bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Bacillus cereusInduces Permeability of an In Vitro Blood-Retina Barrier
Authors: Moyer A. L. , Ramadan R. T. , Thurman J. , Burroughs A. , Callegan M. C.
Published: February 2008

MostBacillus cereustoxin production is controlled by the quorum-sensing-dependent, pleiotropic global regulatorplcR, which contributes to the organism's virulence in the eye. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects ofB. cereusinfection andplcR-regulated toxins on the barrier function of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells, the primary cells of the blood-retina barrier. Human ARPE-19 cells were apically inoculated with wild-type or quorum-sensing-deficientB. cereus, and cytotoxicity was analyzed.plcR-regulated toxins were not required forB. cereus-induced RPE cytotoxicity, but these toxins did increase the rate of cell death, primarily by necrosis.B. cereusinfection of polarized RPE cell monolayers resulted in increased barrier permeability, independent ofplcR-regulated toxins. Loss of both occludin and ZO-1 expression occurred by 8 h postinfection, but alterations in tight junctions appeared to precede cytotoxicity. Of the several proinflammatory cytokines analyzed, only interleukin-6 was produced in response toB. cereusinfection. These results demonstrate the deleterious effects ofB. cereusinfection on RPE barrier function and suggest thatplcR-regulated toxins may not contribute significantly to RPE barrier permeability during infection.
THE TOPOLOGICAL THEORY OF THE MILNOR INVARIANT $\bar\mu(1,2,3)$
Authors: LEAL LORENZO , PINEDA JESÚS
Published: February 2008

We study a topological Abelian gauge theory that generalizes the Abelian Chern–Simons one, and that leads in a natural way to the Milnor's link invariant [Formula: see text] when the classical action on-shell is calculated.
GRAVITATIONAL WAVES FROM HYPERBOLIC ENCOUNTERS
Authors: CAPOZZIELLO SALVATORE , DE LAURENTIS MARIAFELICIA , DE PAOLIS FRANCESCO , INGROSSO G. , NUCITA ACHILLE
Published: February 2008

The emission of gravitational waves from a system of massive objects interacting on hyperbolic orbits is studied in the quadrupole approximation. Analytic expressions are derived for the gravitational radiation luminosity, the total energy output and the gravitational radiation amplitude. An estimation of the expected number of events towards different targets (i.e. globular clusters and the center of the Galaxy) is also given. In particular, for a dense stellar cluster at the galactic center, a rate up to one event per year is obtained.
REFLECTIVE SCATTERING EFFECTS IN DOUBLE-POMERON EXCHANGE PROCESSES
Authors: TROSHIN S. M. , TYURIN N. E.
Published: February 2008

We discuss energy dependence of rapidity gap survival probability in the double-pomeron exchange processes with account of the reflective scattering effects.
NEW RESOLUTION OF FINITE FUZZY RELATION EQUATIONS WITH MAX-MIN COMPOSITION
Authors: SHIEH BIH-SHEUE
Published: February 2008

The work considers the problem of solvability of a fuzzy relation equation with max-min composition. It presents the necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of solutions, then derives a fast algorithm for finding all minimal solutions. The results are compared with those of previous publications regarding this subject.
Reactivation of the Levant passive margin during the late Tertiary and formation of the Jaffa Basin offshore central Israel
Authors: Gvirtzman Zohar , Zilberman Ezra , Folkman Yehoshua
Published: February 2008

Re-examination of the stratigraphic record in the continental margin of Israel indicates that the Levant passive margin was reactivated in the late Tertiary. Subsidence and, presumably, sedimentation rates increased after prolonged gradual decay; the shelf-slope facies transition zone was revived; faulting and magmatism resumed and the Judea Hills began to rise. Two parallel fault systems with large vertical displacements were formed (or reactivated) between the Levant Basin and the continent. In the Levant Basin a new 4 km thick section accumulated and at a middle level between the two faults a local basin was formed and filled with a 2500 m thick section. That basin, termed here the Jaffa Basin, provides good age control. It was initiated in the Mid–Late Oligocene, was mainly active in the Miocene and was completely buried by sediments in the Plio-Pleistocene. We suggest that at the early stage of the Arabia–Africa breakup, in conjunction with the Suez rifting, the Jaffa Basin was formed between two segments of a left-lateral fault that allowed Arabia to slip northward relative to the Mediterranean lithosphere. When this fault failed to transform the motion, both the Suez Rift and the Jaffa Basin were abandoned and the plate motion jumped inland to the Dead Sea Transform.
Relay and accommodation zones in the Dobe and Hanle grabens, central Afar, Ethiopia and Djibouti
Authors: Tesfaye S. , Rowan M.G. , Mueller K. , Trudgill B.D. , Harding D.J.
Published: February 2008

The right-stepping Dobe and Hanle grabens display a variety of structures that serve to transfer extensional displacement. These structures range from relay zones between overlapping fault segments to accommodation zones between interacting rift segments. The study reveals the presence of three examples of displacement transfer structures: a breached relay zone, a large-scale accommodation zone that is partially breached, and a composite zone that combines elements of both. All three examples exhibit common structural elements. First, dipping ramps develop between horizontal horst blocks and graben floors. Second, these ramps are cut by numerous faults, most of which are antithetic to the ramps and the graben boundary faults. The antithetic faults bound elongate blocks that are rotated into the grabens. Third, crosscutting faults partially or completely link the en echelon or overlapping graben boundary faults. The identification of precursory structures (mode I fractures) at the leading edge of the Dobe–Hanle accommodation zone breaching faults suggest that the breaching process may be continuing. The spatial alignment from north to south of the crosscutting faults, open fractures and lineaments indicates that the breaching process is progressing from the Dobe graben towards the Hanle graben.
Insulin regulation of MCP-1 in human adipose tissue of obese and lean women
Authors: Westerbacka Jukka , Cornér Anja , Kolak Maria , Makkonen Janne , Turpeinen Ursula , Hamsten Anders , Fisher Rachel M. , Yki-Järvinen Hannele
Published: February 2008

CCL2 (MCP-1, monocyte chemoattractant protein 1) and CCL3 (MIP-1α, macrophage inflammatory protein 1α) are required for macrophage infiltration in adipose tissue. Insulin increases CCL2 expression in adipose tissue and in serum more in insulin-resistant obese than in insulin-sensitive lean mice, but whether this is true in humans is unknown. We compared basal expression and insulin regulation of CCL2 and CCL3 in adipose tissue and MCP-1 and MIP-1α in serum between insulin-resistant and insulin-sensitive human subjects. Subcutaneous adipose tissue biopsies and blood samples were obtained before and at the end of 6 h of in vivo euglycemic hyperinsulinemia (maintained by the insulin clamp technique) in 11 lean insulin-sensitive and 10 obese insulin-resistant women, and before and after a 6-h saline infusion in 8 women. Adipose tissue mRNA concentrations of monocyte/macrophage markers CD68, EMR1, ITGAM, ADAM8, chemokines CCL2 and CCL3, and housekeeping gene ribosomal protein large P0 (RPLP0) were measured by means of real-time PCR at baseline. In addition, mRNA concentrations of CCL2, CCL3, and RPLP0 were measured after insulin infusion. Levels of MCP-1 and MIP-1α were determined in serum, and protein concentration of MCP-1 was determined in adipose tissue at baseline and after insulin infusion. Basally, expression of the macrophage markers CD68 and EMR1 were increased in adipose tissue of insulin-resistant subjects. Insulin increased MCP-1 gene and protein expression significantly more in the insulin-resistant than in the insulin-sensitive subjects. Basally expression of CCL2 and CCL3 and expression of macrophage markers CD68 and ITGAM were significantly correlated. In serum, MCP-1 decreased significantly in insulin-sensitive but not insulin-resistant subjects. MIP-1α was undetectable in serum. Insulin regulation of CCL2 differs between insulin-sensitive and -resistant subjects in a direction that could exacerbate adipose tissue inflammation.
Eye Movements in Response to Dichoptic Motion: Evidence for a Parallel-Hierarchical Structure of Visual Motion Processing in Primates
Authors: Hayashi Ryusuke , Miura Kenichiro , Tabata Hiromitsu , Kawano Kenji
Published: February 2008

Brief movements of a large-field visual stimulus elicit short-latency tracking eye movements termed “ocular following responses” (OFRs). To address the question of whether OFRs can be elicited by purely binocular motion signals in the absence of monocular motion cues, we measured OFRs from monkeys using dichoptic motion stimuli, the monocular inputs of which were flickering gratings in spatiotemporal quadrature, and compared them with OFRs to standard motion stimuli including monocular motion cues. Dichoptic motion did elicit OFRs, although with longer latencies and smaller amplitudes. In contrast to these findings, we observed that other types of motion stimuli categorized as non-first-order motion, which is undetectable by detectors for standard luminance-defined (first-order) motion, did not elicit OFRs, although they did evoke the sensation of motion. These results indicate that OFRs can be driven solely by cortical visual motion processing after binocular integration, which is distinct from the process incorporating non-first-order motion for elaborated motion perception. To explore the nature of dichoptic motion processing in terms of interaction with monocular motion processing, we further recorded OFRs from both humans and monkeys using our novel motion stimuli, the monocular and dichoptic motion signals of which move in opposite directions with a variable motion intensity ratio. We found that monocular and dichoptic motion signals are processed in parallel to elicit OFRs, rather than suppressing each other in a winner-take-all fashion, and the results were consistent across the species.
Toward Biologically Targeted Therapy of Calcium Cycling Defects in Heart Failure
Authors: Ikeda Yasuhiro , Hoshijima Masahiko , Chien Kenneth R.
Published: February 2008

A growing body of evidence indicates that heart failure progression is tightly associated with dysregulation of phosphorylation of Ca2+ regulators localized in the sub-cellular microdomain of the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Chemical or genetic correction of abnormalities in cardiac phosphorylation cascades is emerging as a potential target in the treatment of heart failure. Here, we review how specific kinases and phosphatases finely tune Ca2+ cycling and regulate excitation-contraction (E-C) coupling in cardiomyocytes.
Cerebrospinal Fluid Neurochemical Phenotypes in Vascular Dementias: Original Data and Mini-Review
Authors: Bibl Mirko , Mollenhauer Brit , Esselmann Hermann , Schneider Michael , Lewczuk Piotr , Welge Volker , Gross Martin , Falkai Peter , Kornhuber Johannes , Wiltfang Jens
Published: February 2008

Background/Aims: The study evaluated the patterns of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides, total tau and phospho-tau among Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and vascular dementias (VAD). Methods: Aβ-SDS-PAGE immunoblot and commercially available ELISAs were applied to the CSF analysis of 52 patients with probable (n = 21) and possible (n = 16) VAD, AD with cerebrovascular disease (n = 15), 30 patients with probable AD and 30 nondemented disease controls. Results: AD and AD with cerebrovascular disease displayed a similar neurochemical phenotype in contrast to nondemented disease controls and probable VAD with regard to tau, p-tau, Aβ1–40ox and Aβ1–42%. Possible VAD displayed AD-like changes only for Aβ1–40ox and Aβ1–42%. Conclusion: CSF neurochemical phenotypes sufficiently discriminate probable AD and VAD from each other, but their diagnostic value is limited in case of no clear-cut clinical appearance, such as possible VAD. Conversely, CSF Aβ peptides and p-tau levels may help estimate the involvement of AD-like pathophysiological pathways in VAD subgroups.
Merged Imaging and Expanded Target Selection in Gamma Knife Radiosurgical Ablation of the Sphenopalatine Ganglion
Authors: Karas Chris , Baig Mirza N. , Larson Timothy , Slone Wayne , Gahbauer Reinhard , McGregor John M.
Published: February 2008

Sphenopalatine neuralgia, or Sluder’s neuralgia, refers to a consistent clustering of clinical symptoms: intermittent episodes of vasomotor hyperactivity causing conjuctival injection, lacrimation, serous nasal discharge and unilateral nasal mucosal inflammation, sensory disturbances of the palate and oropharynx with distorted gustatory sensations, and lancing, unilateral pain most often located in the area of the inferomedial orbit and nasal base or at the region of the mastoid process. This particular clinical entity has also proven difficult to manage effectively, especially when not clearly secondary to other medical conditions such as paranasal sinus infection or bony nasal deformities. This condition has been treated with success using Gamma Knife radiosurgery in at least 1 other case reported in the literature. We present a second patient whose sphenopalatine neuralgia was treated successfully with stereotactic radiosurgery and discuss the possibilities of this modality as an option for patients with a refractory condition.
Basophil Sensitivity in Patients Not Responding to Venom Immunotherapy
Authors: Peternelj Andreja , Silar Mira , Erzen Renato , Kosnik Mitja , Korosec Peter
Published: February 2008

Background: Treatment failure of venom immunotherapy (VIT) is not rare and the risk and pathogenic factors for those failures are so far poorly understood. For that reason we evaluated allergen-specific basophil sensitivity in patients who did not tolerate field re-stings after completed VIT treatment. Methods: Basophil responsiveness was evaluated by flow cytometry analyses of basophil CD63 surface expression induced by different concentrations of bee or wasp venom (1, 0.1 and 0.01 µg/ml) in 14 treated patients who had experienced systemic allergic reactions (Muller grades II–III) and 17 treated patients who had no reactions after the field re-stings. We also included a group of 28 Hymenoptera venom-allergic patients who had not received VIT. Results: In 14 patients who still reacted to bee or wasp sting, basophil response at a venom concentration of 0.1 µg/ml was significantly higher than in patients who tolerated field re-stings (p = 0.03; t test). Basophil response was also slightly higher at a concentration of 1 µg/ml, but not to statistical significance (p = 0.12; t test). There was no difference in the response to direct cross-linking of the IgE and in venom-specific IgE and IgG4 serum concentrations between those 2 groups (p > 0.8; Fisher’s exact test, t test). Patients who tolerated field re-stings have also significantly lower basophil response in comparison to patients who had not received VIT, both at 0.1 and 1 µg/ml of venom concentrations (p < 0.001; t test). Conclusions: The results suggest that basophil venom-specific sensitivity is associated with the efficiency of VIT.
A Promoter Polymorphism of the Alpha 8 Integrin Gene and the Progression of Autosomal-Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease
Authors: Zeltner Raoul , Hilgers Karl F. , Schmieder Roland E. , Porst Markus , Schulze Bernd D. , Hartner Andrea
Published: February 2008

Background/Aims: Dysregulation of integrins is a feature of tissue remodeling in autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). The alpha 8 beta 1 integrin (α8β1) affects kidney development and the susceptibility to renal injury in mice. We investigated whether the –414 T/C polymorphism in the promoter region of the alpha 8 integrin chain gene (ITGA8) is associated with the progression of renal disease in ADPKD. Methods: Genotyping for the –414 T/C polymorphism was performed by allelic separation using RT-PCR in 294 patients with ADPKD. Alpha 8 integrin expression was detected by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. Results: 41% of the study population reached end stage renal disease at a mean age of 51 ± 12 years. The frequency of the –414 C allele was 0.194 in ADPKD. C allele carriers (CC and TC genotypes) were compared with patients homozygous for the T allele (TT genotype). Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that end-stage renal failure occurred at a significantly younger age in TT homozygotes (median age, 47 years; 95% CI, 46–49 years) than in C allele carriers (median age, 51 years; 95% CI, 49–53 years; p = 0.046 by the log-rank test). When parameters of ADPKD patients were compared between genotype by analysis of variance, only age at onset of end-stage renal failure was significantly different (p = 0.026) whereas age at onset of hypertension, body surface area, 24-hour systolic and diastolic blood pressure did not differ. In kidneys of ADPKD, expression of alpha 8 integrin is increased and found de novo in cystic epithelia. Conclusion: A polymorphism of the ITGA8 promoter modifies the progression of renal failure in ADPKD.
Entropic Aspects of Supercooled Droplet Freezing
Authors: Kostinski Alexander , Cantrell Will
Published: February 2008

The freezing of supercooled water droplets in the atmosphere, with an emphasis on the entropic aspects of the problem, is examined. Supercooled water is a metastable state and, therefore, the associated phase transition must be irreversible. Temperature-dependent heat capacities of supercooled water and ice are used to calculate the entropy difference. That difference is then used to establish a lower bound on the amount of latent heat that can be liberated by the freezing droplets. The calculation is compared with tabulated values of the latent heat of fusion with surprising results. Based on a novel physical picture of the freezing process, the authors suggest a simple estimate for the effective latent heat that is suitable for heat budget calculations of glaciating clouds. In addition, the authors arrive at a quadratic dependence on supercooling, (ΔT)2, for the irreversible contribution to heat exchange during the freezing process. The proportionality factor is estimated as −0.3 J mol−1 K−2.
High-Resolution Simulation of Mean Convection and Its Intraseasonal Variability over the Tropics in the MRI/JMA 20-km Mesh AGCM
Authors: Rajendran K. , Kitoh A. , Mizuta R. , Sajani S. , Nakazawa T.
Published: February 2008

Tropical mean convection and its organization on different spatiotemporal scales in a simulation using the Meteorological Research Institute/Japan Meteorological Agency (MRI/JMA) global atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) at 20-km resolution (TL959L60) has been investigated. Comparison with two lower resolution simulations of 120 km (TL159L40) and 180 km (TL95L40) shows that convection, climatological fields, and moist stability over the Indian Ocean and South Pacific convergence zone are better represented in TL959L60 than in lower resolution simulations. However, the simulated three-dimensional structure of the Walker and Hadley cells, and the vertical structure of convective heating, do not show marked improvement relative to lower resolution simulations. The amplitude and phase speed of convectively coupled equatorial waves show that, although the Kelvin waves, the observed hierarchical structure of cloud clusters associated with the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) convection, and the wave interrelationship among MJO, Kelvin, and equatorial Rossby waves are marginally improved in TL959L60, increased resolution does not impact the simulation of the MJO itself. In the model, the MJO appears as a standing oscillation with much weaker variance compared to observations. Power spectra and a composite MJO life cycle constructed based on extended empirical orthogonal functions reveal that the amplitude, structure, and propagation characteristics of the MJO remain deficient at all resolutions. Thus, while the very high resolution yields improvements in some aspects of tropical mean convection, these appear to be less important compared to the basic deficiency of the parameterized convection in capturing tropical convection and its spatiotemporal variability.
Summer Precipitation Frequency, Intensity, and Diurnal Cycle over China: A Comparison of Satellite Data with Rain Gauge Observations
Authors: Zhou Tianjun , Yu Rucong , Chen Haoming , Dai Aiguo , Pan Yang
Published: February 2008

Hourly or 3-hourly precipitation data from Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Networks (PERSIANN) and Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) 3B42 satellite products and rain gauge records are used to characterize East Asian summer monsoon rainfall, including spatial patterns in June–August (JJA) mean precipitation amount, frequency, and intensity, as well as the diurnal and semidiurnal cycles. The results show that the satellite products are comparable to rain gauge data in revealing the spatial patterns of JJA precipitation amount, frequency, and intensity, with pattern correlation coefficients for five subregions ranging from 0.66 to 0.94. The pattern correlation of rainfall amount is higher than that of frequency and intensity. Relative to PERSIANN, the TRMM product has a better resemblance with rain gauge observations in terms of both the pattern correlation and root-mean-square error. The satellite products overestimate rainfall frequency but underestimate its intensity. The diurnal (24 h) harmonic dominates subdaily variations of precipitation over most of eastern China. A late-afternoon maximum over southeastern and northeastern China and a near-midnight maximum over the eastern periphery of the Tibetan Plateau are seen in the rain gauge data. The diurnal phases of precipitation frequency and intensity are similar to those of rainfall amount in most regions, except for the middle Yangtze River valley. Both frequency and intensity contribute to the diurnal variation of rainfall amount over most of eastern China. The contribution of frequency to the diurnal cycle of rainfall amount is generally overestimated in both satellite products. Both satellite products capture well the nocturnal peak over the eastern periphery of the Tibetan Plateau and the late-afternoon peak in southern and northeastern China. Rain gauge data over the region between the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers show two peaks, with one in the early morning and the other later in the afternoon. The satellite products only capture the major late-afternoon peak.
A New Two-Moment Bulk Stratiform Cloud Microphysics Scheme in the Community Atmosphere Model, Version 3 (CAM3). Part II: Single-Column and Global Results
Authors: Gettelman A. , Morrison H. , Ghan S. J.
Published: February 2008

The global performance of a new two-moment cloud microphysics scheme for a general circulation model (GCM) is presented and evaluated relative to observations. The scheme produces reasonable representations of cloud particle size and number concentration when compared to observations, and it represents expected and observed spatial variations in cloud microphysical quantities. The scheme has smaller particles and higher number concentrations over land than the standard bulk microphysics in the GCM and is able to balance the top-of-atmosphere radiation budget with 60% the liquid water of the standard scheme, in better agreement with retrieved values. The new scheme diagnostically treats both the mixing ratio and number concentration of rain and snow, and it is therefore able to differentiate the two key regimes, consisting of drizzle in shallow, warm clouds and larger rain drops in deeper cloud systems. The modeled rain and snow size distributions are consistent with observations.
Influence of Modes of Climate Variability on Global Temperature Extremes
Authors: Kenyon Jesse , Hegerl Gabriele C.
Published: February 2008

The influence of large-scale modes of climate variability on worldwide summer and winter temperature extremes has been analyzed, namely, that of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, the North Atlantic Oscillation, and Pacific interdecadal climate variability. Monthly indexes for temperature extremes from worldwide land areas are used describe moderate extremes, such as the number of exceedences of the 90th and 10th climatological percentiles, and more extreme events such as the annual, most extreme temperature. This study examines which extremes show a statistically significant (5%) difference between the positive and negative phases of a circulation regime. Results show that temperature extremes are substantially affected by large-scale circulation patterns, and they show distinct regional patterns of response to modes of climate variability. The effects of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation are seen throughout the world but most clearly around the Pacific Rim and throughout all of North America. Likewise, the influence of Pacific interdecadal variability is strongest in the Northern Hemisphere, especially around the Pacific region and North America, but it extends to the Southern Hemisphere. The North Atlantic Oscillation has a strong continent-wide effect for Eurasia, with a clear but weaker effect over North America. Modes of variability influence the shape of the daily temperature distribution beyond a simple shift, often affecting cold and warm extremes and sometimes daytime and nighttime temperatures differently. Therefore, for reliable attribution of changes in extremes as well as prediction of future changes, changes in modes of variability need to be accounted for.
The Kuroshio Extension Northern Recirculation Gyre: Profiling Float Measurements and Forcing Mechanism
Authors: Qiu Bo , Chen Shuiming , Hacker Peter , Hogg Nelson G. , Jayne Steven R. , Sasaki Hideharu
Published: February 2008

Middepth, time-mean circulation in the western North Pacific Ocean (28°–45°N, 140°–165°E) is investigated using drift information from the profiling floats deployed in the Kuroshio Extension System Study (KESS) and the International Argo programs. A well-defined, cyclonic recirculation gyre (RG) is found to exist north of the Kuroshio Extension jet, confined zonally between the Japan Trench (∼145°E) and the Shatsky Rise (∼156°E), and bordered to the north by the subarctic boundary along ∼40°N. This northern RG, which is simulated favorably in the eddy-resolving OGCM for the Earth Simulator (OFES) hindcast run model, has a maximum volume transport at 26.4 Sv across 159°E and its presence persists on the interannual and longer time scales. An examination of the time-mean x-momentum balance from the OFES hindcast run output reveals that horizontal convergence of Reynolds stresses works to accelerate both the eastward-flowing Kuroshio Extension jet and a westward mean flow north of the meandering jet. The fact that the northern RG is eddy driven is further confirmed by examining the turbulent Sverdrup balance, in which convergent eddy potential vorticity fluxes are found to induce the cyclonic RG across the background potential vorticity gradient field. For the strength of the simulated northern RG, the authors find the eddy dissipation effect to be important as well.
A Simple Seasonal Forecast Update of Tropical Cyclone Activity
Authors: Chan Johnny C. L.
Published: February 2008

A simple method based on the cumulative number of tropical cyclones (TCs) up to a given month in the early season is proposed to update the seasonal prediction of the annual number of TCs in a given ocean basin. For the western North Pacific, if this number is below normal by July or August, it is very likely that the annual activity will also be below normal. The reverse (for relating above-normal number with above-normal annual activity) is also true although the probability is smaller than for the below-normal category. Similar results are found for TCs in the eastern North Pacific and the North Atlantic, with the latter having the smallest likelihood. These results change only slightly when the samples are separated into dependent and independent subsets.
Hydrometeorological Short-Range Ensemble Forecasts in Complex Terrain. Part I: Meteorological Evaluation
Authors: McCollor Doug , Stull Roland
Published: February 2008

This paper addresses the question of whether it is better to include lower-resolution members of a nested suite of numerical precipitation forecasts to increase ensemble size, or to utilize high-resolution members only to maximize forecast details in regions of complex terrain. A short-range ensemble forecast (SREF) system is formed from three models running in nested configurations at 108-, 36-, 12-, and 4-km horizontal grid spacings. The forecasts are sampled at 27 precipitation-gauge locations, representing 15 pluvial watersheds in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. This is a region of complex topography characterized by high mountains, glaciers, fjords, and land–ocean boundaries. Matching forecast–observation pairs are analyzed for two consecutive wet seasons: October 2003–March 2004 and October 2004–March 2005. The northwest coast of North America is typically subject to intense landfalling Pacific cyclones and frontal systems during these months.

Using forecast analysis tools that are well designed for SREF systems, it is found that utilizing the full suite of ensemble members, including the lowest-resolution members, produced the highest quality probabilistic forecasts of precipitation. A companion paper assesses the economic value of SREF probabilistic forecasts for hydroelectric operations.
The New Public Sphere: Global Civil Society, Communication Networks, and Global Governance
Authors: Castells Manuel
Published: February 2008

The public sphere is the space of communication of ideas and projects that emerge from society and are addressed to the decision makers in the institutions of society. The global civil society is the organized expression of the values and interests of society. The relationships between government and civil society and their interaction via the public sphere define the polity of society. The process of globalization has shifted the debate from the national domain to the global debate, prompting the emergence of a global civil society and of ad hoc forms of global governance. Accordingly, the public sphere as the space of debate on public affairs has also shifted from the national to the global and is increasingly constructed around global communication networks. Public diplomacy, as the diplomacy of the public, not of the government, intervenes in this global public sphere, laying the ground for traditional forms of diplomacy to act beyond the strict negotiation of power relationships by building on shared cultural meaning, the essence of communication.
New Technologies and International Broadcasting: Reflections on Adaptations and Transformations
Authors: Price Monroe E. , Haas Susan , Margolin Drew
Published: February 2008

International broadcasters, like all media institutions, adjust to reflect the existence of new distribution technologies. Technological change is part of a new media landscape that has rendered older definitions and contexts of international broadcasting insufficient. The pace and extent of adjustment differs among the players. Adaptations range from the superficial to the highly integrative and, on the other hand, from the merely adaptive to the pervasively transformative. Can one compare, among institutions, how this process takes place and what factors influence the patterns of accommodation? Theories of organizational structure shed light on which factors lead international broadcasters to which path. This article considers U.S. international broadcasting as a model to tease out some of these factors, among them organizational complexity, political influence, and control and contradictions embedded in institutional purpose. In this scenario, technological adaptation can mask a critical need to address institutional transformation.
Union Free-riding in Britain and New Zealand
Authors: Bryson Alex
Published: February 2008

The percentage of workers who choose not to join the union available to them at their workplace has been rising in Britain and New Zealand. Using comparable data for both countries this article shows factors such as perceptions of union instrumentality, the number of problems employees have at work, social custom, ideological convictions, and the costs of union joining all influence the propensity to free-ride. Employer-inspired policies substituting for unionization play no role. Having accounted for all these factors, free-riding remains more common in New Zealand than in Britain.
Do Production Employees Engage in Emotional Labour?
Authors: Townsend Keith
Published: February 2008

In 1983, Airlie Hochschild published a `classic', The Managed Heart . Since this publication, scores of articles have been produced to explore the various manifestations of emotional labour across a range of service industries. However, there is little research on emotional labour when the face-to-face or voice-to-voice interactions with customers are not obviously apparent. This article presents data collected from a food processing plant that has seen a strong managerial attempt to develop a unitarist culture. Employees face a significant level of emotional labour in their interactions within this culture. As has been found in the service industry literature, employees react differently to the emotional labour that they face, and indeed, not all emotional labour is negative for employees.
Framing African American Students' Success and Failure in Urban Settings
Authors: Lewis Chance W. , James Marlon , Hancock Stephen , Hill-Jackson Valerie
Published: February 2008

Grounded in critical race theory, this article seeks to frame the ideological positions of success and failure for African American students in urban school settings. First, we revisit national data and research literature that illustrate the ongoing urban Black—White achievement gap. Second, the Matrix of Achievement Paradigms is shared in an attempt to advance the conversation on African American students' achievement. It provides a serviceable organizational tool for framing African American students' success and failure. Finally, we bridge rhetoric with practical ideas for stakeholders by providing recommendations for closing the achievement gap in urban settings.
Havens of Hope or the Killing Fields
Authors: Beachum Floyd D. , Dentith Audrey M. , McCray Carlos R. , Boyle Tina M.
Published: February 2008

This study focused on the actions and relationships among educators, which promoted an environment of failure or success for African American students. The researchers examined the perspectives of teachers and administrators as related to pedagogy and practice in a Midwestern urban middle school. Specifically, the study employed ethnographic strategies to develop a comprehensive case study. Emergent areas included challenges related to leadership, pedagogy, and relationships within an urban school in an era of heightened accountability.
Wealth, Human Capital and Family across Racial/Ethnic Groups: Integrating Models of Wealth and Locational Attainment
Authors: Woldoff Rachael A.
Published: February 2008

This is a US investigation of the relationship between individuals' neighbourhood characteristics and their familial and socioeconomic resources—with special emphasis on wealth. Spatial assimilation theorists propose that racial/ethnic differences in where people live can be explained by the demographic, economic and familial characteristics of individuals, while place stratification theorists argue that group differences in neighbourhood characteristics are not fully explained by personal resources. There is evidence for the persisting effects of race/ethnicity on locational attainment, but support is also found for wealth influences on locational attainment. In addition, there is evidence of an interaction effect between race and wealth in predicting neighbourhood racial composition and neighbourhood SES, but the nature of the interaction varies by group and outcome.
The Effect of Employment Sub-centres on Population Density in Barcelona
Authors: Muñiz Ivan , Garcia-López Miquel Àngel , Galindo Anna
Published: February 2008

The polycentric models of the new urban economics (NUE) predict that population density decreases while increasing the distance to employment centres. In contrast with this, some studies have calculated non-significant gradients or even positive ones, which appear to threaten seriously the usefulness of these theoretical models. Does this mean that this theoretical framework should be given up in order to understand the decision-making processes of the actors in a polycentric city and their cumulative effects on urban structure? Or, rather, is it a matter of overcoming problems with the appropriate estimating techniques? This study has tested the effect of decentralised and integrated sub-centres in the Barcelona metropolitan region on population density in 1991 and 2001. From the preliminary results, it is clear that population density increases with distance in a considerable number of the sub-centres that have sprung up as employment has decentralised. It has been detected that this result is due not so much to the higher value of more distant residential land compared with that nearer the employment sub-centres, but to deficiencies in the econometric model used. The problem is that the sub-centres belonging to this group are very close together. Once this is resolved, it is demonstrated that, although distance has less effect on decentralised sub-centres than integrated ones, in both cases the effect is negative; that is, when distance increases, population density is reduced. Therefore, the results obtained are not clearly contrary to the predictions of the theoretical models.
`Aufklärung', freemasonry, the public sphere and the question of Enlightenment
Authors: Mehigan Tim , De Burgh Helene
Published: February 2008

That the Enlightenment was a movement reaching across at least three European countries (France, Germany and Britain) in the eighteenth century, with a similar platform in all three (social improvement on the basis of unassisted reason), is the current orthodoxy. Yet this view can only be accepted with qualifications. It is the intention of this essay to focus attention on these qualifications. A first objection lies with the fact that no platform of Enlightenment was articulated in any country in the eighteenth century apart from Germany. In the debate about Enlightenment initiated in the Berlinische Monatsschrift in 1783, Kant's insistence that Aufklärung must stay within political limits is considered characteristic not only of the German discussion, but indeed of all broadly Enlightenment thought from the beginning. In considering Koselleck's argument about the Enlightenment, which analysed this same conservatism, a second objection is apparent: the impulse to stay within the confines of the absolutist state suggests that eighteenth-century Enlightenment, politically speaking, was decidedly other than that which has subsequently been found within it.
The uneasy European
Authors: Emden Christian J.
Published: February 2008

Friedrich Nietzsche's later philosophical writings have rarely been examined in the context of the political culture that marks late nineteenth-century Germany. But once we accept the inherently political nature of these writings, a purely philosophical interpretation seems limited. This article explores the way in which Nietzsche's understanding of a possible European identity is embedded in his reaction to the political culture of Imperial Germany. It is against this background that Nietzsche begins to form an idea of Europe as an alternative to the status quo of contemporary political culture, but at the same time his vision of Europe remains too vague to constitute a real political alternative.
A Guide for the Estimation of Gender and Sexual Orientation Effects in Dyadic Data: An Actor-Partner Interdependence Model Approach
Authors: West Tessa V. , Popp Danielle , Kenny David A.
Published: February 2008

The study of gender differences is a pervasive topic in relationship science. However, there are several neglected issues in this area that require special care and attention. First, there is not just one gender effect but rather three gender effects: gender of the respondent, gender of the partner, and the gender of respondent by gender of the partner interaction. To separate these three effects, the dyadic research design should ideally have three different types of dyads: male-female, male-male, and female-female. Second, the analysis of gender differences in relational studies could benefit from the application of recent advances in the analysis of dyadic data, most notably the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model. Third, relationship researchers need to consider the confounding, mediating, and moderating effects of demographic variables. We use the American Couples (Blumstein & Schwartz, 1983) data set to illustrate these points.
Accumulating Disadvantage Over the Life Course
Authors: Walsemann Katrina M. , Geronimus Arline T. , Gee Gilbert C.
Published: February 2008

Recent studies suggest the importance of examining cumulative risk or advantage as potential predictors of health over the life course. Researchers investigating the cumulative health effects of education, however, have mainly conceptualized education in years or degrees, often disregarding educational quality and access to educational opportunities that may place individuals on divergent academic trajectories. We investigate whether educational advantages in youth are associated with an individual's health trajectory. We develop a novel index of educational advantage and employ random-intercept modeling using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. A widening health disparity was found in adulthood between respondents with greater and those with fewer educational advantages in youth. Furthermore, among respondents with few educational advantages, Blacks experience a greater health burden as they age compared to Whites and Hispanics. These results suggest that differential access to educational advantages during youth may contribute to persisting health disparities in adulthood.
Psychological Processes Underlying Persuasion
Authors: Petty Richard E. , Briñol Pablo
Published: February 2008

In this article, the authors review a contemporary social psychological perspective on persuasion with an emphasis on explicating the psychological processes that underlie successful attitude change. Those mechanisms by which variables in the persuasion setting can influence attitude change are: (a) affect the amount of information processing; (b) bias the thoughts that are generated or (c) one's confidence in those thoughts (or other structural features); (d) serve as persuasive arguments or evidence or (e) affect attitudes by serving as simple cues and heuristics. By grouping the persuasion processes into meaningful categories, the authors aim to provide a useful guide to organize and facilitate access to key findings in this literature. They also describe a theoretical framework to understand the circumstances for which the different processes are more likely to influence our judgments, such as when variables precede or follow thought-generation, and when the extent of thinking is relatively low, medium, or high.
Science and Society: To Indicate, to Motivate or to Persuade?
Authors: Nascimento-Schulze Clélia Maria
Published: February 2008

This paper deals with the recent policies introduced in Brazil in order to foster a public interest towards science. Persuasive messages and strategies aiming at increasing a public awareness of the importance of scientific literacy for the development of the country are introduced at different levels and targeting different kinds of publics. These policies are analysed in view of classical models of social influence and persuasion.
Changes or transition? Analysing the use of ICTs in the sciences
Authors: Heimeriks Gaston , Vasileiadou Eleftheria
Published: February 2008

Current changes in the science system, conceptualized as cyberscience, Mode 2 knowledge production or Triple Helix, have been debated heavily these last decades. This paper rearticulates these debates by studying the ways in which the emergence and use of ICTs have conditioned changes in the science system. We analyse these changes, based on empirical studies and theoretical conceptualizations, as an interaction at three levels: researching, scientizing and politicking. The analysis suggests that the main result of the use of ICTs in sciences is an additional layer of communication, providing heterogeneity on top of established patterns and allowing a recombination of new and established elements. Concepts of radical discontinuity in sciences are rejected and policy implications are offered on the basis of the analysis.
The Death and Legacy of Leah in Jubilees*
Authors: Gregory Bradley C.
Published: February 2008

While recent scholars have demonstrated that Jubilees reflects a positive view of women, and of Leah in particular, relatively little attention has been focused on Jubilees' use of the final references to Leah in Genesis. This article explores the way the author of Jubilees conveys Leah's death and her subsequent genealogy and how these aspects contribute to the overall portrait of Leah in the work.
Ethical Issues in the Qualitative Researcher—Participant Relationship
Authors: Eide Phyllis , Kahn David
Published: February 2008

Qualitative research poses ethical issues and challenges unique to the study of human beings. In developing the interpersonal relationship that is critical to qualitative research, investigator and participant engage in a dialogic process that often evokes stories and memories that are remembered and reconstituted in ways that otherwise would not occur. Ethical issues are raised when this relationship not only provides qualitative research data, but also leads to some degree of therapeutic interaction for the participant. The purpose of this article is to examine some of the controversies inherent in the researcher's dilemma when this occurs, set within the context of a nursing caring theory (Swanson), and the International Council of Nurses Code of ethics for nurses, which provides guidance on global nursing practice.
Global Perspectives in Higher Education: Taking the Agenda Forward in the United Kingdom
Authors: Lunn Jenny
Published: February 2008

The economic, social, and cultural interests of the nation demand that graduates have sound knowledge of global issues, the skills for working in an international context, and the values of a “global citizen.” Research funded by the British government's Department for International Development sought to assess how such “global perspectives” are currently integrated into undergraduate learning and teaching across a variety of disciplines, departments, and institutions in the United Kingdom. The findings suggest that there are a wide variety of opportunities for students to develop global perspectives, and there are some excellent examples of innovative approaches; however, the extent to which global perspectives are embedded in departmental and institutional practice largely depends on individual enthusiasm and discretion. For global perspectives to become an integral part of higher education, there needs to be a coordinated strategy for developing activities that foster global perspectives and resources to implement the strategy, as well as ensuring that there is sufficient recognition and rewards for doing so.