bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
INFLUENCE OF THE MORPHOLOGICAL AND HYDRAULIC CHARACTERISTICS OF MOUNTAIN STREAMS ON FISH HABITAT SUITABILITY CURVES
Authors: Macura V. , Škrinár A. , Kaluz K. , Jalčovíková M. , Škrovinová M.
Published: April 2011

Microhabitat preferences of adult brown trout (Salmo trutta m. fario) were monitored for the purpose of determining design parameters for river restoration. The habitat preferences were evaluated during the summer period of minimum flows. Since 1995, field measurements have been performed in 52 reaches in 43 mountain and piedmont streams. The relationship between hydraulic characteristics and the values of maximum habitat suitability derived from velocity and depth habitat suitability curves (HSCs) was statistically determined. Trout in natural stream reaches showed a strong degree of dependence on depths, but in regulated streams, they were dependent on velocities.

The representative habitat suitability curves for four depth intervals were extrapolated. From these outputs, the optimum depths of a microhabitat for river restoration measures and/or assessment of the influence of water withdrawals can be derived. The influence of geological regions on the shape of HSCs has not been proved; therefore, it is conceivable that after verification, the generalized HSCs may also be valid in other mountain and piedmont regions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The “tortuous evolution” of international management research: Critical issues on the way to maturity
Authors: Michailova Snejina
Published: April 2011

The field of international management (IM) is undergoing a “tortuous evolution” on its way to maturity. This article identifies five critical issues that arise along this evolution: (1) identity struggles; (2) no strong and clear impact on IM practice; (3) emphasizing instrumentalities; (4) not enough true and continuous interdisciplinarity; and (5) articulation of ideas and findings as if they emerge in a vacuum. The article seeks possible explanations of the underlying causes of these critical issues. It is argued that the five critical issues contribute to explaining why IM research has not yet fulfilled its potential. Suggestions are offered on how improvements can be made. ©2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Coping with work‐family conflicts in the global career context
Authors: Mäkelä Liisa , Suutari Vesa
Published: April 2011

In order to increase our understanding of the work‐family conflicts experienced by global careerists and their families and the related coping strategies they adopt to address them, managers with long‐term global careers were interviewed. The results indicate that the challenging nature of their jobs means global careerists face not only time‐based and strain‐based work‐family conflicts but also mobility‐based conflicts, a category added in order to fully capture the work‐family conflicts faced. Managers were found mainly to use active problem‐solving strategies alongside family‐level coping strategies, though, in addition, emotional coping, avoidance, and reappraisal strategies were in evidence. ©2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Procedures for preventing juvenile violence in Switzerland: The Zurich model
Authors: Endrass Jérôme , Rossegger Astrid , Urbaniok Frank , Laubacher Arja , Pierce Christine Schnyder , Moskvitin Konstantin
Published: April 2011

The Swiss legal system places strong emphasis on risk assessment and treatment of potentially violent offenders. Especially after the 2001 Zug massacre, there is close cooperation between the judicial and mental health systems to prevent violence through early detection and intervention. A case study of a risk management program for a dangerous seventeen‐year‐old delinquent youth illustrates this approach.
Safe2Tell®: An anonymous, 24/7 reporting system for preventing school violence
Authors: Payne Susan R. T. , Elliott Delbert S.
Published: April 2011

There is widespread agreement that many school shootings could be prevented if authorities were informed that a student was planning or preparing to carry out an attack. A universal problem is that young people are highly reluctant to report on their peers. This code of silence represents a major barrier to prevention efforts. In response to the Columbine shooting, the state of Colorado established the Safe2Tell® anonymous, 24/7 reporting system for receiving and forwarding threats of violence, bullying, and other concerns. This article describes how the program has grown to the point that it now receives more than 100 calls per month. A series of case examples illustrates its success in responding to threatening situations, including twenty‐eight potential school attacks.
Is There Any Value Investigating Persistent Haematospermia? Results of a 12-Year Prospective Study
Authors: Kumar Ashish A. , Zachariah Kuruvilla K. , Dorkin Trevor J.
Published: April 2011

Objectives:

We hypothesise that haematospermia, with no additional clinical features and regardless of age, does not warrant investigation as abnormal pathology is rarely found.

Patients and methods:

Twelve-year prospective data were collected on men referred with persistent haematospermia. Patients were divided into two age groups: less than 40 years and greater than 40 years. Patients were assessed through history and clinical examination including a DRE, serum PSA and a TRUS — with or without biopsy.

Results:

Fourteen men under 40 presented with haematospermia. TRUS showed calcification in 2 patients. No malignancy was detected in this sub-group.

Conclusion:

Mono-symptomatic haematospermia — regardless of age — requires only limited investigation as the condition is invariably benign. Prostate biopsies should only be considered if an elevated PSA and/or abnormal DRE are detected.
Understanding fear of pain in chronic pain: Interoceptive fear conditioning as a novel approach
Authors: De Peuterl Steven , Van Diestl Ilse , Vansteenwegenl Debora , Van den Berghl Omer , Vlaeyenl Johan W.S.
Published: April 2011

The current review deals with interoceptive conditioning as a viable mechanism maintaining fear of pain: The available literature suggests that interoceptive—i.e., internal bodily—sensations may become predictors of pain and will subsequently elicit fear of pain.

After a short overview of interoceptive (fear) conditioning and its role in the maintenance of panic disorder, the existing literature on conditioning in the field of pain and fear of pain is reviewed. Next, the authors propose an interoceptive fear conditioning model of fear of pain, suggesting that bodily sensations can function as predictors of pain and as conditioned stimuli become endowed with the capacity to elicit an (anticipatory) fear response.

The review concludes with a number of theoretical and clinical considerations, introducing interoceptive exposure as a potentially effective treatment for fear of pain.
Factors associated with hospitalisation of patients with schizophrenia in four European countries
Authors: Gorwood P.
Published: April 2011

Purpose

To analyse factors associated with hospitalisation in patients with schizophrenia from four European countries, and to investigate whether national specificities might have an impact on the profile of inpatients.

Method

A randomly selected sample of psychiatrists (N = 744), from Germany, Greece, Italy and Spain, collected data on the five last patients with schizophrenia they had seen in consultation (N = 3996).

Results

High positive symptoms, lack of insight, not living with the family, frequent past episodes, addiction to illegal drugs, global severity, uncooperativeness and smoking were significantly associated with hospitalisation, with OR between 4.1 and 1.26. Nevertheless, only high positive symptoms from the PANSS and lack of insight were systematically detected in the four countries. Among different results, the weight of “not living with the family” had national specificities, as Germany was the only country where this factor played no role (OR = 0.94).

Conclusion

Although some factors such as positive symptoms are associated with hospitalisation in a very homogenous way throughout different countries, discrepancies were detected between countries, for “living with the family”, “number of past acute relapses” and “uncooperativeness”. Linking these specificities to national healthcare systems might be useful to promote access to care for all patients.
The Effect of Pricing and Advertising on Customer Retention in a Liberalizing Market
Authors: Polo Yolanda , Sese F. Javier , Verhoef Peter C.
Published: April 2011

This study investigates the drivers of customer retention in a liberalizing market. The authors address key retention issues that allow them to contribute to existing retention research in several critical ways. They (1) examine the effects of pricing and mass advertising, (2) account for (new entrants) competitors’ actions, (3) investigate the dynamic impact of marketing tactics, and (4) study the proposed relationships in a market recently opened to competition. Using longitudinal data for a sample of 650 mobile phone consumers and a split-population hazard model that accounts for the notion that some customers are never at risk of defection, the authors show that both the focal firm's (incumbent) and the competitors’ price and mass advertising exert a significant influence on the probability of terminating an existing incumbent relationship. They find that the relationships between marketing variables and retention are not static but vary over time. Price is generally less effective in the early stages of market liberalization, which suggests that customers become more price sensitive in later stages. Finally, the study findings can have important strategic implications on designing customer management and marketing resource allocation strategies, as well as on providing a competitive regulatory framework in liberalizing markets.
Automated Sample Preparation for ICP Analysis of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients and Intermediates
Authors: Sims Jonathan , Smith Andrew , Patel Dharmista , Batchelor Richard , Carreira Judith
Published: April 2011

Routine testing of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for metal residues is an expectation of regulatory bodies such as the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration). Sample preparation techniques are the rate-limiting step in the testing process and can be variable depending on the specific characteristics of the API under test. Simplification and standardization of the routine preparation of inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy sample solutions of organic compounds has been developed using a commercially available robotic workstation. Contamination from the metal components of the instrument and from sample tubes used in the methodology has been studied using a Design of Experiments approach. The optimized method described can be used for the measurement of trace metals in Pharmaceuticals at levels compliant with European and U.S. regulatory requirements.
Expansile, inflammatory middle ear disease causing nasopharyngeal obstruction in a cat
Authors: Forster-van Hijfte Myra A. , Groth Anna M. , Emmerson Terrance D.
Published: April 2011

A 7-year-old, entire female, domestic shorthair cat presented with recurrent upper respiratory tract problems. Infectious otitis media caused expansion of the middle ear which ultimately resulted in complete obstruction of the nasopharynx. A ventral bulla osteotomy was successful in relieving the clinical signs.
Timing and duration of North American glacial lake discharges and the Younger Dryas climate reversal
Authors: Rayburn John A. , Cronin Thomas M. , Franzi David A. , Knuepfer Peter L.K. , Willard Debra A.
Published: April 2011

Radiocarbon-dated sediment cores from the Champlain Valley (northeastern USA) contain stratigraphic and micropaleontologic evidence for multiple, high-magnitude, freshwater discharges from North American proglacial lakes to the North Atlantic. Of particular interest are two large, closely spaced outflows that entered the North Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence estuary about 13,200–12,900 cal yr BP, near the beginning of the Younger Dryas cold event. We estimate from varve chronology, sedimentation rates and proglacial lake volumes that the duration of the first outflow was less than 1 yr and its discharge was approximately 0.1 Sv (1 Sverdrup = 106 m3 s−1). The second outflow lasted about a century with a sustained discharge sufficient to keep the Champlain Sea relatively fresh for its duration. According to climate models, both outflows may have had sufficient discharge, duration and timing to affect meridional ocean circulation and climate. In this report we compare the proglacial lake discharge record in the Champlain and St. Lawrence valleys to paleoclimate records from Greenland Ice cores and Cariaco Basin and discuss the two-step nature of the inception of the Younger Dryas.
Kinematics of rock flow and fabric development associated with shear deformation within the Zagros transpression zone, Iran
Authors: FAGHIH ALI , SARKARINEJAD KHALIL
Published: April 2011

This paper presents quantitative data on the finite strain, quartz crystal fabric, geometry of flow and deformation temperatures in deformed quartzite samples to characterize the ductile deformation along the thrust sheets constituting the Sanandaj–Sirjan Metamorphic Belt within the Zagros Mountains of Iran. The results of this study emphasize the heterogeneous nature of deformation in this belt, showing a spatial variation in strain magnitude and in degree of non-coaxiality. A dominant top-to-the-SE sense of shear is indicated by the asymmetry of microstructures and quartz c-axis fabrics. Quartz c-axis opening angles suggest deformation temperatures range between 435° ± 50°C and 510° ± 50°C, which yield greenschist to amphibolite facies conditions during the ductile deformation. Mean kinematic vorticity number (Wm) measured in the quartzite samples ranges between 0.6 and 0.9 with an average of 0.76, which indicates that extrusion of the metamorphic rocks of the region was facilitated by a significant component of pure shear strain. Traced towards the basal thrust of the Zagros Thrust System from northeast to southwest, the quartz grain fabrics change from asymmetric cross-girdle fabrics in the internal part of the deformation zone to an asymmetric single-girdle fabric at distances close to the basal thrust. This variation may depend on the structural depth and on the geometry of the ductile deformation zone. The observed increase in strain and vorticity within the study area is comparable with patterns recorded within metamorphic rock extrusions within other orogens in the world.
Struggles for Individual Rights and the Expansion of the International System
Authors: Reus-Smit Christian
Published: April 2011

We live today in the world's first universal, multicultural, and multiregional system of sovereign states. Five centuries ago, emergent sovereign states were confined to Europe and contained within the bounds of Latin Christendom. Through five great waves of expansion this nascent European system globalized. The Westphalian settlement, the independence of Latin America, the Versailles settlement, post-1945 decolonization, and the collapse of the Soviet Union each brought a host of new states into the system. How can we explain these great waves of expansion, each of which saw imperial systems of rule displaced by the now universal form of the sovereign state? After detailing the limits of existing explanations, this article presents a new account of the principal waves of systemic expansion that stresses the importance of subject peoples' struggles for the recognition of individual rights. Empires are hierarchies, the legitimacy of which has been sustained historically by traditional regimes of unequal entitlements—institutional frameworks that allocate individuals of different social status different social powers and entitlements. In the Westphalian, Latin American, and post-1945 waves of expansion, which together produced most of today's sovereign states and gave the system its principal regions, subject peoples embraced local interpretations of new, distinctly modern ideas about individual rights and challenged the traditional distribution of entitlements that undergirded imperial hierarchy. Each wave differed, not the least because different rights were at work: liberty of religious conscience, the right to equal political representation, and after 1945, a compendium of civil and political rights. But in each case a “tipping point” was reached when the imperial system in question proved incapable of accommodating the new rights claims and subject peoples turned from “voice” to “exit,” and each time the sovereign state was seen as the institutional alternative to empire.
The Reductionist Gamble: Open Economy Politics in the Global Economy
Authors: Oatley Thomas
Published: April 2011

International political economy (IPE) should transition to “third-wave” scholarship because Open Economy Politics (OEP), which dominates current American IPE scholarship, can generate inaccurate knowledge. OEP can produce inaccurate knowledge because it studies domestic politics in isolation from international or macro processes. This methodological reductionism is often inappropriate for the phenomena IPE studies because governments inhabit a complex social system. As a result, the political choices that OEP strives to explain are typically a product of the interplay between domestic politics and macro processes. When OEP omits causally significant macro processes from empirical models, the models yield biased inferences about the domestic political relationships under investigation. Although scholars tolerated such errors when the gains from OEP were large, these errors are less tolerable now that OEP has matured. Consequently, the field should transition toward research that is nonreductionist, problem-driven, and pluralistic.
Exit Bismarck, Enter Dualism? Assessing Contemporary German Labour Market Policy
Authors: CLASEN JOCHEN , GOERNE ALEXANDER
Published: April 2011

Between 2003 and 2005, German labour market policy was subjected to the most far-reaching reform since the 1960s. Some commentators have interpreted the changes introduced as signalling a departure from the traditional ‘Bismarckian’ paradigm in German social policy. For others, the new legislation has contributed and consolidated an ever-more pervasive trend of dualisation within the German welfare state. In this article, we contest both interpretations. First, we demonstrate that traditional social insurance principles remain a dominant element within unemployment protection. Second, we show that German labour market policy is less rather than more segmented today than it was a decade ago.
BOOTSTRAP ASSISTED SPECIFICATION TESTS FOR THE ARFIMA MODEL
Authors: Delgado Miguel A. , Hidalgo Javier , Velasco Carlos
Published: April 2011

This paper proposes bootstrap assisted specification tests for the autoregressive fractionally integrated moving average model based on the Bartlett Tp-process with estimated parameters whose limiting distribution under the null depends on the estimated model and the estimation method employed. The computation of the asymptotic critical values is not easy if at all possible under these circumstances. To circumvent this problem Delgado, Hidalgo, and Velasco (2005, Annals of Statistics 33, 2568–2609) proposed an asymptotically pivotal transformation of the Tp-process with estimated parameters. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, to examine alternative methods based on bootstrap algorithms for estimating the distribution of the test under the null, showing its validity. And second, to study the finite-sample performance of the different alternative procedures via Monte Carlo simulation.
Acquiring diglossia: mutual influences of formal and colloquial Arabic on children's grammaticality judgments
Authors: KHAMIS-DAKWAR REEM , FROUD KAREN , GORDON PETER
Published: April 2011

There are differences and similarities between Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and spoken varieties of Arabic, in all language domains. To obtain preliminary insights into interactions between the acquisition of spoken and standard varieties of a language in a diglossic situation, we employed forced-choice grammaticality judgments to investigate morphosyntactic knowledge of MSA and the local variant of Palestinian Colloquial Arabic (PCA), in 60 Arabic-speaking children aged 6 ; 4 to 12 ; 4, from a school in Nazareth. We used morphosyntactic structures which either differed or were similar between PCA and standard Arabic. Children generally performed better on items presented in PCA than in standard Arabic, with the exception of constructions involving negation. Children performed better on items when the two constructions were similar in both language varieties. We discuss the results with respect to the multiple factors that affect acquisition in a diglossic situation, and relate our findings to the possibility of interference effects of diglossia on learning.
Human beings are highly susceptible to low doses of Trichinella spp.
Authors: TEUNIS P. F. M. , KONINGSTEIN M. , TAKUMI K. , VAN DER GIESSEN J. W. B.
Published: April 2011

Trichinella is an important foodborne pathogen causing considerable morbidity and mortality. To prevent human trichinellosis, meat inspection for Trichinella spp. at slaughter is a key instrument. Current testing is based on minimal infectious dose in humans, but a scientific basis for this approach is lacking. To this end, a dose–response model must be developed, allowing translation of exposure into disease burden at the population level. We developed novel methods for dose–response assessment using outbreak data incorporating sexual reproduction of the parasite. A selection of suitable outbreak studies, reporting numbers exposed and infected, as well as estimated doses, was collated from a literature study. Humans appear to be highly susceptible: exposure to low doses (few larvae) is associated with a considerable risk of infection. As a consequence, levels of Trichinella in meat must be low to maintain acceptable health risks.
Norovirus genotypes in endemic acute gastroenteritis of infants and children in Finland between 1994 and 2007
Authors: PUUSTINEN L. , BLAZEVIC V. , HUHTI L. , SZAKAL E. D. , HALKOSALO A. , SALMINEN M. , VESIKARI T.
Published: April 2011

Noroviruses are, after rotaviruses, the second most common causative agents of acute gastroenteritis in young children. We studied norovirus genotypes in faecal specimens collected from Finnish children followed-up prospectively in rotavirus vaccine trials. Almost 5000 faecal specimens collected from cases of acute gastroenteritis were examined using reverse transcriptase–PCR. A total of 1172 cases (25% of all acute gastroenteritis) were associated with noroviruses. Of these, 96% were genogroup GII. GII.4 was the most common genotype (46%) throughout the study period but the proportion of this genotype varied in different norovirus epidemic seasons. Additional norovirus genotypes detected were: GII.7 (15%), GII.3 (14%), GII.1 (9%), GII.b (7%), GII.2 (3%), and GI.3 (2%). GII.4 dominated during the following years: 1998–1999 (75%), 2002–2003 (88%) and 2006–2007 (98%) while recombinant genotype GII.b was dominant between 2003 and 2004 (83%). In conclusion, genotypes GII.4 and GIIb have emerged as predominant norovirus genotypes in endemic gastroenteritis affecting young infants and children in Finland.
Environmental characteristics associated with campylobacteriosis: accounting for the effect of age and season
Authors: ARSENAULT J. , MICHEL P. , BERKE O. , RAVEL A. , GOSSELIN P.
Published: April 2011

Campylobacteriosis is a leading cause of acute bacterial gastroenteritis. An ecological study was undertaken to explore the association between environmental characteristics and incidence of campylobacteriosis in relation to four age groups and two seasonal periods. A multi-level Poisson regression model was used for modelling at the municipal level. High ruminant density was positively associated with incidence of campylobacteriosis, with a reduced effect as people become older. High poultry density and presence of a large poultry slaughterhouse were also associated with higher incidence, but only for people aged 16–34 years. The effect of ruminant density, poultry density, and slaughterhouses were constant across seasonal periods. Other associations were detected with population density and average daily precipitation. Close contacts with farm animals are probably involved in the associations observed. The specificity of age and season on this important disease must be considered in further studies and in the design of preventive measures.
The breeding biology of Chinese Crested Terns in mixed species colonies in eastern China
Authors: CHEN S. H. , FAN Z. Y. , CHEN C. S. , LU Y. W.
Published: April 2011

The Chinese Crested Tern Thalasseus bernsteini is a Critically Endangered species and very little is known about its breeding biology and behaviour. Only two small breeding colonies have been recorded on the eastern coast of China. Between 2004 and 2009, their breeding biology was studied in two mixed species colonies on the Jiushan and Wuzhishan archipelagos in Zhejiang province. Chinese Crested Terns started breeding in late May and departed in late August, and nests were generally found within large colonies of Greater Crested Terns T. bergii. The nesting grounds of the mixed colony included grass, rock and interlaced zones on small, uninhabited islets. A total of six Chinese Crested Tern nests were identified, four of which were monitored. In these, the average clutch size was one, with an incubation period of 22–28 days and a fledging period of 31–35 days. The chicks subsequently joined chicks of the Greater Crested Tern, forming the same crèche. Adult Chinese Crested Terns foraged within approximately 5 km of the breeding islets and fed their chicks mainly with small and/or young shoaling fishes. The breeding success of Chinese Crested Tern was 100% in both 2008 and 2009. In addition to mixed nesting, other traits of breeding biology, such as breeding site shifts and re-nesting, provide valuable information for surveying, monitoring and conservation of the Chinese Crested Tern.
Processing of contrastiveness by heritage Russian bilinguals
Authors: SEKERINA IRINA A. , TRUESWELL JOHN C.
Published: April 2011

Two eye-tracking experiments in the Visual World paradigm compared how monolingual Russian (Experiment 1) and heritage Russian–English bilingual (Experiment 2) listeners process contrastiveness online in Russian. Materials were color adjective–noun phrases embedded into the split-constituent construction Krasnuju položite zvezdočku . . . “Red put star . . .” whose inherent contrastiveness results from integration of multiple sources of information, i.e., word order, prosody and visual context. The results showed that while monolinguals rapidly used word order and visual context (but not contrastive prosody) to compute the contrast set even before the noun appeared in speech, heritage Russian bilinguals were very slow and took notice of multiple sources of information only when the lexical identity of the noun made the task superfluous. These results are similar to slowed processing reported in the literature for L2 learners. It is hypothesized that this slowdown in HL processing is due to cascading effects of covert competition between the two languages that starts at the level of spoken word recognition and culminates at the interfaces and, with time, it may become a major contributing force to heritage language attrition.
Some Secrets of Fluorescent Proteins: Distinct Bleaching in Various Mounting Fluids and Photoactivation of cyan fluorescent proteins at YFP-Excitation
Authors: Schmid Johannes , Malkani Naila
Published: April 2011

Background

The use of spectrally distinct variants of green fluorescent protein (GFP) such as cyan or yellow mutants (CFP and YFP, respectively) is very common in all different fields of life sciences, e.g. for marking specific proteins or cells or to determine protein interactions. In the latter case, the quantum physical phenomenon of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) is exploited by specific microscopy techniques to visualize proximity of proteins.Methodology/Principal Findings When we applied a commonly used FRET microscopy technique - the increase in donor (CFP)-fluorescence after bleaching of acceptor fluorophores (YFP), we obtained good signals in live cells, but very weak signals for the same samples after fixation and mounting in commercial microscopy mounting fluids. This observation could be traced back to much faster bleaching of CFP in these mounting media. Strikingly, the opposite effect of the mounting fluid was observed for YFP and also for other proteins such as Cerulean, TFP or Venus. The changes in photostability of CFP and YFP were not caused by the fixation but directly dependent on the mounting fluid. Furthermore we made the interesting observation that the CFP-fluorescence intensity increases by about 10 - 15% after illumination at the YFP-excitation wavelength – a phenomenon, which was also observed for Cerulean. This photoactivation of cyan fluorescent proteins at the YFP-excitation can cause false-positive signals in the FRET-microscopy technique that is based on bleaching of a yellow FRET acceptor.

Conclusions/Significance

Our results show that photostability of fluorescent proteins differs significantly for various media and that CFP bleaches significantly faster in commercial mounting fluids, while the opposite is observed for YFP and some other proteins. Moreover, we show that the FRET microscopy technique that is based on bleaching of the YFP is prone to artifacts due to photoactivation of cyan fluorescent proteins under these conditions.
Change in Food Cravings, Food Preferences, and Appetite During a Low‐Carbohydrate and Low‐Fat Diet
Authors: Martin Corby K. , Rosenbaum Diane , Han Hongmei , Geiselman Paula J. , Wyatt Holly R. , Hill James O. , Brill Carrie , Bailer Brooke , Miller‐III Bernard V. , Stein Rick , Klein Sam , Foster Gary D.
Published: April 2011

The study objective was to evaluate the effect of prescribing a low‐carbohydrate diet (LCD) and a low‐fat diet (LFD) on food cravings, food preferences, and appetite. Obese adults were randomly assigned to a LCD (n = 134) or a LFD (n = 136) for 2 years. Cravings for specific types of foods (sweets, high‐fats, fast‐food fats, and carbohydrates/starches); preferences for high‐sugar, high‐carbohydrate, and low‐carbohydrate/high‐protein foods; and appetite were measured during the trial and evaluated during this secondary analysis of trial data. Differences between the LCD and LFD on change in outcome variables were examined with mixed linear models. Compared to the LFD, the LCD had significantly larger decreases in cravings for carbohydrates/starches and preferences for high‐carbohydrate and high‐sugar foods. The LCD group reported being less bothered by hunger compared to the LFD group. Compared to the LCD group, the LFD group had significantly larger decreases in cravings for high‐fat foods and preference for low‐carbohydrate/high‐protein foods. Men had larger decreases in appetite ratings compared to women. Prescription of diets that promoted restriction of specific types of foods resulted in decreased cravings and preferences for the foods that were targeted for restriction. The results also indicate that the LCD group was less bothered by hunger compared to the LFD group and that men had larger reductions in appetite compared to women.
STAT5A Expression in Swiss 3T3 Cells Promotes Adipogenesis In Vivo in an Athymic Mice Model System
Authors: Stewart William C. , Pearcy Lisa A. , Floyd Z. Elizabeth , Stephens Jacqueline M.
Published: April 2011

Many studies from our laboratories and others have shown that STAT5 expression and activity are increased during adipogenesis of murine and human adipocytes. Ectopic expression of STAT5A in fibroblasts or preadipocytes can confer or enhance adipogenesis. To determine whether STAT5A also plays a role in adipogenesis in vivo, we injected athymic mice with Swiss 3T3 cells expressing an empty pBABE retrovirus, Swiss cells expressing a pBABE retrovirus‐containing STAT5A, or 3T3‐F442A preadipocytes. Athymic mice injected with either 3T3‐F442A cells or Swiss 3T3 cells expressing STAT5A resulted in fat pad formation at the site of injection. However, mice injected with Swiss cells containing the parent retroviral vector did not have any observable fat pads. An analysis of the ectopic fat pads obtained from the Swiss 3T3 STAT5A mice revealed abundant expression of peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor‐γ (PPAR‐γ) and adiponectin. The protein levels of both of these fat cell markers were comparable to expression levels in epididymal fat pads. These results demonstrate that STAT5A can promote adipogenesis in vivo in this model system which supports a role of this transcription factor in adipocyte development in the whole animal.
Effects of Gastric Bypass Surgery on Insulin Resistance and Insulin Secretion in Nondiabetic Obese Patients
Authors: Promintzer‐Schifferl Miriam , Prager Gerhard , Anderwald Christian , Mandl Martina , Esterbauer Harald , Shakeri‐Leidenmühler Soheila , Pacini Giovanni , Stadler Marietta , Bischof Martin G. , Ludvik Bernhard , Luger Aanton , Krebs Michael
Published: April 2011

Roux‐en‐Y‐Gastric‐Bypass (RYGB) reduces overall and diabetes‐specific mortality by 40% and over 90%. This study aims to gain insight into the underlying mechanisms of this effect. We evaluated time‐courses of glucose, insulin, C‐peptide, and the incretin glucagon like peptide‐1 (GLP‐1) following an oral glucose load. Insulin‐sensitivity was measured by a hyperinsulinemic‐isoglycemic‐clamp‐test; glucose‐turnover was determined using d‐[6,6‐2H2] glucose. Examinations were performed in six nondiabetic patients with excess weight before (PRE: BMI: 49.3 ± 3.2 kg/m2) and 7 months after RYGB (POST: BMI: 36.7 ± 2.9 kg/m2), in a lean (CON: BMI: 22.6 ± 0.6 kg/m2) and an obese control group (CONob) without history of gastrointestinal surgery (BMI: 34.7 ± 1.2 kg/m2). RYGB reduced fasting plasma concentrations of insulin and C‐peptide (P < 0.01, respectively) whereas fasting glucose concentrations remained unchanged. After RYGB increase of C‐peptide concentration following glucose ingestion was significantly higher compared to all other groups (dynamic‐area under the curve (Dyn‐AUC): 0–90 min: POST: 984 ± 115 ng·min/ml, PRE: 590 ± 67 ng·min/ml, CONob: 440 ± 44 ng·min/ml, CON: 279 ± 22 ng·min/ml, P < 0.01 respectively). Early postprandial increase of glucose concentration was however not affected. GLP‐1 concentrations following glucose ingestion were sixfold higher after RYBG than before (P = 0.01). Insulin‐stimulated glucose uptake tended to increase postoperatively (M‐value: PRE: 1.8 ± 0.5, POST: 3.0 ± 0.3, not significant (n.s.)). Endogenous glucose production (EGP) was unaffected by RYGB. Hepatic insulin resistance index improved after RYGB and was then comparable to both control groups (PRE: 29.2 ± 4.3, POST: 12.6 ± 1.1, P < 0.01). RYGB results in hyper‐secretion of insulin and C‐peptide, whereas improvements of insulin resistance are minor and seem to occur rather in the liver and the adipose tissue than in the skeletal muscle.
Animated Visualization of Multiple Intersecting Hierarchies
Authors: Robertson George , Cameron Kim , Czerwinski Mary , Robbins Daniel
Published: April 2011

The authors describe a new information structure composed of multiple intersecting hierarchies, which we call a Polyarchy. Visualizing polyarchies enables use of novel views for discovery of relationships which are very difficult using existing hierarchy visualization tools. This paper will describe the visualization design and system architecture challenges as well as our current solutions. Visual Pivot is a novel web-based polyarchy visualization technique, supported by a ‘polyarchy server’ implemented with a Mid-Tier Cache architecture. A series of five user studies guided iterative design of Visual Pivot. Finally, the effectiveness of animation in Visual Pivot is discussed.
Pixel Bar Charts: A Visualization Technique for Very Large Multi-Attribute Data Sets
Authors: Keim Daniel A. , Hao Ming C. , Dayal Umesh , Hsu Meichun
Published: April 2011

Simple presentation graphics are intuitive and easy-to-use, but show only highly aggregated data presenting only a very small number of data values (as in the case of bar charts) and may have a high degree of overlap occluding a significant portion of the data values (as in the case of the x-y plots). In this article, the authors therefore propose a generalization of traditional bar charts and x-y plots, which allows the visualization of large amounts of data. The basic idea is to use the pixels within the bars to present detailed information of the data records. The so-called pixel bar charts retain the intuitiveness of traditional bar charts while allowing very large data sets to be visualized in an effective way. It is shown that, for an effective pixel placement, a complex optimization problem has to be solved. The authors then present an algorithm which efficiently solves the problem. The application to a number of real-world e-commerce data sets shows the wide applicability and usefulness of this new idea, and a comparison to other well-known visualization techniques (parallel coordinates and spiral techniques) shows a number of clear advantages.
Zoomable User Interfaces as a Medium for Slide Show Presentations
Authors: Good Lance , Bederson Benjamin B
Published: April 2011

In this paper, the authors propose Zoomable User Interfaces as an alternative presentation medium to address several common presentation problems. Zoomable User Interfaces offer new techniques for managing multiple versions of a presentation, providing interactive presentation navigation, and distinguishing levels of detail. These zoomable presentations may also offer several cognitive benefits over their commercial slide show counterparts. The authors also introduce CounterPoint, a tool to simplify the creation and delivery of zoomable presentations, discuss the techniques they have used to make authoring and navigation manageable in the multidimensional space. Lastly, some of the visualization principles compiled by the authors for designing these types of presentations are presented.
Filtering and Brushing with Motion
Authors: Bartram Lyn , Ware Colin
Published: April 2011

Visualizing information in user interfaces to complex, large-scale systems is difficult due to visual fragmentation caused by an enormous amount of inter-related data distributed across multiple views. New display dimensions are required to help the user visually integrate and filter such spatially distributed and heterogeneous information. Motion holds promise in this regard as a perceptually efficient display dimension. It has long been known to have a strong grouping effect, suggesting it has potential for filtering and brushing techniques. However, there is little known about which properties of motion are most effective. This paper reviews the prior literature relating to the use of motion for display and discusses the requirements for how motion can be usefully applied to these problems, especially for visualizations incorporating multiple groups of data objects. Results from previous research by the authors suggested motion type was a strong distinguishing feature. Three types of motions in pairwise combinations were compared: linear, circular and expansion/contraction. Combinations of linear directions were also compared to evaluate how great angular separation needs to be to enforce perceptual distinction. The results showed that motion can effectively group objects that are otherwise dissimilar. Type differentiation is more effective than directional differences (except for 90°). Of the three types studied, circular demands the most attention. Angular separation must be 90° to be equally effective. These results suggest that motion can be usefully applied to both filtering and brushing. They also provide the beginnings of a vocabulary of simple motions that can be applied to information visualization.
Geobrowsing: Creative Thinking and Knowledge Discovery Using Geographic Visualization
Authors: Peuquet Donna J. , Kraak Menno-Jan
Published: April 2011

In the modern computing context, the map is no longer just a final product. Maps are now being used in a fundamentally different way – as a self-directed tool for deriving the desired information from geographic data. This, along with developments in GIScience and computer graphics, have led to the new field of geographic visualization. A central issue is how to design visualization capabilities that, as a process, facilitate creative thinking for discovering previously new information from large databases. The authors propose the term ‘geobrowsing’ to designate this process. A number of interrelated ways that visualization can be used to spark the imagination in order to derive new insights are discussed and a brief example provided. Based upon the cognitive literature, specific properties of a visual image that promote discovery and insight are discussed. These are known as preinventive properties, and include; novelty, incongruence, abstraction, and ambiguity. All of these properties, either individually or in combination, tend to produce features that are unanticipated by the viewer, and often not explicitly created or anticipated by the person generating the visual display. While traditional (i.e. non-computer generated) images can also possess these properties, as shown in the historical examples in this discussion, it is the capability of the viewer to directly and quickly manipulate these properties that provides the real power of ‘geobrowsing’ for uncovering new insights.
Rapid, Serial and Visual: A Presentation Technique with Potential
Authors: Spence Robert
Published: April 2011

This commentary addresses the recently exploited presentation technique called Rapid Serial Visual Presentation, or RSVP, and identifies a number of applications. It describes a number of different RSVP modes, discusses potentially attractive features and reports the results of experimental investigations. Some of the many issues requiring further research are identified
18 April 1948: Italy between continuity and rupture
Authors: Risso Linda
Published: April 2011

In the first months of 1948, Italy witnessed one of the fiercest electoral campaigns in its history, which saw the mobilisation of all sectors of society and the involvement of numerous international actors. In the end, the Christian Democrats and their political allies gained the majority of the votes at the first post-war general elections of 18 April 1948, thus officially inaugurating the history of the new Italian Republic.
Trials of partisans in the Italian Republic: the consequences of the elections of 18 April 1948
Authors: Ponzani Michela
Published: April 2011

This article suggests some new interpretations of the significance of the general elections of 18 April 1948 by examining the prosecution of Italian ex-partisans in the Republican era. A reappraisal of those trials – which took place from the summer of 1945 to the early 1950s – is offered through examination of the documents of the National Committee of Democratic Solidarity, set up after the assassination attempt on Communist Party leader Palmiro Togliatti on 14 July 1948, and the sentences of the Corti d'Assise (High Courts) and Military Tribunals. The papers of both Umberto Terracini and Lelio Basso, promoters of the Pro-partisans Defence Committee, show how judicial repression had its roots not only in the failed purge of former Fascists from the judicial system, which was unsuccessful because of a desire for continuity within the bureaucratic apparatus of the State, but most of all thanks to the ideological position and anti-communist policies of the political elites of that period.
An outsider's vision: Gaetano Salvemini and the 1948 elections in Italy
Authors: Tintori Guido
Published: April 2011

This article addresses a rather neglected aspect of Salvemini's prolific political output. Based on records collected in the Salvemini Archive at the Istituto Storico della Resistenza in Florence, this article examines Salvemini's perspective on the 1948 elections in Italy, through an analysis of his public writings and private correspondence. It considers the decisive impact that exile to the US and the academic environment of Harvard had on Salvemini's conception of democracy and politics, by making him an outsider in post-war Italy, a country polarised into the two competing ideological factions of the Communists and the Christian Democrats. Salvemini's fiercely independent spirit led him to criticise the Allies’ plans for post-war Italy and the American intervention in the 1948 elections under the auspices of the Cold War. Through an understanding of Salvemini's thought, this essay tries to offer a deeper analysis of the meaning of the 1948 elections as a watershed in the history of Italy.
In Defense of New Stoicism: Public Advocacy and Political Thought in the Age of Nero
Authors: McCormick Samuel
Published: April 2011

Philosophers have rarely been on good terms with the city and its rulers. Among the rhetorical devices with which they have defended themselves and their discipline, few have proven more reliable than the Straussian technique of “philosophic politics.” This article calls attention to a defining moment in the history of this persuasive technique: Seneca the Younger's defense of Roman Stoicism in the mid-first century CE. In light of his public advocacy and political thought, the article concludes that an expansion of the concept of philosophic politics is in order. In addition to philosophical tracts and treatises, it should be widened to include the nonphilosophical works of their authors.
Restraint and Rhetorical Craftiness: Emphasis as a Means of Figured Speech in Montaigne's Essays
Authors: Carlos Claudia
Published: April 2011

One of the strongest voices against rhetorical excess in the Renaissance can be found in Montaigne's Essays. It is no wonder, then, that the author's own style has often been associated with a Stoic terseness that matches a professed goal of writing sans estude et artifice—in other words, without rhetoric. But when we consider the volatile political context in which Montaigne was writing, it becomes apparent that his stylistic restraint accomplishes far more than an effect of transparency. Focusing on the figure of emphasis-one in which the rhetor allows his audience to infer an additional meaning from what he says or does not say—this article explores the connection between the restraint of Montaigne's prose style and the classical art of covert argument.
Spatio-temporal structure of the edge radial electric field during H-mode in JT-60U
Authors: Kamiya K. , Sakamoto Y. , Matsunaga G. , Kojima A. , Urano H. , Oyama N. , Koide Y. , Kamada Y. , Ida K. , Kurki-Suonio T.
Published: April 2011

Charge exchange recombination spectroscopy measurements with high spatial and temporal resolution have made the evaluation of the radial electric field (E

r
) in the JT-60U tokamak peripheral region possible with a better signal-to-noise ratio. In a very low density (<1 × 1019 m−3) L-mode phase, the gradient in E

r
(or, equivalently, in poloidal rotation, V
θ) was found to start increasing prior to an increase in the ion temperature (T
i). As the E

r
values in the region r/a > 0.94 started to become negative, down to −40 kV m−1 (similar to V
ϕ), the steepening of the T
i profile in the same region accelerated. Even though the numerical value of V
ϕ was considerably smaller than that of V
θ, its contribution to shear could be significant: while for r/a ⩾ 0.90 V
ϕ became increasingly negative; it simultaneously became increasingly positive for r/a < 0.90. Clean bifurcations in the edge E

r
values between weak negative and strong negative ones were observed in the later ELM-free H-mode phase, with essentially the same confinement properties corresponding to two very different
E
×
B
shearing rates. The ‘normal’ ELMy H-mode took place only after the bifurcations. The results indicate that energy confinement improvement may not necessarily be connected to
E
×
B
shear suppression of turbulence.