search and commitment to Arab postcoloniality. It argues that much of what has been written about Ḥusayn Muruwwah’s life underscores a polarization of experience—as movement from the village to the city, from religion to secularism, from Liberalism to Communism. In contrast, this article suggests that Ḥusayn Muruwwah, and dozens of others like him, never really shifted between positions, or “converted.” Instead, Muruwwah kept adding layer after layer to what became a complex and highly integrative intellectual identity that simultaneously drew on several seemingly contradictory traditions and intellectual genealogies, culminating in his methodology of critical Socialist Realism and the effort to re-read Islamic turāth along Marxist lines.
“Bread or Freedom”: The Congress for Cultural Freedom, the CIA, and the Arabic Literary Journal Ḥiwār (1962-67)
Authors: Holt Elizabeth M.
Published: July 2013

Abstract

In 1950, the United States Central Intelligence Agency created the Congress for Cultural Freedom, with its main offices in Paris. The CCF was designed as a cultural front in the Cold War in response to the Soviet Cominform, and founded and funded a worldwide network of literary journals (as well as conferences, concerts, art exhibits and other cultural events). From 1962 until its scandalous collapse over the course of 1966 and the early months of 1967, Tawfīq Ṣāyigh edited the CCF’s Arabic outpost Ḥiwār from Beirut, joining a growing web of CCF journals, including London’s Encounter, Kampala’s Transition, Bombay’s Quest, and the Latin American, Paris-based Mundo Nuevo. Ḥiwār, a journal funded by the Congress for Cultural Freedom, and thus covertly by the CIA, sought to co-opt the Arab avant-garde, offering authors both material compensation for their writing, as well as the much lauded cultural freedom. By 1966, Ḥiwār’s promise to writers of both bread and freedom collapsed in the pages of the Arabic press under the weight of paradox and a worldwide scandal on the eve of the 1967 Arab defeat.
“The Letter Kills, but the Spirit gives Life” (2 Cor. 3:6)
Authors: Dunn James D. G.
Published: July 2013

Abstract

The essay examines the Spirit/letter antithesis used by Paul (also in Rom. 2:27-29 and 7:6) as parallel to outward and visible/hidden and circumcision of flesh/heart antitheses. A close study of the 2 Corinthians 3 context draws out the importance of the allusions to Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 11:19, 36:26-27, and the use of Exodus 34:29-35. The conclusion reflects on the Spirit/letter contrast today, in shaping expectations when reading Scripture, with a reminder that systems of dogma and ecclesiastical structure can reinforce the letter and lose sight of the S/spirit.
Bridge over Troubled Water? Rebaptism in a Nordic Context — Reflections and Proposals
Authors: Hegertun Terje
Published: July 2013

Abstract

This article reflects on questions related to the issue of rebaptism within Nordic Christianity. Because infant baptism is not recognized as valid within the Pentecostal tradition, new members are asked to undergo rebaptism. Many of those coming from a Lutheran tradition, however, seem to have a “ritualized remembrance” of their infant baptism, thus indicating the ability to build bridges between now and then by being in touch with a spiritual reality across time and place, tied to an overarching interpersonal theological discourse. In moving from the Lutheran to the Pentecostal tradition, how important is the amount of water as long as compatible theological reflections are present? And conversely, to what extent can we talk about a sacramental potential in Pentecostalism? When considering such questions, the goal of expressing a “common understanding” and admitting “a mutual recognition” does not mean complete agreement in all details.
Figurative Expressions Referring to Animals in Royal Inscriptions of the 18th Dynasty
Authors: Hsu Shih-Wei
Published: July 2013

Abstract

The figurative expression is an important element of rhetoric and style. It appears in almost all languages and at all times. It can be defined as a group of words that includes a comparison, a simile, or a figurative sense. These expressions refer to similarities of shape, colour, feature or function. Two important elements of figurative expressions are the “simile” and the “metaphor.” Figurative language is found in all the royal inscriptions of the kings of ancient Egypt. This paper will look at the type, purpose and function of animal figurative expressions in the royal inscriptions of the 18th Dynasty.
The Role of Multimodel Climate Forecasts in Improving Water and Energy Management over the Tana River Basin, Kenya
Authors: Oludhe C. , Sankarasubramanian A. , Sinha Tushar , Devineni Naresh , Lall Upmanu
Published: July 2013

The Masinga Reservoir located in the upper Tana River basin, Kenya, is extremely important in supplying the country's hydropower and protecting downstream ecology. The dam serves as the primary storage reservoir, controlling streamflow through a series of downstream hydroelectric reservoirs. The Masinga dam's operation is crucial in meeting power demands and thus contributing significantly to the country's economy. La Niña–related prolonged droughts of 1999–2001 resulted in severe power shortages in Kenya. Therefore, seasonal streamflow forecasts contingent on climate information are essential to estimate preseason water allocation. Here, the authors utilize reservoir inflow forecasts downscaled from monthly updated precipitation forecasts from ECHAM4.5 forced with constructed analog SSTs and multimodel precipitation forecasts developed from the Ensemble-Based Predictions of Climate Changes and their Impacts (ENSEMBLES) project to improve water allocation during the April–June and October–December seasons for the Masinga Reservoir. Three-month-ahead inflow forecasts developed from ECHAM4.5, multiple GCMs, and climatological ensembles are used in a reservoir model to allocate water for power generation by ensuring climatological probability of meeting the end-of-season target storage required to meet seasonal water demands. Retrospective reservoir analysis shows that inflow forecasts developed from single GCM and multiple GCMs perform better than use of climatological values by reducing the spill and increasing the allocation for hydropower during above-normal inflow years. Similarly, during below-normal inflow years, both of these forecasts could be effectively utilized to meet the end-of-season target storage by restricting releases for power generation. The multimodel forecasts preserve the end-of-season target storage better than the single-model inflow forecasts by reducing uncertainty and the overconfidence of individual model forecasts.
The Improvement to the Environmental Wind and Tropical Cyclone Circulation Retrievals with the Modified GBVTD (MGBVTD) Technique
Authors: Chen Xiaomin , Zhao Kun , Lee Wen-Chau , Jong-Dao Jou Ben , Xue Ming , Harasti Paul R.
Published: July 2013

The ground-based velocity track display (GBVTD) was developed to deduce a three-dimensional primary circulation of landfalling tropical cyclones from single-Doppler radar data. However, the cross-beam component of the mean wind cannot be resolved and is consequently aliased into the retrieved axisymmetric tangential wind . Recently, the development of the hurricane volume velocity processing method (HVVP) enabled the independent estimation of ; however, HVVP is potentially limited by the unknown accuracy of empirical assumptions used to deduce the modified Rankine-combined vortex exponent . By combing the GBVTD with HVVP techniques, this study proposes a modified GBVTD method (MGBVTD) to objectively deduce from the GBVTD technique and provide a more accurate estimation of and via an iterative procedure to reach converged and cross-beam component of solutions. MGBVTD retains the strength of both algorithms but avoids their weaknesses. The results from idealized experiments demonstrate that the MGBVTD-retrieved cross-beam component of is within 2 m s−1 of reality. MGBVTD was applied to Hurricane Bret (1999) whose inner core was captured simultaneously by two Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) instruments. The MGBVTD-retrieved cross-beam component of from single-Doppler radar data is very close to that from dual-Doppler radar synthesis using extended GBVTD (EGBVTD); their difference is less than 2 m s−1. The mean difference in the MGBVTD-retrieved from the two radars is ~2 m s−1, which is significantly smaller than that resolved in GBVTD retrievals (~5 m s−1).
Scale Dependency of Total Water Variance and Its Implication for Cloud Parameterizations
Authors: Schemann Vera , Stevens Bjorn , Grützun Verena , Quaas Johannes
Published: July 2013

The scale dependency of variance of total water mixing ratio is explored by analyzing data from a general circulation model (GCM), a numerical weather prediction model (NWP), and large-eddy simulations (LESs). For clarification, direct numerical simulation (DNS) data are additionally included, but the focus is placed on defining a general scaling behavior for scales ranging from global down to cloud resolving. For this, appropriate power-law exponents are determined by calculating and approximating the power density spectrum. The large-scale models (GCM and NWP) show a consistent scaling with a power-law exponent of approximately −2. For the high-resolution LESs, the slope of the power density spectrum shows evidence of being somewhat steeper, although the estimates are more uncertain. Also the transition between resolved and parameterized scales in a current GCM is investigated. Neither a spectral gap nor a strong scale break is found, but a weak scale break at high wavenumbers cannot be excluded. The evaluation of the parameterized total water variance of a state-of-the-art statistical scheme shows that the scale dependency is underestimated by this parameterization. This study and the discovered general scaling behavior emphasize the need for a development of scale-dependent parameterizations.
Two Types of Surface Wind Response to the East China Sea Kuroshio Front*
Authors: Liu Jing-Wu , Zhang Su-Ping , Xie Shang-Ping
Published: July 2013

Effects of the sea surface temperature (SST) front along the East China Sea Kuroshio on sea surface winds at different time scales are investigated. In winter and spring, the climatological vector wind is strongest on the SST front while the scalar wind speed reaches a maximum on the warm flank of the front and is collocated with the maximum difference between sea surface temperature and surface air temperature (SST − SAT). The distinction is due to the change in relative importance of two physical processes of SST–wind interaction at different time scales. The SST front–induced sea surface level pressure (SLP) adjustment (SF–SLP) contributes to a strong vector wind above the front on long time scales, consistent with the collocation of baroclinicity in the marine boundary layer and corroborated by the similarity between the thermal wind and observed wind shear between 1000 and 850 hPa. In contrast, the SST modulation of synoptic winds is more evident on the warm flank of the SST front. Large thermal instability of the near-surface layer strengthens temporal synoptic wind perturbations by intensifying vertical mixing, resulting in a scalar wind maximum. The vertical mixing and SF–SLP mechanisms are both at work but manifest more clearly at the synoptic time scale and in the long-term mean, respectively. The cross-frontal variations are 1.5 m s−1 in both the scalar and vector wind speeds, representing the vertical mixing and SF–SLP effects, respectively. The results illustrate the utility of high-frequency sampling by satellite scatterometers.
Long-Term Behavior of the Atlantic Interhemispheric SST Gradient in the CMIP5 Historical Simulations
Authors: Chiang John C. H. , Chang C.-Y. , Wehner M. F.
Published: July 2013

Multidecadal and longer changes to the Atlantic interhemispheric sea surface temperature gradient (AITG) in phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) historical simulations are investigated. Observations show a secular trend to this gradient over most of the twentieth century, with the southern lobe warming faster relative to its northern counterpart. A previous study of phase 3 of the CMIP (CMIP3) suggests that this trend is partially forced by anthropogenic sulfate aerosols. This analysis collectively confirms the partially forced trend for the CMIP5 and by anthropogenic aerosols. Like the CMIP3, the CMIP5 also simulates a reversal in the AITG trend in the late 1970s, which was attributed to a leveling off of the anthropogenic aerosol influence and increased influence of greenhouse gases in the late twentieth century. Two (of 25) CMIP5 models, however, systematically simulate a twentieth-century trend opposite to observed, leading to some uncertainty regarding the forced nature of the AITG trend. The observed AITG also exhibits a pronounced multidecadal modulation on top of the trend, associated with the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO). Motivated by a recent suggestion that the AMO is a forced response to aerosols, the causes of this multidecadal behavior were also examined. A few of the CMIP5 models analyzed do produce multidecadal AITG variations that are correlated to the observed AMO-like variation, but only one, the Hadley Centre Global Environmental Model, version 2 (HadGEM2), systematically simulates AMO-like behavior with both the requisite amplitude and phase. The CMIP5 simulations thus point to a robust aerosol influence on the historical AITG trend but not to the AMO-like multidecadal behavior.
High-Resolution Downscaled Simulations of Warm-Season Extreme Precipitation Events in the Colorado Front Range under Past and Future Climates*
Authors: Mahoney Kelly , Alexander Michael , Scott James D. , Barsugli Joseph
Published: July 2013

A high-resolution case-based approach for dynamically downscaling climate model data is presented. Extreme precipitation events are selected from regional climate model (RCM) simulations of past and future time periods. Each event is further downscaled using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model to storm scale (1.3-km grid spacing). The high-resolution downscaled simulations are used to investigate changes in extreme precipitation projections from a past to a future climate period, as well as how projected precipitation intensity and distribution differ between the RCM scale (50-km grid spacing) and the local scale (1.3-km grid spacing). Three independent RCM projections are utilized as initial and boundary conditions to the downscaled simulations, and the results reveal considerable spread in projected changes not only among the RCMs but also in the downscaled high-resolution simulations. However, even when the RCM projections show an overall (i.e., spatially averaged) decrease in the intensity of extreme events, localized maxima in the high-resolution simulations of extreme events can remain as strong or even increase. An ingredients-based analysis of prestorm instability, moisture, and forcing for ascent illustrates that while instability and moisture tend to increase in the future simulations at both regional and local scales, local forcing, synoptic dynamics, and terrain-relative winds are quite variable. Nuanced differences in larger-scale and mesoscale dynamics are a key determinant in each event's resultant precipitation. Very high-resolution dynamical downscaling enables a more detailed representation of extreme precipitation events and their relationship to their surrounding environments with fewer parameterization-based uncertainties and provides a framework for diagnosing climate model errors.
On the Connection between Continental-Scale Land Surface Processes and the Tropical Climate in a Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere–Land System
Authors: Ma Hsi-Yen , Mechoso C. Roberto , Xue Yongkang , Xiao Heng , Neelin J. David , Ji Xuan
Published: July 2013

An evaluation is presented of the impact on tropical climate of continental-scale perturbations given by different representations of land surface processes (LSPs) in a general circulation model that includes atmosphere–ocean interactions. One representation is a simple land scheme, which specifies climatological albedos and soil moisture availability. The other representation is the more comprehensive Simplified Simple Biosphere Model, which allows for interactive soil moisture and vegetation biophysical processes.

The results demonstrate that such perturbations have strong impacts on the seasonal mean states and seasonal cycles of global precipitation, clouds, and surface air temperature. The impact is especially significant over the tropical Pacific Ocean. To explore the mechanisms for such impact, model experiments are performed with different LSP representations confined to selected continental-scale regions where strong interactions of climate–vegetation biophysical processes are present. The largest impact found over the tropical Pacific is mainly from perturbations in the tropical African continent where convective heating anomalies associated with perturbed surface heat fluxes trigger global teleconnections through equatorial wave dynamics. In the equatorial Pacific, the remote impacts of the convection anomalies are further enhanced by strong air–sea coupling between surface wind stress and upwelling, as well as by the effects of ocean memory. LSP perturbations over South America and Asia–Australia have much weaker global impacts. The results further suggest that correct representations of LSP, land use change, and associated changes in the deep convection over tropical Africa are crucial to reducing the uncertainty of future climate projections with global climate models under various climate change scenarios.
Aspects of Convective Boundary Layer Turbulence Measured by a Dual-Doppler Lidar System
Authors: Röhner Luisa , Träumner Katja
Published: July 2013

Special designed dual-Doppler setups can be used to retrieve simultaneous measurements of two wind components with high temporal resolution in several heights throughout the atmospheric boundary layer. During a field campaign in summer 2011, different scan strategies were performed to demonstrate the opportunities of obtaining variance profiles of the vertical and horizontal wind components in complex terrain. A simplified error analysis reveals the effects of the error propagation of the uncorrelated noise of the single lidar systems. A comparison shows that the course of the derived horizontal wind component is in accordance to in situ measurements. The dual-Doppler vertical wind velocity reflects the up- and downdrafts in a convective boundary layer and is even able to reflect a light rain event. The normalized profiles of the vertical velocity variances reproduce the well-known decrease from about one-third of the boundary layer height to its top. The horizontal velocity variance did not reveal a systematic behavior on the considered days.
Solar and Thermal Radiation Errors on Upper-Air Radiosonde Temperature Measurements
Authors: Philipona R. , Kräuchi A. , Romanens G. , Levrat G. , Ruppert P. , Brocard E. , Jeannet P. , Ruffieux D. , Calpini B.
Published: July 2013

Atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles are important for weather prediction, but climate change has increased the interest in upper-air observations asking for very high-quality reference measurements. This paper discusses an experimental approach to determine the radiation-induced error on radiosonde air temperature measurements. On the one hand, solar shortwave and thermal longwave radiation profiles were accurately measured during radiosonde ascents from the surface to 35-km altitude. On the other hand, air temperature was measured with several thermocouples on the same flight, simultaneously under sun-shaded and unshaded conditions. The radiation experiments reveal that thermal radiation errors on the very thin thermocouple of the Meteolabor SRS-C34 radiosonde are similar during night- and daytime. They produce a radiative cooling in the lower troposphere and the upper stratosphere, but a radiative heating in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. Air temperature experiments with several thermocouples, however, show that solar radiation produces a radiative heating of about +0.2°C near the surface, which linearly increases to about +1°C at 32 km (~10 hPa). The new solar radiation error profile was then applied to SRS-C34 measurements made during the Eighth WMO Intercomparison of High Quality Radiosonde Systems, held in Yangjiang, China, in July 2010. The effects of thermal and solar radiation errors are finally shown in contrast to the 10 other internationally used radiosonde systems, which were flown during this international campaign.
Burden and related factors in caregivers of young adults presenting bipolar and unipolar mood disorder
Authors: da Silva Giovanna Del Grande , Jansen Karen , Barbosa Luana Porto , Branco Jerônimo da Costa , Pinheiro Ricardo Tavares , Magalhães Pedro Vieira da Silva , Kapczinski Flávio , da Silva Ricardo Azevedo
Published: July 2013

Background:

Caregiver burden has been associated with caregivers’ mental disorders and need for support and information. However, the lack of quantitative studies and formal interventions aiming to lower burden levels in this population reflect the current negligence regarding this important issue.

Aim:

To identify burden levels and associated factors in caregivers of young adults with bipolar and unipolar mood disorder.

Method:

This is a cross-sectional study nested within a population-based cross-sectional study with young adults. Caregiver burden was assessed through the Burden Interview. Information about caregiver mental disorders (Axis I) and alcohol abuse were obtained through the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) and the Cut-Down, Annoyed, Guilty and Eye-Opener (CAGE) questionnaire, respectively.

Results:

Caregiver burden was associated to caregiver’s mood and anxiety disorders, suicide risk and being the caregiver of young adults with depression disorder and bipolar disorder. Also, burden was higher among caregivers of bipolar individuals. When excluding the control group from the analysis, only mood and anxiety disorders remained associated to caregiver burden.

Conclusions:

Caregivers are affected by the young adult’s disorder even before a diagnosis has been given, with serious impairments in their lives. Thus, this is a subject in need of designing relevant strategies aiming to provide them with care.
Influences of thickness and stacking sequence on ballistic impact behaviors of GLARE 5 FML plates: Part I-experimental studies
Authors: Yaghoubi A Seyed , Liaw B
Published: July 2013

This two-part article examines the effects of thickness and stacking sequence on the ballistic impact behaviors of GLARE 5 (2024-T3 aluminum alloy-unidirectional S2-glass/epoxy) fiber-metal laminated plates. Part I deals with observations from tests of specimens with various thicknesses and stacking sequences. A high-speed camera was used to measure impact and residual/rebound velocities. Ballistic limit velocity (V50) was determined based on the incident projectile impact velocity versus the residual velocity (Vi∼Vr) data and the classical Lambert-Jonas’ equation for each individual panel type. As expected, thicker specimens revealed more resistance to perforation. The results showed that the V50 varied in a parabolic trend with respect to the specimen thickness. Furthermore, the quasi-isotropic specimen offered relatively more resistance to impact as compared to other types of stacking sequences. The interfacial debonding/delamination as well as bending/stretching in aluminum layers were considered to be important factors in dissipating impact energy in the specimens. The damage characteristics were evaluated using both nondestructive ultrasonic and mechanical sectioning techniques. Only the contour of the entire damage area could be obtained using ultrasonic C-scan, whereas more details of the damage were provided through the mechanical cross-sectioning technique. It was observed that the damage contour increased as the impact velocity reached its V50 value for a given specimen thickness and then it slightly decreased for impact velocity above the V50 value. In addition, the shape and orientation of damage contours were affected by lay-up orientations.
Poly-dicyclopentadiene-wollastonite composites toward structural applications
Authors: Colorado Henry A , Yuan Wei , Guo Zhanhu , Juanri Juanri , Yang Jenn-Ming
Published: July 2013

Poly-dicyclopentadiene matrix composites with different concentrations of mineral wollastonite particles (CaSiO3) were fabricated with possible applications as high volume structural materials. This represents a significant reduction in costs. A planetary Thinky mixer was used to initially mix the resin with the curing agent, followed by incorporating grubbs catalyst. Finally, the product was mixed together with different loading of the particles. The microstructure and compositions were identified by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Particles were found to be homogeneously distributed over the polymer matrix. Quartz was found as a byproduct of the calcium dissolution in the resin. The thermo-mechanical behavior was evaluated by compression, curing, dynamic mechanical analyzer and thermo-gravimetric analysis. For all wollastonite loadings it was found that compression strength was over 100 MPa. Wollastonite was found to decelerate the curing of the resin by the release of calcium ions that enhanced the exothermic reaction.
Emotion Regulation and the Cultivation of Political Tolerance
Authors: Halperin Eran , Pliskin Ruthie , Saguy Tamar , Liberman Varda , Gross James J.
Published: July 2013

The goal of the current project is to integrate psychological research on emotion regulation with the study of democratic practices in general and political intolerance in particular. We hypothesized that the use of a well-established emotion regulation strategy, cognitive reappraisal, would be associated with lower levels of group-based negative emotions toward one’s least-liked group and lower levels of political intolerance toward that group. Preliminary data based on nationwide survey conducted among Jews in Israel show that the tendency to reappraise negative emotions during war is associated with more tolerant attitudes. In studies 1 and 2, we experimentally manipulated reappraisal, and this led to reduced levels of political intolerance toward Palestinian Citizens of Israel (study 1) and toward one’s least-liked group (study 2). These effects were transmitted via a decrease in negative emotions in both studies, as well as by an increase in support for general democratic values in Study 2.
Burrowing is a sensitive behavioural assay for monitoring general wellbeing during dextran sulfate sodium colitis in laboratory mice
Authors: Jirkof P , Leucht K , Cesarovic N , Caj M , Nicholls F , Rogler G , Arras M , Hausmann M
Published: July 2013

An impaired intestinal epithelial barrier is thought to be a major factor in the pathogenesis of human inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). IBD is frequently investigated by inducing a damaged barrier in murine models of colitis. This can be done by feeding mice with dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) polymers in their drinking water. Refinement measures should focus on alleviating unnecessary suffering during this probably painful condition. Appropriate parameters are needed to decide when to terminate the experiments. Our aim was to investigate whether a change in burrowing behaviour is a sensitive measure of animal welfare in murine models of colitis. Acute colitis was induced in C57BL/6 mice with 2.0% DSS over nine days. The burrowing test is based on the species-typical behaviour of mice to spontaneously displace items from tubes within their home cage. As a burrowing apparatus, a water bottle (250 mL, 150 mm length, 55 mm diameter) filled with 138–142 g of pellets of the animal’s diet was used. The presence of intestinal inflammation as a result of acute DSS-induced colitis was confirmed by a decrease in body weight, colon length and an increase of murine endoscopic index of colitis severity, histological score and spleen weight in the group receiving DSS as compared with the control group. An onset of intestinal inflammation correlated with a significant decrease in burrowing behaviour ( P < 0.05). Altered adrenal gland histology indicated stress as a result of acute colitis. Our findings provide evidence that changes of spontaneous burrowing behaviour correlate with the onset of inflammation in acute DSS-induced colitis.
Functional Load and the Lexicon: Evidence that Syntactic Category and Frequency Relationships in Minimal Lemma Pairs Predict the Loss of Phoneme contrasts in Language Change
Authors: Wedel Andrew , Jackson Scott , Kaplan Abby
Published: July 2013

All languages use individually meaningless, contrastive categories in combination to create distinct words. Despite their central role in communication, these “phoneme” contrasts can be lost over the course of language change. The century-old functional load hypothesis proposes that loss of a phoneme contrast will be inhibited in relation to the work that it does in distinguishing words. In a previous work we showed for the first time that a simple measure of functional load does significantly predict patterns of contrast loss within a diverse set of languages: the more minimal word pairs that a phoneme contrast distinguishes, the less likely those phonemes are to have merged over the course of language change. Here, we examine several lexical properties that are predicted to influence the uncertainty between word pairs in usage. We present evidence that (a) the lemma rather than surface-form count of minimal pairs is more predictive of merger; (b) the count of minimal lemma pairs that share a syntactic category is a stronger predictor of merger than the count of those with divergent syntactic categories, and (c) that the count of minimal lemma pairs with members of similar frequency is a stronger predictor of merger than that of those with more divergent frequencies. These findings support the broad hypothesis that properties of individual utterances influence long-term language change, and are consistent with findings suggesting that phonetic cues are modulated in response to lexical uncertainty within utterances.
Mothers’ beliefs about children’s learning in Hong Kong and the United States
Authors: Ng Florrie Fei-Yin , Pomerantz Eva M. , Lam Shui-fong
Published: July 2013

Chinese and American mothers’ beliefs about children’s learning and parents’ role in it were examined using notions salient in Chinese culture. Mothers from Hong Kong ( n = 66) and the United States ( n = 69) indicated their endorsement of the ideas that children’s learning reflects children’s morality, and parents’ support of children’s learning reflects parents’ love and duty. Mothers also reported on the extent to which their worth is based on children’s performance. Chinese (vs. American) mothers believed more that children’s learning reflects morality and parents’ support of children’s learning reflects love; these differences accounted for their feelings of worth being more dependent on children’s performance. Chinese (vs. American) mothers believed less that parents’ support is a duty.
On the Explanatory Power of Generalized Darwinism: Missing Items on the Research Agenda
Authors: Scholz Markus , Reydon Thomas A. C.
Published: July 2013

In a recent article in this journal, Geoffrey Hodgson points out that the notion of ‘evolution’ is widely used in organization science without authors being sufficiently clear on what exactly they mean by this term. In his article, Hodgson cleans up the terminological and conceptual confusion on evolution in organization science and positions so-called ‘generalized Darwinism’ as the only well-elaborated evolutionary framework available in social science. We doubt, however, whether in its present form generalized Darwinism itself constitutes a viable approach. In this article we argue that Hodgson and collaborators so far have failed to show that generalized Darwinism is actually capable of serving as a basis for the construction of evolutionary explanations of social and organizational phenomena. We suggest a few items that should be put on generalized Darwinism’s research agenda in order to develop it towards a viable option.
Clarifying Generalized Darwinism: A Reply to Scholz and Reydon
Authors: Hodgson Geoffrey M.
Published: July 2013

Markus Scholz and Thomas A. C. Reydon discuss the approach known as generalized Darwinism and make a number of comments and criticisms. This reply demonstrates that a number of their statements are inaccurate and misleading. It is important to examine the accounts of generalized Darwinism carefully, including what its proponents say about its explanatory limitations. Scholz and Reydon raise an important question concerning the definition of populations or species, but overlook the additional persistence of this problem in biology. This definitional problem is important but it does not invalidate generalized Darwinism.