bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Surface and Coating Analysis of Press‐Hardened Hot‐Dip Galvanized Steel Sheet
Authors: Autengruber Robert , Luckeneder Gerald , Kolnberger Siegfried , Faderl Josef , Hassel Achim Walter
Published: October 2012

The use of continuous galvanized steel sheet as feedstock material for press hardening leads to components of very high strength levels with classical cathodic corrosion protection. The present work provides an insight into this technology with special focus on surface oxidation and intermetallic phase formation during the austenisation process. For that reason hot dipped galvanized 22MnB5 steel sheets, with a blank thickness of 1.5 mm and an average coating weight of 70 g m−2, were annealed in a temperature range of 400–900°C in steps of 50°C without soaking before quenching in water. Surface and cross‐cuts were analyzed by SEM, EDX, and XRD to illustrate the phase formation and the surface changes during thermal treatment. Corrosion behavior was also studied based on electrochemical investigations and an accelerated, cyclic, automotive corrosion tests called VDA, which is a mixture of salt spray test and alternating climate test. It was found that austenisation of galvanized steel sheet causes a significant change of the coating. The generated coating still offers cathodic protection for the steel substrate and has higher corrosion resistance than standard galvanized steel sheet. Surface oxidation also occurs during the press hardening process leading to a surface covered with successively arranged layers of Al2O3 and ZnO, containing also further oxidized alloying elements.
Kinetic modeling and occupancy measures of the norepinephrine transporters in baboons using single photon emission computed tomography with 123I‐INER
Authors: Dos Santos Tavares Adriana Alexandre , Barret Olivier , Batis Jeffery , Alagille David , Koren Andrei , Papin Caroline , Kudej Greg , Nice Katie , Kordower Jeffrey H. , Cosgrove Kelly P. , Kloczynski Tracy , Brenner Eric , Seibyl John , Tamagnan Gilles
Published: October 2012

This study aims to investigate the pharmacokinetics of a recently developed radiotracer for imaging of the norepinephrine transporter (NET) in baboon brain, 123I‐INER, using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). In addition, it also aims to determine NET occupancy by atomoxetine and reboxetine, two selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, using 123I‐INER in baboons. Baseline and preblocking studies with a high dose of atomoxetine (0.85 mg/kg) were conducted in three baboons using SPECT with 123I‐INER administered as a bolus. Kinetic modeling analysis was investigated for different models, namely invasive and reference tissue models. Bolus plus constant infusion experiments with displacement at equilibrium using six different doses of atomoxetine (0.03–0.85 mg/kg) and four different doses of reboxetine (0.5–3.0 mg/kg) were carried out in several baboons to obtain occupancy measurements as a function of dose for the two NET selective drugs. Results showed that reference tissue models can be used to estimate binding potential values and occupancy measures of 123I‐INER in different brain regions. In addition, the apparent volume of distribution was estimated by dividing concentration in tissue by the concentration in blood at 3 hours postinjection. After administration of atomoxetine or reboxetine, a dose‐dependent occupancy was observed in brain regions known to contain high densities of NET. In conclusion, pharmacokinetic properties of 123I‐INER were successfully described, and obtained results may be used to simplify future data acquisition and image processing. Dose‐dependent NET occupancy for two selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors was successfully measured in vivo in baboon brain using SPECT and 123I‐INER. Synapse, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Alarm activation, pattern discovery, and anomaly detection in sensor networks
Authors: Shine James A. , Gentle James E.
Published: October 2012

This article describes some recent sensor network research. We have looked in more detail at three data analysis issues. First, we have considered the general issue of what constitutes normal activity and what constitutes anomalous activity. Detecting anomalies requires some measure of ‘normal’ to determine if there is an anomaly. While approaches such as Bayesian networks work well on large and diverse networks, a simpler approach may be useful for smaller networks. We describe an approach for keeping an ongoing record of sensor activation events and turning on an alarm when the frequency of events exceeds a set threshold. The approach is devised for efficiency of computation and storage. We considered groups of days such as seasons, days of the week, and work days to produce several sets of average activation levels. Second, we modeled different time intervals as independent Poisson processes and used this model to compile average data to look for and display anomalies at different sensors and different times. Using a sensor data set, we studied groups of days such as seasons, days of the week, and work days to produce several sets of average activation levels. Third, we consider possible paths that could be caused by an intruder activating several sensors in a spatial and temporal neighborhood. We are developing a simple tool to calculate and display such paths and their probabilities. WIREs Comput Stat 2012, 4:565–570. doi: 10.1002/wics.1233

This article is categorized under:

Algorithms and Computational Methods > Computer Graphics

Statistical Learning and Exploratory Methods of the Data Sciences > Pattern Recognition
Intensity correction of WD‐XRF spectra from 2θ to energy
Authors: Iwata Akihiko , Yuge Koretaka , Kawai Jun
Published: October 2012

Generally, the energy‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence spectra are plotted as an equi‐energy interval with the constant energy resolution. On the other hand, the wavelength‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence spectra are usually measured with an equi‐angle interval supposed the constant angular resolution. When the wavelength axis of wavelength‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence spectra is converted into energy, the intensity should be also corrected. This intensity correction is important even for a narrow scan range such as Pb Lα and Lβ peaks. The intensity ordering is Lβ > Lα for 2θ plot, but it becomes Lα > Lβ for energy plot. The detailed conversion equations for abscissa and ordinate axes are presented. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Na3SbSe3: Synthesis, Crystal Structure Determination, Raman Spectroscopy, and Ionic Conductivity
Authors: Pompe Constantin , Pfitzner Arno
Published: October 2012

Na3SbSe3 was obtained by solid state reaction of anhydrous Na2Se, antimony, and selenium in a ratio of 3:2:3. It is air and moisture sensitive and melts at 870 K. Yellow single crystals of Na3SbSe3 were used for single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction. It crystallizes in the cubic space group P213 (No. 198) with a = 9.0227(2) Å, V = 734.53(3) Å3, and Z = 4. Na3SbS3 is isotypic with Na3AsS3. Trigonal SbSe3 pyramids therein act as mono‐, bi‐, and tridentate ligands to sodium. Sodium is located at three different sites, which are all coordinated by six selenium atoms, providing a strongly distorted octahedral environment. NaSe6 octahedra of identical type share common vertices; in case of different sites also face sharing is observed. Na3SbSe3 shows temperature dependent Na+ conductivity above 380 K, which increases to 2.9 × 10–6 Ω–1 cm–1 at 590 K.
The Clinical Safety of Performing Laparoscopic Gastrectomy for Gastric Cancer by Trainees after Sufficient Experience in Assisting
Authors: Nunobe Souya , Hiki Naoki , Tanimura Shinya , Nohara Kyoko , Sano Takeshi , Yamaguchi Toshiharu
Published: October 2012

Background

Laparoscopic gastrectomy (LAG) is increasingly performed to treat gastric cancer. However, the procedure remains complicated, and an optimal system for educating clinicians about LAG has not been established.

Methods

Our training system centers on understanding the anatomical appearance under laparoscopy and the standardized steps of LAG, including the roles of the scopist and the assistant. The trainees participated in LAG procedures as a scopist and an assistant in 30–35 cases, before conducting their first LAG case. The data of 788 consecutive patients with early gastric cancer who underwent LAG were also reviewed.

Results

During the study period, nine trainees performed a total of 215 LAG (27.3 %) with trainers, while 563 LAG were conducted by the two trainers (71.4 %). The surgical outcomes including operative time, blood loss, and retrieval of lymph nodes were almost equivalent for both the trainers and the trainees. The total experience among the trainees as scopist and as first assistant was 45.0 and 41.4 cases, respectively, and the trainees had experienced 33.8 cases as a scopist and 35.3 cases as an assistant before they performed their first LAG as an operator. After commencing experience as an operator, the average operation time of the trainees reached that of the trainers within six cases and their learning curve reached a plateau.

Conclusions

Our training system based on attaining sufficient experience as an assistant and scopist in the simulation of a LAG procedure was effective for ensuring clinical safety for LAG performed by a trainee with experienced surgeons.
Comparison of the secondary metabolites in two scales of cephalosporin C (CPC) fermentation and two different post-treatment processes
Authors: Cao Ying-Xiu , Lu Hua , Qiao Bin , Chen Yao , Yuan Ying-Jin
Published: October 2012

Cephalosporin C (CPC) is the precursor of a class of antibiotics that were more effective than traditional penicillins. CPC production is performed mainly through fermentation by Acremonium chrysogenum, whose secondary metabolism was sensitive to the environmental changes. In the present work, secondary metabolites were measured by ion-pair reversed-phase liquid chromatography tandemed with hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry, and the disparity of them from two scales of CPC fermentations (pilot and industrial) and also two different post-treatment processes (oxalic acid and formaldehyde added and control) were investigated. When fermentation size was enlarged from pilot scale (50 l) to industrial scale (156,000 l), the remarkable disparities of concentrations and changing trends of the secondary metabolites in A. chrysogenum were observed, which indicated that the productivity of CPC biosynthesis was higher in the large scale of fermentation. Three environmental factors were measured, and the potential reasons that might cause the differences were analyzed. In the post-treatment process after industrial fermentation, the changes of these secondary metabolites in the tank where oxalic acid and formaldehyde were added were much less than the control tank where none was added. This indicated that the quality of the final product was more stable after the oxalic acid and formaldehyde were added in the post-treatment process. These findings provided new insight into industrial CPC production.
How Has the Economic Downturn Affected Communities and Implementation of Science‐Based Prevention in the Randomized Trial of Communities That Care?
Authors: Kuklinski Margaret R. , Hawkins J. David , Plotnick Robert D. , Abbott Robert D. , Reid Carolina K.
Published: October 2012

This study examined implications of the economic downturn that began in December 2007 for the Community Youth Development Study (CYDS), a longitudinal randomized controlled trial of the Communities That Care (CTC) prevention system. The downturn had the potential to affect the internal validity of the CYDS research design and implementation of science‐based prevention in study communities. We used archival economic indicators and community key leader reports of economic conditions to assess the extent of the economic downturn in CYDS communities and potential internal validity threats. We also examined whether stronger economic downturn effects were associated with a decline in science‐based prevention implementation. Economic indicators suggested the downturn affected CYDS communities to different degrees. We found no evidence of systematic differences in downturn effects in CTC compared to control communities that would threaten internal validity of the randomized trial. The Community Economic Problems scale was a reliable measure of community economic conditions, and it showed criterion validity in relation to several objective economic indicators. CTC coalitions continued to implement science‐based prevention to a significantly greater degree than control coalitions 2 years after the downturn began. However, CTC implementation levels declined to some extent as unemployment, the percentage of students qualifying for free lunch, and community economic problems worsened. Control coalition implementation levels were not related to economic conditions before or after the downturn, but mean implementation levels of science‐based prevention were also relatively low in both periods.
Church-Based Social Support and a Sense of Belonging in a Congregation among Older Mexican–Americans
Authors: Krause Neal , Hayward R. David
Published: October 2012

Research suggests that people with a strong sense of belonging in a congregation tend to rate their health in a more favorable way. However, relatively little is known about how a sense of belonging arises in a congregation. The purpose of the current study is to see if five different dimensions of church-based social support are associated with a sense of belonging in a congregation. In the process, an effort is made to contribute to the literature in two potentially important ways. First, the relationship between church-based support and belonging is evaluated with data from a nationwide survey of older Mexican–Americans. Second, tests are conducted to see if there are gender differences in the relationship between church-based support and belonging. The findings suggest that for the sample as a whole, receiving more of each type of church-based social support is associated with a stronger sense of belonging. Moreover, the results reveal that the relationship between all five types of church-based support and belonging is stronger for older Mexican–American men than for older Mexican–American women.
Computational Aeroacoustics
Authors: Tam Christopher K. W.
Published: October 2012

Computational aeroacoustics (CAA) is a relatively new research area. CAA algorithms have developed rapidly and the methods have been applied in many areas of aeroacoustics. The objective of CAA is not simply to develop computational methods but also to use these methods to solve practical aeroacoustics problems and to perform numerical simulation of aeroacoustic phenomena. By analysing the simulation data, an investigator can determine noise generation mechanisms and sound propagation processes. This is both a textbook for graduate students and a reference for researchers in CAA and as such is self-contained. No prior knowledge of numerical methods for solving partial differential equations (PDEs) is needed, however, a general understanding of partial differential equations and basic numerical analysis is assumed. Exercises are included and are designed to be an integral part of the chapter content. In addition, sample computer programs are included to illustrate the implementation of the numerical algorithms.
Autoethnographic Expression and Cultural Translation in Tian Yage's Short Stories
Authors: Liou Liang-ya
Published: October 2012

This article explores how three short stories set in 1980s Taiwan by the Taiwanese aboriginal writer Tian Yage (Tuobasi Tamapima) can be read as autoethnographic fiction as well as modern fiction, portraying contemporary Taiwanese aboriginal society caught between indigenous folkways and colonial modernity, and how the narrators of the stories tackle cultural translation. I begin with a discussion of Sun Ta-chuan's caution in 1991 as the Taiwan Aboriginal Movement was evolving into the Taiwan Aboriginal Cultural Revivalist Movement. After analysing anthropology's relationship with aborigines and imperialism, I apply Mary Louise Pratt's concept of autoethnography to the aboriginal activists' ethnographic studies and personal narratives. I argue that, prior to the Taiwan Aboriginal Cultural Revivalist Movement, Tian sought to construct an aboriginal cultural identity vis-à-vis the metropolis and to envision a cultural revival within the indigenous community, while he also explored the dilemmas and difficulties that arose from these. In the last section, I apply Homi K. Bhabha's theory of the untranslatable in cultural translation to further examine the language, the narrative voice and the form of both autoethnographic fiction and modern fiction in Tian's stories. I argue that writing Chinese-language modern fiction is a tacit recognition on Tian's part of the legacy of colonial modernity, but the purpose is to manoeuvre for a rethinking of the Taiwanese modern subject. As the narrative voice of his stories is one of an aboriginal speaking as a subject rather than an object, speaking with the backdrop of the aboriginal village as the locus of indigenous traditions vis-à-vis the dominant society, Tian is implicitly demanding aboriginal rights and a reconsideration of the Taiwanese modern subject as well as a shift in the paradigm of historiography on Taiwan.
Politics and Business Group Formation in China: The Party in Control?
Authors: Brødsgaard Kjeld Erik
Published: October 2012

As a result of economic reform and administrative restructuring in China, a number of powerful state-owned business groups (“national champions”) have emerged within sectors of strategic importance. They are headed by a new corporate elite which enjoys unprecedentedly high levels of remuneration and managerial independence from government agencies and which derives legitimacy from symbolizing China's economic rise. However, through thenomenklaturasystem, the Party controls the appointment of the CEOs and presidents of the most important of these enterprises and manages a cadre transfer system which makes it possible to transfer/rotate business leaders to take up positions in state and Party agencies. In order to conceptualize the coexistence of the contradicting forces for further enterprise autonomy and continued central control that characterizes the evolving relationship between business groups and the Party-state, this paper proposes the notion of integrated fragmentation.
Shifting Fiscal Control to Limit Cadre Power in China's Townships and Villages
Authors: Oi Jean C. , Babiarz Kim Singer , Zhang Linxiu , Luo Renfu , Rozelle Scott
Published: October 2012

In contrast to its decentralized political economy model of the 1980s, China took a surprising turn towards recentralization in the mid-1990s. Its fiscal centralization, starting with the 1994 tax reforms, is well known, but political recentralization also has been under way to control cadres directly at township and village levels. Little-noticed measures designed to tighten administrative and fiscal regulation began to be implemented during approximately the same period in the mid-1990s. Over time these measures have succeeded in hollowing out the power of village and township cadres. The increasing reach of the central state is the direct result of explicit state policies that have taken power over economic resources that were once under the control of village and township cadres. This article examines the broad shift towards recentralization by examining the fiscal and political consequences of these policies at the village and township levels. Evidence for this shift comes from new survey data on village-level investments, administrative regulation and fiscal oversight, as well as township-level fiscal revenues, expenditures, transfers (between counties and townships) and public-goods investments.
Health Care Reform and Patients' Trust in Physicians in Urban Beijing
Authors: Tam Waikeung
Published: October 2012

The Chinese health care system has experienced profound changes in recent decades, including the retrenchment of government financial support. These changes and their subsequent adverse impacts have prompted the Chinese media and some academics to suggest that patients have a relatively low level of trust in physicians in China today. As the first step in exploring the state of patient trust in physicians in public hospitals in urban China, and its determinants, we conducted a survey of 434 patients from 26 public hospitals in urban Beijing between December 2009 and January 2010. Conducted by the Horizon Research Group, our survey asked the patient respondents how they viewed the physicians they were currently seeing, focusing on the following dimensions of trust: physician agency, technical competence, interpersonal competence, and information provided by physicians. Our survey results show a relatively high level of patients' trust in their physicians. Moreover, our in-patient respondents reported a higher level of trust than out-patient respondents with regard to physician agency, interpersonal competence and information provision. Regression analyses also find that patients' self-reported health status, the level of public hospitals from which they received treatment, the duration of their illness, and the frequency of exposure to negative media reports of physicians and hospitals are important determinants of patients' trust in physicians.
Counting Cadres: A Comparative View of the Size of China's Public Employment
Authors: Ang Yuen Yuen
Published: October 2012

Is China's public bureaucracy overstaffed? To answer this basic question objectively, one needs to define public employment in the contemporary Chinese context; survey data sources available to measure public employment; and finally, compare China's public employment size with that of other countries. Using a variety of new sources, this article performs all three tasks. It also goes further to clarify the variance betweenbianzhi(formally established posts) and actual staffing size, as well as other permutations of thebianzhisystem, especiallychaobian(exceeding thebianzhi). A key finding is that China's net public employment per capita is not as large as often perceived; quite the contrary, it is one-third below the international mean. However, it is clear that the actual number of employees in the party-state bureaucracy has grown – and is still growing – steadily since reforms, despite repeated downsizing campaigns. Such expansion has been heavily concentrated at the sub-provincial levels and amongshiye danwei(extra-bureaucracies).
The End of the CCP's Resilient Authoritarianism? A Tripartite Assessment of Shifting Power in China
Authors: Li Cheng
Published: October 2012

This essay challenges the widely held view of the CCP's purported “resilient authoritarianism,” which asserts that China's one-party political system is able to enhance the state capacity to govern effectively through institutional adaptations and policy adjustments. An analysis of the recent and still unfolding Bo Xilai crisis reveals the flaws in China's political system, including nepotism and patron–client ties in the selection of leaders, rampant corruption, the growing oligarchic power of state-owned enterprises, elites' contempt for the law and the potential failure to broker deals between competing factions in the Party leadership. The essay argues that the CCP's “authoritarian resilience” is a stagnant system, both conceptually and empirically, because it resists much-needed democratic changes in the country. The problems of the resilient authoritarianism thesis is traceable to the monolithic conceptualizing of China – the failure to appreciate seemingly paradoxical transformative trends in the country, which this essay characterizes as three paralleled developments, namely, 1) weak leaders, strong factions; 2) weak government, strong interest groups; and 3) weak Party, strong country. One should not confuse China's national resilience (in terms of the emerging middle class, new interest group politics, and dynamic society) with the CCP's capacity and legitimacy to rule the country. The essay concludes that if the CCP intends to regain the public's confidence and avoid a bottom-up revolution, it must abandon the notion of “authoritarian resilience” and embrace a systematic democratic transition with bold steps towards intra-Party elections, judicial independence and a gradual opening of the mainstream media.
Effect of temperature, relative humidity and rainfall on rotavirus infections in Kolkata, India
Authors: SUMI A. , RAJENDRAN K. , RAMAMURTHY T. , KRISHNAN T. , NAIR G. B. , HARIGANE K. , KOBAYASHI N.
Published: October 2012

Rotavirus is a common viral cause of severe diarrhoea. For the underlying cause of rotavirus seasonality, the meteorological factor has been suspected, whereas quantitative correlation between seasonality and meteorological factor has not been fully investigated. In this study, we investigated the correlation of temporal patterns of the isolation rate of rotavirus with meteorological condition (temperature, relative humidity, rainfall) in Kolkata, India. We used time-series analysis combined with spectral analysis and least squares method. A 1-year cycle explained underlying variations of rotavirus and meteorological data. The 1-year cycle for rotavirus data was correlated with an opposite phase to that for meteorological data. Relatively high temperature could be associated with a low value of isolation rate of rotavirus in the monsoon season. Quantifying a correlation of rotavirus infections with meteorological conditions might prove useful in predicting rotavirus epidemics and health services could plan accordingly.
Microbial population responses in three stratified Antarctic meltwater ponds during the autumn freeze
Authors: Safi Karl , Hawes Ian , Sorrell Brian
Published: October 2012

The planktonic microbial communities of three meltwater ponds, located on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, were investigated from the end of January 2008 to early April, during which almost the entire pond volumes froze. The ponds were comprised of an upper mixed layer overlying a salt-stabilized density gradient in which planktonic communities were primarily embedded. Plankton comprised all components of the “microbial loop”, though carnivorous protists were rare. As the ponds froze and light became increasingly limited, it was expected conditions would induce physiological changes altering the functional role of autotrophic and heterotrophic microplankton within the ponds. The results showed that microbial groups responded to the onset of winter by declining in abundance, though an exception was the appearance of filamentous cyanobacteria in the water column in March. As freezing progressed, autotrophs declined more rapidly than heterotrophs and grazing rates and abundances of mixotrophic and heterotrophic organisms increased. Grazing pressure on bacteria and picophytoplankton also increased, in part explaining their decline over time. The results indicate that stressors imposed during freezing select for increasing heterotrophy within the remaining microbial communities, although all components of the food web eventually decline as the final freeze approaches.
Pilot study of nurse-led rheumatic heart disease echocardiography screening in Fiji – a novel approach in a resource-poor setting
Authors: Colquhoun Samantha M. , Carapetis Jonathan R. , Kado Joseph H. , Reeves Benjamin M. , Remenyi Boglarka , May William , Wilson Nigel J. , Steer Andrew C.
Published: October 2012

We designed a pilot study of a training module for nurses to perform rheumatic heart disease echocardiography screening in a resource-poor setting. The aim was to determine whether nurses given brief, focused, basic training in echocardiography could follow an algorithm to potentially identify cases of rheumatic heart disease requiring clinical referral, by undertaking basic two-dimensional and colour Doppler scans. Training consisted of a week-long workshop, followed by 2 weeks of supervised field experience. The nurses’ skills were tested on a blinded cohort of 50 children, and the results were compared for sensitivity and specificity against echocardiography undertaken by an expert, using standardised echocardiography definitions for definite and probable rheumatic heart disease. Analysis of the two nurses’ results revealed that when a mitral regurgitant jet length of 1.5 cm was used as the trigger for rheumatic heart disease identification, they had a sensitivity of 100% and 83%, respectively, and a specificity of 67.4% and 79%, respectively. This pilot supports the principle that nurses, given brief focused training and supervised field experience, can follow an algorithm to undertake rheumatic heart disease echocardiography in a developing country setting to facilitate clinical referral with reasonable accuracy. These results warrant further research, with a view to developing a module to guide rheumatic heart disease echocardiographic screening by nurses within the existing public health infrastructure in high-prevalence, resource-poor regions.
Neuropsychological Test Performance and Cognitive Reserve in Healthy Aging and the Alzheimer's Disease Spectrum: A Theoretically Driven Factor Analysis
Authors: Mitchell Meghan B. , Shaughnessy Lynn W. , Shirk Steven D. , Yang Frances M. , Atri Alireza
Published: October 2012

Accurate measurement of cognitive function is critical for understanding the disease course of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Detecting cognitive change over time can be confounded by level of premorbid intellectual function or cognitive reserve and lead to under- or over-diagnosis of cognitive impairment and AD. Statistical models of cognitive performance that include cognitive reserve can improve sensitivity to change and clinical efficacy. We used confirmatory factor analysis to test a four-factor model composed of memory/language, processing speed/executive function, attention, and cognitive reserve factors in a group of cognitively healthy older adults and a group of participants along the spectrum of amnestic mild cognitive impairment to AD (aMCI-AD). The model showed excellent fit for the control group (χ2= 100;df= 78; CFI = .962; RMSEA = .049) and adequate fit for the aMCI-AD group (χ2= 1750;df= 78; CFI = .932; RMSEA = .085). Although strict invariance criteria were not met, invariance testing to determine if factor structures are similar across groups yielded acceptable absolute model fits and provide evidence in support of configural, metric, and scalar invariance. These results provide further support for the construct validity of cognitive reserve in healthy and memory impaired older adults. (JINS, 2012,18, 1–10)
Impact of counselling on exclusive breast-feeding practices in a poor urban setting in Kenya: a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Ochola Sophie A , Labadarios Demetre , Nduati Ruth W
Published: October 2012

Objective

To determine the impact of facility-based semi-intensive and home-based intensive counselling in improving exclusive breast-feeding (EBF) in a low-resource urban setting in Kenya.

Design

A cluster randomized controlled trial in which nine villages were assigned on a 1:1:1 ratio, by computer, to two intervention groups and a control group. The home-based intensive counselling group (HBICG) received seven counselling sessions at home by trained peers, one prenatally and six postnatally. The facility-based semi-intensive counselling group (FBSICG) received only one counselling session prenatally. The control group (CG) received no counselling from the research team. Information on infant feeding practices was collected monthly for 6 months after delivery. The data-gathering team was blinded to the intervention allocation. The outcome was EBF prevalence at 6 months.

Setting

Kibera slum, Nairobi.

Subjects

A total of 360 HIV-negative women, 34–36 weeks pregnant, were selected from an antenatal clinic in Kibera; 120 per study group.

Results

Of the 360 women enrolled, 265 completed the study and were included in the analysis (CG n 89; FBSICG n 87; HBICG n 89). Analysis was by intention to treat. The prevalence of EBF at 6 months was 23·6 % in HBICG, 9·2 % in FBSICG and 5·6 % in CG. HBICG mothers had four times increased likelihood to practise EBF compared with those in the CG (adjusted relative risk = 4·01; 95 % CI 2·30, 7·01; P = 0·001). There was no significant difference between EBF rates in FBSICG and CG.

Conclusions

EBF can be promoted in low socio-economic conditions using home-based intensive counselling. One session of facility-based counselling is not sufficient to sustain EBF.
Enhanced reward-facilitating effects of d-amphetamine in rats in the quinpirole model of obsessive–compulsive disorder
Authors: Schmidt Timo T. , Rea Ellis , Shababi-Klein Julia , Panagis George , Winter Christine
Published: October 2012

The underlying neurobiology of addictive or repetitive behaviours, such as obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), involves dopaminergic dysregulation. While addictive behaviour depends strongly on mesolimbocortical dopaminergic responses, repetitive behaviours have been associated with dopaminergic dysregulation in the basal ganglia–thalamo–cortical circuitry. The present study investigates differences in brain stimulation reward in rats with quinpirole-induced compulsive checking behaviour, in order to examine if deficits in reward processing are also relevant for OCD. Rats were tested in the intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) paradigm, which targets reward-related responses. After phenotype induction, animals were implanted with a monopolar stimulation electrode in the left medial forebrain bundle and trained to press a lever to self-administer electric stimulation of varying frequency. The curve-shift method was used to assess the reward-facilitating effects of d-amphetamine and the reward-attenuating effects of haloperidol (a D2 antagonist). Thresholds for ICSS were estimated before and after drug/saline injection. The reward-facilitating effects of d-amphetamine were enhanced in quinpirole-treated rats in comparison to controls. This finding suggests that chronic quinpirole-treatment induces changes within the reward circuitry relevant for compulsive behaviour in the rat.
Symptom clusters among multiethnic groups of cancer patients with pain
Authors: Im Eun-Ok , Ko Young , Chee Wonshik
Published: October 2012

Objective:

Considering recent inconsistent findings on ethnic differences in cancer pain experience, there is a need to clarify the association of ethnicity to cancer pain experience through diverse approaches. However, there currently exist only a small number of studies on ethnic differences in cancer pain experience in general, and few symptom cluster studies specifically related to ethnic differences in cancer pain experience. The purpose of this study was to cluster cancer patients who reported similar cancer pain experience, and to determine ethnic differences in the clusters.

Method:

This was a secondary analysis of the data from a larger Internet study on cancer pain experience of four major ethnic groups of cancer patients in the United States. Only 388 subjects who responded to the questions on cancer pain, cancer symptoms, and functional status were included for this secondary analysis. The data were analyzed using hierarchical cluster analysis and multinomial logistic analysis.

Results:

A three-cluster solution was adopted: 1) Cluster 1 with low pain, low symptoms, and high functional status, 2) Cluster 2 with moderate pain, low symptoms, and moderate functional staus, and 3) Cluster 3 with high pain, moderate symptoms, and low functional status. In Cluster 2, there were ethnic difference in the cancer pain and funtional status scores; Asian Americans reported lower pain scores than did other ethnic groups, and African Americans had higher funtional status scores than did other ethnic groups. In Cluster 3, there were ethnic difference in the symptom scores (p < 0.05); African Americans reported higher symptom scores than did whites.

Significance of results:

The results of this study add an important piece of information on ethnic differences in symptom clusters. This study suggests further national scope studies on clustering multiethnic groups of cancer patients by cancer pain experience.
Assessment and management of delirium: A focus on hepatic encephalopathy
Authors: Coggins Candace C. , Curtiss Carol P.
Published: October 2012

This purpose of this article is to promote comprehensive assessment, differential evaluation and provision of care which optimizes benefit while minimizing burden. Delirium is a debilitating neuropsychiatric complication that is highly prevalent in palliative care. It is multifactorial and may be related to infection, disease progression, metabolic state or medication toxicity. There are three proposed sub-types of delirium with the hypoactive/ hypoalert variant being most often underdiagnosed and undertreated. The inadequate management of all types of delirium is associated with increased personal and family distress, lengthier hospital stays, and escalating healthcare costs. This article reviews the assessment, diagnosis and treatment for delirium in general and hepatic encephalopathy in particular. A number of valid and reliable tools are discussed, as they assist in screening, symptom appraisal, diagnosis, and treatment planning. It is recognized that nurses are particularly well positioned to make bedside observations, to document changes over time, and to educate and support patients and their families. Searching for the etiology of delirium, developing individualized plans of care consistent with patient goals, and endorsing the benefit of consultation/referral are discussed as key roles for palliative care providers from all disciplines. New and novel therapies in the management of hepatic encephalopathy are discussed, as they expand treatment options for patients at all points along the trajectory of liver disease.
Courts and health care rationing: the case of the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court
Authors: Wang Daniel W. L.
Published: October 2012

The recognition that access to health care is a constitutional right in Brazil has resulted in a situation in which citizens denied treatments by the public health care system have brought lawsuits against health authorities, claiming that their right to health was violated. This litigation forces the courts to decide between a patient-centred and a population-centred approach to public health – a choice that forces the courts to assess health care rationing decisions. This article analyses the judgments of the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court in right to health cases, arguing that the Court's recent decisions have been contrary to their long-standing stance against rationing. In 2009, the Court organized a public hearing to discuss this topic with civil society and established criteria to determine when rationing would be legal. However, I argue that these criteria for health care rationing do not adequately address the most difficult health care distribution dilemmas. They force the health care system to keep their rationing criteria implicit and make population-centred concerns secondary to individual-centred ones.
Is patient satisfaction in primary care dependent on structural and organizational characteristics among providers? Findings based on data from the national patient survey in Sweden
Authors: Glenngård Anna H.
Published: October 2012

In parallel to market-like reforms in Swedish primary care, the gathering and compilation of comparative information about providers, for example through survey tools, has been improved. Such information is increasingly being used to guide individuals’ choice of provider and payers’ assessments of provider performance, often without critically reflecting about underlying factors affecting the results. The purpose of this study was to analyze variation in patient satisfaction, with respect to organizational and structural factors, including the mix of registered individuals, among primary care providers, based on information from a national patient survey in primary care and register data in three Swedish county councils. Systematic variation in patient satisfaction was found with respect to both organizational and structural factors, including characteristics of registered individuals. Smaller practices and practices where a high proportion of all visits were with a doctor were associated with higher patient satisfaction. Also practices where registered individuals had a low level of social deprivation and a high overall illness on average were associated with higher patient satisfaction. Factors that are of relevance for how well providers perform according to patient surveys are more or less possible to control for providers. This adds to the complexity for the use of such information by individuals and payers to assess provider performance.
First satellite identification of volcanic carbon monoxide
Authors: Martínez‐Alonso Sara , Deeter Merritt N. , Worden Helen M. , Clerbaux Cathy , Mao Debbie , Gille John C.
Published: October 2012

Volcanic degassing produces abundant H2O and CO2, as well as SO2, HCl, H2S, S2, H2, HF, CO, and SiF4. Volcanic SO2, HCl, and H2S have been detected from satellites in the past; the remaining species are analyzed in situ or using airborne instruments, with all the consequent limitations in safety and sampling, and at elevated costs. We report identification of high CO concentrations consistent with a volcanic origin (the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull and 2011 Grímsvötn eruptions in Iceland) in data from the Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere instrument (MOPITT) onboard EOS/Terra. The high CO values coincide spatially and temporally with ash plumes emanating from the eruptive centers, with elevated SO2and aerosol optical thickness, as well as with high CO values in data from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI), onboard MetOp‐A. CO has a positive indirect radiative forcing; climate models currently do not account for volcanic CO emissions. Given global volcanic CO2 emissions between 130 and 440 Tg/year and volcanic CO:CO2 ratios from the literature, we estimate that average global volcanic CO emissions may be on the order of ∼5.5 Tg/year, equivalent to the CO emissions caused by combined fossil fuel and biofuel combustion in Australia.
Fingerprints of changes in annual and seasonal precipitation from CMIP5 models over land and ocean
Authors: Balan Sarojini Beena , Stott Peter A. , Black Emily , Polson Debbie
Published: October 2012

By comparing annual and seasonal changes in precipitation over land and ocean since 1950 simulated by the CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, phase 5) climate models in which natural and anthropogenic forcings have been included, we find that clear global‐scale and regional‐scale changes due to human influence are expected to have occurred over both land and ocean. These include moistening over northern high latitude land and ocean throughout all seasons and over the northern subtropical oceans during boreal winter. However we show that this signal of human influence is less distinct when considered over the relatively small area of land for which there are adequate observations to make assessments of multi‐decadal scale trends. These results imply that extensive and significant changes in precipitation over the land and ocean may have already happened, even though, inadequacies in observations in some parts of the world make it difficult to identify conclusively such a human fingerprint on the global water cycle. In some regions and seasons, due to aliasing of different kinds of variability as a result of sub sampling by the sparse and changing observational coverage, observed trends appear to have been increased, underscoring the difficulties of interpreting the apparent magnitude of observed changes in precipitation.
Atmospheric methane removal by boreal plants
Authors: Sundqvist Elin , Crill Patrick , Mölder Meelis , Vestin Patrik , Lindroth Anders
Published: October 2012

Several studies have proposed aerobic methane (CH4) emissions by plants. If confirmed, these findings would further increase the imbalance in the global CH4 budget which today underestimates CH4sinks. Oxidation by OH‐radicals in the troposphere is the major identified sink followed by smaller contribution from stratospheric loss and oxidation by methano‐ and methylotrophic bacteria in soils. This study directly investigated CH4 exchange by plants in their natural environment. At a forest site in central Sweden, in situ branch chamber measurements were used to study plant ambient CH4 exchange by spruce (Picea abies), birch (Betula pubescens), rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) and pine (Pinus sylvestris). The results show a net uptake of CH4 by all the studied plants, which might be of importance for the methane budget.
Soil moisture‐temperature coupling: A multiscale observational analysis
Authors: Miralles D. G. , van den Berg M. J. , Teuling A. J. , de Jeu R. A. M.
Published: October 2012

Land‐atmospheric interactions are complex and variable in space and time. On average soil moisture‐temperature coupling is expected to be stronger in transition zones between wet and dry climates. During heatwaves anomalously high coupling may be found in areas of soil moisture deficit and high atmospheric demand of water. Here a new approach is applied to satellite andin situobservations towards the characterization of regions of intense soil moisture‐temperature coupling, both in terms of climatology and anomalies during heatwaves. The resulting average summertime couplinghot spotsreflect intermediate climatic regions in agreement with previous studies. Results at heatwave‐scale suggest a minor role of soil moisture deficit during the heatwave of 2006 in California but an important one in the 2003 event in Western Europe. Progress towards near‐real time satellite products may allow the application of the approach to aid prediction and management of warm extremes.
Effect of grain size distribution on the development of compaction localization in porous sandstone
Authors: Cheung Cecilia S. N. , Baud Patrick , Wong Teng‐fong
Published: October 2012

Compaction bands are strain localization structures that are relatively impermeable and can act as barriers to fluid flow in reservoirs. Laboratory studies have shown that discrete compaction bands develop in several sandstones with porosities of 22–25%, at stress states in the transitional regime between brittle faulting and cataclastic flow. To identify the microstructural parameters that influence compaction band formation, we conducted a systematic study of mechanical deformation, failure mode and microstructural evolution in Bleurswiller and Boise sandstones, of similar porosity (∼25%) and mineralogy but different sorting. Discrete compaction bands were observed to develop over a wide range of pressure in the Bleurswiller sandstone that has a relatively uniform grain size distribution. In contrast, compaction localization was not observed in the poorly sorted Boise sandstone. Our results demonstrate that grain size distribution exerts important influence on compaction band development, in agreement with recently published data from Valley of Fire and Buckskin Gulch, as well as numerical studies.
Precursory inflation of shallow magma reservoirs at west Sunda volcanoes detected by InSAR
Authors: Chaussard Estelle , Amelung Falk
Published: October 2012

We use 2006–2009 ALOS Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar data over the entire west Sunda arc, Indonesia, home of 13% of the world's active volcanoes, to derive arc‐wide time‐dependent ground deformation data. We present unambiguous evidence of inflation at six volcanoes, three of which erupted after the observation period. We show that these volcanoes have shallow magma reservoirs at ∼1–3 km depth below the average regional elevation. A global comparison of reservoir depths at arc volcanoes suggests that volcanoes in extensional and strike‐slip settings (west Sunda) can develop shallow reservoirs whereas volcanoes in compressional settings may lack them. Thus, magma ascend through the upper crust could be influenced by intra‐arc tectonic settings.