bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A 125 GeV SM-like Higgs in the MSSM and the γγ rate
Authors: Carena Marcela , Gori Stefania , Shah Nausheen R. , Wagner Carlos E. M.
Published: March 2012

Abstract

We consider the possibility of a Standard Model (SM)-like Higgs in the context of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM), with a mass of about 125 GeV and with a production times decay rate into two photons which is similar or somewhat larger than the SM one. The relatively large value of the SM-like Higgs mass demands stops in the several hundred GeV mass range with somewhat large mixing, or a large hierarchy between the two stop masses in the case that one of the two stops is light. We find that, in general, if the heaviest stop mass is smaller than a few TeV, the rate of gluon fusion production of Higgs bosons decaying into two photons tends to be somewhat suppressed with respect to the SM one in this region of parameters. However, we show that an enhancement of the photon decay rate may be obtained for light third generation sleptons with large mixing, which can be naturally obtained for large values of tan β and sizable values of the Higgsino mass parameter.
Role of Portal Vein Embolization in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Management and Its Effect on Recurrence: A Case‐control Study
Authors: Siriwardana Rohan C. , Lo Chung Mau , Chan See Ching , Fan Sheung Tat
Published: March 2012

Background

Liver regeneration that occurs after portal vein embolization (PVE) may have adverse effects on the microscopic tumor foci in the residual liver mass in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods

Fifty‐four HCC patients with inadequate functional residual liver volume were offered PVE during a seven‐year period. Among them, 34 (63%) patients underwent curative resection. They were compared with a matched control group (n = 102) who underwent surgery without PVE. Postoperative complications, pattern of recurrence, and survival were compared between groups.

Results

In the PVE group, a pre‐embolization functional residual liver volume of 23% (12–33.5%) improved to 34% (20–54%) (p = 0.005) at the time of surgery. When the two groups were compared, minor (PVE, 24%; control, 29%; p = 0.651) and major (PVE, 18%; control, 15%; p = 0.784) complications were similar. After a follow‐up period of 35 months (standard deviation 25 months), extrahepatic recurrences were detected in 10 PVE patients (29%) and 41 control patients (40%) (p = 0.310). Intrahepatic recurrences were seen in 10 (29%) and 47 (46%) cases (p = 0.109) in the PVE and control groups, respectively. In the PVE group, 41% (n = 14) of the recurrences were detected before one year, compared with 42% (n = 43) in the control group (p = 1). Disease‐free survival rates at 1, 3, and 5 years were 57, 29, and 26% in the control group and 60, 42, and 42% in the PVE group (log‐rank, p = 0.335). On multivariate analysis, PVE was not a factor affecting survival (p = 0.821).

Conclusions

Portal vein embolization increases the resectability of initially unresectable HCC due to inadequate functional residual liver volume, and it has no deleterious oncological effect after major resection of HCC.
Clinical Features, Treatment, and Long‐Term Outcome of Papillary Thyroid Cancer in Children and Adolescents Without Radiation Exposure
Authors: Enomoto Yukie , Enomoto Keisuke , Uchino Shinya , Shibuya Hiroshi , Watanabe Shin , Noguchi Shiro
Published: March 2012

Background

Cancer of the thyroid gland is rare in children and adolescents. A history of neck irradiation is a well‐established risk factor for tumor development, and most previous reports focused on cases that were induced by radiation exposure. We present here a retrospective review of the clinical features, treatment, and long‐term outcome of children and adolescents with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) without a history of radiation exposure who were treated at our institution over a period of ~50 years.

Methods

We retrospectively investigated 142 PTC patients without an irradiation history who were younger than 20 years of age when treated from 1961 to 2005 (17 males and 125 females; mean age = 16.3 ± 2.7 years; follow‐up = 21.8 ± 12.0 years). The clinicopathological results were evaluated using the medical records. Disease‐free survival (DFS) and cause‐specific survival (CSS) were assessed with the Kaplan‐Meier method and compared with the log‐rank test. Parametric analyses were performed using Student’s t test and nonparametric analyses were performed using the Mann–Whitney U test.

Results

At diagnosis, three patients had distant lung metastasis and 33 had gross neck lymph node (LN) metastasis. All patients were treated with surgery (hemi/partial thyroidectomy in 45 patients, subtotal thyroidectomy in 85, total thyroidectomy in 12, no LN dissection in 50, central compartment dissection in 20, and modified radical neck dissection in 72), and postoperative external beam radiation therapy was administered to 59. Postoperative ablative therapy using I131 was not performed in this series. Recurrence was found for regional LN (n = 25), lung (n = 9), remnant thyroid (n = 5), and others (n = 4). DFS and CSS at 40 years were 74.1 and 97.5%, respectively. DFS was significantly worse in patients aged <16 years with a family history of thyroid cancer, preoperative neck gross LN metastasis, maximum tumor diameter, and extrathyroidal invasion. Preoperative gross neck LN metastasis and distant metastasis at diagnosis were significant factors for CSS. No other factors contributed to DFS and CSS. When the clinical features of children and adolescents were compared, the incidence of preoperative gross neck LN metastasis and distant metastasis at diagnosis and tumors with a maximum diameter >10 mm were significantly higher in the children group than in the adolescent group. DFS was significantly shorter in the children group than in the adolescent group, but no significant difference was found in CSS between these two groups.

Conclusions

The prognosis of PTC in children and adolescents is excellent, regardless of the extent of thyroidectomy and LN dissection. We recommend that only children or adolescents with preoperative gross neck LN metastasis and distant metastasis at diagnosis should be subjected to postoperative ablative therapy.
Extraction of Algal Lipids and Their Analysis by HPLC and Mass Spectrometry
Authors: Jones Jessica , Manning Schonna , Montoya Morela , Keller Karin , Poenie Martin
Published: March 2012

Algae are a promising source of biofuel but claims about their lipid content can be ambiguous because extraction methods vary and lipid quantitation often does not distinguish between particular lipid classes. Here we compared methods for the extraction of algal lipids and showed that 2‐ethoxyethanol (2‐EE) provides superior lipid recovery (>150–200 %) compared to other common extraction solvents such as chloroform:methanol or hexane. Extractions of wet and dry algal biomass showed that 2‐EE was more effective at extracting lipids from wet rather than dried algal pellets. To analyze lipid content we used normal‐phase HPLC with parallel quantitation by an evaporative light scattering detector and a mass spectrometer. Analysis of crude lipid extracts showed that all major lipid classes could be identified and quantified and revealed a surprisingly large amount of saturated hydrocarbons (HC). This HC fraction was isolated from extracts of bioreactor‐grown algae and further analyzed by HPLC/MS, NMR, and GC/MS. The results showed that the sample consisted of a mixture of saturated, straight‐ and branched‐chain HC of different chain lengths. These algal HC could represent an alternative biofuel to triacylglycerols (TAG) that could feed directly into the current petroleum infrastructure.
Psychological stress during in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer is influenced by the patients’ background and gender
Authors: Harata T. , Goto Maki , Iwase A. , Kurotsuchi S. , Ando H. , Osawa M. , Sugita A. , Kondo M. , Nakamura T. , Nakahara T. , Takikawa S. , Manabe S. , Kikkawa F.
Published: March 2012

Purpose

This study evaluated the changes in psychological stress during in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF–ET) and the relationship of such stress to the patients’ background and gender.

Methods

Sixty couples undergoing IVF–ET were administered the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory‐JYZ (STAI) test at six different points during IVF–ET procedures. Anxiety scores at each time point were recorded and analyzed according to gender, fertility status, and duration of treatment.

Results

The median state anxiety score for women increased following induction until oocyte collection, after which it temporarily declined and then increased again until the pregnancy test. No such changes were noted in men. Scores for women who had undergone a shorter period of IVF treatments were higher while state and trait anxiety in men increased with a prolonged treatment period. Unsuccessful treatment increased the state and trait anxiety of women.

Conclusions

Psychological stress changed periodically depending on the duration of the patients’ treatment and fertility status also influenced anxiety levels. These findings will prove helpful in guiding psychological therapy and counseling for couples attempting to conceive by in vitro fertilization.
Les municipalités canadiennes et les langues officielles
Authors: Bourgeois Daniel , Bourgeois Yves
Published: March 2012

Résumé.En 1967, la Commission royale d'enquête sur le bilinguisme et le biculturalisme affirma le rôle critique des municipalités canadiennes en matière de langues officielles. En 1988, laLoi sur les langues officiellesfit des municipalités des partenaires de premier plan dans la promotion du bilinguisme. Or, après deux générations, on ignore quelles municipalités interviennent en la matière et comment elles interviennent. À partir d'une enquête auprès de 209 municipalités canadiennes, ce texte décrit et analyse les interventions municipales favorables au bilinguisme. Plusieurs municipalités agissent, mais le bilan est loin de la vision de la Commission royale.

Abstract.In 1967, the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism stated the critical role of Canadian municipalities in official languages. In 1988, theOfficial Languages Actmade municipalities full partners in the promotion of bilingualism. After two generations, we do not know which municipalities intervene in the matter or how they intervene. This article presents and analyses the results of a survey of 209 Canadian municipalities on official languages. It reveals that many municipalities intervene, but these interventions are far from the objectives of the Royal Commission and the Official Languages Act.
A Focusing Tragedy: Public Policy and the Establishment of Afrocentric Education in Toronto
Authors: Thompson Debra , Wallner Jennifer
Published: March 2012

Abstract.In January 2008, the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) voted to establish Afrocentric education. Earlier proposals dating back to the early 1990s, however, garnered little response from the board. Why was the TDSB suddenly more amenable to the idea? We argue that the death of Jordan Manners acted as a focusing event that triggered concern regarding school safety and the challenges facing Black youth in Toronto, altering the policy climate and opening a window of opportunity for change. This analysis furthers conceptualizations of the connections between focusing events, policy entrepreneurs, the viability of alternative proposals, and the catalysts that facilitate policy change.

Résumé.En janvier 2008, le Conseil Scolaire du District de Toronto (CSDT) a voté en faveur de l'établissement d'un programme d'éducation afro-centrée. Des propositions précédentes remontant au début des années 1990 avaient suscité peu d'intérêt de la part du Conseil. Pourquoi le CSDT s'est-il soudainement montré réceptif à cette idée? Nous considérons que le décès de Jordan Manners a servi d'épisode marquant qui a suscité de fortes préoccupations quant à la sécurité à l'école et aux défis auxquels font face les jeunes noirs à Toronto. Cet évènement marquant a contribué à modifier le climat politique et à ouvrir une fenêtre d'opportunité propice au changement. Cette analyse conceptualise de plus les liens entre épisodes marquants, entrepreneurs politiques, la viabilité de différentes propositions et les catalyseurs qui facilitent le changement politique.
The Impact of Institutionalization, Politicization and Mobilization on the Direct Participation of Citizens Experiencing Poverty
Authors: Larocque Florence
Published: March 2012

Abstract. This article seeks to evaluate how democratic and deliberative the direct participation of citizens experiencing poverty is in the definition and implementation of public policies that affect them. A comparison of Belgian and Quebec processes involving persons in situation of poverty indicates that the procedural dimensions of participation (franchise, quality and accountability) are clearly strengthened by institutionalized processes and weakened when processes become politicized. However, the authenticity of the process (a dimension tied to outcomes) remains largely independent from the nature of these processes and depends instead on the mobilization of social actors and especially of anti-poverty organizations.

Résumé. Cette article évalue dans quelle mesure la participation directe des citoyens en situation de pauvreté à l'élaboration et la mise en œuvre des politiques publiques les concernant est démocratique et délibérative. Une comparaison des processus belges et québécois de participation des personnes en situation de pauvreté démontre que les dimensions procédurales de la participation (franchise, qualité et garantie) sont clairement renforcées par l'institutionnalisation, tandis qu'elles sont affaiblies par la politisation des processus. Par ailleurs, l'authenticité du processus (une dimension liée aux résultats) reste largement indépendante de la nature des mécanismes et dépend plutôt de la mobilisation des acteurs sociaux et particulièrement de celle des organisations de lutte contre la pauvreté.
Athens in the Age of Alexander
Authors: Mitchel Fordyce
Published: March 2012

The course of Athenian history during the fifteen or twenty years after the battle at Chaeronea was strongly influenced by the dominating spirits of two men, one of whom was ever present and the other far away. The latter, of course, is Alexander, whose departure from Europe with the major portion of Macedon's fighting strength afforded the opportunity for the Greek states to develop resistance and opposition to Macedonian control which the fiery young king, had he been present, would hardly have tolerated. The former is Lycurgus son of Lycophron, the only Athenian after Pericles who so successfully dominated his city's policies and left such an indelible mark upon the city, its institutions and buildings, that his twelve-year period of influence rightly bears his name. Furthermore, so many of the things that were accomplished or attempted during this period seem to have been initiated in conscious imitation of the Golden Age, that we are justified in calling it the Silver Age of Lycurgus. His is the comprehensive programme of reconstruction, reform, and revitalization that the present paper proposes to describe.
Modulation of morphological and biochemical traits using heterosis breeding in coloured cotton
Authors: YUAN S. N. , MALIK W. , BIBI N. , WEN G. J. , NI M. , WANG X. D.
Published: March 2012

Heterosis breeding is a potential tool for developing coloured cotton hybrids, having good fibre yield and quality. The objective of the present study was to explore the extent of heterosis breeding for the modulation of fibre quality and biochemical traits during fibre development. The performance of 10 interspecific (Gossypium hirsutumL.×Gossypium barbadenseL.) and four intraspecific (Gossypium hirsutumL.×Gossypium hirsutumL.) F1coloured cotton hybrids and their parents was assessed under field conditions in 2008/9. Two interspecific, two intraspecific F1coloured cotton hybrids and their parents were used to examine the role and changes in the amount of different biochemicals during the different stages of fibre development (2009). Among hybrids, interspecific brown cotton hybrids (ZUC × ZUA) and interspecific green cotton hybrids (ZUF × ZUA) showed high amounts of useful heterosis for yield, yield components and fibre quality attributes. Analysis of various biochemicals depicted a decline in fibre pH value and flavonoid contents among all hybrids and their parents, with maximum decrease in interspecific hybrids (ZUC × ZUA and ZUF × ZUA) at 15 days post anthesis (DPA). Similarly, a significant increase in the amount of cellulose, glucose and fructose was observed in all genotypes. However, the magnitude of increase was greatest in interspecific coloured cotton hybrids as compared to their parents and intraspecific hybrids. The negative correlation of fibre pH with flavonoid contents and the positive correlation of carbohydrates with cellulose contents (particularly at 15 DPA) suggested the significance of these biochemicals controlling fibre quality. In conclusion, heterosis breeding can be efficiently utilized to develop high-quality coloured cotton hybrids by modulating the synthesis of different biochemicals associated with fibre development and its quality.
America's National Parks: The Transnational Creation of National Space in the Progressive Era
Authors: TYRRELL IAN
Published: March 2012

The rise of support for national parks in the United States after 1900 occurred amid a transnational circulation of information on the apparent destruction of – or imminent threat to – nature on a global level. Arguments for creating and protecting national parks included preservation of “wild” areas, proto-ecological ideas, and social reformist and economic utilitarian pressures during the Progressive Era. Advocacy for park protection as it developed to 1916 reflected this complex cluster of ideas rather than any clearly articulated concept of wilderness. It was influenced by international sensibilities on the social construction of nature and its putative preservation at the moment of industrialization in Europe and the American Northeast, the intrusion of mechanization into the countryside and, outside the metropolitan centres of the Euro-American world, high imperialism that exposed widespread destruction of nature in Europe's colonies. The case of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society (ASHPS), an elite organization that combined national park, public-park and human-heritage advocacy in a continuum of values, is examined as a transnational conduit for and shaper of these socially constructed ideas in the United States, and as a neglected aspect of Progressive Era development of national parks.
Notes on Oscar Wilde's Transatlantic Gender Politics
Authors: MENDELSSOHN MICHÈLE
Published: March 2012

For decades now, Oscar Wilde has been celebrated in academic and popular circles as a transgressor of gender boundaries and a devotee of the woman's world and an “appreciative inheritor of women's culture.” What has been underappreciated, however, is that Wilde also acted as an advocate of gender binaries in ways that significantly challenge this reputation. This article argues that Wilde's writings reveal a traditionalist critique of American gender politics that reflects his concern over the management of cultural institutions and values, and the increasingly precarious place of men within them. Rather than locating these anxieties in Britain, Wilde displaced them onto the United States, a country whose cultural institutions he had become intimate with during a year-long lecture tour in the early 1880s. By exposing and problematizing Wilde's response to the late nineteenth-century crisis in masculinity and his disappointment at the failure of American men to take their place in society as arbiters of taste, this article underscores the need for a nuanced reassessment of Wildean gender politics. At stake here are fundamental questions about how a transgressive politics sits alongside traditionalism, and how a conservative gender bias in transatlanticfin de siècleculture operated even in the period's progressive circles.
Hawthorne, Madonna, and Lady Gaga:The Marble Faun'sTransgressive Miriam
Authors: BROEK MICHAEL
Published: March 2012

Most criticism of Nathaniel Hawthorne's NovelThe Marble Faunhas focussed on its many images of domestic containment, its supposed argument in favor of Christian idealism, as well as Hawthorne's apparent “castration” of the American sculptor Kenyon – just another in a long list of the author's male protagonists who succumb to a mixture of self-doubt (Dimmesdale, inThe Scarlet Letter), narcissism (Coverdale, inThe Blithedale Romance), and the allure of the chaste virgin (Holgrave, inThe House of the Seven Gables). This essay, however, argues that Miriam, the novel's chief female protagonist, actually completes a complicated “liberation” from the proscriptions (as Hawthorne envisioned them) of her gender, enacted by her embrace of multiple, ancient, and organic symbols. Through a simultaneous analysis of the American music icons Madonna and Lady Gaga, we find that Hawthorne engages a complex set of ideational forces – misogyny, Catholicism, and female eros – as Miriam emerges, like these famous pop stars, as an independent artist, a position that not one of the author's male protagomists is able to attain. In this sense, Miriam may be reconsidered Hawthorne's internationalized Hester, or, more aptly, his mature Pearl.
London Merchant Banks, the Central European Panic, and the Sterling Crisis of 1931
Authors: ACCOMINOTTI OLIVIER
Published: March 2012

The Central European panic of the spring 1931 is often presented as a cause of the sterling crisis of September. But what was the transmission channel? This article explores how the continent's financial troubles affected Britain's banking system. The freeze of Central European assets created a liquidity strain for London merchant banks because they had accepted (guaranteed) the commercial bills of German merchants. I use new balance sheet data to quantify this shock and explore how the liquidity crisis contributed to the sterling crisis. The evidence demonstrates that international contagion was crucial in transmitting the 1931 global financial crisis.
The Road Not Taken: Pre-Revolutionary Cuban Living Standards in Comparative Perspective
Authors: WARD MARIANNE , DEVEREUX JOHN
Published: March 2012

We examine Cuban GDP over time and across space. We find that Cuba was once a prosperous middle-income economy. On the eve of the revolution, incomes were 50 to 60 percent of European levels. They were among the highest in Latin America at about 30 percent of the United States. In relative terms, Cuba was richer earlier on. Income per capita during the 1920s was in striking distance of Western Europe and the Southern United States. After the revolution, Cuba slipped down the world income distribution. Current levels of income per capita appear below their pre-revolutionary peaks.
Household Debt in Early Modern Germany: Evidence from Personal Inventories
Authors: OGILVIE SHEILAGH , KÜPKER MARKUS , MAEGRAITH JANINE
Published: March 2012

The “less-developed” interior of early modern Europe, especially the rural economy, is often regarded as financially comatose. This article investigates this view using a rich data set of marriage and death inventories for seventeenth-century Germany. It first analyzes the characteristics of debts, examining borrowing purposes, familial links, communal ties, and documentary instruments. It then explores how borrowing varied with gender, age, marital status, occupation, date, and asset portfolio. It finds that ordinary people, even in a “less-developed” economy in rural central Europe, sought to invest profitably, smooth consumption, bridge low liquidity, and hold savings in financial form.
In Memoriam: Richard Keith Sprigg (1922–2011)
Authors: Kelly John
Published: March 2012

A consequence of the 1945 Scarborough Report, which recommended an expansion of the teaching of non-European languages in British universities, was the appointment of a group of young scholars to the Department of Phonetics and Linguistics at London University's School of Oriental & African Studies. Amongst their number was Keith Sprigg, who died on September 8th 2011 at the age of 89.
Creating Spaces for Asian Interaction Through the Anti-Globalization Campaigns in the Region
Authors: ENCARNACION TADEM TERESA S.
Published: March 2012

This paper discusses the political opportunity structures which facilitated the creation of sites of interaction and protest against the Asian Development Bank during the Bank's Annual General Meeting in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 2000. The factors which facilitated the coming together of Thai social movements and their regional and international counterparts are mainly their shared critique of the neo-liberal paradigm and its adverse effects on their respective countries. The strategies they used to highlight these effects enhanced their sites of engagement and confrontation with the Bank and included dialogue with Bank officials, demonstrations, and the use of the media to highlight their concerns. Importance was also placed on the manner in which they were able to mobilize resources for the anti-Asian Development Bank campaigns and the process by which they framed their issues to gain the sympathy and support of the public. The 1997 Asian financial crisis, which highlighted the shortcomings of the Bank's development paradigm, as well as the ongoing democratization process in Thailand during that period, provided the impetus in fostering the anti-globalization alliances of local and transnational social movements in a common venue.
Does the acanthocephalan parasite Polymorphus minutus modify the energy reserves and antitoxic defences of its intermediate host Gammarus roeseli?
Authors: GISMONDI E. , COSSU-LEGUILLE C. , BEISEL J.-N.
Published: March 2012

In disturbed environments, infected organisms have to face both parasitic and chemical stresses. Although this situation is common, few studies have been devoted to the effects of infection on hosts' energy reserves and antitoxic defence capacities, while parasite survival depends on host survival. In this study, we tested the consequences of an infection by Polymorphus minutus on the energy reserves (protein, lipid and glycogen) and antioxidant defence capacities (reduced glutathione, γ-glutamylcysteine ligase activity) of Gammarus roeseli males and females, in the absence of chemical stress. Moreover, malondialdehyde concentration was used as a toxicity biomarker. The results revealed that in infected G. roeseli, whatever their gender and the sampling month, protein and lipid contents were lower, but glycogen contents were higher. This could be explained by the fact that the parasite diverts part of the host's energy for its own development. Moreover, glutathione concentrations and γ-glutamylcysteine ligase activity were both lower, which could lead to lower antitoxic defence in the host. These results suggest negative effects on individuals in the case of additional stress (e.g. pollutant exposure). In the absence of chemical stress, the lower malondialdehyde level in infected gammarids could imply a probable protective effect of the parasite.
Diversity of avian haemosporidians in arid zones of northern Venezuela
Authors: BELO NAYARA O. , RODRÍGUEZ-FERRARO ADRIANA , BRAGA ERIKA M. , RICKLEFS ROBERT E.
Published: March 2012

Arid zones of northern Venezuela are represented by isolated areas, important from an ornithological and ecological perspective due to the occurrence of restricted-range species of birds. We analysed the prevalence and molecular diversity of haemosporidian parasites of wild birds in this region by screening 527 individuals (11 families and 20 species) for parasite mitochondrial DNA. The overall prevalence of parasites was 41%, representing 17 mitochondrial lineages: 7 ofPlasmodiumand 10 ofHaemoproteus. Two parasite lineages occurred in both the eastern and western regions infecting a single host species,Mimus gilvus.These lineages are also present throughout northern and central Venezuela in a variety of arid and mesic habitats. Some lineages found in this study in northern Venezuela have also been observed in different localities in the Americas, including the West Indies. In spite of the widespread distributions of some of the parasite lineages found in northern Venezuela, several, including some that are relatively common (e.g. Ven05 and Ven06), have not been reported from elsewhere. Additional studies are needed to characterize the host and geographical distribution of avian malaria parasite lineages, which will provide a better understanding of the influence of landscape, vector abundance and diversity, and host identity on haemosporidian parasite diversity and prevalence.
The influence of prior expectations on facial expression discrimination in schizophrenia
Authors: Barbalat G. , Rouault M. , Bazargani N. , Shergill S. , Blakemore S.-J.
Published: March 2012

Background

Belief inflexibility is a thinking style observed in patients with schizophrenia, in which patients tend to refute evidence that runs counter to their prior beliefs. This bias has been related to a dominance of prior expectations (prior beliefs) over incoming sensory evidence. In this study we investigated the reliance on prior expectations for the processing of emotional faces in schizophrenia.

Method

Eighteen patients with schizophrenia and 18 healthy controls were presented with sequences of emotional (happy, fearful, angry or neutral) faces. Perceptual decisions were biased towards a particular expression by a specific instruction at the start of each sequence, referred to as the context in which stimuli occurred. Participants were required to judge the emotion on each face and the effect of the context on emotion discrimination was investigated.

Results

For threatening emotions (anger and fear), there was a performance cost for facial expressions that were incongruent with, and perceptually close to, the expression named in the instruction. For example, for angry faces, participants in both groups made more errors and reaction times (RTs) were longer when they were asked to look out for fearful faces compared with the other contexts. This bias against sensory evidence that runs counter to prior information was stronger in the patients, evidenced by a group by context interaction in accuracy and RTs for anger and fear respectively.

Conclusions

Overall, the present data suggest an overdependence on prior expectations for threatening stimuli, reflecting belief inflexibility, in schizophrenia.
Electric, magnetic Wakefields, and electron acceleration in quantum plasma
Authors: Kumar P. , Tewari C.
Published: March 2012

A detailed study of Wakefield excitation in very dense quantum plasma is presented. Electric and magnetic Wakefields have been obtained for a particular profile of the laser pulse, using perturbative technique involving orders of the incident laser beam. The Wakefields can trap electrons and accelerate them to extremely high energies. It is observed that the quantum effects significantly change the classical nature of the Wakefield. The axial and radial forces acting on a test electron due to the Wakefields have been evaluated.
Satellite AIS – Developing Technology or Existing Capability?
Authors: Carson-Jackson J.
Published: March 2012

The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is an integral element in vessel tracking. But what about ‘Satellite AIS’? Is Satellite AIS a viable, current and effective tool to assist in vessel tracking? This paper will present the basic premise of reception of AIS by Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites. It will identify the technical aspects, present practical applications of Satellite AIS and look at implications for global tracking of vessels.
Computational Efficiency Improvement for Unaided Weak GPS Signal Acquisition
Authors: Zhang Wen , Ghogho Mounir
Published: March 2012

Acquisition of unaided weak Global Positioning System (GPS) signals requires long coherent integration time and thus all the possible navigation data bit combination paths have to be searched. In this paper, to improve the computational efficiency, the Improved Fast Modified Double-Block Zero Padding (IFMDBZP) algorithm using the Optimal Path Search Method (OPSM) is proposed instead of the FMDBZP algorithm using the All Paths Search Method (APSM). The proposed method consists of unlikely data bit combination path elimination by applying the Viterbi algorithm during each coherent integration step to improve the FMDBZP algorithm. The analyses show that the proposed OPSM can reduce the computation calculations and save memory space without suffering any loss compared to the APSM. And the longer the coherent integration time is, the more benefit one can gain from the proposed method. The simulation results also show that the IFMDPZP algorithm using the proposed OPSM has the same acquisition performance as the APSM.
Ship Recognition by Integration of SAR and AIS
Authors: Chaturvedi Sudhir Kumar , Yang Chan-Su , Ouchi Kazuo , Shanmugam Palanisamy
Published: March 2012

A novel design of an integrated system using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image and Automatic Identification System (AIS) data is proposed in this paper for the purpose of identifying ships at sea. TerraSAR-X® (SpotLight mode) images and AIS data collected over Incheon Port (Korea) and Tokyo Bay (Japan) were used on different dates. Four main steps for integration of SAR and AIS based ships can be identified, namely: ‘Time Matching’ to retrieve the respective Dead Reckoning (DR) position of the ships at SAR image acquisition times; ‘Position Matching’ based on a nearest neighbourhood re-sampling method with compensation of position shift; ‘Size Matching’ and ‘Speed Matching’. Under each of the matching criteria, the measurement error in each of the matching criteria was found to be less than 20% and the SAR extracted ship's hull boundaries were presented on a screen to display the system results. The results of this study will contribute to the design a Near-Real-Time (NRT) operational system for ship detection, identification, and classification by SARs in different data acquisition modes over various geographical locations at different acquisition times. This novel integrated system design will provide a most important preliminary step towards integration based on ships' hull monitoring in order to recognize ‘friend’ and ‘foe’ ship targets over a huge oceanic region and would be useful for coast guards as an early warning system.
Risk factors associated with human brucellosis in the country of Georgia: a case-control study
Authors: HAVAS K. A. , RAMISHVILI M. , NAVDARASHVILI A. , HILL A. E. , TSANAVA S. , IMNADZE P. , SALMAN M. D.
Published: March 2012

Human brucellosis occurs when humans ingest or contact Brucella spp. from shedding animals or contaminated environments and food. In Georgia animal and human brucellosis is endemic, but the epidemiology has not been fully characterized. A case-control study was conducted in 2010 to identify risk factors for human brucellosis. Using multivariable logistic regression, the following risk factors were identified: animal-related work [odds ratio (OR) 77·8, 90% confidence interval (CI) 4·7–1278], non-animal-related work (OR 12·7, 90% CI 1·1–149), being unemployed or a pensioner (OR 13·1, 90% CI 1·7, 101), sheep ownership (OR 19·3, 90% CI 5·1–72·6), making dairy products (OR 12·4, 90% CI 1·4–113), living in eastern Georgia (Kakheti) (OR 278·1, 90% CI 9·5–8100), and being aged >44 years (OR 9·3, 90% CI 1·02–84·4). Education of at-risk groups about risk factors and control of disease in sheep may reduce the human disease risk. This is the first study of its kind in Georgia since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Epidemiology of classic and AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma in the USA: incidence, survival, and geographical distribution from 1975 to 2005
Authors: ARMSTRONG A. W. , LAM K. H. , CHASE E. P.
Published: March 2012

This study aimed to examine trends in incidence, geographical distribution, and survival of classic and AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) in the general US population using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) tumour registries with 12 066 patients diagnosed with KS between 1975 and 2005. Although the age-adjusted standardized incidence ratio (SIR) of AIDS-related KS (1·9) during 1980–2005 was not significantly higher than that of classic KS (1·4) during 1975–2005 (P = 0·78), the trends in annual SIR rates revealed distinct patterns. While the SIR for AIDS-related KS declined across all registries from the early 1990s (4·6) to late-1990s (0·3) (P = 0·05), the SIR of classic KS remained relatively steady (1·7). In both forms the SIR of KS was highest in metropolitan areas. The 5-year survival rates for patients with AIDS-related KS improved from 12·1% (1980–1995) to 54% (1996–2005) (P = 0·05). Survival rates for patients with classic KS remained stable, ranging from 75·7% to 88·6% during the 30-year period. These results may reflect improved HIV treatment.
Natural and human-induced predation on Cape Cormorants at Dyer Island
Authors: VOORBERGEN ANNE , DE BOER WILLEM F. , UNDERHILL LES G.
Published: March 2012

To develop conservation strategies for vulnerable seabird species that need attention, it is important to know which factors influence their breeding productivity. Predation of eggs and chicks can have large influences on seabird reproduction, especially when human disturbance facilitates predation. On Dyer Island, Kelp GullsLarus dominicanusprey on Cape CormorantPhalacrocorax capensiseggs and chicks, whereas Cape fur sealsArctocephalus pusillus pusillusprey on Cape Cormorant fledglings in the waters surrounding the island. Kelp Gulls were estimated to predate 3.8% of the total number of Cape Cormorant eggs and 2.0% of the chicks on the island. These percentages can be expressed as a loss of 4.8% of Cape Cormorant fledglings, which is low compared to the estimated 24.3% mortality of Cape Cormorant fledglings by Cape fur seal predation. Human disturbance facilitated Kelp Gull egg and chick predation and increased the mobbing of cormorant fledglings by Kelp Gulls. Cormorant egg predation by gulls was more frequently reported in the late afternoon. Seal predation was more abundant at the northern side of the island compared to the southern side, was recorded more frequently in the morning, and increased through the breeding season. The altered abundance and distribution of prey, the availability of suitable breeding habitat and mortality from avian cholera, have also influenced the Cape Cormorant’s population size. Hence, the possibility that Cape Cormorants may be locked in a predator-pit, where seals and gulls prevent the population from increasing in size, needs further attention.
Intracardiac masses in young Africans: case reports and a brief review of the literature
Authors: Mocumbi Ana O. H.
Published: March 2012

Intracardiac masses in the young occur in some conditions that are prevalent in Africa. Although usually non-malignant, they may present with refractory heart failure and other complications that can be fatal. In the majority of cases, the aetiologic differentiation can be achieved by careful history, physical examination, basic laboratory tests, and transthoracic echocardiography. We report three cases in young Africans and discuss the aetiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, management, and outcome of selected conditions in resource-limited settings.
On Becoming Muslim in the City of Swords: Bhoja and Shaykh Changāl at Dhār
Authors: BABAGOLZADEH RAZIEH
Published: March 2012

On the ancient ramparts of the city of Dhār, overlooking the moat, is the tomb of a saint called Shaykh Changāl (Fig. 1). The tomb has been rebuilt in recent times, but stands on a high stone platform dating to the fifteenth century. The long staircase up to the tomb has two arched gates. A Persian inscription is placed in the upper gate over the door and is protected nowadays by a metal door. Written in forty-two verses, it is dated ah 859/ 1454–55. The verses were composed in the reign of the Maḥmūd Shāh Khaljī, the Sultan of Mālwā from 1436 to 1469. The purpose of this essay is to provide the text of this inscription with a new translation and commentary.
Muratpur and the Udaypur Praśasti: New Discoveries
Authors: ANSARI MUZAFFAR AHMED
Published: March 2012

In the course of a field-survey of Paramāra sites in 2008–09, I was exploring locations with historic inscriptions, temples, memorial stones and medieval water systems. Of particular interest were places with antique statuary of Hanumān because he was a protector of the fields and thus played a role in agricultural production. Udaypur, a key Paramāra site with the well-known Śiva temple built by Udayāditya, naturally formed part of the study. When enquiries about Hanumān were made at Udaypur, local residents urged us to visit Muratpur, a village about 5 kilometres directly south. We set out in that direction, making a series of discoveries along the way. The various memorial pillars, ruins and other remains cannot be recorded here in detail. Perhaps the most startling discovery (more correctly a re-discovery) was a colossal figure of dancing Śiva, more that 2 metres high. The figure lies on its back and, to judge from the chisel marks on it, was never finished (Fig. 1). This joins the catalogue of monumental but unfinished work by the Paramāras. The temple of Bhojpur is the most famous example, but in this special issue attention has been drawn by O. P. Mishra to the fact that the Bijamaṇḍal at Vidiśā was also left unfinished by Naravarman.
An architect's Tagwerk: notes on Otto Steidle's work between the urban and the rural
Authors: Kossak Florian
Published: March 2012

A green Unimog, the penultimate agricultural utility vehicle, makes its way through a curved, potholed road in the dark woods of Lower Bavaria. What differs from an otherwise everyday scene is the strange, compact structure that rises from its rear body and partly overhangs the driver's cabin. Painted in a warm yellow and oxblood red it contrasts vividly with the muted dark green of the surrounding fir trees.

At the end of the road, the forest opens up and the wide plain of the river Inn leads the way towards the west, towards Munich. Looking southwards through the driver's window one can see the profile of the Bavarian Alps in the evening sunset. Arriving in Munich the vehicle makes a stop at a busy boulevard lined with cafés and bars.
Form, matter and David Chipperfield
Authors: Richards Ivor
Published: March 2012

In his introduction to Form Matters, the catalogue accompanying his Design Museum exhibition, which began in London in October 2009 and culminated its tour in Italy earlier this year, David Chipperfield is at once very clear to state that ‘the work of an architect is measured by built work’; but he also emphasises that the body of work shown is ‘the consequence not of individual genius, but of the collaborative efforts of our office and our partners, unified in the belief that architecture can pursue ideas, concern itself with its physical potential and maintain the economic criteria that make these projects possible’. It is a tribute that also implies the organisational structure required to run offices in London, Berlin, Milan and Shanghai and to design and build projects in Europe, North America, Asia and Africa.
WITHDRAWN: An Evaluation of Modern Pottery from Southern Africa as a Magnetic Recorder
Authors: Neukirch Levi P. , Tarduno John A. , Cottrell Rory D. , Watkeys Michael K. , Huffman Thomas N.
Published: March 2012

Studies of the recent history of Earth's magnetic field have revealed a rich spatial and temporal structure, but face limitations by a lack of Southern Hemisphere archeomagnetic data. Studies of Iron Age (200‐1850 AD) peoples of southern Africa have revealed a potentially rich source of archeomagnetic information in the form of ceramics (specifically pottery). Additionally, contemporary pottery made with traditional techniques and materials can still be found. Reported here is the first step in addressing whether ancient pottery from southern Africa might faithfully record the geomagnetic field. We analyze contemporary pottery made with traditional techniques and methods. Rock magnetic measurements, including magnetic susceptibility as a function of temperature and magnetic hysteresis behavior, are discussed. Intensity results generated by three common paleointensity methods: Thellier‐ Coe double heating experiments, the multi‐specimen method of Dekkers and Böhnel, and Shaw's method (with and without the corrections of Kono) are compared to the known field at the time of firing. The Thellier‐Coe method reproduces the field (with an accuracy of 1.3 μT), the Shaw technique with the correction approach of Kono overestimates the field by 3.7%. The multispecimen method overestimates the field by 20%, however improvement upon this could be expected given recent improvements to the technique. These values bound the accuracies we can expect when applying the methods to ideal samples, representing a best‐case for dealing with archeological ceramics from southern Africa
Gravity wave propagation in a diffusively separated gas: Effects on the total gas
Authors: Walterscheid R. L. , Hickey M. P.
Published: March 2012

We present a full‐wave model that simulates acoustic‐gravity wave propagation in a binary‐gas mixture of atomic oxygen and molecular nitrogen, including molecular viscosity and thermal conductivity appropriately partitioned between the two gases. Compositional effects include the collisional transfer of heat and momentum by mutual diffusion between the two gases. An important result of compositional effects is that the velocity and temperature summed over species can be significantly different from the results of one‐gas models with the same height dependent mean molecular weight (M(z)). We compare the results of our binary‐gas model to two one‐gas full‐wave models: one where M is fixed and fluctuations of M (M′) are zero and the other where M is conserved following parcel displacement (whence M′ is nonzero). The former is the usual approach and is equivalent to assuming that mutual diffusion acts instantaneously to restore composition to its ambient value. In all cases we considered, the single gas model results obtained assuming that M is conserved following parcels gave significantly better agreement with the binary‐gas model. This implies that compositional effects may be included in one‐gas models by simply adding a conservation equation for M and for the specific gas at constant pressure, which depends on M.