bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
DISSEMINATE, an initial implementation proposal: a new point of departure
in CALL for the ‘year 01’?
Authors: DELCLOQUE PHILIPPE , BRAMOULLÉ ALEXANDRE
Published: August 2008

This paper presents a proposed initial implementation for the DISSEMINATE concept
and architecture first presented in 1998 at WorldCALL. Via an explanation of the explosion of the
acronym, the article summarises the key points made in the initial article published by Swets and
Zeitlinger in a volume edited by Chambers and Davies (Delcloque, 2001) where the project was described
as the “implementation in the digital domain of the ring-binder philosophy”. It explains the
slight changes and refinements brought to the general approach since its inception, presents briefly the
results of a survey designed to examine authoring requirements and authors’ attitudes to authoring
tools, summarises evidence of partially similar approaches taken by other developments and outlines the
possible paths to the implementation of the project. It discusses some early proposals relating to the
Macro Infrastructure and presents a Micro Module example. The article concludes with an explanation of
the proposed provisional distribution structure, including commercial considerations, which, in the
authors’ view, cannot be separated from the theoretical and practical questions which the
concept poses. The conclusion also suggests that the principles of DISSEMINATE, whether or not
resulting in a product, could nevertheless influence present and future digital learning authors.
Suicide in older people – can it be prevented?
Authors: Baldwin RC
Published: August 2008

Editorial

In the UK, one of the strategic aims for the health services is to reduce death
by suicide. Older people are over-represented in national suicide figures in most
developed countries so they are de facto a high risk group. For example, in the UK,
people aged over 65 comprise about 15% of the population but this age group
accounts for between 20 and 25% of all completed suicides.
Age-based health care allocation as a wedge separating the person from the patient and commodifying medicine
Authors: Bramstedt Katrina A
Published: August 2008

Agism in the form of age-based health care allocation fosters the separation of
the physiological part of a patient from the person who is the patient. It does so
by ignoring the holistic best interests of the patient and instead focuses on providing
certain procedures or therapies only when the patient’s age is less than or
equal to a specified value (the allocation limit). Certainly not all forms of clinically
relevant care and treatment are age-restricted in the scheme of aged-based health
care allocation, but it is clear that this scheme functions on the arbitrary, and
patients may miss out on optimal therapy presumably because it will be ranked as
too expensive or too rare to provide to older people. Arbitrarily chosen age limits
or those chosen based upon an estimation of humans’ natural lifespan have
the effects of minimizing the patient’s clinical choices, devaluing the experiential
skills and knowledge of the medical team, weakening the doctor-patient relationship,
and commodifying medicine. Policies of this nature do not solve our current health
care dilemma, rather they are an economic bandage over the still present (and unattended
to) root cause.
Another Mirror of Lovers? - Order, structure and allusion in Machaut's motets
Authors: BROWN THOMAS
Published: August 2008

Machaut's first twenty motets appear, identically ordered, in a group of manuscripts copied under the
composer's supervision. This order highlights connections between individual motets. Proportional relationships
between six motets, and an allusion to the mid-point of Le Roman de la rose in the tenth motet, suggest that Machaut
intended the motet group to be self-contained and sub-divided into two groups of ten.
Liturgical chant bibliography 10
Authors: PAUCKER GÜNTHER MICHAEL
Published: August 2008

Liturgical chant bibliography 10 maintains the format established in the most recent editions of the bibliography: (1) Editions and facsimile editions, (2) Books and reprints, (3) Congress reports, (4) Chant journals, (5) Collections of essays and dictionaries, (6) Articles in periodicals and Festschriften. Additions to previous years' bibliographies (mainly reviews) will be found immediately following this introduction.
‘Railway Derby’: occupational community, paternalism and corporate culture 1850–90
Authors: Revill George
Published: August 2008

This paper examines the extent to which the Midland Railway workforce in nineteenth-century Derby constituted some form of occupational community. Evidence for this paper is drawn from Midland Railway Company (MR) records combined with census data and other documentary and textual material. It explores the social and domestic world of employees at the Midland Railway Company's headquarters and critically examines the construction of community in both functional and symbolic terms.
The city of evil and the great outdoors: the modern health movement and the urban young, 1918–40
Authors: Pomfret David
Published: August 2008

Professionals and volunteers in inter-war England and France advanced a ‘modern’ health movement, placing particular emphasis on children's physical condition. The use of the urban clinic in this process has been considered. However, the mass relocation of young people to the countryside and attempts to generate intra-urban spaces of ‘nature’ for the young were also integral to this movement. Surprisingly, the pioneers of modern urban healthcare supported a ‘return to nature’ by mobilizing anti-urban and pro-rural discourse. Comparing Nottingham and Saint-Etienne, this article addresses the politics that produced this paradox.
Current bibliography of urban history
Authors: Smith John , Herbert Joanna , Verdier Nicolas
Published: August 2008

This bibliography is a continuation of and a complement to those published in the Urban History Yearbook 1974–91 and Urban History 1992–2000. The arrangement and format closely follows that of previous years. There is an index of towns on p. 508. The list of abbreviations identifies only those periodicals from which articles cited this year have been taken.
Issues of water in medieval London to c. 1300
Authors: Keene Derek
Published: August 2008

Water was essential to the commerce, sustenance and cleansing of medieval London and its inhabitants. The paper reviews technologies of supply, access and control, and the uses and risks associated with water during the city's formative period. It surveys the pleasures of water around the city, the paradoxes they involved, and the public supply as an expression of a growing civic culture. It emphasizes the interaction between natural environment, technology and institutions as a fruitful theme for medieval urban history.
The creators of England's inter-war suburbs
Authors: Whitehand J. W. R. , Carr Christine M. H.
Published: August 2008

Despite the transformation of English cities by the growth of suburbs in the inter-war years, there is a dearth of reliable information about the processes, and especially the firms, that brought these suburbs into existence. Contrary to accepted wisdom – and paradoxically, in view of the scorn heaped upon suburbs by the architectural literati – architects are shown to have been heavily involved in the preparation of building applications for the construction of suburban houses. In spite of the unprecedented amount of house building in the inter-war period, the geographical spheres of influence of both builders and architects were highly localized. However, unlike in the nineteenth century, there is little evidence of speculative building having been undertaken by people whose livelihood was not primarily derived from house building or house selling.
Research in urban history: a review of recent theses
Authors: Doyle Barry M.
Published: August 2008

The object of this survey is to provide a broad overview of the types of research being undertaken in the field of urban history by doctoral students in Great Britain and North America. The survey employs a wide interpretation of ‘urban history’ which includes both the history of, and history in, urban areas. Providing brief summaries of a selection of abstracts published in the Aslib Index to Theses (covering Britain and Ireland) and Dissertations Abstracts International (for North America) of theses completed in 1999 and 2000, it attempts to highlight the novel directions in which current research is being taken. As noted last year, access to thesis abstracts has been greatly improved by the development of on-line services, including the electronic version of Index to Theses available at http://www.theses.com and Dissertations Abstracts International which can be accessed through Proquest at http://wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations. The thirty-four dissertations, drawn fairly evenly from candidates in British and North American institutions, cover a broad range of topics, with the time-span ranging from the early medieval world to the post-Second World War era, though it is worth noting the absence of studies addressing ancient history in this survey. As has been the trend in recent years, the bulk of the dissertations on both sides of the Atlantic focus on the late eighteenth to the mid-twentieth century, with particular concentrations around the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, though there is an enduring interest in the early modern period in England.
Glycosaminoglycan-bound and free inter-α-trypsin inhibitor components of follicular fluid
Authors: Ødum Lars , Jessen Torben E. , Andersen Claus Yding
Published: August 2008

The proteinase inhibitor inter-α trypsin inhibitor (ITI) is a blood-derived protein necessary for normal female fertility. Absence of ITI leads to ovulation of naked oocytes that cannot fertilise. ITI consists of two heavy chains (ITI-HC) and bikunin linked by a chrondroitin sulphate. By binding to hyaluronate, ITI-HC stabilises the extracellular matrix, but ITI-HC also binds to proteoglycans in follicular fluid. In vivo concentrations of ITI components in preovulatory follicular fluid, free as well as bound to hyaluronate or proteoglycan, are unknown. In order to quantify these components, 58 follicular fluids and 13 blood samples were collected in connection with in vitro fertilisation and embryo transfer treatment of 13 women. Quantitation of glycosaminoglycan-bound ITI-HC was performed after separation from free ITI in agarose gel. ITI components were determined by immunoelectrophoresis and hyaluronate by an ELISA method. The follicular fluid concentration of ITI was on average 70% of that in plasma and the concentration of hyaluronate remained low despite follicular production, suggesting that the production of hyaluronate is the rate-limiting step in the formation of the extracellular matrix of the oocyte-cumulus complex. In follicular fluid, the concentration of free ITI-HC was higher than that of glycosaminoglycan-bound ITI-HC. Addition of exogeneous hyaluronate doubled the amount of hyaluronate-bound ITI-HC, further supporting the notion that ITI in follicular fluid is not rate-limiting for cumulus expansion in vivo.
Fast-developing preimplantation embryo progeny from heterogametic females in mammals
Authors: Espinosa María Beatriz , Vitullo Alfredo D.
Published: August 2008

Karyotyping and cell number estimates in preimplantation embryos from heterogametic (XY*) and homogametic (XX) females of the field mouse Akodon azarae were studied to determine whether XX-XY-XY* differences exist in the rate of preimplantation development. At the morula stage, XY embryos from heterogametic mothers had twice the mean number of cells compared with XX embryos. However, this difference in cell numbers was not seen between XX and XY embryos from homogametic mothers. In this case, mean cell numbers were similar despite embryos being XX or XY. Furthermore, the mean cell number for XX and XY morulae from homogametic females was comparable to that for XX embryos from heterogametic females. It is concluded that XY* embryos (which will develop into heterogametic females) show an accelerated rate of preimplantation development.
An attempt at intracytoplasmic sperm injection of frozen-thawed minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) oocytes
Authors: Asada Masatsugu , Wei Hong , Nagayama Rie , Tetsuka Masafumi , Ishikawa Hajime , Ohsumi Seiji , Fukui Yutaka
Published: August 2008

Little is known about the characteristics of fertilisation events in minke whales. Cryopreserved minke whale oocytes and spermatozoa do not fertilise in a standard IVF. This study was conducted to investigate the pronucleus formation ability of cryopreserved minke whale oocytes and their subsequent development following intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). In experiment 1, frozen-thawed minke whale immature oocytes were cultured for in vitro maturation (IVM) in a maturation medium (TCM199) supplemented with either porcine follicle stimulating hormone (pFSH)/estradiol-17β(E2) or pregnant mare's serum gonadotropin (PMSG)/human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). After 120 h of IVM, oocyte survival was examined before ICSI, and showed no significant difference in morphological normality (24-36%) between the two IVM media. Two-cell embryos (two oocytes from 21 sperm-injected oocytes) were obtained when the maturation medium was supplemented with pFSH/E2 or PMSG/hCG. In experiment 2, cryopreserved maturing oocytes were investigated for the effects of repeat-culture (2 h or 24 h) on survival before ICSI. Pronuclear formation and development were examined for the effects of sperm pretreatment with dithiothreitol (DTT) and oocyte activation with ethanol at ICSI. A frequency of 49-69% of frozen-thawed maturing oocytes was used for ICSI. Although oocyte activation did not produce a significant difference in survival, pronucleus formation and embryonic development, 2- and 4-cell cleaved oocytes were observed after injection of sperm pretreated with DTT.
Roscovitine, a specific inhibitor of cyclin-dependent protein kinases, reversibly inhibits chromatin condensation during in vitro maturation of porcine oocytes
Authors: Krischek Carsten , Meinecke Burkhard
Published: August 2008

In the present study the effects of roscovitine on the in vitro nuclear maturation of porcine oocytes were investigated. Roscovitine, a specific inhibitor of cyclin-dependent protein kinases, prevented chromatin condensation in a concentration-dependent manner. This inhibition was reversible and was accompanied by non-activation of p34cdc2/histone H1 kinase. It also decreased enzyme activity of MAP kinase, suggesting a correlation between histone H1 kinase activation and the onset of chromatin condensation. The addition of roscovitine (50 μM) to extracts of metaphase II oocytes revealed that the MAP kinase activity was not directly affected by roscovitine, which indicates a possible link between histone H1 and MAP kinase. Chromatin condensation occurred between 20 and 28 h of culture of cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) in inhibitor-free medium (germinal vesicle stage I, GV1: 74.6% and 13.7%, respectively). Nearly the same proportion of chromatin condensation was detected in COCs incubated initially in inhibitor-free medium for 20-28 h and subsequently in roscovitine-supplemented medium (50 μM) for a further 2-10 h (GV I: 76.2% and 18.8%, respectively). This observation indicates that roscovitine prevents chromatin condensation even after an initial inhibitor-free cultivation for 20 h. Extending this initial incubation period to ≥22 h led to an activation of histone H1 and MAP kinase and increasing proportions of oocytes exhibiting chromatin condensation in the presence of roscovitine. It is concluded that histone H1 kinase is involved in the induction of chromatin condensation during in vitro maturation of porcine oocytes.
Expression of PCNA in the testis of the lizard, Podarcis s. sicula: an endogenous molecular marker of mitotic germinal epithelium proliferation
Authors: Chieffi Paolo , Nasti Mario , Fulgione Domenico , Franco Renato
Published: August 2008

Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) plays an essential role in nucleic acid metabolism as a component of the replication and repair machinery. This protein encircles DNA and can slide bidirectionally along the duplex binding to DNA polymerase δ and ε. It is well known that PCNA interacts with proteins involved in the cell cycle. The PCNA interactions with different cellular proteins and the importance of these interactions are discussed. To examine mitotic germinal epithelium proliferation during annual discontinuous spermatogenesis in the lizard Podarcis s. sicula, temporal and the spatial PCNA expression were investigated, and provide a useful endogenous molecular marker.
Development of porcine embryos and offspring after intracytoplasmic sperm injection with liposome transfected or non-transfected sperm into in vitro matured oocytes
Authors: Lai Liangxue , Sun Qingyuan , Wu Guangming , Murphy Clifton N. , Kühholzer Birgit , Park Kwang-Wook , Bonk Aaron J. , Day Bill N. , Prather Randall S.
Published: August 2008

The objective of this study was to evaluate in vitro and in vivo development of porcine in vitro matured (IVM) porcine oocytes fertilised by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and the possibility of producing transgenic embryos and offspring with this procedure. Activated ICSI oocytes had a higher pronuclear formation than non-activated ICSI oocytes (mean 64.8±17.3% vs 28.5±3.4%, p<0.05). When the zygotes with two pronuclei were cultured to day 2, there was no difference (p<0.05) in the cleavage rate (mean 60.0±7.0% vs 63.3±12.7%) between the two groups. The blastocyst rate in the activation group was significantly higher than that in the non-activation group (mean 30.0±11.6% vs 4.6±4.2%, p<0.05). After injection of the sperm transfected with DNA/liposome complex, destabilised enhanced green fluorescent protein (d2EGFP) expression was not observed on day 2 in either cleaved or uncleaved embryos. But from day 3, some of the embryos at the 2-cell to 4-cell stage started to express d2EGFP. On day 7, about 30% of cleaved embryos, which were in the range of 2-cell to blastocyst stage, expressed d2EGFP. However, for the IVF oocytes inseminated with sperm transfected with DNA/liposome complex, and for oocytes injected with sperm transfected with DNA/liposome complex, and for oocytes injected with DNA/liposome complex following insemination with sperm not treated with DNA/liposome complex, none of the embryos expressed d2EGFP. Sixteen day 4 ICSI embryos derived from sperm not treated with DNA/liposome complex were transferred into a day 3 recipient. One recipient delivered a female piglet with normal birthweight. After transfer of the ICSI embryos derived from sperm transfected with DNA/liposome complex, none of the four recipients maintained pregnancy.
Development of single mouse blastomeres enlarged to zygote size in conditions of nucleo-cytoplasmic synchrony
Authors: Modliński Jacek A. , Ozil Jean-Pierre , Modliński Marta K. , Szarska Alina , Reed Michael A. , Wagner Thomas E. , Karasiewicz Jolanta
Published: August 2008

The following blastomeres were enlarged to the size of the zygote by one, two or three rounds of blastomere enucleation and electrofusion: (1) from the 2-cell stage (referred to as 2/1 embryos), (2) from the 4-cell stage (referred to as 4/1 embryos), (3) from the 8-cell stage (referred to as 8/1 embryos). Such single enlarged blastomeres developed into blastocysts in vivo in 55.5% (2/1), 28% (4/1) and 6.6% (8/1) of cases. Their mean cell numbers were 45.3, 24.5 and 13.0 in 2/1, 4/1 and 8/1 embryos, respectively. When a blastomere nucleus from another mouse strain (heterologous nucleus) was substituted for a blastomere's own (homologous) one, then fewer blastocysts were formed from 2/1 embryos (34.6%), but not from 4/1 and 8/1 embryos. Five young (10.4%) were born from 2/1 embryos with a homologous nucleus, and nine (8.3%) from 2/1 embryos with heterologous nuclei. Four young (7.1%) were born from 4/1 embryos with heterologous nuclei. No young were obtained from 8/1 embryos. Incorrect cavitation resulting in trophoblastic vesicles and false blastocyst formation was common in 4/1 embryos (18.7% of those with homologous nuclei and 41.3% with heterologous nuclei) and in 8/1 embryos (53.3% and 43.7%, respectively). The results show that neither enlargement to zygote size nor nucleo-cytoplasmic synchrony improve postimplantation development of 4- and 8-cell stage blastomeres when compared with less enlarged non-synchronous ones; therefore, it appears that an insufficient number of inner cell mass cells in blastocysts and not too small a size of isolated blastomeres precludes their postimplantation development.
Bilingualism: The good, the bad, and the indifferent
Authors: BIALYSTOK ELLEN
Published: August 2008

The present paper summarizes research showing that bilingualism affects linguistic and cognitive performance across the lifespan. The effect on linguistic performance is generally seen as a deficit in which bilingual children control a smaller vocabulary than their monolingual peers and bilingual adults perform more poorly on rapid lexical retrieval tasks. The effect on cognitive performance is to enhance executive functioning and to protect against the decline of executive control in aging. These effects interact to produce a complex pattern regarding the effect of bilingualism on memory performance. Memory tasks based primarily on verbal recall are performed more poorly by bilinguals but memory tasks based primarily on executive control are performed better by bilinguals. Speculations regarding the mechanism responsible for these effects are described.
O(1) reversible tree navigation without cycles
Authors: O'KEEFE RICHARD A.
Published: August 2008

Imperative programmers often use cyclically linked trees in order to achieve O(1) navigation
time to neighbours. Some logic programmers believe that cyclic terms are necessary to achieve
the same in logic-based languages. An old but little-known technique provides O(1) time and
space navigation without cyclic links, in the form of reversible predicates. A small modification
provides O(1) amortised time and space editing.
Worst-case groundness analysis using definite Boolean functions
Authors: GENAIM SAMIR , CODISH MICHAEL , HOWE JACOB M.
Published: August 2008

This note illustrates theoretical worst-case scenarios for groundness analyses obtained through
abstract interpretation over the abstract domains of definite (Def) and positive
(Pos) Boolean functions. For Def, an example is given for which any
Def-based abstract interpretation for groundness analysis follows a chain which is exponential
in the number of argument positions as well as in the number of clauses but sub-exponential
in the size of the program. For Pos, we strengthen a previous result by illustrating an
example for which any Pos-based abstract
interpretation for groundness analysis follows a chain which is exponential in the size of the
program. It remains an open problem to determine if the worst case for Def is really as bad
as that for Pos.
A tribute to Alain Colmerauer
Authors: COHEN JACQUES
Published: August 2008

As an invited contributor to this Festschrift honoring Alain Colmerauer, I feel
compelled to give not only an account of his main research contributions, but also
of my perspective on the motivations behind them. I hope that this will provide the
reader with a glimpse of how a focused, tenacious, rigorous, and inventive mind like
Alain's picks research problems and proceeds to solve them. The history of Prolog,
the language that remains one of Alain's major accomplishments, is well documented.
His paper on the ‘Birth of Prolog,’ co-authored with Philippe Roussel (Colmerauer
& Roussel, 1970), is a highly recommended account of the circumstances that led
to the development of Prolog. Bob Kowalski (1988) presents his views of the early
history of Prolog from the automatic theorem proving perspective. Finally, my own
paper on the topic (Cohen, 1988) contains material complementing Alain's and Bob's
narratives. Instead of recasting already-available historical material, I have opted
to present here a more personal account of Alain's contributions, acknowledging in
advance the individual bias inherent in such an accounting of long-past events.
Typing constraint logic programs
Authors: FAGES FRANÇOIS , COQUERY EMMANUEL
Published: August 2008

We present a prescriptive type system with parametric polymorphism and subtyping for
constraint logic programs. The aim of this type system is to detect programming errors
statically. It introduces a type discipline for constraint logic programs and modules, while
maintaining the capabilities of performing the usual coercions between constraint domains,
and of typing meta-programming predicates, thanks to the exibility of subtyping. The
property of subject reduction expresses the consistency of a prescriptive type system w.r.t.
the execution model: if a program is ‘well-typed’, then all derivations starting from a
‘well-typed’ goal are again ‘well-typed’. That property is proved w.r.t. the abstract execution
model of constraint programming which proceeds by accumulation of constraints only, and
w.r.t. an enriched execution model with type constraints for substitutions. We describe our
implementation of the system for type checking and type inference. We report our experimental
results on type checking ISO-Prolog, the (constraint) libraries of Sicstus Prolog and other
Prolog programs.
International pension swaps
Authors: BODIE ZVI , MERTON ROBERT C.
Published: August 2008

During the past twenty years, swap contracts have become key financial ‘adapters’ linking
diverse national financial systems to the global financial network. Today banks and investment
companies around the world use swaps extensively to manage their currency, interest-rate, and
equity-market risks and to lower their transaction costs. Yet pension funds, which have grown
rapidly over that same 20-year period, hardly use swaps at all. This paper suggests how pension
funds could use swaps to achieve the risk-sharing benefits of broad international diversification
and hedging while avoiding the ‘flight’ of scarce domestic capital to other countries. The paper
also shows how swaps can be used to lower the risks of expropriation and to lower the other
transaction costs of investing in other countries.
Introduction: a forum for developing ideas and solutions to pension challenges
Authors: BROWN JEFFREY , HABERMAN STEVEN , MILEVSKY MOSHE , ORSZAG MIKE
Published: August 2008

The next few decades will be a period of rapid demographic change that will present
significant challenges to both public and private pension systems. In the next five
decades, reasonably conservative estimates are that the proportion of the population
aged over 65 in the developed world will roughly double. This shift in the age
structure of the population will naturally create wide-ranging economic and political
strains, particularly where pension provision relies extensively on pay-as-you-go
systems that are inherently sensitive to demographic change.

In addition to stress caused by a shift in the age structure of the population, low
fertility experience of many countries, particularly in continental Europe, will lead to
substantial declines in the working age population in the next couple of decades. A
decline in the availability of workers will pose challenges for firms who are likely to
be under increasing pressure to attract and retain key workers. These pressures could
lead to a growth in employer-provided pensions.
Controlling the cost of minimum benefit guarantees in public pension conversions
Authors: SMETTERS KENT
Published: August 2008

Reformed public DC plans typically contain a minimum benefit guarantee (DC-MB). This
paper explores risk management techniques to control the cost of these guarantees in DC
systems with minimum benefit guarantees (DC-MB). The paper finds two approaches are
particularly useful. The first approach borrows an idea from the recent catastrophic insurance
literature. The guarantee is placed over a ‘standardized’ portfolio, requiring agents to accept
any ‘basis risk’ if they chose a non-standard portfolio. However, for large conversions from
DB to DC-MB plans, in which there is little or no DB benefit remaining, the government must
still worry about any ‘implicit guarantee’ that might extend beyond the standardized portfolio
which might entice agents to accept a lot of basis risk (a ‘Samaritan's Dilemma’). The second
method, therefore, uses a more brute force approach: private portfolio returns in the good
states of the world are taxed while returns in the bad states are subsidized. Both options are
very effective at controlling guarantee costs, and they can be used separately or together.
Calculations demonstrate that all of the unfunded liabilities associated with modern pay-as-you-go
public pension programs can be eliminated under both approaches even at a modest contribution rate.
How can China solve its old-age security problem? The interaction between pension,
state enterprise and financial market reform
Authors: JAMES ESTELLE
Published: August 2008

Like most countries, China faces a rapidly aging population and a looming social security
crisis. Prefunding and unifying a fragmented system are at the heart of the government's
projected reforms that are intended to prevent this crisis. The Chinese plan to set up individual
accounts to deal with these problems is retarded by three key factors:

1 transition costs must be covered in any move toward prefunding, and the Chinese
government is still trying to figure out how to accomplish this;

2 the current social security system is characterized by fragmentation and decentralized
administration, which lead to principal–agent/ moral hazard issues that make it more
difficult to cover transition costs, decrease early retirement and increase compliance;

3 the funds that have accumulated have not been invested in diversified portfolios by
competitive management and have not earned a high rate of return.

This paper focuses on these three problems as well as the complex interactions between
pension, financial market and state-owned enterprise (SOE) reform. We summarize the bold
steps that the government has announced during second half of 2001 to link pension, financial
market and SOE reform.
The bonus-crediting mechanism of Danish pension and life insurance companies: an empirical analysis
Authors: GROSEN ANDERS , JØRGENSEN PETER LØCHTE
Published: August 2008

This paper develops and estimates a model for the bonus-crediting mechanism in relation to with-profits policies issued by Danish life insurance and pension companies. The market for pension and life insurance savings contracts is generally highly opaque, but our proposed model explains a significant part of the variation in actual bonus distribution by Danish market participants. The main determinant of bonus policy is a measure of the degree of solvency which we construct from a unique data set that contains information compiled from several public as well as non-public sources. The data set spans the ten-year period from 1991 to 2000 and the model is estimated by way of maximum likelihood.
Hemispheric asymmetries in the longitudinal structure of the low‐latitude nighttime ionosphere
Authors: McDonald S. E. , Dymond K. F. , Summers M. E.
Published: August 2008

Observations performed with the Low Resolution Airglow and Aurora Spectrograph (LORAAS), which flew aboard the Advanced Research and Global Observation Satellite (ARGOS), show evidence of wave number four longitudinal variations in the nighttime equatorial anomaly during March 2001 and March 2002. LORAAS limb scans of O I 135.6 nm emission features are used to reconstruct electron density profiles from which maps of the monthly average peak F region electron densities and heights at 0230 LT are generated. The longitudinal structure is nearly identical in both years. The locations of the longitudinal maxima in the Northern Hemisphere match that of previous studies, but the LORAAS data show a pronounced hemispheric asymmetry in the locations of the maxima in the Southern Hemisphere. The LORAAS results are compared with the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI‐90) to show the derived electron densities and peak altitudes are consistent with the climatology, but that the observed longitudinal structure is not. A physics‐based model of the ionosphere (Sami is Another Model of the Ionosphere (SAMI2)) is used to study the role of thermospheric neutral winds in generating the observed longitudinal pattern. It is demonstrated that longitudinally varying F region winds along with effects due to the offset of the geographic and magnetic equator are the plausible cause of the hemispheric asymmetry. Together, the effects enhance the observed wave number four pattern in the nighttime ionosphere.
Large‐scale relocation of two decades of Northern California seismicity using cross‐correlation and double‐difference methods
Authors: Waldhauser Felix , Schaff David P.
Published: August 2008

We simultaneously reanalyzed two decades (1984–2003) of the digital seismic archive of Northern California using waveform cross‐correlation (CC) and double‐difference (DD) methods to improve the resolution in hypocenter locations in the existing earthquake catalog generated at the Northern California Seismic Network (NCSN) by up to three orders of magnitude. We used a combination of ∼3 billion CC differential times measured from all correlated pairs of events that are separated by less than 5 km and ∼7 million P wave arrival‐time picks listed in the NCSN bulletin. Data were inverted for precise relative locations of 311,273 events using the DD method. The relocated catalog is able to image the fine‐scale structure of seismicity associated with active faults and revealed characteristic spatiotemporal structures such as streaks and repeating earthquakes. We found that 90% of the earthquakes have correlated P wave and S wave trains at common stations and that 12% are colocated repeating events. An analysis of the repeating events indicates that uncertainties at the 95% confidence level in the existing network locations are on average 0.7 km laterally and 2 km vertically. Correlation characteristics and relative location improvement are remarkably similar across most of Northern California, implying the general applicability of these techniques to image high‐resolution seismicity caused by a variety of plate tectonic and anthropogenic processes. We show that consistent long‐term seismic monitoring and data archiving practices are key to increase resolution in existing hypocenter catalogs and to estimate the precise location of future events on a routine basis.
Atmospheric response to Atlantic tropical instability waves in Community Atmosphere Model version 3
Authors: Wu Qiaoyan , Mahajan Salil , Bowman Kenneth P. , Chang Ping
Published: August 2008

Tropical instability waves (TIWs) are 20‐ to 40‐day waves that appear along the sea surface temperature (SST) front of the equatorial cold tongues. In this study, we investigate the atmospheric planetary boundary layer response to TIW‐induced SST variations in the tropical Atlantic Ocean using Community Atmosphere Model version 3 (CAM3) developed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and compare the model simulation with available satellite measurements. CAM3 is used to simulate the response to Atlantic TIWs with T85 and T42 horizontal resolutions forced with daily Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission microwave imager (TMI) SSTs and T85 horizontal resolution forced with weekly TMI and Reynolds SSTs. All four runs exhibit an atmospheric response to the SST anomalies, but the amplitude of the response is different in each case. The model simulates winds, convergence, column‐integrated water vapor, and precipitation perturbations associated with TIWs that are similar in many respects to the satellite observations. However, the wind convergence and divergence anomalies in the satellite observations are located west of the SST anomalies. In the CAM3 simulations the wind convergence is more in phase with SST anomalies. Differences between the observations and the model simulations appear to be due to both differences in the boundary layer response and differences in the horizontal advection process.
Comparison of atmospheric hydrology over convective continental regions using water vapor isotope measurements from space
Authors: Brown Derek , Worden John , Noone David
Published: August 2008

Global measurements of the 500–825 hPa layer mean HDO/H2O ratio from the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) are used to expose differences in the dominant hydrologic processes in the Amazon, north Australian, and Asian monsoon regions. The data show high regional isotopic variability and numerous values unexpected from classical Rayleigh theory. Correlation analysis shows that mixing with boundary layer air, enhanced isotopic fractionation during precipitation, and subsiding air parcels contribute to intraseasonal isotopic variability. These local controls explain only 8–30% of total regional variance, which suggests that the isotopes are primarily indicators of moist processes that occur upstream. Seasonal trajectory analysis demonstrates that Rayleigh distillation in a Lagrangrian framework underestimates the observed isotopic depletion during the monsoons and suggests substantial recycling of water within or below clouds. The trajectory results for the dry seasons reveal that subsiding air parcels periodically introduce isotopically depleted air into the north Australia and Asian monsoon regions, whereas vigorous low‐level convection over the Amazon basin acts to quickly enrich and moisten dry subsiding air. The analysis indicates variations in the strength of convective detrainment into the lower to middle troposphere over all regions, which, during the dry seasons of the north Australian and Asian monsoon regions, correlate with increases in relative humidity. This study shows that isotopic measurements provide unique diagnostics of mechanisms that control the seasonal sources of water and that these provide a refined understanding of the differences in the characteristics of hydrologic budgets in these monsoonal regions.
Observations of the ionospheric projection of the plasmapause
Authors: Anderson P. C. , Johnston W. R. , Goldstein J.
Published: August 2008

We demonstrate a method for extracting the ionospheric projection of the plasmapause (PP) from DMSP measurements of the H+ density in the topside ionosphere. The results agree well with PP locations derived from images of the plasmasphere acquired by the IMAGE spacecraft during a 72‐day period in 2001. The DMSP‐derived PP locations are usually earthward of the IMAGE EUV PP locations, on average about 0.5 L. The locations are also usually earthward of PP locations derived from the O'Brien and Moldwin [2003] empirical PP model, on average about 1 L. Nearly all of the cases when the DMSP‐derived PP location is more that about 0.5 L different than the IMAGE‐derived PP location occur during periods when the plasmasphere and PP are showing significant structure. Examination of these periods suggests that the DMSP measurements are often identifying physical structures in the plasmasphere.
Numerical simulation of electron distributions upstream and downstream of high Mach number quasi‐perpendicular collisionless shocks
Authors: Yuan Xingqiu , Cairns Iver H. , Robinson Peter A.
Published: August 2008

Test particle calculations are performed to investigate the effects of different shock parameters on electron distributions upstream and downstream of quasi‐perpendicular model shocks. The electron trajectories are followed exactly, and the model shock profiles are carefully prescribed as typical internal structures relevant to Earth's bow shock. Kuncic et al.'s [2002] model is employed to calculate the net cross‐shock potential jump. A detailed argument for neglecting the noncoplanar magnetic field component is given. The results show that the primary effects on the upstream and downstream electron distributions are determined by (1) variation of the angle θbn between the upstream magnetic field and shock normal, (2) the existence or not of overshoots in magnetic field and cross‐shock potential, (3) the spatial profile of the cross‐shock potential relative to the magnetic field, and (4) the spatial scale of the shock. Changes in the scale and amplification factors of the shock foot (providing the foot remains small compared with the overall shock), and in the spatial scale of a non‐self‐consistent Gaussian model for the cross‐shock potential, have little effect. The electron distributions, both upstream and downstream, agree very well with the predictions of adiabatic theory. Realistic shocks with self‐consistent magnetic and potential profiles have well‐defined loss cones, ring beam, and beam features in the upstream and downstream distributions. Leakage of downstream electrons into the upstream region significantly affects the upstream distributions and should not be neglected. Remote extraction of shock structure and parameters appears possible using upstream or downstream electron distributions. Calculations of the wave growth, and resulting particle heating and acceleration, from these distributions should be pursued for time‐stationary or reforming shocks with realistic shock profiles.
Cloud patterns lee of Hawaii Island: A synthesis of satellite observations and numerical simulation
Authors: Yang Yang , Xie Shang‐Ping , Hafner Jan
Published: August 2008

Standing well above the trade wind inversion, Hawaii Island (maximum elevation ∼4.2 km) splits the northeast trade winds and induces a westerly reverse flow in the wake. Satellite observations and regional model simulations are used to investigate circulation effects on lee cloud formation during summer. Over the island, the cloud distribution is consistent with orographic‐induced vertical motions. Over the lee ocean, our analysis reveals a cloud band that extends southwestward over a few tens of kilometers from the southwest coast of the island. This southwest lee cloud band is most pronounced in the afternoon, anchored by strong convergence and maintained by in situ cloud production in the upward motion. Such an offshore cloud band is not found off the northwest coast, an asymmetry possibly due to the Coriolis effect on the orographic flow. Off the Kona coast, the dynamically induced westerly reverse flow keeps the wake cool and nearly free of clouds during the day. Along the Kona coast, clouds are blown offshore from the island by the easterly trades in the afternoon in a layer above the reverse flow. Deprived of in situ production, these afternoon Kona coast clouds dissipate rapidly offshore. At night, the offshore land/valley breezes converge onto the onshore reverse flow, and a cloud deck forms on and off the Kona coast, bringing nighttime rain as observed at land stations. To illustrate the circulation effect, lee cloud formation is compared between tall Hawaii and short Kauai/Oahu Islands, which feature the flow‐around and flow‐over regimes, respectively. Effects of trade wind strength on the leeside cloudiness are also studied.
Comparison of adaptive filtering techniques for land surface data assimilation
Authors: Crow W. T. , Reichle R. H.
Published: August 2008

The accurate specification of modeling and observational error information required by data assimilation algorithms is a major obstacle to the successful application of a land surface data assimilation system. The source and statistical structure of these errors are often unknown, and poor assumptions concerning the relative magnitude of modeling and observation uncertainty degrade the quality of land data assimilation products. In theory, adaptive filtering approaches are capable of estimating model and observation error covariance information during the online cycling of a data assimilation system. To date, however, these approaches have not been widely applied to land surface models. Here, we implement and compare four separate adaptive filtering schemes in a data assimilation system designed to ingest remotely sensed surface soil moisture retrievals. Upon testing of each scheme via a synthetic twin data assimilation experiment, three of the four adaptive approaches are found to provide substantially improved soil moisture estimates. However, the specific model and observation characteristics of satellite‐based surface soil moisture retrievals contribute to the relatively slow convergence of all schemes. Overall, results highlight the need to consider unique aspects of the land data assimilation problem when designing and/or evaluating the relative performance of adaptive filtering algorithms.
Data mining of protein families using common peptides
Authors: Gottlieb Assaf , Weingart Uri , Horn David
Published: August 2008

Predicting the function of a protein from its sequence is typically addressed using sequence-similarity. Here we propose a motif-based approach, using supervised motif extraction from protein sequences belonging to one functional family. The resulting deterministic motifs form Common Peptides (CPs) that characterize this family, allow for data mining of its proteins and facilitate further partition of the family into clusters
Organometallic Chemistry
Authors: Butler I R , Wright Dominic S , Brennan J , Sella A , Wheatley Andrew E H , Humphrey M G , Lynam Jason M , Linton David , King P J , Layfield Richard A , Solan Gregory A , Jelliss Paul , Aldridge Simon , Boss Sally , Cifuentes Marie P , Christie Steve D R , Franken Andreas , Fairlamb Ian J S , Garcia Dr Felipe
Published: August 2008

Organometallic chemistry is an interdisciplinary science which continues to grow at a rapid pace. Although there is continued interest in synthetic and structural studies the last decade has seen a growing interest in the potential of organometallic chemistry to provide answers to problems in catalysis synthetic organic chemistry and also in the development of new materials. This Specialist Periodical Report aims to reflect these current interests reviewing progress in theoretical organometallic chemistry, main group chemistry, the lanthanides and all aspects of transition metal chemistry.