bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Baroclinic Eddy Equilibration under Specified Seasonal Forcing
Authors: Zhang Yang , Stone Peter H.
Published: August 2010

Baroclinic eddy equilibration under a Northern Hemisphere–like seasonal forcing is studied using a modified multilayer quasigeostrophic channel model to investigate the widely used “quick baroclinic eddy equilibration” assumption and to understand to what extent baroclinic adjustment can be applied to interpret the midlatitude climate. Under a slowly varying seasonal forcing, the eddy and mean flow seasonal behavior is characterized by four clearly divided time intervals: an eddy inactive time interval in summer, a mainly dynamically determined eddy spinup time interval starting in midfall and lasting less than one month, and a quasi-equilibrium time interval for the zonal mean flow available potential energy from late fall to late spring, with a mainly external forcing determined spindown time interval for eddy activity from late winter to late spring. The baroclinic adjustment can be clearly observed from late fall to late spring. The sensitivity study of the eddy equilibration to the time scale of the external forcing indicates that the time scale separation between the baroclinic adjustment and the external forcing in midlatitudes is only visible for external forcing cycles one year and longer.

In spite of the strong seasonality of the eddy activity, similar to the observations, a robust potential vorticity (PV) structure is still observed through all the seasons. However, it is found that baroclinic eddy is not the only candidate mechanism to maintain the robust PV structure. The role of the boundary layer thermal forcing and the moist convection in maintaining the lower-level PV structure is discussed. The adjustment and the vertical variation of the lower-level stratification play an important role in all of these mechanisms.
Desert Air Incursions, an Overlooked Aspect, for the Dry Spells of the Indian Summer Monsoon
Authors: Krishnamurti T. N. , Thomas A. , Simon Anu , Kumar Vinay
Published: August 2010

The year 2009 was a major drought year for the Indian summer monsoon with a seasonal deficit of rainfall by 21.6%. Standard oceanic predictors such as ENSO and the Indian Ocean dipole are not consistent for these dry spells. There are a host of other parameters such as the Himalayan ice cover, the Eurasian snow cover, the passage of intraseasonal waves, and even accumulated effects of Asian pollution that have been considered for analysis of the dry spells of the monsoon. This paper presents another factor, the western Asian desert air incursions toward central India, and emphasizes the formation of a blocking high over western Asia as an important feature for these dry spells. The blocking high advects descending very dry air toward central India, portrayed using swaths of three-dimensional trajectories. This is a robust indicator for dry spells of the monsoon during the last several decades. This dry air above the 3-km level over central India strongly inhibits the vertical growth of deep convection. Some of the interesting antecedents of the formation of the blocking high include an eastward and somewhat northward extension of the ITCZ over North Africa, a stronger than normal local Hadley cell over North Africa, a strong subtropical jet stream over the southern Mediterranean, and strong conversions of anticyclonic shear vorticity to anticyclonic curvature vorticity. The dynamical antecedents of the aforementioned scenario in this study are related to many aspects of North African weather features. They are portrayed using both reanalysis datasets and ensemble modeling using a suite of coupled atmosphere–ocean models.
Filtering of Background Error Variances and Correlations by Local Spatial Averaging: A Review
Authors: Berre Loïk , Desroziers Gérald
Published: August 2010

The use of local spatial averaging to estimate and validate background error covariances has received increasing attention recently, in particular in the context of variational data assimilation for global numerical weather prediction. First, theoretical and experimental results are presented to examine spatial structures of sampling noise and signal in ensemble-based variance fields in this context. They indicate that sampling noise tends to be relatively small scale, compared to the signal of interest. This difference in spatial structure motivates the use of spatial averaging techniques.

Based on the usual linear estimation theory, it is shown how this information can be taken into account in order to calculate and apply an objective spatial filter. This kind of approach can also be used to compare and validate ensemble-based variances with innovation-based variances. The use of spatial averaging is even more important for innovation-based variances because local innovations correspond to single error realizations.

Similar ideas can be considered for the estimation of correlation functions. The spatial structures of sampling noise and signal in correlation length scale fields suggest that space-averaging techniques could also be applied to correlation functions. The use of wavelets for this purpose is presented in particular. Connections with related approaches in different contexts such as ensemble Kalman filters and probabilistic forecasting are also discussed.
Field Observations of Multimode Raindrop Oscillations by High-Speed Imaging
Authors: Testik F. Y. , Barros A. P. , Bliven L. F.
Published: August 2010

Periodic oscillations of raindrops falling at terminal velocity in natural rain are visualized for the first time by high-speed imaging. These images show the existence of an oscillation mode with the same frequency as the fundamental harmonic, but with shape different than that predicted by linear theory. These oscillations cause a lateral drift with a speed of approximately 20%–30% of the drop terminal velocity and without a preferred direction. These experimental observations serve as an insightful illustration of the potential benefit of applying high-speed imaging technology to investigate the dynamical microstructure of rainfall at the raindrop scale.
Global Trauma and Narrative Cinema
Authors: Narine Neil
Published: August 2010

This article examines how the global traumas of resource-driven conflicts and acts of terrorism are mapped in 21st-century US and UK narrative cinema, and suggests that guilt, elicited in the implied Western viewer, is displaced in the films onto images of Western women. Revisiting Mulvey’s influential theory of ‘visual pleasure’ through the ‘male gaze’, this article analyses the films Traffic (2000), a depiction of US complicity with global drug cartels, Babel (2006), the story of a global media frenzy surrounding American tourists victimized in Morocco, and three films about crises in Africa: Shooting Dogs (2005), a dramatization of Western apathy during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, The Constant Gardener (2005), about pharmaceutical testing in Kenya, and Lord of War (2005), based upon the life of an arms dealer. A theoretical re-engagement with feminist film theory is followed by analyses of the films to illustrate how the guilt elicited by each of the films’ traumatic contexts conjoins with the primal psychological experience of lack. Viewers’ and their screen surrogates’ combined sense of helplessness in the face of others’ trauma is displaced ‘hysterically’ onto images of women, exposing a troubling new looking relation in our traumatic age.
The Postsecular Turn
Authors: McLennan Gregor
Published: August 2010

In this article, I engage with three overlapping expressions of the increasingly postsecular cast of social and cultural theory. These currents — guided, respectively, by genealogical critique, neo-vitalist social philosophy and postcolonial anti-historicism — seek to problematize the frame of previous radical theorizing by exposing definite connections between the epistemological and political levels of secular understanding, and by assuming that the nature of those linkages counts heavily against secularism. As well as offering an interpretive overview of these contributions, I suggest that they are traversed by a number of conceptual flaws and inconsistencies. The tensions, I argue, stem from the fact that in spite of appearing to be driven by a strong anti-secular thrust, these positionings remain thoroughly intra-secular in character. This needs to be more emphatically acknowledged if the ‘postsecular turn’ is to be productive.
Endogenous Rhythms of Seasonal Migratory Body Mass Changes and Nocturnal Restlessness in Different Populations of Northern Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe
Authors: Maggini Ivan , Bairlein Franz
Published: August 2010

The Northern Wheatear ( Oenanthe oenanthe) is a migratory bird species that shows different strategies of migration between populations, adapted to cope with different ecological barriers. This raises the question whether and to which extent these adaptations are endogenously determined. We studied seasonal patterns of body mass change and nocturnal restlessness in wheatears from Iceland, which face an initial sea crossing of at least 800 km; from Norway, which fly a similar distance as Icelandic birds but without a long sea crossing; and from Morocco, which fly a shorter distance to reach their wintering grounds. To isolate the endogenous component of the regulation of these migratory traits, we kept the wheatears in a “common garden,” all 3 populations experiencing the same environmental conditions and a constant photoperiod during their first year of life. Icelandic birds showed a greater increase of their body mass in autumn than the other 2 populations, indicating preparation for the initial barrier crossing. The autumnal timing of nocturnal restlessness and the total activity during autumn were related to the distance to be covered, although the differences between populations were smaller than expected. In all 3 populations, body mass increased to a greater extent in autumn than in spring, whereas nocturnal activity was higher in spring than in autumn. This suggests that the endogenous program responds to specific seasonal needs, with more time invested in storing fuel for a safe journey in autumn and more time invested in flying to reach the breeding grounds early in spring. Contrary to expectations, the timing of onset of body mass increase and nocturnal restlessness in spring did not differ between populations. This might be explained by the lack of external cues, most likely photoperiod, which are responsible for the fine tuning of the expression of migratory behavior.
Rhythm-Promoting Actions of Exercise in Mice with Deficient Neuropeptide Signaling
Authors: Power A. , Hughes A.T.L. , Samuels R.E. , Piggins H.D.
Published: August 2010

Daily exercise promotes physical health as well as improvements in mental and neural functions. Studies in intact wild-type (WT) rodents have revealed that the brain’s suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN), site of the main circadian pacemaker, are also responsive to scheduled wheel running. It is unclear, however, if and how animals with a dysfunctional circadian pacemaker respond to exercise. Here, we tested whether scheduled voluntary exercise (SVE) in a running wheel for 6 hours per day could promote neural and behavioral rhythmicity in animals whose circadian competence is compromised through genetically targeted loss of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide ( VIP-/- mice) or its VPAC2 receptor ( Vipr2-/- mice). We report that in constant dark (DD), rhythmic VIP-/- and Vipr2-/- mice show weak free-running rhythms with a period of <23 hours and all wild-type mice are strongly rhythmic with approximately 23.5-hour periodicity. VIP-/- and Vipr2-/- mice rapidly (<7 days) synchronize to daily SVE, while WT mice take much longer (>35 days). Following 21 to 50 days of SVE, WT mice show small changes in their rhythms, and most Vipr2-/- mice now sustain robust near 24-hour behavioral rhythms, whereas very few VIP-/- mice do. This study demonstrates that scheduled daily exercise can markedly improve circadian rhythms in behavioral activity and raises the possibility that this noninvasive approach may be useful as an intervention in clinical etiologies in which there are dysfunctions of circadian time keeping.
Light Intensity Determines Temporal Niche Switching of Behavioral Activity in Deep-Water Nephrops norvegicus (Crustacea: Decapoda)
Authors: Chiesa Juan José , Aguzzi Jacopo , García José Antonio , Sardà Francesc , de la Iglesia Horacio O.
Published: August 2010

The temporal distribution of behavioral programs throughout the 24-h day, known as temporal niche of a species, is determined by ecological factors that directly affect the adaptive value of the timing of specific behaviors. Temporal niche switching has been described in several species and is likely adaptive in habitats where the daily timing of those factors changes. Benthic species whose habitats span a wide range of water depths are exposed to considerable depth-dependent environmental changes. Temporally scheduled trawl surveys of the Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus, reveal that animals emerge from burrows at night on the shallow shelf (10-50 m deep), at crepuscular hours on the lower shelf (50-200 m), and at daytime on the slope (200-400 m). The mechanisms underlying nocturnality/diurnality switches are chiefly unknown, and Nephrops offers a unique model for their study. The depth-dependent decrease in luminance is a likely candidate determining the temporal distribution of behavior. The authors explored this possibility in the laboratory by exposing Nephrops to light:dark (LD) cycles of 470-nm monochromatic lighting that mimic conditions at the 100-m-deep shelf (10 lux) or the 300-m slope (0.1 lux). Two groups of animals were respectively exposed to each light intensity according to the following protocol: an initial 12:12 LD stage followed by constant darkness (DD), followed in turn by a second 12:12 LD stage. Activity at the burrow opening ( door-keeping = DK), as well as full emergence ( E), was continuously monitored. Under 10-lux LD cycles, most animals showed nocturnal DK activity—with some being crepuscular or diurnal—and all animals showed nocturnal E activity. In contrast, both behaviors were clearly diurnal in animals under 0.1-lux LD cycles. The phase of the nocturnal and diurnal DK rhythms detected respectively at 10 and 0.1 lux upon release into DD revealed that these rhythms are entrained circadian rhythms. The present data indicate that nocturnality/diurnality switches in Nephrops in its natural habitat, evidenced by captures at different depths, are likely determined by light intensity. This temporal niche switching involves different patterns of photic entrainment, leading to bona fide circadian diurnal or nocturnal phenotypes, as well as exogenous masking of behavioral outputs.
“How Can I Not?”: Men’s Pathways to Involvement in Anti-Violence Against Women Work
Authors: Casey Erin , Smith Tyler
Published: August 2010

Despite growing male participation in ending violence against women, little is known about the factors that precipitate men’s engagement as antiviolence “allies.” This study presents findings from a qualitative analysis of interviews with 27 men who recently initiated involvement in an organization or event dedicated to ending sexual or domestic violence. Findings suggest that men’s engagement is a process that occurs over time, that happens largely through existing social networks, and that is influenced by exposure to sensitizing experiences, tangible involvement opportunities and specific types of meaning making related to violence. Implications for models of ally development and for efforts to engage men in antiviolence work are discussed.
Education, neoliberalism and cultural citizenship: Living in ‘X Factor’ Britain
Authors: Stevenson Nick
Published: August 2010

This article seeks to investigate the idea of cultural citizenship in the context of current debates within neoliberalism. It argues that the notion of the knowledge economy displaces earlier critical debates in respect of how a cultural politics of education might develop within a democratic society. Further, it investigates the rise of entrepreneurial television programming and academy-style schools within the British context.These developments have explicit links to a wider culture of neoliberalism. However, the article is cautious about the extent to which we can simply assume that the cultural realm is being ‘made over’. Finally, the article argues that cultural studies scholars should re-read an earlier tradition of critical humanism to respond to these changes, while seeking to engage in wider democratic debates on the idea of the good society.
Transnational Migration and the Emergence of the European Border Regime: An Ethnographic Analysis
Authors: Tsianos Vassilis , Karakayali Serhat
Published: August 2010

Most critical discussions of European immigration policies are centered around the concept of Fortress Europe and understand the concept of the border as a way of sealing off unwanted immigration movements. However, ethnographic studies such as our own multi-sited field research in South-east Europe clearly show that borders are daily being crossed by migrants. These findings point to the shortcomings of the Fortress metaphor. By bringing to the fore the agency of migrants in the conceptualization of borders, we propose to understand how borders are being shaped by taking as a starting point the struggles of mobility. Against the background of our two-year transdisciplinary research project TRANSIT MIGRATION European migration and border policies cannot be longer conceptualized as being simply oriented towards the prevention of migration. Since migrants cross the borders daily, what happens if the borders’ permeability is part of the way they work? If so, we have to investigate the mechanisms of border policies and practices anew. One is the concept of the border or migration regime. The other is the concept of the autonomy of migration. Our concept of ethnographic regime analyses is based on a transdisciplinary approach, comprising political studies, anthropology and sociology.
Developing the construction sight: Architectural education and technological change
Authors: Ivarsson Jonas
Published: August 2010

The general thrust of this study is exploratory. With an interest in the development of competence, and, the achievement of professionally purposeful action — as this is done by way of digital technologies — the study exploits the details of a single collaborative design/learning activity among students of architecture. The provided analysis aims at informing the discussion on the role of technically mediated visual reasoning for the emerging professional vision of the to-be architects. By demonstrating the performance of visually complex actions and events — events and actions that could not have occurred outside the particular medium used — the study raises some principled issues. The first issue pertains to the problem of separating the analytical work made by the students from the tools and other resources that enable this work. The second issue concerns how the use of the technology generates new ways of seeing, showing and doing architecture.
General Evaluability Theory
Authors: Hsee Christopher K. , Zhang Jiao
Published: August 2010

A central question in psychology and economics is the determination of whether individuals react differently to different values of a cared-about attribute (e.g., different income levels, different gas prices, and different ambient temperatures). Building on and significantly extending our earlier work on preference reversals between joint and separate evaluations, we propose a general evaluability theory (GET) that specifies when people are value sensitive and when people mispredict their own or others' value sensitivity. The GET can explain and unify many seemingly unrelated findings, ranging from duration neglect to affective forecasting errors and can generate many new research directions on topics ranging from temporal discounting to subjective well-being.
Culture and Judgment and Decision Making
Authors: Weber Elke U. , Morris Michael W.
Published: August 2010

Cultural influences on individual judgment and decision making are increasingly understood in terms of dynamic constructive processing and the structures in social environments that shape distinct processing styles, directing initial attentional foci, activating particular judgment schemas and decision strategies, and ultimately reinforcing some judgment and decision making (JDM) patterns over others. These structures include the society’s observable patterns of normative actions and responses, its prevalent forms of interpersonal interaction, the typical size and density of social networks, the ideational frames represented publically in texts and institutions, and so forth. We review this emerging perspective on culture and JDM in both economic and social domains, noting the distinctive insights it yields. We suggest new ways that cultural research is becoming relevant to mainstream JDM researchers, while also recognizing issues in need of further research.
Current Perspectives in the Study of Personality Across Cultures
Authors: Timothy Church A.
Published: August 2010

A comprehensive conception of personality would incorporate dispositional traits, characteristic adaptations, and life narratives considered within evolutionary and cultural contexts ( McAdams & Pals, 2006 ). In this article, I review evolutionary, cross-cultural, indigenous, and cultural psychology perspectives as they address these different aspects of personality across cultures. Evolutionary psychologists have focused most on evolved human nature (e.g., species-typical psychological mechanisms) and have recently considered evolutionary bases for heritable variation in dispositional traits. Cross-cultural psychologists have primarily addressed the universality of dispositional traits (e.g., the Five Factor Model) and characteristic adaptations (e.g., values, motives, and beliefs). Indigenous psychologists elaborate salient personality constructs for specific cultural groups, raising the question of whether these constructs represent culture-unique traits or culture-relevant expressions of universal dimensions (i.e., characteristic adaptations). Cultural psychologists de-emphasize dispositional traits, propose cultural differences in characteristic adaptations (e.g., conceptions of personality and self) and life narratives, and investigate dynamic constructivist perspectives on culture. After the review, I consider what an integration of these perspectives might look like and offer suggestions for research.
Effect of intensive shearing on morphology of primary silicon and properties of hypereutectic Al–Si alloy
Authors: Barekar N. S. , Babu N. Hari , Dhindaw B. K. , Fan Z.
Published: August 2010

Al–17Si–0·01Sr alloy melt was intensively sheared in the liquid state using the melt conditioning by advanced shear technology (MCAST) process before high pressure die casting (HPDC). The resultant microstructure and mechanical properties were examined and compared with those of the same alloy produced by the conventional HPDC process. It was found that intensive melt shearing can result in fine and equiaxed primary silicon particles uniformly distributed in the aluminium matrix, giving rise to much improved ductility and wear resistance.
Muscle dysfunction and exercise limitation in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis
Authors: Martínez-Llorens J. , Ramírez M. , Colomina M.J. , Bagó J. , Molina A. , Cáceres E. , Gea J.
Published: August 2010

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) can lead to ventilatory restriction, respiratory muscle weakness and exercise limitation. However, both the causes and the extent of muscle dysfunction remain unclear. The aim of our study is to describe muscle weakness and its relationship to lung function and tolerance to exercise in AIS patients.

Lung and muscle function, together with exercise capacity, were assessed in 60 patients with pronounced spinal deformity (>40°) and in 25 healthy volunteers.

Patients with AIS had only mild to moderate abnormal ventilatory patterns, the most frequent of which were restrictive abnormalities. The function of respiratory and limb muscles and exercise capacity were below normal limits in AIS patients, and were significantly lower than in controls. Exercise capacity was found to correlate with the function of inspiratory, expiratory, upper limb and lower limb muscles which, in addition, were reciprocally interrelated. Multivariate analysis showed that lower limb muscle function is the main contributor to exercise intolerance. There appeared to be no connection between spinal deformity and lung function, muscle function or exercise capacity.

We conclude that AIS patients show generalised muscle dysfunction which contributes to the reduction in their exercise capacity, even in the absence of severe ventilatory impairment.
Health effects of a subway environment in healthy volunteers
Authors: Klepczyńska Nyström A. , Svartengren M. , Grunewald J. , Pousette C. , Rödin I. , Lundin A. , Sköld C.M. , Eklund A. , Larsson B-M.
Published: August 2010

Environmental particle exposure, often estimated as the particulate mass of particles with a diameter <10 μm, <2.5 μm or <1 μm (PM10, PM2.5or PM1), is known to have a negative impact on the health of the population. Little is known about how the size and origin of particles influence the effects. We have previously shown that exposure to a road tunnel environment causes a cellular inflammatory response in the airways of healthy individuals. In the present study, our aim was to investigate potential airway health effects from exposure to a subway environment.

20 healthy volunteers were exposed to a subway and a control environment for 2 h, followed by measurements of lung function and the inflammatory response in the lower airways (bronchoscopy) and in the peripheral blood.

No cellular response was found in the airways after exposure to the subway environment. In the blood, we found a statistically significant increase in fibrinogen and regulatory T-cells expressing CD4/CD25/FOXP3.

Subway and road tunnel environments have similar levels of PM10and PM2.5, whilst the concentrations of ultrafine particles, nitrogen monoxide and dioxide are lower in the subway. Although no cellular response was detected, the findings indicate a biological response to the subway environment. Our studies show that using gravimetric estimates of ambient particulate air pollution alone may have clear limitations in health-risk assessment.
Recovery of body composition improves long-term outcomes after lung volume reduction surgery for emphysema
Authors: Mineo D. , Ambrogi V. , Lauriola V. , Pompeo E. , Mineo T.C.
Published: August 2010

Nutritional status deteriorates along with progression of emphysema, with the decline of body composition correlating with risk of disease-related events. Lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS), by improving respiratory function and recovering body composition, may influence long-term disease-related morbidity and mortality when compared to respiratory rehabilitation (RR).

In this non-randomised study, 44 male patients with moderate-to-severe emphysema underwent LVRS, while 35 received RR. Respiratory parameters, body composition, number and time-to-occurrence of disease-related events were evaluated for 5 yrs.

After LVRS, respiratory and nutritional parameters had significantly greater and longer lasting improvements than after RR. Disease-related events occurred later and less frequently after surgery than after rehabilitation, with better morbidity and mortality survival curves (p<0.01 and p<0.03, respectively). Body mass index (BMI) ≥23kg·m−2, BODE (BMI, airflow obstruction, dyspnoea, exercise capacity) index ≤2 and fat-free mass index (FFMI) ≥16kg·m−2at 1 yr were the best positive predictors of post-operative outcomes (p<0.03, p<0.04 and p<0.005, respectively). Reduction in residual volume at 36 months after surgery was significantly correlated with the increase of BMI (ρ= -0.56, p = 0.009) and FFMI (ρ= -0.64, p = 0.001).

LVRS significantly and durably improved respiratory function and body composition over RR. Relationships among residual volume, BMI, FFMI and disease-related events suggest that recovery in respiratory dynamics improves nutritional status, thus significantly reducing long-term disease-related morbidity and mortality.
Editorial: PD-1, a new target for sepsis treatment: better late than never
Authors: Goyert Sanna M , Silver Jack
Published: August 2010

Editorial discusses the contrasting mechanisms in sepsis, hyperactivation or immunosuppression, and the application of personalized treatment.
Building tilted transversely isotropic depth models using localized anisotropic tomography with well information
Authors: Bakulin Andrey , Woodward Marta , Nichols Dave , Osypov Konstantin , Zdraveva Olga
Published: August 2010

Tilted transverse isotropy (TTI) is increasingly recognized as a more geologically plausible description of anisotropy in sedimentary formations than vertical transverse isotropy (VTI). Although model-building approaches for VTI media are well understood, similar approaches for TTI media are in their infancy, even when the symmetry-axis direction is assumed known. We describe a tomographic approach that builds localized anisotropic models by jointly inverting surface-seismic and well data. We present a synthetic data example of anisotropic tomography applied to a layered TTI model with a symmetry-axis tilt of 45 degrees. We demonstrate three scenarios for constraining the solution. In the first scenario, velocity along the symmetry axis is known and tomography inverts for Thomsen’s [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] parame-ters. In the second scenario, tomography inverts for [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and velocity, using surface-seismic data and vertical check-shot traveltimes. In contrast to the VTI case, both these inversions are nonunique. To combat nonuniqueness, in the third scenario, we supplement check-shot and seismic data with the [Formula: see text] profile from an offset well. This allows recovery of the correct profiles for velocity along the symmetry axis and [Formula: see text]. We conclude that TTI is more ambiguous than VTI for model building. Additional well data or rock-physics assumptions may be required to constrain the tomography and arrive at geologically plausible TTI models. Furthermore, we demonstrate that VTI models with atypical Thomsen parameters can also fit the same joint seismic and check-shot data set. In this case, although imaging with VTI models can focus the TTI data and match vertical event depths, it leads to substantial lateral mispositioning of the reflections.
Early child psychiatry
Authors: Stein George
Published: August 2010

Disturbed and disobedient children can cause much distress to their parents, sometimes precipitating maternal depression. In the Book of Proverbs the word ‘fool’ denotes a character corresponding to the modern concept of personality disorder (mainly antisocial). Parental grief or depression associated with having a fool as a child is described in three separate entries:
Effectiveness of systematic treatment selection for psychodynamic and cognitive–behavioural therapy: randomised controlled trial in routine mental healthcare
Authors: Watzke Birgit , Rüddel Heinz , Jürgensen Ralph , Koch Uwe , Kriston Levente , Grothgar Barbara , Schulz Holger
Published: August 2010

Background

Although cognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT) and psychodynamic therapy (PDT) are both effective treatments for mental disorders, they show clear dissimilarities concerning their therapeutic models and treatment rationales.

Aims

To determine the effectiveness of systematic treatment selection (STS) to CBT or PDT in a mental healthcare setting compared with a control procedure of random treatment selection (RTS).

Method

A randomised controlled trial in a consecutive sample of 291 in-patients with at least one ICD–10 mental disorder was performed. The primary outcome was symptom severity (General Severity Index of the Symptom Checklist–14) at 6-month follow-up. Health-related quality of life was the secondary outcome, determined using the Short Form–8.

Results

Analyses revealed no general effect for systematic treatment selection. However, there was a differential effect: systematic selection resulted in a better longer-term outcome for PDT, but not for CBT; STS–PDT patients showed a significantly larger reduction in symptom severity than RTS–PDT patients. This difference was not observed in CBT.

Conclusions

Since systematic treatment selection seems to be able to optimise treatment outcome, at least for PDT, pursuing systematic treatment assignment strategies in mental healthcare settings is a worthwhile endeavour.
Associations of serious mental illness with earnings: results from the WHO World Mental Health surveys
Authors: Levinson Daphna , Lakoma Matthew D. , Petukhova Maria , Schoenbaum Michael , Zaslavsky Alan M. , Angermeyer Matthias , Borges Guilherme , Bruffaerts Ronny , de Girolamo Giovanni , de Graaf Ron , Gureje Oye , Haro Josep Maria , Hu Chiyi , Karam Aimee N. , Kawakami Norito , Lee Sing , Lepine Jean-Pierre , Browne Mark Oakley , Okoliyski Michail , Posada-Villa José , Sagar Rajesh , Viana Maria Carmen , Williams David R. , Kessler Ronald C.
Published: August 2010

Background

Burden-of-illness data, which are often used in setting healthcare policy-spending priorities, are unavailable for mental disorders in most countries.

Aims

To examine one central aspect of illness burden, the association of serious mental illness with earnings, in the World Health Organization (WHO) World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys.

Method

The WMH Surveys were carried out in 10 high-income and 9 low- and middle-income countries. The associations of personal earnings with serious mental illness were estimated.

Results

Respondents with serious mental illness earned on average a third less than median earnings, with no significant between-country differences (χ2(9) = 5.5–8.1, P = 0.52–0.79). These losses are equivalent to 0.3–0.8% of total national earnings. Reduced earnings among those with earnings and the increased probability of not earning are both important components of these associations.

Conclusions

These results add to a growing body of evidence that mental disorders have high societal costs. Decisions about healthcare resource allocation should take these costs into consideration.
Burden of psychiatric disorder in young adulthood and life outcomes at age 30
Authors: Gibb Sheree J. , Fergusson David M. , Horwood L. John
Published: August 2010

Background

Psychiatric disorders are common during young adulthood and comorbidity is frequent. Individual psychiatric disorders have been shown to be associated with negative economic and educational outcomes, but few studies have addressed the relationship between the total extent of psychiatric disorder and life outcomes.

Aims

To examine whether the extent of common psychiatric disorder between ages 18 and 25 is associated with negative economic and educational outcomes at age 30, before and after controlling for confounding factors.

Method

Participants were 987 individuals from the Christchurch Health and Development Study, a longitudinal study of a birth cohort of individuals born in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1977 and followed to age 30. Linear and logistic regression models were used to examine the associations between psychiatric disorder from age 18 to 25 and workforce participation, income and living standards, and educational achievement at age 30, before and after adjustment for confounding factors.

Results

There were significant associations between the extent of psychiatric disorder reported between ages 18 and 25 and all of the outcome measures (all P<0.05). After adjustment for confounding factors, the associations between psychiatric disorder and workforce participation, income and living standards remained significant (all P<0.05), but the associations between psychiatric disorder and educational achievement were not significant (all P>0.10).

Conclusions

After due allowance had been made for a range of confounding factors, psychiatric disorder between ages 18 and 25 was associated with reduced workforce participation, lower income and lower economic living standards at age 30.
Alternatives to standard acute in-patient care for people with mental disorders: from systematic description to evaluative research
Authors: Tansella Michele
Published: August 2010

Many service users and professionals are not satisfied with current hospital care: they call for a safer and more friendly environment, with greater freedom and less social distance between staff and patients. Phase 2 of the Alternatives Study was designed to improve the evidence base for such residential alternatives. Findings suggest that offering a more acceptable environment increases satisfaction with treatment, although it does not improve the clinical outcome. This set of coordinated studies also suggest that we should listen (and talk) more to our patients, and make our style of working in hospital and community facilities less paternalistic.
Residential alternatives to acute in-patient care in England: satisfaction, ward atmosphere and service user experiences
Authors: Osborn David P. J. , Lloyd-Evans Brynmor , Johnson Sonia , Gilburt Helen , Byford Sarah , Leese Morven , Slade Mike
Published: August 2010

Background

Alternatives to traditional in-patient services may be associated with a better experience of admission.

Aims

To compare patient satisfaction, ward atmosphere and perceived coercion in the two types of service, using validated measures.

Method

The experience of 314 patients in four residential alternatives and four standard services were compared using the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ), the Service Satisfaction Scale – Residential form (SSS–Res), the Ward Atmosphere Scale (WAS) and the Admission Experience Scale (AES).

Results

Compared with standard wards, service users from alternative services reported greater levels of satisfaction (mean difference CSQ 3.3, 95% CI 1.8 to 4.9; SSS–Res 11.4, 95% CI 5.0 to 17.7). On the AES, service users in alternatives perceived less coercion (mean difference –1.3, 95% CI –1.8 to –0.8) and having more ‘voice’ (mean difference 0.9, 95% CI 0.6 to 1.2). Greater autonomy, more support and less anger and aggression were revealed by WAS scores. Differences in CSQ and AES scores remained significant after multivariable adjustment, but SSS–Res results were attenuated, mainly by detention status.

Conclusions

Community alternatives were associated with greater service user satisfaction and less negative experiences. Some but not all of these differences were explained by differences in the two populations, particularly in involuntary admission.
Uptake of mandatory outcome measures in mental health services
Authors: Jacobs Rowena , Moran Valerie
Published: August 2010

Aims and method

The collection of results of a specific outcome measure, the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS), is mandatory for mental healthcare providers in the National Health Service in England. Not all providers collect HoNOS data and coverage varies widely. This paper explores, by means of interviews with clinicians and policy makers and econometric analysis of HoNOS data, the barriers and incentives to the uptake of HoNOS and outcomes more generally, and the key characteristics associated with providers who do undertake HoNOS.

Results

The main barriers to the collection of outcomes involve a lack of adequate feedback mechanisms, a lack of perceived clinical relevance and poor information technology infrastructure. Econometric results show HoNOS collection is associated with providers who produce high-quality data.

Clinical implications

Initiatives should focus on putting systems in place to encourage feedback mechanisms for clinicians.
Supervised community treatment in Birmingham and Solihull: first 6 months
Authors: Evans Rob , Makala Jayaprakash , Humphreys Martin , Mohan Chitra R. N.
Published: August 2010

Aims and method

To describe the first 6 months of the newly introduced community treatment orders (CTOs) in Birmingham and Solihull mental health services; to establish a clearer picture of patterns of use and some early outcomes. Computerised note systems were used to collect a range of sociodemographic and clinical data using a specially designed data collection tool.

Results

We observed higher than expected numbers of CTOs compared with previous use of Section 25 supervised discharge. Our results were consistent with international studies in showing that CTOs are typically used in males aged around 40 with a primary diagnosis of psychotic illness. Compared with the census population, Black and minority ethnic groups were overrepresented in our sample. There were high recorded rates of comorbid alcohol or substance misuse and violence. The majority of patients on CTOs were being followed up by community mental health teams or assertive outreach teams.

Clinical implications

It is difficult to draw firm conclusions at this early stage of implementation. However, there are likely to be resource implications in view of the high numbers of CTOs applied compared with Section 25 discharge. Service providers, clinicians and commissioners need to ensure CTOs are backed up by high-quality care. Further research is required into the impact of CTOs on a range of outcomes and to understand differential rates of CTO across different ethnic groups.
Non-enzymatic glucose detection using nitrogen-doped diamond-like carbon electrodes modified with gold nanoclusters
Authors: Liu Aiping , Liu Erjia , Yang Guocheng , Khun Nay Win , Ma Wenguang
Published: August 2010

Highly sensitive electrochemical electrodes for glucose detection were developed by using Au nanoclusters (NCs) to modify nitrogen-doped diamond-like carbon thin films (DLC:N/Au). The DLC:N/Au electrodes were prepared with a filtered cathodic vacuum arc process followed by electrodeposition and characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The size of the Au NCs covered by Au oxide ranged between 10 and 70 nm with a density of 108–109 clusters per cm2. Glucose oxidation at the DLC:N/Au electrodes started from about –0.5 V due to the high catalytic activities of the Au NCs in NaOH solutions, and the catalytic ability of the electrodes depended on the amount of Au NCs deposited on the electrode surfaces. A linear detection range of glucose with the DLC:N/Au electrodes was identified from about 0.25 to 30 mM (covering blood glucose levels in diabetic patients) with a detection limit of 60 μM. The experimental results showed that the non-enzymatic glucose sensors based on the DLC:N/Au electrodes had high sensitivity and good reproducibility and stability.
Formal Lewis acidic character of gold nanocluster catalyst
Authors: Sakurai Hidehiro , Kamiya Ikuyo , Kitahara Hiroaki
Published: August 2010

Gold nanoclusters (NCs) stabilized by the poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) hydrophilic polymer (Au:PVP) behave not only as aerobic oxidation catalyst but also formal Lewis acid catalyst, which promotes the intramolecular heterocyclization of γ-hydroxyalkenes and γ-aminoalkenes.
Homotopy shadowing
Authors: Ishii Yutaka , Smillie John
Published: August 2010

Michael Shub proved in 1969 that the topological conjugacy class of an expanding endomorphism on a compact manifold is determined by its homotopy type. In this article we generalize this result in two directions. In one direction we consider certain expanding maps on metric spaces. In a second direction we consider maps which are hyperbolic with respect to product cone fields on a product manifold. A key step in the proof is to establish a shadowing theorem for pseudo-orbits with some additional homotopy information.
Fourier restriction to polynomial curves I: a geometric inequality
Authors: Dendrinos Spyridon , Wright James
Published: August 2010

We prove a Fourier restriction result for general polynomial
curves in ${\Bbb R}^d$. Measuring the Fourier restriction with
respect to the affine arclength measure of the curve, we obtain a
universal estimate for the class of all polynomial curves of bounded
degree. Our method relies on establishing a geometric inequality
for general polynomial curves which is of interest in its own
right. Applications of this geometric inequality to other problems
in euclidean harmonic analysis have recently been established.
Generic uniqueness of area minimizing disks for extreme curves
Authors: Coskunuzer Baris
Published: August 2010

We show that for a generic nullhomotopic simple closed curve $\Gamma$
in the boundary of a compact, orientable, mean convex $3$-manifold $M$
with $H_2(M,{\bf Z})=0$, there is a unique area minimizing disk $D$
embedded in $M$ with $\partial D = \Gamma$. We also show that the same
is true for nullhomologous curves in the absolutely area minimizing
surface case.
The general quadruple point formula
Authors: Marangell R. , Rimányi R.
Published: August 2010

Maps between manifolds $M^m\to N^{m+\ell}$ ($\ell>0$) have
multiple points, and more generally, multisingularities. The closure
of the set of points where the map has a particular multisingularity
is called the multisingularity locus. There are universal relations
among the cohomology classes represented by multisingularity loci,
and the characteristic classes of the manifolds. These relations
include the celebrated Thom polynomials of monosingularities. For
multisingularities, however, only the form of these relations is
clear in general (due to Kazarian), the concrete
polynomials occurring in the relations are much less known. In the
present paper we prove the first general such relation outside the
region of Morin-maps: the general quadruple point formula. We apply
this formula in enumerative geometry by computing the number of
4-secant linear spaces to smooth projective varieties. Some other
multisingularity formulas are also studied, namely 5, 6, 7 tuple
point formulas, and one corresponding to $\Sigma^2\Sigma^0$
multisingularities.
Characterizing generic global rigidity
Authors: Gortler Steven J. , Healy Alexander D. , Thurston Dylan P.
Published: August 2010

A $d$-dimensional {\it framework} is a graph and a map from its vertices
to~${\Bbb E}^d$. Such a framework is {\it globally rigid} if
it is the only framework in ${\Bbb E}^d$ with the same graph and edge
lengths, up to
rigid motions. For which underlying graphs
is a generic framework globally rigid? We answer this question
by proving a conjecture by Connelly, that his sufficient condition
is also necessary: a generic framework is globally rigid if and only
if it has a stress matrix with kernel of dimension $d+1$, the
minimum possible. An alternate version of the condition comes from considering the
geometry of the length-squared mapping~$\ell$: the
graph is generically locally rigid iff the rank of $\ell$ is maximal,
and it is generically
globally rigid iff the rank of the Gauss map on the image of $\ell$
is maximal. We also show that this condition is efficiently
checkable with a randomized algorithm, and prove that if a graph is
not generically globally rigid then it is flexible one dimension
higher.
Non-discrete Euclidean buildings for the Ree and Suzuki groups
Authors: Hitzelberger Petra , Kramer Linus , Weiss Richard M.
Published: August 2010

We call a non-discrete Euclidean building a {\it Bruhat-Tits space} if
its automorphism group contains a subgroup that induces the subgroup
generated by all the root groups of a root datum of the building at
infinity. This is the class of non-discrete Euclidean buildings
introduced and studied by Bruhat and Tits. We give the complete
classification of Bruhat-Tits spaces whose building at infinity is the
fixed point set of a polarity of an ambient building of type $\hbox{\sf
B}_2$, $\hbox{\sf F}_4$ or $\hbox{\sf G}_2$ associated with a Ree or Suzuki
group endowed with the usual root datum. (In the $\hbox{\sf B}_2$ and
$\hbox{\sf G}_2$ cases, this fixed point set is a building of rank one; in
the $\hbox{\sf F}_4$ case, it is a generalized octagon whose Weyl group is
not crystallographic.) We also show that each of these Bruhat-Tits
spaces has a natural embedding in the unique Bruhat-Tits space whose
building at infinity is the corresponding ambient building.