bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Molecular beam epitaxy of complex metal-oxides: Where have we come, where are we going, and how are we going to get there?
Authors: Doolittle W. Alan , Carver Alexander G. , Henderson Walter
Published: July 2005

A renewal of interest in molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) of complex metal oxides has occurred in recent years. This revival of interest is due in part to advances in the technology of MBE oxide epitaxy and in part to the potential of such materials for insertion into unique applications. Some of the key advances in oxide epitaxy are reviewed, including dramatic quality improvement in complex oxides, particularly the perovskite oxide class. Some of the latter advances include high quality integration of perovskites on silicon pioneered by McKee et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 3014 (1998)] and demonstration of interface charge control and oxide–oxide heterointerfaces with mobility exceeding 10000cm2∕Vs by Huang et al. [Physica E 22 712 (2004)]. A new demonstration of LiNbO3 epitaxy on SiC using a novel chemistry will also be detailed. Whether it is applications in mainstream silicon such as alternative gate dielectric replacements or scarcely examined multifunctional oxides, MBE holds promise for a variety of applications. It is shown that MBE affords unique advantages, particularly in the crucial areas of stoichiometry control and deposition uniformity, while offering significant challenges in areas such as growth rate and, in limited cases, interfacial chemistry control. Recent advances in oxide MBE component technology are briefly examined including a method for eliminating electron beam evaporation of refractory metals in certain applications. Potential applications are highlighted and critical challenges are identified.
Molecular beam epitaxy of InAlN∕GaN heterostructures for high electron mobility transistors
Authors: Katzer D. S. , Storm D. F. , Binari S. C. , Shanabrook B. V. , Torabi A. , Zhou Lin , Smith David J.
Published: July 2005

We describe the growth of InAlN∕GaN heterostructures by rf-plasma molecular beam epitaxy. Due to the weak In–N bond, the InAlN growth temperature must be below about 460°C for In to incorporate reliably into the film. Thus far, a thin AlN spacer layer has been required to form a low resistance two dimensional electron gas (2DEG) at the InAlN∕GaN interface. The thin AlN barrier is believed to reduce alloy scattering of carriers in the 2DEG. The best HEMT material with an InAlN barrier and a thin AlN spacer layer has a sheet resistance of 980Ω∕◻ with a sheet electron density of 1.96×1013cm−2.
Molecular beam epitaxy growth of high quantum efficiency InAs/GaSb superlattice detectors
Authors: Sullivan G. J. , Ikhlassi A. , Bergman J. , DeWames R. E. , Waldrop J. R. , Grein C. , Flatté M. , Mahalingam K. , Yang H. , Zhong M. , Weimer M.
Published: July 2005

InAs/GaSb superlattices are leading candidates for next generation long-wave infrared and very-long-wave infrared photodetectors. These heterostructures are expected to hold important advantages over existing materials systems, primarily bulk HgCdTe alloys. To realize their inherent potential, however, superlattice materials with low defect density and improved device characteristics must be demonstrated. Here, we report on the molecular beam epitaxy growth and characterization of an 11 μm cutoff wavelength InAs/GaSb superlattice detector with a state-of-the-art single-pass, internal quantum efficiency of 36%. The shutter sequencing used to form the GaSb-on-InAs and InAs-on-GaSb superlattice heterojunctions is described in detail, and the latter specifically identified as a source of morphological defects in these devices.
PHASE DIAGRAMS AND SCALING REGIMES FOR A CONTINUUM MODEL OF THE GROWTH OF THIN COMPOSITE FILMS
Authors: OSKOEE EHSAN NEDAAEE , SAHIMI MUHAMMAD
Published: July 2005

We present the results of extensive numerical integration in (1 +1) dimensions of a set of continuum equations which was recently proposed for describing the growth of thin composite solid films composed of two types of particles. In this model, the Kardar–Parisi–Zhang (KPZ) equation, which describes the growth of the films, is coupled to the time-dependent Ginzburg–Landau (TDGL) equation for the order parameter. We study the effect of the model's parameters on the universality of the scaling exponents that characterize the power-law behavior of the various properties of interest, and the transitions in the films' morphology that result from varying the parameters. We find that the scaling properties of the model are nonuniversal. Phase diagrams that identify the various scaling regimes, as well as the morphological transitions, are obtained. Thus, neither the dynamics of the domains' growth is governed by the TDGL equation, nor is the scaling of the films' surface structure described by the KPZ equation.
TIME EVOLUTION OF CIRCULAR CELLULAR AUTOMATA ON SQUARE LATTICES
Authors: SUN XIA , YOU SIFANG , WANG DAIMU , YUE YUTAO
Published: July 2005

Time evolutions of the circular cellular automata (CCA) are studied. The pattern seems to reach a dynamic balance state after several iterations in a fixed space. The time variations of population of each quadrant obey the famous logistic equation. It is found that although the initial patterns are very sensitive to the location of the first ring and the growth sequence, the dynamic patterns are independent of them. We propose that the CCA model may be used to simulate the evolution of biology.
MONTE CARLO SIMULATION OF THE RISE AND THE FALL OF LANGUAGES
Authors: SCHULZE CHRISTIAN , STAUFFER DIETRICH
Published: July 2005

Similar to biological evolution and speciation, we define a language through a string of 8 or 16 bits. The parent gives its language to its children, apart from a random mutation from zero to one or from one to zero; initially all bits are zero. The Verhulst deaths are taken as proportional to the total number of people, while in addition languages spoken by many people are preferred over small languages. For a fixed population size, a sharp phase transition is observed: For low mutation rates, one language contains nearly all people; for high mutation rates, no language dominates and the size distribution of languages is roughly log-normal as for present human languages. A simple scaling law is valid.
POPULATION EVOLUTION MODEL WITH THE WEALTH OF THE INDIVIDUAL BASED ON PENNA MODEL
Authors: HE MINGFENG , YU BINGLIN , CHEN LIYU , FANG JIAN
Published: July 2005

We present a simulation model based on the Penna model to study the population evolution. The wealth of the individual is considered in the model. We define increasing ratio α and decreasing ratio β of the wealth presenting the individual wealth variation, also define minimum wealth PROMO which works when one reproduces. We study the influence of α and β on a species' survival or downfall, and the influence of PROMO on the age distribution of a species. According to the different values of α and β, we find diverse regimes where a species will survive or die out, and even the regime where species' survival or downfall are very sensitive. We study the relation between life expectancy and the wealth of the individual, finding that life expectancy doesn't increase but decrease a little when the wealth of the individual increases.
NANOBUBBLES AT THE INTERFACE OF HOPG AND ETHANOL SOLUTION
Authors: ZHANG X. H. , WU Z. H. , ZHANG X. D. , LI G. , HU J.
Published: July 2005

Recently, it has been put forward that bubbles of nanometer scale (nanobubbles) can exist on solid surfaces immersed in aqueous solution, especially on hydrophobic substrates. This interfacial phenomenon has invited extensive interests in both scientific and commercial fields. Experimental evidence including the study of atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been provided to support the existence of nanobubbles. But, there are still many debates in this field. In this paper, a degassing process is combined with direct AFM imaging to prove that the features in the AFM images are nanobubbles. It is found that the morphology of nanobubbles on the highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surface was noticeably deformed during contact mode imaging and their size is extremely sensitive to the imaging force of AFM. By observing nanobubbles in ethanol solution of different concentrations, we found that ethanol solution more concentrated than 20% (V/V) may have a destructive effect on nanobubbles.
QUANTUM AND COULOMB EFFECTS IN NANODEVICES
Authors: VASILESKA D. , KHAN H. R. , AHMED S. S. , RINGHOFER C. , HEITZINGER C.
Published: July 2005

In state-of-the-art devices, it is well known that quantum and Coulomb effects play significant role on the device operation. In this paper, we demonstrate that a novel effective potential approach in conjunction with a Monte Carlo device simulation scheme can accurately capture the quantum-mechanical size quantization effects. We also demonstrate, via proper treatment of the short-range Coulomb interactions, that there will be significant variation in device design parameters for devices fabricated on the same chip due to the presence of unintentional dopant atoms at random locations within the channel.
POST HARTREE–FOCK AND DENSITY FUNCTIONAL THEORY STUDIES ON (BN)n=1–10 CLUSTERS
Authors: NIRMALA V. , KOLANDAIVEL P.
Published: July 2005

Density functional theory and Møller–Plesset perturbation theory methods have been used to study the ring clusters of ( BN )n=1–10 employing 6-311++G** basis set. The binding energies have been corrected for the basis set superposition error (BSSE). Static polarizability of these ring clusters has been investigated. A simple expression for the size dependence of polarizability has been invoked, so that the same relation can be useful for predicting the polarizability of larger clusters. The topological properties were analyzed employing the Bader's atoms in molecules theory. A good correlation between the structural parameters and the properties of electron density is found. Localization and delocalization indices were also used for the analysis of molecular electronic structure by an electron pair perspective. The contribution of stereo electronic interactions to the molecular properties as a function of ring size is analyzed based on the natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis.
USING WEIGHTED PERMUTATION SCORES TO DETECT DIFFERENTIAL GENE EXPRESSION WITH MICROARRAY DATA
Authors: GUO XU , PAN WEI
Published: July 2005

A class of nonparametric statistical methods, including a nonparametric empirical Bayes (EB) method, the Significance Analysis of Microarrays (SAM) and the mixture model method (MMM) have been proposed to detect differential gene expression for replicated microarray experiments. They all depend on constructing a test statistic, for example, a t-statistic, and then using permutation to draw inferences. However, due to special features of microarray data, using standard permutation scores may not estimate the null distribution of the test statistic well, leading to possibly too conservative inferences. We propose a new method of constructing weighted permutation scores to overcome the problem: posterior probabilities of having no differential expression from the EB method are used as weights for genes to better estimate the null distribution of the test statistic. We also propose a weighted method to estimate the false discovery rate (FDR) using the posterior probabilities. Using simulated data and real data for time-course microarray experiments, we show the improved performance of the proposed methods when implemented in MMM, EB and SAM.
ALIGNING MULTIPLE PROTEIN STRUCTURES BY DETERMINISTIC ANNEALING
Authors: ZHOU TIANSHOU , CHEN LUONAN , TANG YUN , ZHANG XIANGSUN
Published: July 2005

Protein structure alignment plays a key role in protein structure prediction and fold family classification. An efficient method for multiple protein structure alignment in a mathematical manner is presented, based on deterministic annealing technique. The alignment problem is mapped onto a nonlinear continuous optimization problem (NCOP) with common consensus chain, matching assignment matrices and atomic coordinates as variables. At each step in the annealing procedure, the NCOP is decomposed into as many subproblems as the number of protein chains, each of which is actually an independent pairwise structure alignment between a protein chain and the consensus chain and hence can be efficiently solved by the parallel computation technique. The proposed method is robust with respect to choice of iteration parameters for a wide range of proteins, and performs well in both multiple and pairwise structure alignment cases, compared with existing alignment methods.
COMPUTATIONAL IDENTIFICATION OF TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS INVOLVED IN EARLY CELLULAR RESPONSE TO A STIMULUS
Authors: LIU RONGXIANG , AGARWAL PANKAJ
Published: July 2005

The response of genes to cell stimuli is often measured by microarrays. However, studying the function of these genes rarely elucidate as to how the stimuli activate or suppress these genes. To understand the mechanisms of cell stimulation, we describe a computational method for analyzing mammalian promoters of early response genes to detect the transcription factors activated by cell stimulation. We first analyzed promoters of the response genes, for transcription factor binding sites conserved between human and mouse. We then applied hypergeometric statistics in conjunction with Bonferroni correction to identify the top transcription factors whose binding sites were significantly over-represented among these promoters. In five data sets with early response genes, a significantly larger than expected number of genes had binding sites in their promoters for transcription factors previously known to be involved in response to the stimulus, while data sets with measurements at longer time points (24 hours) failed to show such over-representation. Because the end points of signal transduction pathways are transcription factors, this methodology is useful for exploring signaling pathways activated by various stimuli through microarray studies.
Artificial small parameter method—solving mixed boundary value problems
Authors: Andrianov I. V. , Awrejcewicz J. , Ivankov A.
Published: July 2005

A novel method for solving mixed boundary value problem is
presented. A computational efficiency of the proposed method is
illustrated using a few mechanical examples.
A Comparative Study of the Different N-Acetylaspartate Measures of the Medial Temporal Lobe in Alzheimer’s Disease
Authors: Jessen Frank , Traeber Frank , Freymann Nikolaus , Maier Wolfgang , Schild Hans-H. , Heun Reinhard , Block Wolfgang
Published: July 2005

Objective: To investigate group differences and correlations and to determine the sensitivity and specificity of different measures of the neuronal marker N-acetylaspartate (NAA) in the medial temporal lobe of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) patients. Methods: The metabolic ratio NAA/creatine (Cr), the absolute concentration of NAA referenced against brain tissue (BT) water and NAA multiplied with the amount of BT in the proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) voxel were assessed in patients and healthy controls with a single-voxel 1H-MRS protocol. Results: All measures were significantly lower in AD patients compared with controls. NAA/Cr and NAA correlated weakly, and there was no correlation of NAA with the amount of BT in the voxel. The highest specificity (87%) at a sensitivity of 80% was observed for NAA multiplied with the amount of BT in the voxel. There was no correlation of the MMSE with any of the NAA parameters. Conclusions: NAA/Cr does not reflect NAA concentration very well. NAA is not correlated with brain atrophy. The BT volume in the 1H-MRS voxel in combination with the concentration of NAA discriminates AD from healthy controls sufficiently.
Transient Future Climate over the Western United States Using a Regional Climate Model
Authors: Snyder Mark A. , Sloan Lisa C.
Published: July 2005

Regional climate models (RCMs) have improved our understanding of the effects of global climate change on specific regions. The need for realistic forcing has led to the use of fully coupled global climate models (GCMs) to produce boundary conditions for RCMs. The advantages of using fully coupled GCM output is that the global-scale interactions of all components of the climate system (ocean, sea ice, land surface, and atmosphere) are considered. This study uses an RCM, driven by a fully coupled GCM, to examine the climate of a region centered over California for the time periods 1980–99 and 2080–99. Statistically significant increases in mean monthly temperatures by up to 7°C are found for the entire state. Large changes in precipitation occur in northern California in February (increase of up to 4 mm day−1 or 30%) and March (decrease of up to 3 mm day−1 or 25%). However, in most months, precipitation changes between the cases were not statistically significant. Statistically significant decreases in snow accumulation of over 100 mm (50%) occur in some months. Temperature increases lead to decreases in snow accumulation that impact the hydrologic budget by shifting spring and summer runoff into the winter months, reinforcing results of other studies that used different models and driving conditions.
Multiple Drug Resistance in Cancer Revisited: The Cancer Stem Cell Hypothesis
Authors: Donnenberg Vera S. , Donnenberg Albert D.
Published: July 2005

The failure to eradicate cancer may be as fundamental as a misidentification of the target. Current therapies succeed at eliminating bulky disease but often miss a tumor reservoir that is the source of disease recurrence and metastasis. Recent advances in the understanding of tissue development and repair cause us to revisit the process of drug resistance as it applies to oncogenesis and tumor heterogeneity. The cancer stem cell hypothesis states that the cancer‐initiating cell is a transformed tissue stem cell, which retains the essential property of self‐protection through the activity of multiple drug resistance (MDR) transporters. This resting constitutively drug‐resistant cell remains at low frequency among a heterogeneous tumor mass. In the context of this hypothesis, the authors review the discovery of MDR transporters in cancer and normal stem cells and the failure of MDR reversal agents to increase the therapeutic index of substrate antineoplastic agents.
Clinical Pharmacology of Rasagiline: A Novel, Second‐Generation Propargylamine for the Treatment of Parkinson Disease
Authors: Chen Jack J. , Swope David M.
Published: July 2005

Rasagiline is a novel second‐generation propargylamine that irreversibly and selectively inhibits monoamine oxidase type B (MAO‐B). For the management of Parkinson disease (PD), rasagiline is efficacious across the span of PD stages ranging from monotherapy in early disease to adjunctive treatment in patients with advancing disease and motor fluctuations. Rasagiline completely and selectively inhibits MAO‐B with a potency 5 to 10 times greater than selegiline. Unlike the prototype propargylamine selegiline, which is metabolized to amphetamine derivatives, rasagiline is biotransformed to aminoindan, a non‐amphetamine compound. Rasagiline is well tolerated with infrequent cardiovascular or psychiatric side effects, and at the recommended therapeutic dose of up to 1 mg once daily, tyramine restriction is unnecessary. In addition to MAO‐B inhibition, the propargylamine chain also confers dose‐related antioxidant and antiapoptotic effects, which have been associated with neuroprotection in multiple experimental models. Thus, in addition to symptomatic benefits, rasagiline offers the promise of clinically relevant neuroprotection.
Effect of Quercetin on the Pharmacokinetics of Rosiglitazone, a CYP2C8 Substrate, in Healthy Subjects
Authors: Kim Kyoung‐Ah , Park Pil‐Whan , Kim Hyung‐Kee , Ha Jong‐Myung , Park Ji‐Young
Published: July 2005

Previous in vitro studies have demonstrated that quercetin inhibits CYP2C8, but there are no available data to indicate that quercetin inhibits CYP2C8 in vivo. The effect of long‐term use of quercetin on the pharmacokinetics of rosiglitazone was evaluated. After administration of quercetin or matched placebo for 3 weeks in a crossover manner, rosiglitazone 4 mg was administered, and the pharmacokinetics of rosiglitazone and N‐desmethylrosiglitazone were determined. For AUC∞, AUClast, and Cmax, the geometric mean ratios (90% confidence interval) for (quercetin + rosiglitazone/placebo + rosiglitazone) were 0.98 (0.92, 1.05), 0.99 (0.92, 1.05), and 1.01 (0.88, 1.14), respectively. Metabolic conversion based on the AUC ratio of N‐desmethylrosiglitazone/rosiglitazone in the quercetin phase (0.49 ± 0.17) was similar to that of the placebo phase (0.47 ± 0.14) (P = .574). Even though the acute interaction that would occur during the first few days of concurrent administration of quercetin cannot be excluded, these results indicate that long‐term use of quercetin does not inhibit CYP2C8 activity, and the usage has little possibility of interacting with drugs that are metabolized by CYP2C8, including rosiglitazone.
Conversion From Subcutaneous to Intravenous Erythropoietin in a Hemodialysis Population
Authors: Vercaigne Lavern M. , Collins David M. , Penner S. Brian
Published: July 2005

The purpose of this study was to compare erythropoietin dosage requirements during subcutaneous versus intravenous administration in a hemodialysis population. Hemodialysis patients receiving subcutaneous epoetin alfa were switched to the intravenous route using a prospective, crossover design. Baseline anemia parameters were measured at months −2, −1, and 0 when patients were receiving subcutaneous dosing and compared to months 4, 5, and 6 after the switch to intravenous dosing. Ninety‐eight patients were enrolled into the study with an average age of 54.8 years. Over the course of the study, 34 patients were excluded from analysis, leaving 64 patients with complete hemoglobin and erythropoietin dosing data throughout the subcutaneous and intravenous evaluation periods. In these patients, the dose of erythropoietin increased significantly from the subcutaneous to the intravenous period (7567.7 to 10229.2 IU/wk). The conversion of hemodialysis patients from the subcutaneous to the intravenous route of administration significantly increased epoetin alfa dosage requirements.
Systemic and Renal Pharmacokinetics of Adefovir and Tenofovir Upon Coadministration
Authors: Kearney Brian P. , Ramanathan Srinivasan , Cheng Andrew K. , Ebrahimi Ramin , Shah Jaymin
Published: July 2005

Adefovir and tenofovir are nucleotide analogs that undergo renal secretion by the human renal organic anion transporter. The pharmacokinetics of tenofovir and adefovir following the administration of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and adefovir dipivoxil alone and together were determined in 24 healthy subjects in an 8‐day, open‐label, fixed‐sequence study. Subjects received oral doses of adefovir dipivoxil on days 1 and 8 and oral doses of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate on days 2 to 8. Pharmacokinetic sampling was performed on days 1, 7, and 8. The plasma pharmacokinetics of tenofovir and adefovir were unaltered upon coadministration. Furthermore, the renal clearances (CLrenal) of tenofovir and adefovir were unaffected by their coadministration. The plasma Cmax values of tenofovir and adefovir were 33‐fold and 340‐fold lower than their Km values for the human renal organic anion transporter. These results demonstrate that coadministration of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and adefovir dipivoxil does not result in substantial changes to their individual pharmacokinetic profiles.
Idealistic and Pragmatic Versions of the Discourse of Partnership
Authors: Tomlinson Frances
Published: July 2005

Although the term ‘partnership’ is increasingly widely applied to a range of inter-organizational engagements within diverse international settings, its meaning is very unclear. This paper analyses how actors involved in implementing partnership working constructed its meaning. It draws on a case study from within the refugee resettlement field to reveal two contrasting versions of the discourse of partnership: a more ‘idealistic’ version of partnership as a ‘good thing’, and a more ‘pragmatic’ version that represented partnership largely in terms of the instrumentality of stakeholders. The tensions between trust and power within inter-organizational relationships are reflected in the uneasy relationship between these versions, and the effects of this tension on the enactment of partnership in the case study project are discussed. The paper considers the implications of these findings for researching and implementing partnership working more widely.
A Basis for Environmental Ethics
Authors: Berque Augustin
Published: July 2005

The region of Xinjiang (‘New Frontier’), China's Far West, contains the majority of the planet's forests of huyang (Populus diversifolia): 360,000 hectares, or more than two-thirds. This tree is a miracle of nature, able to withstand the worst ecological conditions. It tolerates salt, which it gives off through its bark. It tolerates drought, with its roots that seek water almost 20 metres down; but it tolerates as well several months’ flooding during the Tarim's high-water season in the summer months, for this interior river - which is as powerful as the Danube but peters out in the Lob Nor sands - has a current fed by the Karakorum, Pamir and Tianshan snow and ice melt in summer. This combination of high water and heat, which favours vegetation, has turned the banks of the Tarim into a corridor of life that stretches more than 2000 km across the desert. In its natural state the area is characterized by the primal huyang forest. Among the tree's extraordinary properties there is also the appearance of its foliage with its changing forms, which has given it its scientific name Populus diversifolia: a single tree can have on it leaves so different - some as wide as an aspen's, others narrower than a willow's - that at first you would think you were looking at two trees. Last but not least, the profile of the huyang, with its massive trunk, which is said to take a thousand years to grow, a thousand to die and yet another thousand to decompose once it has fallen, stamps its characteristic mark on the land both when it is alive - for example those incredible watery landscapes visible on the Tarim's middle reaches, recalling Louisiana bayous in the middle of the desert - and when it is dead and its tortured forms, like an army of skeletons, rise up among the dunes or yardangs, where the shifting riverbed has given way to desert. Hence its amazing ability to stabilize sand, which has given it the nickname yingxiong shu, ‘the defender tree’: it protects oases against the Taklamakan.
Stone People, Tree People and Animal People in Turkic Asia and Eastern Europe
Authors: Zarcone Thierry
Published: July 2005

In the 17th century the Ottoman traveller Evliya Çelebi, who was visiting the Turkmen nomads from the Karakoyunlu tribe in the north-west of Iran, was extremely surprised by one of the key elements of the faith of the people, who were nonetheless Muslim: worshipping trees, beside which they lit candles and to whose bark they attached pieces of iron. Two centuries later the same astonishment can be read of in the report presented to the Ottoman sultan Abdul-hamid II by one of his agents on the topic of some nomad peoples from Anatolia in present-day Turkey; in this report it says they blindly worship ‘the great trees and monumental rocks that are touched by the first rays of the rising sun’. Ethnologists witnessed the same phenomenon in Anatolia and the Balkans in the 20th century; one of them noted that the tree cult was very much alive in the second area and even invented the neologism ‘dendrolatry’.
Man and Cosmos in the Renaissance: ‘The Heavens Within Us’ in a Letter by Marsilio Ficino
Authors: Faracovi Ornella Pompeo
Published: July 2005

In an extraordinary page of his Homilies on Leviticus, Origen develops in an unusual way the great theme of the correspondence between man and cosmos. There is no need to seek victims to offer to God from among visible animals: we can all find them in ourselves, in our souls. The human is a little world in which the cosmos is reflected point by point: ‘Do not be surprised to hear me say all that is within you; you should understand that you are another world in miniature (in parvo) and that in you there is a sun, there is a moon, there are stars.’ In this singular passage the human soul is seen as a mirror of the visible world, which in its turn is nothing other than a vast allegory of the divine. In an image that is not without astrological resonance, the nub of the correspondence between the great world and the small one is situated in the heavenly bodies.
From its Birthplace in Egypt to Marseilles, an Ancient Trade: ‘Drugs and Spices’
Authors: Laget Francis
Published: July 2005

Among ancient trades no other could claim to know such a large number of natural products as the ‘drugs and spices’ business. It can be stated that today no one works at it any longer - at least in its traditional form. I am tempted to think of myself as its living fossil and I shall recall here, happily but not without a certain nostalgia, some memories of its past history.
‘Nature’ in the Epic The Mahâbhârata
Authors: Schaufelberger Gilles , Vincent Guy
Published: July 2005

The Sanskrit for ‘nature’ is prakrti, which means ‘production, completion’; the word comes from a root pra-KR-, meaning ‘produce, carry out’ but also ‘marry, name’. These values seem to cover quite well the way Indians used to perceive nature in the past. It is true that this production is marked by a certain degradation: perfection is sanskriti (hence the Sanskrit or ‘perfect’ language, just as the prakrit languages are the vernaculars, which are felt to be inferior). But like human life, which is capable of becoming excellent (the role of asceticism), nature possesses parts that are admirable in themselves and come close to perfection.
The Effects of Shear on the Deflection of Linearly Loaded Composite Cantilever Beam
Authors: Esendem_Iir Umran
Published: July 2005

A composite is made of several different things, parts or substances. There has been a rapid growth in the use of fiber-reinforced materials in engineering applications in the last few years. In this paper, two deflection functions due to both flexure and shear of an orthotropic cantilever beam loaded linearly at the upper surface are obtained by means of the anisotropic elasticity theory. The deflections at the free end of the beam are calculated for various orientation angles and lengths. The results obtained for the linearly distributed loaded beams are compared to that of the uniformly distributed loaded beams studied earlier. Shear deflection is the smallest for 45 orientation angle for uniformly and linearly distributed loaded beams.
The National Idea: Imperial Legacies and Post-Communist Pathways in Eastern Europe
Authors: Bunce Valerie
Published: July 2005

Why has the national idea played such a powerful role, both positive and negative, in the regime, state, and economic transitions that have taken place in post-communist Eurasia? This article emphasizes the powerful but variable effects of imperial rule in this region, beginning with the Habsburgs and continuing through the more recent experiences of the Soviet bloc and the Yugoslav, Soviet, and Czechoslovak ethnofederations. The national idea, a product of very different experiences in the West, was transformed when moving eastward in the nineteenth century, largely because imperial contexts are not state contexts. The political empowerment of the national idea continued when imperial dynamics returned to the region with the rise of communism. As a result, post-communist Eastern Europe was unusually well situated to privilege nationalism in the struggles over new states and new economic and political regimes.
Communism as a Lived System of Ideas in Contemporary Russia
Authors: Dawisha Karen
Published: July 2005

Many in the West and the USSR (but not in Eastern Europe) were surprised that communism as an idea fell along with the regimes that it had buttressed. Perhaps because of this exhaustion, the kind of fervent ideas-centered debates that had characterized previous revolutionary periods are largely absent in Russia. Yet communist ideas and ways of life have become the subject of nostalgic memory and reinterpretation, entering the post-communist present partially as legacy but also as novel adaptation, both as new ideas and new practice. In Russia where the democratic design is clearly ailing, if not failing, it is more important than ever to consider the views and the agency of those beyond the elite either to embrace or defeat conflicting visions of Russia’s future. And once again, people are dreaming, not of democracy and capitalism, but of order and a strong hand.
Design and redesign of a quasi-market for the reintegration of jobseekers: empirical evidence from Australia and the Netherlands
Authors: Struyven Ludo , Steurs Geert
Published: July 2005

Some Western countries have linked their policy on reintegrating jobseekers to far-reaching changes in the design of the system. The most striking of these is the introduction of a market system by privatizing the implementing organizations and allowing them to compete with each other and other providers. Prototypes for this development are Australia, with its Job Network (introduced in 1998), and the Netherlands, which has a privatized reintegration market (2001). The aim in introducing these market systems is twofold: to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of implementation while increasing the responsiveness of the service providers and the freedom of choice of jobseekers. In this paper we analyse the conditions for and functioning of the market arrangements in both countries from the theoretical perspective of quasi-markets. This analysis shows that the results of the introduction of market forces have so far been relatively modest. The Australian case displays significant efficiency gains, but this was partly at the expense of quality. Problems with risk selection, such as ‘cherry picking’ and ‘parking’ (problems which also affect the public systems) have still not been adequately resolved. The principle of market forces places special demands on the design and organization of the specific market arrangements.
A Penalty Interpretation for the Lagrange Multiplier Fields in Incompressible Multipolar Elasticity Theory
Authors: Fosdick Roger , Royer-Carfagni Gianni
Published: July 2005

In a recent paper we considered the characterization of the incompressibility constraint for multipolar hyperelastic materials. An existence theorem was given for the associated two Lagrange multiplier fields, representative of the stress and “hyper-stress” constraint reactions, but a congenital non-uniqueness in the splitting of these constraint reactions was encountered. Based upon purely mathematical arguments (representation theorems for functionals defined on Sobolev spaces), a strategy was advanced in order to overcome such indeterminacy. This consisted in selecting, among all possible choices, the unique pair of fields that minimized the appropriately defined norm.

Here, we provide a physical justification for the so-called “minimum norm criterion” by interpreting incompressibility through the limit of a sequence of auxiliary minimum problems where changes in volume are progressively penalized by a “penalty term” which is added to the potential energy. The idea is known as the penalty method in the area of numerical analysis. Through the notion of a “modified Lagrangian”, a one-to-one correspondence is established between the solution of each penalty problem in the sequence and an approximation to the two Lagrange multiplier fields for the original constrained problem. In fact, a major effect of the penalty term is that it brings into focus the underlying presence of the constraint manifold of incompressibility as an “attractor” and the “shape” of this manifold identifies a “direction” in which the sequence of approximations approaches its limit. Ultimately, the approximation converges to one and only one choice. We find that the unique limiting Lagrange multiplier fields must necessarily minimize the same norm that was introduced adscititiously in our aforementioned recent paper, but there only as a purely mathematical scheme. This provides justification for the “minimum norm criterion” as a suitable procedure for sorting out the constraint reaction contributions to stress and hyperstress in incompressible multipolar theory.
Consumer Reactions to Firm Signals in Asymmetric Relationships
Authors: Martín Sonia San , Camarero Carmen
Published: July 2005

Consumers are often faced with asymmetric relationships in which they are at the mercy of the firms. An important stream of research has focused on signaling properties of several marketing variables to reduce consumer selection problems. However, very little is known about consumer reactions to firm signals. Moreover, traditional studies on relationships have adopted either an economic or a social point of view. This article adopts a multidisciplinary approach and proposes a model that shows how consumers react to the quality signals the firm sends to the market. It provides an empirical test of the relation between firm signals and consumer trust: The firm sends signals, consumers develop trust in them, and therefore, reduce their fear of the firm’s opportunism. The model is tested for the relationship customers establish with their regular automotive service provider.
Networked Communities
Authors: Lacey Anita
Published: July 2005

This article examines social activist networks in Britain, the physical spaces they occupy, and how they facilitate protest actions while less tangibly providing shared emotional space. The nexus between physical and emotional spaces activists occupy in contemporary Britain is the key point of inquiry. Maffesoli’s notion of the social divine is used to help understand activists’ desire to seek connections and community while pursuing activism. Networks act as a link to emotional community while promoting further political activity, here anti–global capital and antiwar activism. Central to the idea of an activist network is using the Internet to disseminate plans. However, as the author aims to establish, the Internet is not the only networking tool available to activists. Action plans, ideas, and contacts are circulated via zines, at infoshops and stalls, and in social centers. Networks of activism develop rather than spontaneously emerge on the day of any given action; they emerge from the interaction of activists, in shared physical and/or emotional spaces.
Boundary Play
Authors: Nippert-Eng Christena
Published: July 2005

In this essay, the author introduces the concept of “boundary play” as it is manifested in and through interactions with space. Cultural, categorical pairings of concepts—and the classificatory systems that they are part of—are embedded in and evoked by the features of our environment. Accordingly, the ways we define and use space are rife with the possibility of boundary play, that is, the visible, imaginative manipulation of shared cultural-cognitive categories for the purpose of amusement. The discussion focuses on three analytical opportunities: (a) children playing in and around a cagelike dog crate, (b) the design solutions found in the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas’s McCormick Tribune Campus Center at the Illinois Institute of Technology, and (c) an interactive design project called Tableportation by Giorgio Olivero and Peggy Thoeny. These examples each reflect and encourage our explorations of classificatory boundaries. In the process, they reveal this particular kind of play as well as the worldview that lies behind it.
Facilitating Transferable Learning through Cluster Evaluation
Authors: Potter Philip
Published: July 2005

This article outlines a strategy for the evaluation of a development partnership within the EU ‘EQUAL’ programme. A new aspect of the EQUAL programme is the grouping of projects within thematic or geographical partnerships. This facilitates the establishment of stronger links between learning at intra-project, inter-project and programme level, in a way that was not the case in previous EU employment programmes. It provides the opportunity to address the problem of external validity (also known as transferability or generalizability), which has long been an intractable aspect of evaluation. In particular, it has been difficult to generate inter-project and policy-level learning in innovative programmes of heterogeneous projects, because learning has been strongly context-bounded. The approach of cluster evaluation has offered a methodology for bridging the gap between case-based learning and policy-level learning. The approach is suitable for thematic programmes of innovative and heterogeneous interventions in field settings with multiple objectives and diverse participants. It favours communicative learning processes among programme participants, using interactive and dialogue-focused techniques. The article reviews these issues and outlines the strategy adopted in the evaluation of a development partnership within the EU EQUAL programme in Germany.
Language and Intergroup Contact: Investigating the Impact of Bilingual Instruction on Children’s Intergroup Attitudes
Authors: Wright Stephen C. , Tropp Linda R.
Published: July 2005

This study examined the impact of bilingual versus English-only instruction on the intergroup attitudes of White, English-speaking children in kindergarten through second grade. Replicating prior research, White children generally showed a clear preference toward the ingroup in terms of positive evaluations, friendship preference, and perceived similarity to the self. However, all three effects were significantly smaller among children who were in classrooms with a significant amount of Spanish instruction (i.e. bilingual classes). The smaller preference for the ingroup over the outgroup found in bilingual classes resulted from higher evaluations of, greater selection of friends among, and greater perceived similarity to Latino targets, and not from changes in preference for White ingroup targets. Furthermore, comparisons with English-only classes that had substantial Latino representation shows that the positive impact of bilingual instruction can be only partially explained by the greater representation of Latino children in bilingual classes. Finally, these positive patterns of intergroup attitudes found in bilingual classes were not associated with any negative effects on White children’s personal self-evaluation.
Electronic monitoring in England and Wales
Authors: Mair George
Published: July 2005

The importance of an evidence-based approach to policy and practice has been a defining characteristic of the Labour administrations since 1997. This article uses the example of electronic monitoring of offenders in England and Wales to assess how far its introduction and development could be said to be evidence-based. While the idea of evidence-based policy or practice may appear appealing, the complex nature of the policy process and the question of what constitutes evidence, render it problematic. The research into electronic monitoring—all of it carried out or commissioned by government—carries consistent messages, but these do not seem to have been heeded by government. As far as the electronic monitoring of offenders is concerned, evidence-based remains at the level of a rhetorical claim.
Concurrent Cognitive Task Modulates Coordination Dynamics
Authors: Pellecchia Geraldine L. , Shockley Kevin , Turvey M. T.
Published: July 2005

Does a concurrent cognitive task affect the dynamics of bimanual rhythmic coordination? In‐phase coordination was performed under manipulations of phase detuning and movement frequency and either singly or in combination with an arithmetic task. Predicted direction‐specific shifts in stable relative phase from 0° due to detuning and movement frequency were amplified by the cognitive task. Nonlinear cross‐recurrence analysis suggested that this cognitive influence on the locations of the stable points or attractors of coordination entailed a magnification of attractor noise without a reduction in attractor strength. An approximation to these findings was achieved through parameter changes in a motion equation in relative phase. Results are discussed in terms of dual‐task performance as limited resources, dynamics rather than chronometrics, and reparameterization rather than degradation.
Practice and Forgetting Effects on Vocabulary Memory: An Activation‐Based Model of the Spacing Effect
Authors: Pavlik Philip I. , Anderson John R.
Published: July 2005

An experiment was performed to investigate the effects of practice and spacing on retention of Japanese–English vocabulary paired associates. The relative benefit of spacing increased with increased practice and with longer retention intervals. Data were fitted with an activation‐based memory model, which proposes that each time an item is practiced it receives an increment of strength but that these increments decay as a power function of time. The rate of decay for each presentation depended on the activation at the time of the presentation. This mechanism limits long‐term benefits from further practice at higher levels of activation and produces the spacing effect and its observed interactions with practice and retention interval. The model was compared with another model of the spacing effect (Raaijmakers, 2003) and was fit to some results from the literature on spacing and memory.
Dissociations in Performance on Novel Versus Irregular Items: Single‐Route Demonstrations With Input Gain in Localist and Distributed Models
Authors: Kello Christopher T. , Sibley Daragh E. , Plaut David C.
Published: July 2005

Four pairs of connectionist simulations are presented in which quasi‐regular mappings are computed using localist and distributed representations. In each simulation, a control parameter termed input gain was modulated over the only level of representation that mapped inputs to outputs. Input gain caused both localist and distributed models to shift between regularity‐based and item‐based modes of processing. Performance on irregular items was selectively impaired in the regularity‐based modes, whereas performance on novel items was selectively impaired in the item‐based modes. Thus, the models exhibited double dissociations without separable processing components. These results are discussed in the context of analogous dissociations found in language domains such as word reading and inflectional morphology.
Computing with Connections In Visual Recognition of Origami Objects*
Authors: Sabbah Daniel
Published: July 2005

This paper summarizes our initial foray in tackling Artificial Intelligence problems using a connectionist approach. The particular task chosen was the visual recognition of objects in the Origami world as defined by. The two major questions answered were how to construct a connectionist network to represent and recognize projected line drawings of Origami objects and what advantages such an approach would have. The structure of the resulting connectionist network can be described as a hierarchy of parameter or feature spaces with each node in each of the feature spaces representing a hypothesis about the possible existence of a specific geometric feature of an Origami object. The dynamic behavior of the network is a form of iterative refinement or relaxation whose major characteristic is to prefer more globally interesting interpretations of the input over locally pleasing ones. Examples from the implementation illustrate the system's ability to deal with forms of noise, occlusion and missing information. Other benefits are an inherently parallel approach to vision, limitation of explicit ordering of the search involved in matching model to instance and the elimination of backtracking due to the sharing of partial results as the search progresses. Extensions and problems are also discussed.