bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Seasonal Atmospheric Responses to Reduced Arctic Sea Ice in an Ensemble of Coupled Model Simulations
Authors: Semmler Tido , Stulic Lukrecia , Jung Thomas , Tilinina Natalia , Campos Camila , Gulev Sergey , Koracin Darko
Published: March 2016

Arctic sea ice decline is expected to continue throughout the twenty-first century as a result of increased greenhouse gas concentrations. Here we investigate the impact of a strong Arctic sea ice decline on the atmospheric circulation and low pressure systems in the Northern Hemisphere through numerical experimentation with a coupled climate model. More specifically, a large ensemble of 1-yr-long integrations, initialized on 1 June with Arctic sea ice thickness artificially reduced by 80%, is compared to corresponding unperturbed control experiments. The sensitivity experiment shows an ice-free Arctic from July to October; during autumn the largest near-surface temperature increase of about 15 K is found in the central Arctic, which goes along with a reduced meridional temperature gradient, a decreased jet stream, and a southward shifted Northern Hemisphere storm track; and the near-surface temperature response in winter and spring reduces substantially due to relatively fast sea ice growth during the freezing season. Changes in the maximum Eady growth rate are generally below 5% and hardly significant, with reduced vertical wind shear and reduced vertical stability counteracting each other. The reduced vertical wind shear manifests itself in a decrease of synoptic activity by up to 10% and shallower cyclones while the reduced vertical stability along with stronger diabatic heating due to more available moisture may be responsible for the stronger deepening rates and thus faster cyclone development once a cyclone starts to form. Furthermore, precipitation minus evaporation decreases over the Arctic because the increase in evaporation outweighs that for precipitation, with implications for the ocean stratification and hence ocean circulation.
Role of the Indochina Peninsula Narrow Mountains in Modulating the East Asian–Western North Pacific Summer Monsoon
Authors: Wu Chi-Hua , Hsu Huang-Hsiung
Published: March 2016

Unrealistic topographic effects are generally incorporated in global climate simulations and may contribute significantly to model biases in the Asian monsoon region. By artificially implementing the Arakan Yoma and Annamese Cordillera—two south–north-oriented high mountain ranges on the coasts of the Indochina Peninsula—in a 1° global climate model, it is demonstrated that the proper representation of mesoscale topography over the Indochina Peninsula is crucial for realistically simulating the seasonality of the East Asian–western North Pacific (EAWNP) summer monsoon.

Presence of the Arakan Yoma and Annamese Cordillera helps simulate the vertical coupling of atmospheric circulation over the mountain regions. In late May, the existence of the Arakan Yoma enhances the vertically deep southwesterly flow originating from the trough over the Bay of Bengal. The ascending southwesterly flow converges with the midlatitude jet stream downstream in the southeast of the Tibetan Plateau and transports moisture across the Indochina Peninsula to East Asia. The existence of the Annamese Cordillera helps the northward lower-tropospheric moisture transport over the South China Sea into the mei-yu–baiu system, and the leeside troughing effect of the mountains likely contributes to the enhancement of the subtropical high to the east. Moreover, the eastward propagation of wave energy from central Asia to the EAWNP suggests a dynamical connection between the midlatitude westerly perturbation and mei-yu–baiu. Including the Annamese Cordillera also strengthens a Pacific–Japan (PJ) pattern–like perturbation in late July by enhancing the cyclonic circulation (i.e., monsoon trough) in the lower-tropospheric western North Pacific. This suggests the contribution of the mountain effects to the intrinsic variability of the summer monsoon in the EAWNP.
MJO Propagation across the Maritime Continent in the ECMWF Ensemble Prediction System
Authors: Kim Hye-Mi , Kim Daehyun , Vitart Frederic , Toma Violeta E. , Kug Jong-Seong , Webster Peter J.
Published: March 2016

The characteristics of the MJO propagation across the Maritime Continent are investigated using a 20-yr reforecast dataset from the ECMWF ensemble prediction system. Analysis of the MJO events initialized over the Indian Ocean (phase 2) shows that the initial MJO amplitude and prediction skill relationship is not linear, particularly when the predictions start in moderate (between strong and weak) MJO amplitude category. To examine the key factors that determine the prediction skill, reforecasts in the moderate category are grouped into high- and low-skill events, and the differences in their ocean–atmospheric conditions as well as the physical processes during reforecast period are examined. The initial distribution of OLR anomalies in high-skill events shows a clear dipole pattern of convection with an enhanced convective anomalies over the Indian Ocean and strongly suppressed convective anomalies in the western Pacific Ocean. This dipole mode may support the MJO propagation across the Maritime Continent via the Rossby wave response and associated meridional moisture advection. Prominent ocean–atmosphere coupled processes are also simulated during the propagation of high-skill events. However, in low-skill events, the convective signal over the western Pacific is almost absent and less organized, and the ocean–atmosphere coupled processes are not simulated correctly. It is found that in both high- and low-skill events, the amplitude of the convective anomaly decreases significantly after about day 15, possibly due to the systematic mean model bias. A strong wet bias in the vicinity of the Maritime Continent, a cold SST bias in the equatorial Pacific, and associated circulation biases make the west Pacific area unfavorable for MJO propagation, thus limiting its prediction skill.
Improvements to the GOES-R Rainfall Rate Algorithm
Authors: Kuligowski Robert J. , Li Yaping , Hao Yan , Zhang Yu
Published: March 2016

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite series R (GOES-R) will greatly expand the ability to observe the earth from geostationary orbit compared to the current-generation GOES, with more than 3 times as many spectral bands and a 75% reduction in footprint size. These enhanced capabilities are beneficial to rainfall rate estimation since they provide sensitivity to cloud-top properties such as phase and particle size that cannot be achieved using the limited channel selection of current GOES. The GOES-R rainfall rate algorithm, which is an infrared-based algorithm calibrated in real time against passive microwave rain rates, has been previously described in an algorithm theoretical basis document (ATBD); this paper describes modifications since the release of the ATBD, including a correction for evaporation of precipitation in dry regions and improved calibration updates. These improvements have been evaluated using a simplified version applicable to current-generation GOES to take advantage of the high-resolution ground validation data routinely available over the conterminous United States. Correcting for subcloud evaporation using relative humidity from a numerical model reduced false alarm rainfall by half and reduced the overall error by 35% for hourly accumulations validated against the National Centers for Environmental Prediction stage IV radar–gauge field; however, the number of missed events did increase slightly. Reducing the size of the calibration regions and increasing the training data requirements improved the consistency of the retrieved rates in time and space and reduced the overall error by an additional 4%.
Impact of Changjiang River Discharge on Sea Surface Temperature in the East China Sea
Authors: Kako Shin’ichiro , Nakagawa Tomofumi , Takayama Katsumi , Hirose Naoki , Isobe Atsuhiko
Published: March 2016

This study investigated how the Changjiang River discharge (CRD) emptying into the East China Sea (ECS) affects the upper-ocean stratification [hence, sea surface temperature (SST) changes], based on ocean general circulation modeling with and without CRD. A new finding in this study is that CRD contributes significantly to a reduction in summer SST in the ECS. Comparison between the two model runs revealed that vertical one-dimensional processes contribute considerably to SST warming in the ECS, while horizontal advection plays an important role in lowering SST in summer. The results of a particle-tracking experiment suggested that the cold water mass formed along the Chinese coast during the previous winter contributes to the SST reduction in the following summer. From the end of the summer monsoon season, the less saline CRD advected toward the Chinese coast generates a shallow mixed layer (ML), which inhibits heat exchange between the ML and thermocline. In winter, heat loss of the ML through the sea surface results in a reduction in SST over a broad region. Water exchange through the bottom of the ML is relatively suppressed by robust stratification, which prevents cooling of the thermocline and leads to a temperature inversion. The northeastward ocean current associated with the summer monsoon carries the cold water mass in the ML across the ECS; therefore, SST decreases during the following season. These results suggest that CRD has a critical role on both the ocean circulation system and the coupled air–sea interactions in the ECS.
Stratified Turbulence and Mixing Efficiency in a Salt Wedge Estuary
Authors: Holleman R. C. , Geyer W. R. , Ralston D. K.
Published: March 2016

High-resolution observations of velocity, salinity, and turbulence quantities were collected in a salt wedge estuary to quantify the efficiency of stratified mixing in a high-energy environment. During the ebb tide, a midwater column layer of strong shear and stratification developed, exhibiting near-critical gradient Richardson numbers and turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) dissipation rates greater than 10−4 m2 s−3, based on inertial subrange spectra. Collocated estimates of scalar variance dissipation from microconductivity sensors were used to estimate buoyancy flux and the flux Richardson number Rif. The majority of the samples were outside the boundary layer, based on the ratio of Ozmidov and boundary length scales, and had a mean Rif = 0.23 ± 0.01 (dissipation flux coefficient Γ = 0.30 ± 0.02) and a median gradient Richardson number Rig = 0.25. The boundary-influenced subset of the data had decreased efficiency, with Rif = 0.17 ± 0.02 (Γ = 0.20 ± 0.03) and median Rig = 0.16. The relationship between Rif and Rig was consistent with a turbulent Prandtl number of 1. Acoustic backscatter imagery revealed coherent braids in the mixing layer during the early ebb and a transition to more homogeneous turbulence in the midebb. A temporal trend in efficiency was also visible, with higher efficiency in the early ebb and lower efficiency in the late ebb when the bottom boundary layer had greater influence on the flow. These findings show that mixing efficiency of turbulence in a continuously forced, energetic, free shear layer can be significantly greater than the broadly cited upper bound from Osborn of 0.15–0.17.
Modulation of Wind Work by Oceanic Current Interaction with the Atmosphere
Authors: Renault Lionel , Molemaker M. Jeroen , McWilliams James C. , Shchepetkin Alexander F. , Lemarié Florian , Chelton Dudley , Illig Serena , Hall Alex
Published: March 2016

In this study, uncoupled and coupled ocean–atmosphere simulations are carried out for the California Upwelling System to assess the dynamic ocean–atmosphere interactions, namely, the ocean surface current feedback to the atmosphere. The authors show the current feedback, by modulating the energy transfer from the atmosphere to the ocean, controls the oceanic eddy kinetic energy (EKE). For the first time, it is demonstrated that the current feedback has an effect on the surface stress and a counteracting effect on the wind itself. The current feedback acts as an oceanic eddy killer, reducing by half the surface EKE, and by 27% the depth-integrated EKE. On one hand, it reduces the coastal generation of eddies by weakening the surface stress and hence the nearshore supply of positive wind work (i.e., the work done by the wind on the ocean). On the other hand, by inducing a surface stress curl opposite to the current vorticity, it deflects energy from the geostrophic current into the atmosphere and dampens eddies. The wind response counteracts the surface stress response. It partly reenergizes the ocean in the coastal region and decreases the offshore return of energy to the atmosphere. Eddy statistics confirm the current feedback dampens the eddies and reduces their lifetime, improving the realism of the simulation. Finally, the authors propose an additional energy element in the Lorenz diagram of energy conversion: namely, the current-induced transfer of energy from the ocean to the atmosphere at the eddy scale.
Thermobaricity in the Transition Zones between Alpha and Beta Oceans
Authors: Stewart Kial D. , Haine Thomas W. N.
Published: March 2016

The role of the ocean in Earth’s climate is fundamentally influenced by the locally dominant stratifying property (heat or salt), which in turn can be used to categorize the ocean into three classes: alpha, beta, and transition zone oceans. Alpha and beta oceans are regions where the stratification is permanently set by heat and salt, respectively. Transition zone oceans exist between alpha and beta oceans and are regions where the stratification is seasonally or intermittently set by heat or salt. Despite their large ranges of temperature and salinity, transition zone oceans are the most weakly stratified regions of the upper oceans, making them ideal locations for thermobaric effects arising from the nonlinear equation of state of seawater. Here a novel definition and quantification of alpha, beta, and transition zone oceans is presented and used to analyze 4 years (2010–13) of hydrographic data developed from the Argo profiling float array. Two types of thermobaric instabilities are defined and identified in the hydrographic data. The first type arises from the vertical relocation of individual water parcels. The second type is novel and relates to the effect of pressure on the stratification through the pressure dependence of the thermal expansion coefficient; water that is stably stratified for one pressure is not necessarily stable for other pressures. The upper 1500 m of the global ocean is composed of 67% alpha, 15% beta, and 17% transition zone oceans, with 5.7% identified as thermobarically unstable. Over 63% of these thermobarically unstable waters exist in transition zone oceans, suggesting that these are important locations for efficient vertical transport of water-mass properties.
The Sensitivity of SeaWiFS Ocean Color Retrievals to Aerosol Amount and Type
Authors: Kahn Ralph A. , Sayer Andrew M. , Ahmad Ziauddin , Franz Bryan A.
Published: March 2016

As atmospheric reflectance dominates top-of-the-atmosphere radiance over ocean, atmospheric correction is a critical component of ocean color retrievals. This paper explores the operational Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) algorithm atmospheric correction with ~13 000 coincident surface-based aerosol measurements. Aerosol optical depth at 440 nm (AOD440) is overestimated for AOD below ~0.1–0.15 and is increasingly underestimated at higher AOD; also, single-scattering albedo (SSA) appears overestimated when the actual value <~0.96. AOD440 and its spectral slope tend to be overestimated preferentially for coarse-mode particles. Sensitivity analysis shows that changes in these factors lead to systematic differences in derived ocean water-leaving reflectance (Rrs) at 440 nm. The standard SeaWiFS algorithm compensates for AOD anomalies in the presence of nonabsorbing, medium-size-dominated aerosols. However, at low AOD and with absorbing aerosols, in situ observations and previous case studies demonstrate that retrieved Rrs is sensitive to spectral AOD and possibly also SSA anomalies. Stratifying the dataset by aerosol-type proxies shows the dependence of the AOD anomaly and resulting Rrs patterns on aerosol type, though the correlation with the SSA anomaly is too subtle to be quantified with these data. Retrieved chlorophyll-a concentrations (Chl) are affected in a complex way by Rrs differences, and these effects occur preferentially at high and low Chl values. Absorbing aerosol effects are likely to be most important over biologically productive waters near coasts and along major aerosol transport pathways. These results suggest that future ocean color spacecraft missions aiming to cover the range of naturally occurring and anthropogenic aerosols, especially at wavelengths shorter than 440 nm, will require better aerosol amount and type constraints.
Decomposition of Random Errors Inherent to HOAPS-3.2 Near-Surface Humidity Estimates Using Multiple Triple Collocation Analysis
Authors: Kinzel Julian , Fennig Karsten , Schröder Marc , Andersson Axel , Bumke Karl , Hollmann Rainer
Published: March 2016

Latent heat fluxes (LHF) play an essential role in the global energy budget and are thus important for understanding the climate system. Satellite-based remote sensing permits a large-scale determination of LHF, which, among others, are based on near-surface specific humidity . However, the random retrieval error () remains unknown. Here, a novel approach is presented to quantify the error contributions to pixel-level of the Hamburg Ocean Atmosphere Parameters and Fluxes from Satellite Data, version 3.2 (HOAPS, version 3.2), dataset. The methodology makes use of multiple triple collocation (MTC) analysis between 1995 and 2008 over the global ice-free oceans. Apart from satellite records, these datasets include selected ship records extracted from the Seewetteramt Hamburg (SWA) archive and the International Comprehensive Ocean–Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS), serving as the in situ ground reference. The MTC approach permits the derivation of as the sum of model uncertainty and sensor noise , while random uncertainties due to in situ measurement errors () and collocation () are isolated concurrently. Results show an average of 1.1 ± 0.3 g kg−1, whereas the mean () is in the order of 0.5 ± 0.1 g kg−1 (0.5 ± 0.3 g kg−1). Regional analyses indicate a maximum of exceeding 1.5 g kg−1 within humidity regimes of 12–17 g kg−1, associated with the single-parameter, multilinear retrieval applied in HOAPS. Multidimensional bias analysis reveals that global maxima are located off the Arabian Peninsula.
Statistical–Dynamical Seasonal Forecast of North Atlantic and U.S. Landfalling Tropical Cyclones Using the High-Resolution GFDL FLOR Coupled Model
Authors: Murakami Hiroyuki , Villarini Gabriele , Vecchi Gabriel A. , Zhang Wei , Gudgel Richard
Published: March 2016

Retrospective seasonal forecasts of North Atlantic tropical cyclone (TC) activity over the period 1980–2014 are conducted using a GFDL high-resolution coupled climate model [Forecast-Oriented Low Ocean Resolution (FLOR)]. The focus is on basin-total TC and U.S. landfall frequency. The correlations between observed and model predicted basin-total TC counts range from 0.4 to 0.6 depending on the month of the initial forecast. The correlation values for U.S. landfalling activity based on individual TCs tracked from the model are smaller and between 0.1 and 0.4. Given the limited skill from the model, statistical methods are used to complement the dynamical seasonal TC prediction from the FLOR model. Observed and predicted TC tracks were classified into four groups using fuzzy c-mean clustering to evaluate the model’s predictability in observed classification of TC tracks. Analyses revealed that the FLOR model has the highest skill in predicting TC frequency for the cluster of TCs that tracks through the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.

New hybrid models are developed to improve the prediction of observed basin-total TC and landfall TC frequencies. These models use large-scale climate predictors from the FLOR model as predictors for generalized linear models. The hybrid models show considerable improvements in the skill in predicting the basin-total TC frequencies relative to the dynamical model. The new hybrid model shows correlation coefficients as high as 0.75 for basinwide TC counts from the first two lead months and retains values around 0.50 even at the 6-month lead forecast. The hybrid model also shows comparable or higher skill in forecasting U.S. landfalling TCs relative to the dynamical predictions. The correlation coefficient is about 0.5 for the 2–5-month lead times.
Pathways to the Production of Precipitating Hydrometeors and Tropical Cyclone Development
Authors: Bao J.-W. , Michelson S. A. , Grell E. D.
Published: March 2016

Pathways to the production of precipitation in two cloud microphysics schemes available in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model are investigated in a scenario of tropical cyclone intensification. Comparisons of the results from the WRF Model simulations indicate that the variation in the simulated initial rapid intensification of an idealized tropical cyclone is due to the differences between the two cloud microphysics schemes in their representations of pathways to the formation and growth of precipitating hydrometeors. Diagnoses of the source and sink terms of the hydrometeor budget equations indicate that the major differences in the production of hydrometeors between the schemes are in the spectral definition of individual hydrometeor categories and spectrum-dependent microphysical processes, such as accretion growth and sedimentation. These differences lead to different horizontally averaged vertical profiles of net latent heating rate associated with significantly different horizontally averaged vertical distributions and production rates of hydrometeors in the simulated clouds. Results from this study also highlight the possibility that the advantage of double-moment formulations can be overshadowed by the uncertainties in the spectral definition of individual hydrometeor categories and spectrum-dependent microphysical processes.
Experimental Assimilation of the GPM Core Observatory DPR Reflectivity Profiles for Typhoon Halong (2014)
Authors: Okamoto Kozo , Aonashi Kazumasa , Kubota Takuji , Tashima Tomoko
Published: March 2016

Space-based precipitation radar data have been underused in data assimilation studies and operations despite their valuable information on vertically resolved hydrometeor profiles around the globe. The authors developed direct assimilation of reflectivities (Ze) from the Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) on board the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory to improve mesoscale predictions. Based on comparisons with Ze observations, this cloud resolving model mostly reproduced Ze but produced overestimations of Ze induced by excessive snow with large diameter particles. With an ensemble-based variational scheme and preprocessing steps to properly treat reflectivity observations including conservative quality control and superobbing procedures, the authors assimilated DPR Ze and/or rain-affected radiances of GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) for the case of Typhoon Halong in July 2014. With the vertically resolving capability of DPR, the authors effectively selected Ze observations most suited to data assimilation, for example, by removing Ze above the melting layer to avoid contamination due to model bias. While the GMI radiance had large impacts on various control variables, the DPR made a fine delicate analysis of the rain mixing ratio and updraft. This difference arose from the observation characteristics (coverage width and spatial resolution), sensitivities represented in the observation operators, and structures of the background error covariance. Because the DPR assimilation corrected excessive increases in rain and clouds due to the radiance assimilation, the combined use of DPR and GMI generated more accurate analysis and forecast than separate use of them with respect to the agreement of observations and tropical cyclone position errors.
Self-regulation workshop and Occupational Performance Coaching with teachers: A pilot study
Authors: Hui Caroline , Snider Laurie , Couture Mélanie
Published: March 2016

Background.

Teachers’ occupational role and performance can be undermined when working with students with disruptive classroom behaviours.

Purpose.

This pilot study aimed to explore the impact of school-based occupational therapy intervention on teachers’ classroom management self-efficacy and perceived performance/satisfaction in their management of students with disruptive behaviours.

Method.

This pilot study used a multiple-case replication study design. A cohort of regular classroom elementary school teachers ( n = 11) participated in a 1-day workshop on sensorimotor strategies for supporting student self-regulation followed by eight individual sessions of Occupational Performance Coaching (OPC). Measurement tools were the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure, Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS), and Teachers’ Self-Efficacy Scale–Classroom Management.

Findings.

Improvement in teachers’ perception of performance, satisfaction, and classroom management was seen. GAS showed clinically significant improvement. Improvements were sustained at 7 weeks follow-up.

Implications.

Preliminary results support the use of sensorimotor education combined with OPC to enable teachers’ occupational performance.
Does Crime Cause Punitiveness?
Authors: Kleck Gary , Jackson Dylan Baker
Published: March 2016

Why are Americans so punitive toward criminals? Some theories of punitiveness suggest that exposure to crime makes people more supportive of punitive policies toward criminals. We analyzed national survey data and found that neither support for longer prison sentences for four different crimes nor support for the death penalty had a significant positive association with crime rates, prior victimization, vicarious victimization, higher perceived risk of victimization, or fear of crime. Instead, punitiveness was related to how often people watched local TV news, the percent Republican of the person’s county, and race. Support for harsh treatment of criminals therefore appears to be more a product of race, ideology, and news media presentations of crime than of the reality of crime.
Sequential Changes in Cortical Excitation during Orthodontic Treatment
Authors: Horinuki E. , Yamamoto K. , Shimizu N. , Koshikawa N. , Kobayashi M.
Published: March 2016

Cortical excitation responding to periodontal ligament (PDL) stimulation is observed in the rat primary somatosensory (S1), secondary somatosensory, and insular oral region of the cortex (S2/IOR), which are considered to process somatosensation, including nociception. Our previous studies have demonstrated that excitatory propagation induced by PDL stimulation is facilitated in S1 and S2/IOR 1 d after experimental tooth movement (ETM), and tetanic stimulation of IOR induces long-term potentiation of cortical excitatory propagation consistently. These findings raise the possibility that ETM induces neuroplastic changes, and as a result, facilitation of cortical excitation would be sustained for weeks. However, no information is available about the temporal profiles of the facilitated cortical responses. We estimated PDL stimulation-induced cortical excitatory propagation in S1 and S2/IOR of rats by optical imaging 1 to 7 d after ETM of the maxillary first molar. ETM models showed facilitated cortical excitatory propagation in comparison with controls and sham groups 1 d after ETM, but the facilitation gradually recovered to the control level 3 to 7 d after ETM. Sham groups that received wire fixation without orthodontic force tended to enhance cortical responses, although the differences between controls and sham groups were almost insignificant. We also examined the relationship between cortical responses and expression of inflammatory cytokines, interleukin (IL)–1β and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)–α, in PDL of the first molar. The peak amplitude of optical signals responding to PDL stimulation tended to be increased in parallel to the number of IL-1β and TNF-α immunopositive cells, suggesting that, at least in part, the enhancement of cortical responses is induced by PDL inflammation. These findings suggest that ETM-induced facilitation of cortical excitatory propagation responding to PDL stimulation 1 d after ETM recovers to the control level within a week. The time course of the facilitated cortical responses is comparable to that of pain and discomfort induced by clinical orthodontic treatments.
Relationships Among Goal Contents, Exercise Motivations, Physical Activity, and Aerobic Fitness in University Physical Education Courses
Authors: Sibley Benjamin A. , Bergman Shawn M.
Published: March 2016

The current research examined the relationships among exercise goal contents, behavioral regulation, physical activity, and aerobic fitness within the context of eight-week university physical education courses. Participants were undergraduate students ( M age = 20.2 year, SD = 2.3) enrolled in activity courses ( N = 461) during the 2010 Fall semester. At pretest, participants completed a demographic survey, Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire and the Goal Contents in Exercise Questionnaire. At eight-week posttest, participants completed the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adults and the PACER aerobic fitness test. Relative intrinsic goal content was found to predict physical activity indirectly and aerobic fitness via behavioral regulation. Specific goal contents related to health management and skill development were found to predict physical activity and aerobic fitness via a fully mediated path through identified and intrinsic regulation. Results supported the efficacy of goal contents and self-determination theory in describing physical activity behavior and fitness. Examining specific types of goal contents and behavioral regulations revealed relationships that were masked by the utilization of omnibus scoring protocols.
The making of transnational social space: Chinese women managing careers and lives between China and Canada
Authors: Shan Hongxia , Pullman Ashley , Zhao Qinghua
Published: March 2016

China–Canada people flows are increasingly characterized by two-way movement, engendering possibilities and problems, particularly for women juggling careers and lives. Within this context, a qualitative study was conducted to trace the migratory and career trajectories of 15 Chinese migrant women between China and Canada. The study finds that to maximize their career and life spaces, the women endeavored to build and mobilize various forms of capital. Not only did they engage in migratory movement, but some of them also acquired Canadian credentials, moved into entrepreneurship and took up transient jobs. The utility and futility of women’s efforts point to “games” of differentiation emanating across fields, particularly along the lines of gender, race and class that were invoked to produce transnational spaces where existing power relations were simultaneously challenged and reaffirmed. Conceptually, this paper is informed by the concept of transnational social field and gender, race and class analysis.
Modified Cognitive Diagnostic Index and Modified Attribute-Level Discrimination Index for Test Construction
Authors: Kuo Bor-Chen , Pai Hsiao-Shan , de la Torre Jimmy
Published: March 2016

At present, there are only a limited number of studies examining how to optimally construct cognitive diagnostic tests. The cognitive diagnostic index (CDI) and attribute-level discrimination index (ADI) have been proposed to assemble such tests. The CDI and ADI have been shown to be instrumental in constructing cognitive diagnostic tests when the attribute relationships are assumed to be nonhierarchical. For greater generality when designing cognitive diagnostic assessment, attribute hierarchy and the ratio of test length to the number of attributes (RTA) are two important factors to be considered. This article proposes modified indices that take into account attribute hierarchy and RTA. Simulation studies show that, under the deterministic input, noisy, “and” gate model (DINA) and the reduced version of the reparameterized unified model (rRUM), the proposed indices provide higher attribute and attribute pattern correct classification rates than the original indices.
A case of biatrial drainage of the right superior vena cava
Authors: Iwata Yusuke , Kojima Ai , Nakayama Yuki , Omoya Kentaro , Kuwahara Takashi , Takeuchi Takamasa
Published: March 2016

Biatrial drainage of the right superior vena cava resulting from a sinus venosus defect is a rare congenital malformation. It can result in severe desaturation although a sinus venosus defect usually presents as a left-to-right shunt. A male baby was noted to have cyanosis while nursing and was referred to us for medical treatment on his second day of life. Echocardiography showed that most of the blood flowing through the superior vena cava drained into the left atrium. He underwent successful surgery to correct this defect at the age of 2 years.
Urbanity and Generic Blackness
Authors: Simone AbdouMaliq
Published: March 2016

As urbanization assumes planetary scales under variegated market regimes, spaces and opportunities for collective provisions of care are constrained. Long honed relational skills and the use of heterogeneous relationships for economic opportunity are disentangled in favor of intensely individuated adaptations to precarious livelihoods. Urban life increasingly becomes a continuously updated series of interoperable standardizations and probabilistic calculations. Yet endurance for large numbers of urban residents remains predicated on indifference to and acts of detachment from prevailing modes of urban power, in operations of stealth and supplement long embodied by blackness, and Black Power. A notion of generic blackness is explored as conveying both the logic exhibited to define and contain the unbounded and errant forces shaping urban life and the opacities elaborated by residents of a lower-working-class district in Jakarta.
Detour and break optimising distance, a new perspective on transport and urbanism
Authors: L'Hostis Alain
Published: March 2016

By studying the mathematical properties of metrics, we identify three fundamental characteristics of distance, which are optimality, detour and break. In this paper, we explore the implications of these properties for transport planning, urbanism and spatial planning. We state that distances contain the idea of optimum and that any distance is associated to a search for optimisation. Pedestrian movements obey this principle and sometimes depart from designed routes. Local sub-optimality conveyed by public transport maps has to be corrected by interventions on public space to relieve the load on central parts of networks. The second principle we state is that detour in distances is most often a means to optimise movement. Fast transport systems generate most of the detour observed in geographical spaces at regional scale. This is why detour has to be taken into account in regional transport policies. The third statement is that breaks in movement contribute to optimising distances. Benches, cafés, pieces of art, railway stations are examples of the urban break. These facilities of break represent an urban paradox: they organise the possibility of a break, of a waste of time in a trip, and they also contribute to optimising distances in a wider network. In that sense, break should be considered as a relevant principle for the design of urban space in order to support a pedestrian-oriented urban form.
Intra-aortic balloon pump combined with mechanical ventilation for treating patients aged > 60 years in cardiogenic shock: Retrospective analysis
Authors: Liu Hongwei , Wu Xueping , Zhao Xiaoning , Zhu Ping , Han Lina
Published: March 2016

Objective

To examine if mechanical ventilation with positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) combined with intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) provided a better outcome than IABP alone for the treatment of cardiogenic shock after acute myocardial infarction in patients aged > 60 years.

Methods

This was a retrospective analysis of data from patients in cardiogenic shock, refractory to pharmacological therapy and treated at a geriatric coronary care unit.

Results

Sixty-two patients were eligible for study inclusion: 33 received IABP alone; 29 received IABP combined with mechanical ventilation. Patients in the IABP + mechanical ventilation group had lower mean arterial blood pressure (BP), systolic BP and partial pressure of oxygen compared with the IABP group, indicating worse cardiac and pulmonary function. In addition, higher rates of pulmonary infection and renal insufficiency were observed in the IABP + mechanical ventilation group than in the IABP group. A statistically significant improvement of left ventricular function before and after treatment was observed in the IABP + mechanical ventilation group, but not in the IABP group. Pulmonary infection and renal insufficiency were risk factors for all-cause in-hospital mortality; successful revascularization was a negative risk factor. There was no between-group difference in survival.

Conclusion

Mechanical ventilation with an appropriate level of PEEP appears to enhance the beneficial effects of IABP on left ventricular function for patients in cardiogenic shock.
Assessment of associations between ischaemic attacks in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and air concentrations of particulate matter <2.5 μm
Authors: Hoshino Takayuki , Hoshino Ayami , Nishino Junya
Published: March 2016

Objective

To investigate the relationship between air concentrations of fine particulate matter <2.5 µm in diameter (PM2.5) and ischaemic attacks in high-risk elderly patients (aged ≥60 years).

Methods

This retrospective data analysis study extracted clinical data from an electronic medical chart system and environmental air quality data from the Ministry of the Environment Atmospheric Environmental Regional Observation System. Patients were stratified into four groups according to whether or not they had type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and/or an ischaemic attack (i.e. cerebral infarctions and myocardial infarctions) during the 2-year study period. Analysis of the combined clinical and environmental data produced the odds ratio for the likelihood of experiencing an ischaemic attack.

Results

Clinical data were collected from 94 647 patients. On days when the air temperature was ≥25℃ and PM2.5 concentration was ≥20µg/m3, an ischaemic attack was more likely to occur in the T2DM group than in the group without T2DM. An ischaemic attack was more likely to occur 2 days after an increase in the PM2.5 concentration compared with the same day as and 3–6 days after the increase.

Conclusion

The results of this study confirmed an association between PM2.5 and ischaemic attacks in high-risk patients.
Experimental Transmission of Bighorn Sheep Sinus Tumors to Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis) and Domestic Sheep
Authors: Fox K. A. , Wootton S. , Marolf A. , Rouse N. , LeVan I. , Spraker T. , Miller M. , Quackenbush S.
Published: March 2016

Bighorn sheep sinus tumors are a recently described disease affecting the paranasal sinuses of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep ( Ovis canadensis canadensis). Several features of this disease suggest an infectious cause, although a specific etiologic agent has not been identified. To test the hypothesis that bighorn sheep sinus tumors are caused by an infectious agent, we inoculated 4 bighorn sheep lambs and 4 domestic sheep lambs intranasally with a cell-free filtrate derived from a naturally occurring bighorn sheep sinus tumor; we held 1 individual of each species as a control. Within 18 months after inoculation, all 4 inoculated domestic sheep (100%) and 1 of the 4 inoculated bighorn sheep (25%) developed tumors within the ethmoid sinuses or nasal conchae, with features similar to naturally occurring bighorn sheep sinus tumors. Neither of the uninoculated sheep developed tumors. Histologically, the experimentally transmitted tumors were composed of stellate to spindle cells embedded within a myxoid matrix, with marked bone production. Tumor cells stained positively with vimentin, S100, alpha smooth muscle actin, and osteocalcin, suggesting origin from a multipotent mesenchymal cell. A periosteal origin for these tumors is suspected. Immunohistochemical staining for the envelope protein of JSRV (with cross-reactivity to ENTV) was equivocal, and PCR assays specific for these agents were negative.
Myopathy of the Pipping Muscles, Hepatosis Dietetica, and Cataracts in Emu Chicks (Dromaius Novaehollandiae)
Authors: Crispo M. , Palmieri C. , Shivaprasad H. L.
Published: March 2016

Seven emu chicks ( Dromaius novaehollandiae) from a farm with poor hatchability (16–18%) and increased neonatal mortality were presented for necropsy with a history of death at or within a few days after hatching. Macroscopic examination revealed subcutaneous edema and hemorrhages and swelling of the pipping muscles in the proximal neck (71%), pale liver with hemorrhages (71%), noninternalized residual yolk sac (86%) and anasarca (14%). Histologically, the most remarkable findings were necrosis of the musculus complexus (100%) of the pipping muscles, as well as myocardial necrosis and mineralization (29%). Liver contained severe multifocal hepatocellular necrosis and hemorrhages (57%), and both eyes exhibited swollen and vacuolated lenticular fibers in 5 chicks (100%) in which the eyes were examined. The lesions observed here are suggestive of a nutritional deficiency. The deficiency was confirmed by finding low levels of vitamin E in the liver, and vitamin E and vitamin A levels in the feed.
Racial Discrimination, Cultural Resilience, and Stress
Authors: Spence Nicholas D. , Wells Samantha , Graham Kathryn , George Julie
Published: March 2016

Objective:

Racial discrimination is a social determinant of health for First Nations people. Cultural resilience has been regarded as a potentially positive resource for social outcomes. Using a compensatory model of resilience, this study sought to determine if cultural resilience (compensatory factor) neutralized or offset the detrimental effect of racial discrimination (social risk factor) on stress (outcome).

Methods:

Data were collected from October 2012 to February 2013 ( N = 340) from adult members of the Kettle and Stony Point First Nation community in Ontario, Canada. The outcome was perceived stress; risk factor, racial discrimination; and compensatory factor, cultural resilience. Control variables included individual (education, sociability) and family (marital status, socioeconomic status) resilience resources and demographics (age and gender). The model was tested using sequential regression.

Results:

The risk factor, racial discrimination, increased stress across steps of the sequential model, while cultural resilience had an opposite modest effect on stress levels. In the final model with all variables, age and gender were significant, with the former having a negative effect on stress and women reporting higher levels of stress than males. Education, marital status, and socioeconomic status (household income) were not significant in the model. The model had R2 = 0.21 and adjusted R2 = 0.18 and semipartial correlation (squared) of 0.04 and 0.01 for racial discrimination and cultural resilience, respectively.

Conclusions:

In this study, cultural resilience compensated for the detrimental effect of racial discrimination on stress in a modest manner. These findings may support the development of programs and services fostering First Nations culture, pending further study.
Psychometric properties of the French version of a scale measuring perceived emotional intelligence : the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS)
Authors: Maria Anne-Solène , Bourdier Léna , Duclos Jeanne , Ringuenet Damien , Berthoz Sylvie
Published: March 2016

Objective:

The Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS), a 30-item self-assessment questionnaire, has been developed to measure perceived emotional intelligence (EI) level in 3 dimensions: Attention, Clarity and Repair. This study aimed to explore the psychometric properties of the French version of this instrument.

Method:

The instrument factor structure, normality, internal consistency, stability and concurrent validity were assessed in a sample of 824 young adults (456 female). Besides TMMS, participants completed self-assessment questionnaires for affectivity (Shortened Beck Depression Inventory, State and Trait Anxiety Inventory, Positive and Negative emotion scale), alexithymia (Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire-B) and interpersonal functioning (Empathy Quotient). Discriminant validity was tested in 64 female patients with anorexia nervosa, identified in literature as having difficulties with introspection, expression and emotional regulation.

Results:

Confirmatory factor analysis results replicate the 3-factor structure. Internal consistency and reliability indices are adequate. Direction and degree of correlation coefficients between TMMS dimensions and other questionnaires support the instrument concurrent validity. TMMS allows to highlight differences in perceived EI levels between men and women (Attention: p < 0.001 ; Clarity: p < 0.05) as well as between patients with anorexia nervosa and control subjects (p < 0.001 for all 3 dimensions).

Conclusion:

This first validation study shows satisfying psychometric properties for TMMS French version.
The Use of Computer-Based Simulation to Aid Comprehension and Incidental Vocabulary Learning
Authors: Ali Mohsen Mohammed
Published: March 2016

One of the main issues in language learning is to find ways to enable learners to interact with the language input in an involved task. Given that computer-based simulation allows learners to interact with visual modes, this article examines how the interaction of students with an online video simulation affects their second language video comprehension and incidental vocabulary learning. Forty-three Arab adult learners were randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a control group. Students in the experimental group (players) participated in a virtual knee surgery simulation by dragging various surgery devices, which were shown in the clip, over the knee of a patient. Those in the control group (viewers) viewed the same video in YouTube and were requested to watch and listen to the video surgery. After the treatments, the students took comprehension and vocabulary recognition tests (image association with words). Results show that the players significantly outperformed the viewers in these two tests. The pedagogical implications of this study suggest that interactivity in language input is crucial in facilitating second language acquisition.
Sponsoring True Feeling
Authors: Catchings Libby
Published: March 2016

This qualitative study traces different articulations of the public, emotional honesty, and economic advantage in the literacy sponsorship of detained writer Lil’ Purp by The Beat Within, a publication for incarcerated youth and adults. Findings are compared to The Beat’s own account of Purp’s progress, revealing a set of practices reminiscent of Socratic parrhêsia that revise understanding of literacy sponsorship by expanding it to a philosophical register. Because The Beat also becomes a site of affective solidarity among detained writers in a way that resists the directional logic of writing toward civic participation, the study supports thinking about affect in public writing not as a process that moves toward political action, but rather as action in the immediate space of its utterance and reception. Such findings have implications both for public writing pedagogy and for community-based literacy scholarship.