bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effects of oversulfated and fucosylated chondroitin sulfates on coagulation
Authors: Fonseca Roberto , Oliveira Stephan-Nicollas , Pomin Vitor , Mecawi André , Araujo Iracema , Mourão Paulo
Published: March 2010

We report the effects of a chemically oversulfated chondroitin sulfate and a naturally fucosylated chondroitin sulfate on the coagulation system. The former has been recently identified as a contaminant of heparin preparations and the latter has been proposed as an alternative anticoagulant. The mechanism of action of these polymers on coagulation is complex and target different components of the coagulation system. They have serpin-independent anticoagulant activity, which preponderates in plasma. They also have serpin-dependent anticoagulant activity but differ significantly in the target coagulation protease and preferential serpin. Their anticoagulant effects differ even more markedly when tested as inhibitors of coagulation proteases using plasma as a source of serpins. It is possible that the difference is due to the high availability of fucosylated chondroitin sulfate whereas over-sulfated chondroitin sulfate has strong unspecific binding to plasma protein and low availability for the binding to serpins. When tested using a venous thrombosis experimental model, oversulfated chondroitin sulfate is less potent as an antithrombotic agent than fucosylated chondroitin sulfate. These highly sulfated chondroitin sulfates activate factor XII in in vitro assays, based on kallikrein release. However, only fucosylated chondroitin sulfate induces hypotension when intravenously injected into rats. In conclusion, the complexity of the regulatory mechanisms involved in the action of highly sulfated polysaccharides in coagulation requires their analysis by a combination of in vitro and in vivo assays. Our results are relevant due to the urgent need for new anticoagulant drugs or alternative sources of heparin.
Blocking endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR) accelerates thrombus development in vivo
Authors: Centelles Miguel , Puy Cristina , Lopez-Sagaseta Jacinto , Fukudome Kenji , Montes Ramón , Hermida José
Published: March 2010

The endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR) plays an anticoagulant role by improving protein C activation. Although low levels of activated protein C (APC) constitute a thrombosis risk factor, the relationship between modulating EPCR function and thrombosis has not been addressed so far. Monoclonal antibodies (mAb) against murine EPCR were raised, and their ability to block protein C/APC binding was tested. The ferric chloride carotid artery injury model in mice was chosen to test the effect of anti-EPCR mAb on thrombus formation. The time to total occlusion of the vessel was analysed in three groups, given an isotype control mAb (IC), a blocking (RCR-16) or a non-blocking (RCR-20) anti-EPCR mAb. RCR-16 prevented the interaction between protein C/APC and EPCR as demonstrated by surface plasmon resonance and flow cytometry, and inhibited the activation of protein C on the endothelium. IC and RCR-20 were unable to induce such effects. In vivo, RCR-16 shortened the time to total vessel occlusion with respect to IC [13.4 ± 1.0 (mean ± SD) and 17.8 ± 3.2 minutes, respectively, p<0.001]. Occlusive thrombi lasting for more than one hour were observed in all RCR-16-treated animals, but only in 43% of IC-treated ones. Results with RCR-20 were indistinguishable from those observed with IC. For the first time, a direct relationship between blocking EPCR and thrombosis is demonstrated. Blocking anti-EPCR autoantibodies can predispose to thrombosis episodes and may constitute a new therapeutic target.
Rare thromboses of cerebral, splanchnic and upper-extremity veins
Authors: Stefano Valerio De , Martinelli Ida
Published: March 2010

Venous thrombosis typically involves the lower extremity circulation. Rarely, it can occur in the cerebral or splanchnic veins and these are the most frightening manifestations because of their high mortality rate. A third site of rare venous thrombosis is the deep system of the upper extremities that, as for the lower extremity, can be complicated by pulmonary embolism and post-thrombotic syndrome. The authors conducted a narrative review focused on clinical manifestations, risk factors, and treatment of rare venous thromboses. Local risk factors such as infections or cancer are frequent in thrombosis of cerebral or portal veins. Upper extremity deep-vein thrombosis is mostly due to local risk factors (catheter- or effort-related). Common systemic risk factors for rare venous thromboses are inherited thrombophilia and oral contraceptive use; chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms are closely associated with splanchnic vein thrombosis. In the acute phase rare venous thromboses should be treated conventionally with low-molecular-weight heparin. Use of local or systemic fibrinolysis should be considered in the case of clinical deterioration in spite of adequate anticoagulation. Anticoagulation with vitamin K-antagonists is recommended for 3–6 months after a first episode of rare venous thrombosis. Indefinite anticoagulation is recommended for Budd-Chiari syndrome, recurrent thrombosis or unprovoked thrombosis and permanent risk factors. In conclusion, the progresses made in the last couple of decades in diagnostic imaging and the broadened knowledge of thrombophilic abnormalities improved the recognition of rare venous thromboses and the understanding of pathogenic mechanisms. However, the recommendations for treatment mainly derive from observational studies.
Modality-dependent “What” and “Where” Preparatory Processes in Auditory and Visual Systems
Authors: Diaconescu Andreea Oliviana , Alain Claude , McIntosh Anthony Randal
Published: March 2010

The present study examined the modality specificity and spatio-temporal dynamics of “what” and “where” preparatory processes in anticipation of auditory and visual targets using ERPs and a cue–target paradigm. Participants were presented with an auditory (Experiment 1) or a visual (Experiment 2) cue that signaled them to attend to the identity or location of an upcoming auditory or visual target. In both experiments, participants responded faster to the location compared to the identity conditions. Multivariate spatio-temporal partial least square (ST-PLS) analysis of the scalp-recorded data revealed supramodal “where” preparatory processes between 300–600 msec and 600–1200 msec at central and posterior parietal electrode sites in anticipation of both auditory and visual targets. Furthermore, preparation for pitch processing was captured at modality-specific temporal regions between 300 and 700 msec, and preparation for shape processing was detected at occipital electrode sites between 700 and 1150 msec. The spatio-temporal patterns noted above were replicated when a visual cue signaled the upcoming response (Experiment 2). Pitch or shape preparation exhibited modality-dependent spatio-temporal patterns, whereas preparation for target localization was associated with larger amplitude deflections at multimodal, centro-parietal sites preceding both auditory and visual targets. Using a novel paradigm, the study supports the notion of a division of labor in the auditory and visual pathways following both auditory and visual cues that signal identity or location response preparation to upcoming auditory or visual targets.
Beyond the Memory Mechanism: Person-selective and Nonselective Processes in Recognition of Personally Familiar Faces
Authors: Sugiura Motoaki , Mano Yoko , Sasaki Akihiro , Sadato Norihiro
Published: March 2010

Special processes recruited during the recognition of personally familiar people have been assumed to reflect the rich episodic and semantic information that selectively represents each person. However, the processes may also include person nonselective ones, which may require interpretation in terms beyond the memory mechanism. To examine this possibility, we assessed decrease in differential activation during the second presentation of an identical face (repetition suppression) as an index of person selectivity. During fMRI, pictures of personally familiar, famous, and unfamiliar faces were presented to healthy subjects who performed a familiarity judgment. Each face was presented once in the first half of the experiment and again in the second half. The right inferior temporal and left inferior frontal gyri were activated during the recognition of both types of familiar faces initially, and this activation was suppressed with repetition. Among preferentially activated regions for personally familiar over famous faces, robust suppression in differential activation was exhibited in the bilateral medial and anterior temporal structures, left amygdala, and right posterior STS, all of which are known to process episodic and semantic information. On the other hand, suppression was minimal in the posterior cingulate, medial prefrontal, right inferior frontal, and intraparietal regions, some of which were implicated in social cognition and cognitive control. Thus, the recognition of personally familiar people is characterized not only by person-selective representation but also by nonselective processes requiring a research framework beyond the memory mechanism, such as a social adaptive response.
Perceptual Fusion Tendency of Speech Sounds
Authors: Huang Ying , Li Jingyu , Zou Xuefei , Qu Tianshu , Wu Xihong , Mao Lihua , Wu Yanhong , Li Liang
Published: March 2010

To discriminate and to recognize sound sources in a noisy, reverberant environment, listeners need to perceptually integrate the direct wave with the reflections of each sound source. It has been confirmed that perceptual fusion between direct and reflected waves of a speech sound helps listeners recognize this speech sound in a simulated reverberant environment with disrupting sound sources. When the delay between a direct sound wave and its reflected wave is sufficiently short, the two waves are perceptually fused into a single sound image as coming from the source location. Interestingly, compared with nonspeech sounds such as clicks and noise bursts, speech sounds have a much larger perceptual fusion tendency. This study investigated why the fusion tendency for speech sounds is so large. Here we show that when the temporal amplitude fluctuation of speech was artificially time reversed, a large perceptual fusion tendency of speech sounds disappeared, regardless of whether the speech acoustic carrier was in normal or reversed temporal order. Moreover, perceptual fusion of normal-order speech, but not that of time-reversed speech, was accompanied by increased coactivation of the attention-control-related, spatial-processing-related, and speech-processing-related cortical areas. Thus, speech-like acoustic carriers modulated by speech amplitude fluctuation selectively activate a cortical network for top–down modulations of speech processing, leading to an enhancement of perceptual fusion of speech sounds. This mechanism represents a perceptual-grouping strategy for unmasking speech under adverse conditions.
Changes in Cerebello-motor Connectivity during Procedural Learning by Actual Execution and Observation
Authors: Torriero Sara , Oliveri Massimiliano , Koch Giacomo , Lo Gerfo Emanuele , Salerno Silvia , Ferlazzo Fabio , Caltagirone Carlo , Petrosini Laura
Published: March 2010

The cerebellum is involved in motor learning of new procedures both during actual execution of a motor task and during observational training. These processes are thought to depend on the activity of a neural network that involves the lateral cerebellum and primary motor cortex (M1). In this study, we used a twin-coil TMS technique to investigate whether execution and observation of a visuomotor procedural learning task is related to modulation of cerebello-motor connectivity. We observed that, at rest, a magnetic conditioning pulse applied over the lateral cerebellum reduced the motor-evoked potentials obtained by stimulating the contralateral M1, indicating activation of a cerebello-motor connection. Furthermore, during procedural learning, cerebellar stimulation resulted in selective facilitation, not inhibition, of contralateral M1 excitability. The effects were evident when motor learning was obtained by actual execution of the task or by observation, but they disappeared if procedural learning had already been acquired by previous observational training. These results indicate that changes in cerebello-motor connectivity occur in relation to specific phases of procedural learning, demonstrating a complex pattern of excitatory and inhibitory drives modulated across time.
A Candidate for the Attentional Bottleneck: Set-size Specific Modulation of the Right TPJ during Attentive Enumeration
Authors: Vetter Petra , Butterworth Brian , Bahrami Bahador
Published: March 2010

Several recent behavioral studies have shown that the enumeration of a small number of items (a process termed subitizing) depends on the availability of attentional resources and is not a preattentive process as previously thought. Here we studied the neural correlates of visual enumeration under different attentional loads in a dual-task paradigm using fMRI. Relatively intact subitizing under low attentional load compared to impaired subitizing under high attentional load was associated with an increase in BOLD signal in the right temporo-parietal junction (rTPJ). Crucially, attentionally modulated response in the rTPJ was specific to small set sizes (up to 3 items) and did not occur at larger set sizes (5–7 items). This result has two implications: (1) Subitizing involves part of the fronto-parietal network for stimulus-driven attention providing neural evidence against preattentive subitizing. (2) Activity in rTPJ is set-size modulated. Together with similar evidence from studies probing visual short-term memory, this result suggests that rTPJ modulation might reflect the brain's ability to attentively handle small set sizes. Thus, the rTPJ may play an important role for the emergence of a capacity limit in both enumeration and visual short-term memory.
Medial Prefrontal Cortex Predicts Intertemporal Choice
Authors: Mitchell Jason P. , Schirmer Jessica , Ames Daniel L. , Gilbert Daniel T.
Published: March 2010

People often make shortsighted decisions to receive small benefits in the present rather than large benefits in the future, that is, to favor their current selves over their future selves. In two studies using fMRI, we demonstrated that people make such decisions in part because they fail to engage in the same degree of self-referential processing when thinking about their future selves. When participants predicted how much they would enjoy an event in the future, they showed less activity in brain regions associated with introspective self-reference—such as the ventromedial pFC (vMPFC)—than when they predicted how much they would enjoy events in the present. Moreover, the magnitude of vMPFC reduction predicted the extent to which participants made shortsighted monetary decisions several weeks later. In light of recent findings that the vMPFC contributes to the ability to simulate future events from a first-person perspective, these data suggest that shortsighted decisions result in part from a failure to fully imagine the subjective experience of one's future self.
Neural Correlates of Sublexical Processing in Phonological Working Memory
Authors: McGettigan Carolyn , Warren Jane E. , Eisner Frank , Marshall Chloe R. , Shanmugalingam Pradheep , Scott Sophie K.
Published: March 2010

This study investigated links between working memory and speech processing systems. We used delayed pseudoword repetition in fMRI to investigate the neural correlates of sublexical structure in phonological working memory (pWM). We orthogonally varied the number of syllables and consonant clusters in auditory pseudowords and measured the neural responses to these manipulations under conditions of covert rehearsal (Experiment 1). A left-dominant network of temporal and motor cortex showed increased activity for longer items, with motor cortex only showing greater activity concomitant with adding consonant clusters. An individual-differences analysis revealed a significant positive relationship between activity in the angular gyrus and the hippocampus, and accuracy on pseudoword repetition. As models of pWM stipulate that its neural correlates should be activated during both perception and production/rehearsal [Buchsbaum, B. R., & D'Esposito, M. The search for the phonological store: From loop to convolution. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 20, 762–778, 2008; Jacquemot, C., & Scott, S. K. What is the relationship between phonological short-term memory and speech processing? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 10, 480–486, 2006; Baddeley, A. D., & Hitch, G. Working memory. In G. H. Bower (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation: Advances in research and theory (Vol. 8, pp. 47–89). New York: Academic Press, 1974], we further assessed the effects of the two factors in a separate passive listening experiment (Experiment 2). In this experiment, the effect of the number of syllables was concentrated in posterior–medial regions of the supratemporal plane bilaterally, although there was no evidence of a significant response to added clusters. Taken together, the results identify the planum temporale as a key region in pWM; within this region, representations are likely to take the form of auditory or audiomotor “templates” or “chunks” at the level of the syllable [Papoutsi, M., de Zwart, J. A., Jansma, J. M., Pickering, M. J., Bednar, J. A., & Horwitz, B. From phonemes to articulatory codes: an fMRI study of the role of Broca's area in speech production. Cerebral Cortex, 19, 2156–2165, 2009; Warren, J. E., Wise, R. J. S., & Warren, J. D. Sounds do-able: auditory–motor transformations and the posterior temporal plane. Trends in Neurosciences, 28, 636–643, 2005; Griffiths, T. D., & Warren, J. D. The planum temporale as a computational hub. Trends in Neurosciences, 25, 348–353, 2002], whereas more lateral structures on the STG may deal with phonetic analysis of the auditory input [Hickok, G. The functional neuroanatomy of language. Physics of Life Reviews, 6, 121–143, 2009].
Task Context and Frontal Lobe Activation in the Stroop Task
Authors: Floden Darlene , Vallesi Antonino , Stuss Donald T.
Published: March 2010

The ability to step outside a routine—to select a new response over a habitual one—is a cardinal function of the frontal lobes. A large body of neuroimaging work now exists pointing to increased activation within the anterior cingulate when stimuli evoke competing responses (incongruent trials) relative to when responses converge (congruent trials). However, lesion evidence that the ACC is necessary in this situation is inconsistent. We hypothesized that this may be a consequence of different task procedures (context) used in lesion and neuroimaging studies. The present study attempted to reconcile the lesion and the fMRI findings by having subjects perform clinical and experimental versions of the Stroop task during BOLD fMRI acquisition. We examined the relationship of brain activation patterns, specifically within the anterior cingulate and left dorsolateral frontal regions, to congruent and incongruent trial types in different task presentations or contexts. The results confirmed our hypothesis that ACC activity is relatively specific to unblocked–uncued incongruent Stroop conditions that have not been used in large neuropsychological studies. Moreover, the size of the behavioral Stroop interference effect was significantly correlated with activity in ACC and left dorsolateral regions, although in different directions. The current results are discussed in terms of previous proposals for the functional roles of these regions in activating, monitoring, and task setting, and the relation of these findings to the disparate reports in recent case series is considered.
The Neural Substrates of Recognition Memory for Verbal Information: Spanning the Divide between Short- and Long-term Memory
Authors: Buchsbaum Bradley R. , Padmanabhan Aarthi , Berman Karen Faith
Published: March 2010

One of the classic categorical divisions in the history of memory research is that between short-term and long-term memory. Indeed, because memory for the immediate past (a few seconds) and memory for the relatively more remote past (several seconds and beyond) are assumed to rely on distinct neural systems, more often than not, memory research has focused either on short- (or “working memory”) or on long-term memory. Using an auditory–verbal continuous recognition paradigm designed for fMRI, we examined how the neural signatures of recognition memory change across an interval of time (from 2.5 to 30 sec) that spans this hypothetical division between short- and long-term memory. The results revealed that activity during successful auditory–verbal item recognition in inferior parietal cortex and the posterior superior temporal lobe was maximal for early lags, whereas, conversely, activity in the left inferior frontal gyrus increased as a function of lag. Taken together, the results reveal that as the interval between item repetitions increases, there is a shift in the distribution of memory-related activity that moves from posterior temporo-parietal cortex (lags 1–4) to inferior frontal regions (lags 5–10), indicating that as time advances, the burden of recognition memory is increasingly placed on top–down retrieval mechanisms that are mediated by structures in inferior frontal cortex.
From Agents to Objects: Sexist Attitudes and Neural Responses to Sexualized Targets
Authors: Cikara Mina , Eberhardt Jennifer L. , Fiske Susan T.
Published: March 2010

Agency attribution is a hallmark of mind perception; thus, diminished attributions of agency may disrupt social–cognition processes typically elicited by human targets. The current studies examine the effect of perceivers' sexist attitudes on associations of agency with, and neural responses to, images of sexualized and clothed men and women. In Study 1, male (but not female) participants with higher hostile sexism scores more quickly associated sexualized women with first-person action verbs (“handle”) and clothed women with third-person action verbs (“handles”) than the inverse, as compared to their less sexist peers. In Study 2, hostile sexism correlated negatively with activation of regions associated with mental state attribution—medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate, temporal poles—but only when viewing sexualized women. Heterosexual men best recognized images of sexualized female bodies (but not faces), as compared with other targets' bodies; however, neither face nor body recognition was related to hostile sexism, suggesting that the fMRI findings are not explained by more or less attention to sexualized female targets. Diminished mental state attribution is not unique to targets that people prefer to avoid, as in dehumanization of stigmatized people. The current studies demonstrate that appetitive social targets may elicit a similar response depending on perceivers' attitudes toward them.
The Birth of Jesus and Rama in Christian and Hindu Sacred Texts: An Exercise in New Comparative Theology
Authors: Bakker Freek L.
Published: March 2010

One of the most popular Christian holy days is Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Less well known, at least in the Western world, may be the Hindu festival of Ramnavmi, the celebration of the birth of Lord Rama. The central text of Christmas is Luke 2, which narrates the birth of Jesus while placing him in a certain context. The great text of Ramnavmi is the Ramcaritmanas, from which many verses are read during the ceremonies. The Ramcaritmanas is a Hindi version of the Sanskrit Ramayana epic and includes the birth story of Rama and his brothers.This article presents English translations of the texts narrating the births of Jesus and Rama, analyses these texts and compares their contents and finally draw some conclusions regarding the concept of incarnation found in these texts.
End-of-Life Issues in United States Veterinary Medicine Schools
Authors: Dickinson George E. , Roof Paul D. , Roof Karin W.
Published: March 2010

The purpose of this research endeavor was to determine the status of dying, death, and bereavement as topics within the curricula of the 28 veterinary medicine schools in the United States. Data were obtained via a mailed questionnaire (100% return rate). Results revealed that over 96% of the schools have offerings related to end-of-life issues, with 80% of students exposed to these offerings. The average number of hours students devote to end-of-life issues is 14.64, about the same as for U.S. medical and baccalaureate nursing schools. Topics covered most often are “euthanasia” and “communication with owners of dying animals.” Veterinary schools over-whelmingly note that dying, death, and bereavement are important topics. It might be helpful to veterinary medicine students if their own feelings regarding dying and death were addressed early in the curriculum and throughout class activities and clinical work. Veterinarians would likely relate better to animal guardians and to nonhuman animals themselves if they felt more comfortable with dying and death.
Multiple Embeddedness and Systemic Implications: Struggles over Natural Resources in Minangkabau since the Reformasi
Authors: Benda-Beckmann Franz von , Benda-Beckmann Keebet von
Published: March 2010

This article deals with struggles over natural resources in West Sumatra, the homeland of the Minangkabau after the end of the Suharto regime in 1998. In these processes, actors often follow ambiguous strategies in pursuing their interests. We argue that these ambiguities to a large extent derive from a combination of factors: One is the multiple embeddedness of property rights at different layers of social organisations, in particular in social and general legal relationships. The second is the systemic implication of property rights in other domains of social organisation, for instance, authority and power relations. The third is the specific complexity and concomitant legal insecurity within plural legal orders. Actors who draw on rules from different legal orders — for designing regulations, for validating transactions, and for making decisions in disputes — have to deal with the problem that property relations are embedded differently in different legal orders and have different logics and systemic implications. This often leads actors to a strange combination of highly legalistic reasoning and a very pragmatic search for solutions.
Who Shall Benefit? Conflicts among the Landless Poor in a Philippine Agrarian Reform Programme
Authors: Rutten Rosanne
Published: March 2010

Across plantation communities in the Philippines, farm workers are locked in struggles about their entitlement to land. Who may qualify as ‘rightful beneficiaries’ in the current government programme of land redistribution has become a deeply contentious issue. The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988 has produced — besides landowner resistance — an extensive renegotiation of land rights at the community level that may set landless workers against one another. This paper explores, for the sugarcane plantation region of Negros Occidental, why these intra-poor conflicts take place and how the boundaries between competing groups are drawn. Central to the analysis are: (1) a multi-actor perspective that considers the interactions of farm workers with state agencies, landowners, farm worker movements, NGOs, and different categories of the landless poor; and (2) a focus on the multiple social fields in which farm workers are involved (the fields of the state, market, social movements, landowner patronage, and the plantation community, among others), each with a defining social tie and legitimising discourse, each prompting a specific type of claim and justifying argument.
Against ‘Green Development Fantasies’: Resource Degradation and the Lack of Community Resistance in the Middle Mahakam Wetlands, East Kalimantan, Indonesia
Authors: Edwin B.P. de Jong , Nooteboom Gerben
Published: March 2010

In the middle Mahakam wetlands, East Kalimantan, local populations are hit hard by ecological deterioration in the form of degraded water quality, floods, depletion of fish stocks, and increasing sedimentation and aquatic weeds. In the short term, resources such as fish and wood are being depleted, while unpredictable floods and droughts cause insecurities and lengthy periods without earnings. In the longer term, resource depletion and water pollution threaten villagers’ health. Some of these environmental problems are produced by the fishing communities themselves but most are caused by outside actors, such as logging and mining companies and oil palm plantations. This article raises the question of why local fishing communities do not resist against outside actors and seeks to explain why they are unable to protect and manage their environment in a sustainable way. It challenges ‘green development fantasies’ and optimistic approaches which put primary faith in the capacity of local communities to manage their resources. We show instead that local communities are often unable to challenge and resist environmental changes. We explain this out of a lack of: (1) a clear enemy or a clear focus of opposition; (2) a single and relatively homogeneous community or shared ethnic identity; (3) strong leadership; and (4) the involvement of brokers with the outside world. In this article, optimistic ideas about the ability of local communities to benefit from, or protect, their ‘locality of value’ are seriously challenged.
Foreign Policy Instruments and Factors for Policy Change: Japan’s Security ‘Normalisation’ Reconsidered
Authors: Atanassova-Cornelis Elena
Published: March 2010

This article addresses the question of Japan’s security ‘normalisation’ by examining from realist and liberal perspectives the foreign policy tools Japan has used to redefine its engagement with the outside world in the post-Cold War period. It also analyses the international and domestic factors, which have underpinned that redefinition. The article argues that while Japan is more willing to consider seemingly realist foreign policy instruments, namely by strengthening its defence posture and alliance with the U.S., Japan’s so-called ‘normalisation’ does not represent a strategic policy shift towards realism. Rather, it should be seen as a mature response to the changed regional security environment in East Asia, as well as a ‘product’ of particular domestic political dynamics in Japan, especially the emergence of conservative Koizumi-like politicians. Japan’s main foreign policy approach — most recently represented by Fukuda’s diplomacy — remains largely a liberal one and stresses the promotion of multilateralism, peaceful cooperation and economic diplomacy.
Medieval Commentators on Future Contingents in De Interpretatione 9
Authors: Knuuttila Simo
Published: March 2010

This article considers three medieval approaches to the problem of future contingent propositions in chapter 9 of Aristotle’s De Interpretatione. While Boethius assumed that God’s atemporal knowledge infallibly pertains to historical events, he was inclined to believe that Aristotle correctly taught that future contingent propositions are not antecedently true or false, even though they may be characterized as true-or-false. Aquinas also tried to combine the allegedly Aristotelian view of the disjunctive truth-value of future contingent propositions with the conception of all things being timelessly present to God’s knowledge. The second approach was formulated by Peter Abelard who argued that in Aristotle’s view future contingent propositions are true or false, not merely true-or-false, and that the antecedent truth of future propositions does not necessitate things in the world. After Duns Scotus, many late medieval thinkers thought like Abelard, particularly because of their new interpretation of contingency, but they did not believe, with the exception of John Buridan, that this was an Aristotelian view.
The Prior Analytics in the Latin West: 12th-13th Centuries
Authors: Ebbesen Sten
Published: March 2010

This study contains three parts. The first tries to follow the spread of the study of the Prior Analytics in the first two centuries during which it was at all studied in Western Europe, providing in this connection a non-exhaustive list of extant commentaries. Part II points to a certain overlap between commentaries on the Prior Analytics and works from the genre of sophismata. Part III lists the questions discussed in a students’ compendium from about the 1240s and in six commentaries per modum quaestionis from the 1270s through the 1290s.
Three Conceptions of Formal Logic
Authors: Paul Thom
Published: March 2010

Aristotle’s logical and metaphysical works contain elements of three distinct types of formal theory: an ontology, a theory of consequences, and a theory of reasoning. His formal ontology (unlike that of certain later thinkers) does not require all propositions of a given logical form to be true. His formal syllogistic (unlike medieval theories of consequences) was guided primarily by a conception of logic as a theory of reasoning; and his fragmentary theory of consequences exists merely as an adjunct to the syllogistic. When theories of consequences took centre stage in the Middle Ages, the original motivation for the theory of the syllogism was forgotten.
An Empirical Latent Heat Flux Parameterization for the Noah Land Surface Model
Authors: Godfrey Christopher M. , Stensrud David J.
Published: March 2010

Proper partitioning of the surface energy fluxes that drive the evolution of the planetary boundary layer in numerical weather prediction models requires an accurate representation of initial land surface conditions. Unfortunately, soil temperature and moisture observations are unavailable in most areas and routine daily estimates of vegetation coverage and biomass are not easily available. This gap in observational capabilities seriously hampers the evaluation and improvement of land surface parameterizations, since model errors likely relate to improper initial conditions as much as to inaccuracies in the parameterizations. Two unique datasets help to overcome these difficulties. First, 1-km fractional vegetation coverage and leaf area index values can be derived from biweekly maximum normalized difference vegetation index composites obtained from daily observations by the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer onboard NOAA satellites. Second, the Oklahoma Mesonet supplies multiple soil temperature and moisture measurements at various soil depths each hour. Combined, these two datasets provide significantly improved initial conditions for a land surface model and allow an evaluation of the accuracy of the land surface model with much greater confidence than previously. Forecasts that both include and neglect these unique land surface observations are used to evaluate the value of these two data sources to land surface initializations. The dense network of surface observations afforded by the Oklahoma Mesonet, including surface flux data derived from special sensors, provides verification of the model results, which indicate that predicted latent heat fluxes still differ from observations by as much as 150 W m−2. This result provides a springboard for assessing parameterization errors within the model. A new empirical parameterization developed using principal-component regression reveals simple relationships between latent heat flux and other surface observations. Periods of very dry conditions observed across Oklahoma are used advantageously to derive a parameterization for evaporation from bare soil. Combining this parameterization with an empirical canopy transpiration scheme yields improved sensible and latent heat flux forecasts and better partitioning of the surface energy budget. Surface temperature and mixing ratio forecasts show improvement when compared with observations.
Residual Circulation and Tropopause Structure
Authors: Birner Thomas
Published: March 2010

The effect of large-scale dynamics as represented by the residual mean meridional circulation in the transformed Eulerian sense, in particular its stratospheric part, on lower stratospheric static stability and tropopause structure is studied using a comprehensive chemistry–climate model (CCM), reanalysis data, and simple idealized modeling. Dynamical forcing of static stability as associated with the vertical structure of the residual circulation results in a dominant dipole forcing structure with negative static stability forcing just below the tropopause and positive static stability forcing just above the tropopause. This dipole forcing structure effectively sharpens the tropopause, especially during winter. Furthermore, the strong positive lowermost stratospheric static stability forcing causes a layer of strongly enhanced static stability just above the extratropical tropopause—a tropopause inversion layer (TIL)—especially in the winter midlatitudes. The strong positive static stability forcing is shown to be mainly due to the strong vertical gradient of the vertical residual velocity found just above the tropopause in the winter midlatitudes.

Stratospheric radiative equilibrium (SRE) solutions are obtained using offline radiative transfer calculations for a given tropospheric climate as simulated by the CCM. The resulting tropopause height in SRE is reduced by several kilometers in the tropics but is increased by 1–2 km in the extratropics, strongly reducing the equator-to-pole contrast in tropopause height. Moreover, the TIL in winter midlatitudes disappears in the SRE solution in contrast to the polar summer TIL, which stays intact. When the SRE solution is modified to include the effect of stratospheric dynamics as represented by the stratospheric residual circulation, the TIL in winter midlatitudes is recovered, suggesting that the static stability forcing associated with the stratospheric residual circulation represents the main cause for the TIL in the winter midlatitudes whereas radiation seems dominant in causing the polar summer TIL.
Relationships of Biomass-Burning Aerosols to Ice in Orographic Wave Clouds
Authors: Twohy Cynthia H. , DeMott Paul J. , Pratt Kerri A. , Subramanian R. , Kok Gregory L. , Murphy Shane M. , Lersch Traci , Heymsfield Andrew J. , Wang Zhien , Prather Kim A. , Seinfeld John H.
Published: March 2010

Ice concentrations in orographic wave clouds at temperatures between −24° and −29°C were shown to be related to aerosol characteristics in nearby clear air during five research flights over the Rocky Mountains. When clouds with influence from colder temperatures were excluded from the dataset, mean ice nuclei and cloud ice number concentrations were very low, on the order of 1–5 L−1. In this environment, ice number concentrations were found to be significantly correlated with the number concentration of larger particles, those larger than both 0.1- and 0.5-μm diameter. A variety of complementary techniques was used to measure aerosol size distributions and chemical composition. Strong correlations were also observed between ice concentrations and the number concentrations of soot and biomass-burning aerosols. Ice nuclei concentrations directly measured in biomass-burning plumes were the highest detected during the project. Taken together, this evidence indicates a potential role for biomass-burning aerosols in ice formation, particularly in regions with relatively low concentrations of other ice nucleating aerosols.
On the Role of Sloping Terrain in the Forcing of the Great Plains Low-Level Jet
Authors: Parish Thomas R. , Oolman Larry D.
Published: March 2010

The summertime Great Plains low-level jet (LLJ) has been the subject of numerous investigations during the past several decades. Characteristics of the LLJ include nighttime development of a pronounced wind maximum of typically 15–20 m s−1 at levels 300–800 m above the surface and a clockwise rotation of the wind maximum during the course of the night. Maximum frequency of occurrence of the LLJ is found in the southern Great Plains. Theories proposed to explain the diurnal wind maximum of the Great Plains LLJ include inertial oscillation of the ageostrophic wind, the diurnal oscillation of the horizontal pressure field associated with heating and cooling of the sloping terrain, and the western boundary current interpretations. A simple equation system and output from the 12-km horizontal resolution Weather Research and Forecasting Nonhydrostatic Mesoscale Model (NAM) for July 2008 are used to provide evidence as to the importance of the Great Plains topography in driving the LLJ. Summertime heating of the sloping terrain is critical in establishing the climatological position for the Great Plains LLJ. Heating enhances the background geostrophic flow associated with the Bermuda high, resulting in a maximum low-level mean summertime flow over the Great Plains region. Maximum geostrophic winds in the NAM are found during late afternoon, providing a large background wind on which frictional decoupling can act. The nighttime LLJ maximum is the result of an inertial oscillation of the unbalanced components that arise fundamentally from frictional decoupling. Diurnal heating of the sloping terrain forces a cycle in the geostrophic wind that is out of phase with the wind maximum.
Application and Validation of a Seasonal Ensemble Prediction System Using a Dynamic Malaria Model
Authors: Jones Anne E. , Morse Andrew P.
Published: March 2010

Seasonal multimodel forecasts from the Development of a European Multimodel Ensemble System for Seasonal-to-Interannual Prediction (DEMETER) project are used to drive a malaria model and create reforecasts of malaria incidence for Botswana, in southern Africa, in a unique integration of a fully dynamic, process-based malaria model with an ensemble forecasting system. The forecasts are verified against a 20-yr malaria index and compared against reference simulations obtained by driving the malaria model with data from the 40-yr European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Re-Analysis (ERA-40). Performance assessment reveals skill in the DEMETER-driven malaria forecasts for prediction of low (below the lower tercile), above-average (above the median), and high (above the upper tercile) malaria events, with the best results obtained for low malaria events [relative operating characteristics (ROC) area = 0.84, 95% confidence interval = 0.63–1.0]. For high malaria events, the DEMETER-driven malaria forecasts are skillful, but the forecasting system performs poorly for those years that it predicts the highest probabilities of a high malaria event. Potential economic value analysis demonstrates the potential value for the DEMETER-driven malaria forecasts over a wide range of user cost-loss ratios, which is primarily due to the ability of the system to save on the cost of action in low malaria years.
Modulation of the Global Atmospheric Circulation by Combined Activity in the Madden–Julian Oscillation and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation during Boreal Winter
Authors: Roundy Paul E. , MacRitchie Kyle , Asuma Jonas , Melino Timothy
Published: March 2010

Composite global patterns associated with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) are frequently applied to help make predictions of weather around the globe at lead times beyond a few days. However, ENSO modulates the background states through which the MJO and its global response patterns propagate. This paper explores the possibility that nonlinear variations confound the combined use of composites based on the MJO and ENSO separately. Results indicate that when both modes are active at the same time, the associated patterns in the global flow are poorly represented by simple linear combinations of composites based on the MJO and ENSO individually. Composites calculated by averaging data over periods when both modes are present at the same time more effectively describe the associated weather patterns. Results reveal that the high-latitude response to the MJO varies with ENSO over all longitudes, but especially across the North Pacific Rim, North America, and the North Atlantic. Further analysis demonstrates that the MJO influence on indexes of the North Atlantic Oscillation is greatest during La Niña conditions or during periods of rapid adjustment in the phase of ENSO.
Observations of the Nocturnal Boundary Layer Associated with the West African Monsoon
Authors: Bain Caroline L. , Parker Douglas J. , Taylor Christopher M. , Kergoat Laurent , Guichard Françoise
Published: March 2010

A set of nighttime tethered balloon and kite measurements from the central Sahel (15.2°N, 1.3°W) in August 2005 were acquired and analyzed. A composite of all the nights’ data was produced using boundary layer height to normalize measured altitudes. The observations showed some typical characteristics of nocturnal boundary layer development, notably a strong inversion after sunset and the formation of a low-level nocturnal jet later in the night. On most nights, the sampled jet did not change direction significantly during the night.

The boundary layer thermodynamic structure displayed some variations from one night to the next. This was investigated using two contrasting case studies from the period. In one of these case studies (18 August 2005), the low-level wind direction changed significantly during the night. This change was captured well by two large-scale models, suggesting that the large-scale dynamics had a significant impact on boundary layer winds on this night. For both case studies, the models tended to underestimate near-surface wind speeds during the night, which is a feature that may lead to an underestimation of moisture flux northward by models.
Unintended Outcomes in Information and Communication Technology Adoption: A Micro-level Analysis of Usage in Context
Authors: Akpan-Obong Patience
Published: March 2010

Research on the adoption and applications of information and communication technologies (ICTs) often proceeds from a systemic level concentrating on the actions of states and their agencies. Few addresses usage patterns at the individual level even as they are fundamental to an understanding of the interface between technology and users. This research uses data from interviews, questionnaires and observation to examine the patterns of ICT usage by a section of the civil society in Nigeria from a micro-level perspective. It reinforces a common fact: technologies are cultural artefacts and come with a set of ideas. However, particular usage patterns and context can converge to significantly transform the nature and functionalities of the technologies.
The Ambivalence of African Elitehood
Authors: Matthews Sally
Published: March 2010

Recent discussions in South Africa about the role of the so-called patriotic bourgeoisie highlight the much debated question of what role elite Africans can and ought to play in the upliftment of the poor. Those supporting the notion of a patriotic bourgeoisie believe that national or racial solidarity is sufficient to allow privileged Africans to act in the interests of their poorer fellow citizens. However, a reconsideration of an older discussion of African elitehood, that of Amilcar Cabral, suggests that something more may be needed before elites can act in the interests of the poor. Cabral argues that elites need to renounce their privilege and to live and struggle alongside the poor if pro-poor societal transformation is to be achieved. While Cabral may be right that shared racial or national identity is insufficient for elite solidarity with the poor, he does not consider all the complexities that arise when elites actually try to work with and for the poor. A consideration of the experiences of a long-standing Senegalese NGO reveal some of these complexities and suggest that any attempt by African elites to engage meaningfully in the upliftment of the poor, will inevitably involve continuous and difficult negotiation between paternalism and naïve egalitarianism.