bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Stochastic bias-correction of daily rainfall scenarios for hydrological applications
Authors: Portoghese I. , Bruno E. , Guyennon N. , Iacobellis V.
Published: September 2011

Abstract. The accuracy of rainfall predictions provided by climate models is crucial for the assessment of climate change impacts on hydrological processes. In fact, the presence of bias in downscaled precipitation may produce large bias in the assessment of soil moisture dynamics, river flows and groundwater recharge. In this study, a comparison between statistical properties of rainfall observations and model control simulations from a Regional Climate Model (RCM) was performed through a robust and meaningful representation of the precipitation process. The output of the adopted RCM was analysed and re-scaled exploiting the structure of a stochastic model of the point rainfall process. In particular, the stochastic model is able to adequately reproduce the rainfall intermittency at the synoptic scale, which is one of the crucial aspects for the Mediterranean environments. Possible alteration in the local rainfall regime was investigated by means of the historical daily time-series from a dense rain-gauge network, which were also used for the analysis of the RCM bias in terms of dry and wet periods and storm intensity. The result is a stochastic scheme for bias-correction at the RCM-cell scale, which produces a realistic representation of the daily rainfall intermittency and precipitation depths, though a residual bias in the storm intensity of longer storm events persists.
Qualidade de vida sob a ótica de pessoas em tratamento antineoplásico: uma análise fenomenológica
Authors: Sales Catarina Aparecida , Almeida Carla Simone Leite , Silva Juliana Dalcin Donini , Silva Vladimir Araujo , Waidman Maria Angelica Pagliarini
Published: September 2011

A proposta deste estudo foi desvelar a concepção de qualidade de vida, de portadores de neoplasia maligna que vivenciam tratamento antineoplásico em casa de apoio. Utilizou-se abordagem qualitativa estruturada na fenomenologia existencial, pois esta coloca o Ser numa dimensão ontológica. Entrevistaram-se 11 usuários de uma instituição filantrópica de Maringá-PR, durante os meses de junho e julho de 2010, os quais externaram suas concepções por meio da seguinte questão norteadora: Como anda sua vida neste momento? Durante a trajetória em busca do fenômeno, emergiram três temáticas ontológicas: existindo-no-mundo com as mudanças em seu corpo; existindo-no-mundo ausente de seus entes queridos; existindo-no-mundo preocupado com seu porvir. Por este estudo, apreendemos que os doentes estudados têm sua qualidade de vida afetada não só por estar afastados dos seus entes queridos e encontrarem-se em tratamento neoplásico, mas por uma série de circunstancias que a vida lhes impõe ao estarem acometidos pelo câncer.Descritores: Qualidade de vida; Oncologia; Cuidados de enfermagem.
O que mudou em minha vida? Considerações de indivíduos que sofreram infarto agudo do miocárdio
Authors: Scherer Cristiane , Fernandes Stumm Eniva Miladi , Loro Marli Maria , Kirchner Rosane Maria
Published: September 2011

Ao sofrer um Infarto Agudo do Miocárdio a pessoa, obrigatoriamente, necessita modificar hábitos de vida, com repercussões no cotidiano e na sua qualidade de vida. Buscou-se com esta pesquisa identificar mudanças que ocorreram nos hábitos de vida de pessoas adultas após sofrerem IAM e como lidam com a situação. Estudo descritivo, de abordagem qualitativa, com onze pessoas no meio urbano de um município do noroeste do Rio Grande do Sul. A coleta de dados ocorreu em outubro e novembro de 2009, e utilizou-se entrevista aberta. As informações foram analisadas seguindo preceitos da análise de conteúdo. Emergiu uma categoria analítica: re-conhecendo mudanças nos hábitos de vida de indivíduos que sofreram Infarto Agudo do Miocárdio e o enfrentamento, dividida em três sub-categorias. Os resultados podem ser utilizados por estudantes e profissionais da saúde, desencadear reflexões e ações de promoção à saúde, prevenção de recorrência de IAM e qualificar a assistência de enfermagem. Descritores: Infarto; Estresse psicológico; Adaptação psicológica; Estilo de vida; Cuidados de enfermagem.
A tentativa de suicídio na percepção de adolescentes: um estudo descritivo
Authors: Hildebrandt Leila Mariza , Zart Franciele , Leite Marinês Tambara
Published: September 2011

O objetivo deste estudo foi conhecer e analisar as razões que levaram adolescentes a tentar suicídio e os métodos por eles utilizados para concretizar este evento. Pesquisa descritiva, desenvolvida em uma instituição hospitalar localizada em um município do Rio Grande do Sul, em 2007. Para a coleta de dados foi utilizado a entrevista semiestruturada. Os sujeitos de pesquisa foram três indivíduos que tentaram o suicídio, com idade entre 13 e 18 anos. A análise dos dados seguiu os passos estabelecidos para análise temática em que foi construído um tema que aborda sobre os métodos e os motivos que levam adolescentes a atentarem contra a vida. Identificou-se que os conflitos familiares representaram a principal causa das tentativas de suicídio entre os participantes estudados. O suicídio na adolescência constitui-se em um tema que merece debate e requer programas preventivos e informativos para minimizar a ocorrências desse ato.Descritores: Tentativa de suicídio; Comportamento do Adolescente; Enfermagem.
A experiência da família no cuidado domiciliário ao doente com câncer: uma revisão integrativa
Authors: Rodrigues Juliana Stoppa Menezes , Ferreira Noeli Marchioro Liston Andrade
Published: September 2011

A inserção da família na assistência é um desafio, com o aumento da cronicidade é uma realidade observada especialmente nos cuidados domiciliários. Este estudo objetivou buscar e avaliar evidências científicas sobre a experiência da família no cuidado domiciliário ao adulto com câncer. Revisão integrativa de literatura, realizada nas bases LILACS, BDENF, SciELO, MEDLINE utilizando as palavras-chave “família”, “neoplasia“ OR “câncer” e “cuidado domiciliar” OR “assistência domiciliar”. Critérios para seleção: publicações indexadas nas bases de dados escolhidas e palavras-chave selecionadas, publicadas até dezembro 2010, com textos completos disponíveis.  Foram identificadas 16 publicações e possibilitaram analisar a experiência da família no cuidado domiciliário, mostrando sua crescente inclusão e busca por apoio. A família encara o câncer como ameaça a vida, o impacto do cuidado e a importância da espiritualidade no enfrentamento foram apontados. Portanto, prover suporte a família é fundamental para melhorar a qualidade de vida dos pacientes com câncer. Descritores: Assistência domiciliar; Neoplasias; Família; Enfermagem familiar.
Reliability of the Radiological Assessments of Radiolucency and Loosening in Total Hip Arthroplasty Using Pacs
Authors: Smith Toby O. , Williams Timothy H.D. , Samuel Arjun , Ogonda Luke , Wimhurst James A.
Published: September 2011

We evaluated the reliability of three commonly used radiological assessments of total hip arthroplasty (THA) using the electronic picture archiving and communications system (PACS). Thirty-three patients were selected at random at a mean of 7.2 years after THA.

The Barrack, Gruen and Hodgkinson evaluations of cementing quality, loosening/radiolucency were graded. Three observers assessed each radiograph (one consultant orthopaedic surgeon, one senior orthopaedic registrar and one senior house officer). Four weeks after the initial assessment, each radiograph was reviewed a second time. The findings indicated that the intra- and inter-observer reliability of the Barrack, Gruen and Hodgkinson methods were questionable. Inter-observer reliability using the Gruen system was poor, using the Barrack system it was moderate to good, and fair to good using the Hodgkinson assessment. Intra-observer reliability was moderate to good for Barrack assessment, poor to good using Gruen zone assessments, but good to very good for the Hodgkinson assessment. The use of Barrack, Gruen and Hodgkinson assessments to evaluate femoral and acetabular loosening should be questioned since these exhibit limited inter- and intra-observer reliability on PACS radiographs, but of the three, the Hodgkinson system is the most reliable.
Approximations of Time Series
Authors: Brackstone M. , Deakin A. S.
Published: September 2011

A method is proposed to approximate the main features or patterns including interventions that may occur in a time series. Collision
data from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation illustrate the approach using monthly collision counts from police reports over a 10-year period from 1990 to 1999. The domain of the time series is partitioned into nonoverlapping subdomains. The major condition on the approximation requires that the series and the approximation have the same average value over each subdomain. To obtain a smooth approximation, based on the second difference of the series, a few iterations are necessary since an iteration over one subdomain is affected by the previous iteration over the adjacent subdomains.
Age of Acquisition in Sport: Starting Early Matters
Authors: Hernandez Arturo E. , Mattarella-Micke Andrew , Redding Richard W. T. , Woods Elizabeth A. , Beilock Sian
Published: September 2011

Although the age at which a skill is learned (age of acquisition [AoA]) is one of the most studied predictors of success in domains ranging from language to music, very little work has focused on this factor in sports. In order to uncover how the age at which a skill is learned relates to how athletes cognitively represent that skill, we asked a group of skilled golfers who learned to play golf before (early learners) or after (late learners) the age of 10 to take a series of putts on an indoor putting green. Golfers putted in isolation (single-task condition), while monitoring a stream of words presented over a loudspeaker (dual-task condition), or while being instructed to attend to specific aspects of their golf swing (skill-focused condition). Early and late learners putted equally well in the single-task and dual-task conditions. However, in the skill-focused condition, golfers who learned earlier performed worse than those who learned later. The results are consistent with the notion that AoA influences the manner in which sports, like other domains such as language and music, are represented in memory.
Effects of Emotional Arousal on Memory Binding in Normal Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease
Authors: Nashiro Kaoru , Mather Mara
Published: September 2011

Previous research suggests that associative memory declines in normal aging and is severely affected by Alzheimer’s disease (AD); however, it is unclear whether and how this deficit can be minimized. The present study investigated whether emotional arousal improves associative memory in healthy younger and older adults and patients with probable AD. We examined the effect of arousal on memory for item–location associations. Arousal improved memory for item location similarly across the three groups, whereas valence had no effect in any groups. Overall, our results suggest that arousal has beneficial effects on associative memory in healthy older adults and patients with AD, as previously observed in younger adults.
Spatial Congruency Between Stimulus Presentation and Response Key Arrangements in Arithmetic Fact Retrieval
Authors: Fabbri Marco
Published: September 2011

It is known that number and space representations are connected to one another in numerical and arithmetic abilities. Numbers are represented using the metaphor of a mental number line, oriented along horizontal and vertical space. This number line also seems to be linked to mental arithmetic, which is based partly on arithmetic fact retrieval. It seems that number representation and mental arithmetic are linked together. The present study tested the effect of spatial contextual congruency between stimulus presentation and response key arrangements in arithmetic fact retrieval, using number-matching and addition verification tasks. For both tasks in Experiment 1, a contextual congruency effect was present horizontally (i.e., horizontal presentation of stimuli and horizontal response key alignments) but not vertically (i.e., vertical presentation of stimuli but horizontal response key alignments). In Experiment 2, both tasks showed a contextual congruency effect for both spatial conditions. Experiment 1 showed that the interference and distance effects were found in the horizontal condition, probably because of the spatial congruency between stimulus presentation and response key arrangements. This spatial congruency could be related to the activation of the horizontal number line. Experiment 2 showed similar interference and distance effects for both spatial conditions, suggesting that the congruency between stimulus presentation and response alignment could facilitate the retrieval of arithmetic facts. This facilitation could be related to the activation of both horizontal and vertical number lines. The results are discussed in light of the possible role of a mental number line in arithmetic fact retrieval.
The Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology and Francis Cecil Sumner
Authors: Thomas Roger K.
Published: September 2011

In 1939, a psychologist could become a member of the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology (SSPP) automatically with the endorsement of two members, payment of dues, and membership in the American Psychological Association (APA). Non-APA members with endorsements and payment of dues had to be voted in by the membership. In 1940, the rules for admission were changed to eliminate the automatic membership for APA members. Francis Cecil Sumner, the first African American PhD in psychology, qualified for SSPP membership as a member of the APA in 1939, but the SSPP’s council delayed his membership and introduced the amendment to its constitution that eliminated Sumner’s route to membership. This article examines the circumstances surrounding council’s actions and the role that Sumner’s application for membership played in it as an example of the role that race and discrimination played in the decision to change the route to SSPP membership for members of the APA.
Preferences for colorectal cancer screening tests and screening test use in a large multispecialty primary care practice
Authors: Hawley Sarah T. , McQueen Amy , Bartholomew L. Kay , Greisinger Anthony J. , Coan Sharon P. , Myers Ronald , Vernon Sally W.
Published: September 2011

BACKGROUND:

The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) screening test preference and examine the association between test preference and test completed.

METHODS:

Patients (n = 1224) were 50‐70 years, at average CRC risk, and overdue for screening. Outcome variables were preference for fecal occult blood test (FOBT), colonoscopy (COL), sigmoidoscopy (SIG), or barium enema (BE), measured by telephone survey, and concordance between test preference and test completed assessed using medical records.

RESULTS:

Thirty‐five percent preferred FOBT, 41.1% COL, 12.7% SIG, and 5.7% BE. Preference for SIG or COL was associated with having a physician recommendation, greater screening readiness, test‐specific self‐efficacy, greater CRC worry, and perceived pros of screening. Preference for FOBT was associated with self‐efficacy for doing FOBT. Participants who preferred COL were more likely to complete COL compared with those who preferred another test. Of those screened, only 50% received their preferred test. Those not receiving their preferred test most often received COL (52%).

CONCLUSIONS:

Lack of concordance between patient preference and test completed suggests that patients' preferences are not well incorporated into screening discussions and test decisions, which could contribute to low screening uptake. Physicians should acknowledge patients' preferences when discussing test options and making recommendations, which may increase patients' receptivity to screening. Cancer 2011. © 2011 American Cancer Society.
Understanding the Fast Pyrolysis of Lignin
Authors: Patwardhan Pushkaraj R. , Brown Robert C. , Shanks Brent H.
Published: September 2011

In the present study, pyrolysis of corn stover lignin was investigated by using a micro‐pyrolyzer coupled with a GC–MS/FID (FID=flame ionization detector). The system has pyrolysis‐vapor residence times of 15–20 ms, thus providing a regime of minimal secondary reactions. The primary pyrolysis product distribution obtained from lignin is reported. Over 84 % mass balance and almost complete closure on carbon balance is achieved. In another set of experiments, the pyrolysis vapors emerging from the micro‐pyrolyzer are condensed to obtain lignin‐derived bio‐oil. The chemical composition of the bio‐oil is analyzed by using GC–MS and gel permeation chromatography techniques. The comparison between results of two sets of experiments indicates that monomeric compounds are the primary pyrolysis products of lignin, which recombine after primary pyrolysis to produce oligomeric compounds. Further, the effect of minerals (NaCl, KCl, MgCl2, and CaCl2) and temperature on the primary pyrolysis product distribution is investigated. The study provides insights into the fundamental mechanisms of lignin pyrolysis and a basis for developing more descriptive models of biomass pyrolysis.
Use of quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry to determine proposed structures of transformation products of the herbicide bromacil after water chlorination
Authors: Ibáñez María , Sancho Juan V. , Pozo Oscar J. , Hernández Félix
Published: September 2011

The herbicide bromacil has been extensively used in the Spanish Mediterranean region, and although plant protection products containing bromacil have been withdrawn by the European Union, this compound is still frequently detected in surface and ground water of this area. However, the fast and complete disappearance of this compound has been observed in water intended for human consumption, after it has been subjected to chlorination. There is a concern about the possible degradation products formed, since they might be present in drinking water and might be hazardous. In this work, the sensitive full‐spectrum acquisition, high resolution and exact mass capabilities of hybrid quadrupole time‐of‐flight (QTOF) mass spectrometry have allowed the discovery and proposal of structures of transformation products (TPs) of bromacil in water subjected to chlorination. Different ground water samples spiked at 0.5 µg/mL were subjected to the conventional chlorination procedure applied to drinking waters, sampling 2‐mL aliquots at different time intervals (1, 10 and 30 min). The corresponding non‐spiked water was used as control sample in each experiment. Afterwards, 50 μL of the water was directly injected into an ultra‐high‐pressure liquid chromatography (UHPLC)/electrospray ionization (ESI)‐(Q)TOF system. The QTOF instrument enabled the simultaneous recording of two acquisition functions at different collision energies (MSE approach): the low‐energy (LE) function, fixed at 4 eV, and the high‐energy (HE) function, with a collision energy ramp from 15 to 40 eV. This approach enables the simultaneous acquisition of both parent (deprotonated and protonated molecules) and fragment ions in a single injection. The low mass errors observed for the deprotonated and protonated molecules (detected in LE function) allowed the assignment of a highly probable molecular formula. Fragment ions and neutral losses were investigated in both LE and HE spectra to elucidate the structures of the TPs found. For those compounds that displayed poor fragmentation, product ion scan (MS/MS) experiments were also performed. On processing the data with specialized software (MetaboLynx), four bromacil TPs were detected and their structures were elucidated. To our knowledge, two of them had not previously been reported. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Central bisectionectomy (bisegmentectomy) of the liver (with video)
Authors: Yanaga Katsuhiko
Published: September 2011

Surgical techniques and indications for central bisectionectomy (bisegmentectomy) of the liver, i.e., resection of Couinaud's segments 4, 5 and 8, are described. Parenchymal dissection between the left medial and lateral sections is performed by dividing Glisson's branches arising from the right side of the umbilical portion towards the confluence between the middle and left hepatic veins. Parenchymal dissection between the right anterior and posterior sections is performed along the demarcation line created by obliterating the Glisson's pedicle of the right anterior section (Couinaud's segments 5 and 8), and then along the left side of the right hepatic vein. The root of the middle hepatic vein is divided at the bottom of the right and left plane of the parenchymal division. The indications for central bisectionectomy include benign and malignant tumors occupying both the left medial and right anterior sections, i.e., Couinaud's segments 4, 5 and 8, while sparing the left lateral and right posterior sections, i.e., Couinaud's segments 2, 3, 6 and 7. This technique is advocated especially for liver tumors arising in chronic liver diseases such as hepatocellular carcinoma complicating viral hepatitis and metastatic liver tumor with concomitant steatosis of the non‐cancerous liver parenchyma, for which right or left trisectionectomy could result in less than optimal remnant liver volume and function.
Mapping prodromal psychosis: A critical review of neuroimaging studies
Authors: Fusar-Poli P. , McGuire P. , Borgwardt S.
Published: September 2011

The onset of schizophrenia is usually preceded by a prodromal phase characterized by functional decline and subtle prodromal symptoms, which include attenuated psychotic phenomena, cognitive deterioration and a decline in socio-occupational function. Preventive interventions during this phase are of great interest because of the impressive clinical benefits. However, available psychopathological criteria employed to define a high risk state for psychosis have low validity and specificity. Consequently there is an urgent need of reliable neurocognitive markers linked to the pathophysiological mechanisms that underlie schizophrenia. Neuroimaging techniques have rapidly developed into a powerful tool in psychiatry as they provide an unprecedented opportunity for the investigation of brain structure and function. This review shows that neuroimaging studies of the prodromal phases of psychosis have the potentials to identify core structural and functional markers of an impending risk to psychosis and to clarify the dynamic changes underlying transition to psychosis and to address significant correlations between brain structure or function and prodromal psychopathology. Additionally, neurochemical methods can address the key role played by neurotransmitters such as dopamine and glutamate during the psychosis onset. To conclude, multimodal neuroimaging may ultimately clarify the neurobiology of the prodromal phases by the integration of functional, structural and neurochemical findings.
Cylinder rolling on a wall at low Reynolds numbers
Authors: Merlen Alain , Frankiewicz Christophe
Published: September 2011

The flow around a cylinder rolling or sliding on a wall was investigated analytically and numerically for small Reynolds numbers, where the flow is known to be two-dimensional and steady. Both prograde and retrograde rotation were analytically solved, in the Stokes regime, giving the values of forces and torque and a complete description of the flow. However, solving Navier–Stokes equation, a rotation of the cylinder near the wall necessarily induces a cavitation bubble in the nip if the fluid is a liquid, or compressible effects, if it is a gas. Therefore, an infinite lift force is generated, disconnecting the cylinder from the wall. The flow inside this interstice was then solved under the lubrication assumptions and fully described for a completely flooded interstice. Numerical results extend the analysis to higher Reynolds number. Finally, the effect of the upstream pressure on the onset of cavitation is studied, giving the initial location of the phenomenon and the relation between the upstream pressure and the flow rate in the interstice. It is shown that the flow in the interstice must become three-dimensional when cavitation takes place.
Chronic ingestion of deoxynivalenol and fumonisin, alone or in interaction, induces morphological and immunological changes in the intestine of piglets
Authors: Bracarense Ana-Paula F. L. , Lucioli Joelma , Grenier Bertrand , Drociunas Pacheco Graziela , Moll Wulf-Dieter , Schatzmayr Gerd , Oswald Isabelle P.
Published: September 2011

Deoxynivalenol (DON) and fumonisins (FB) are mycotoxins produced byFusariumspecies, which naturally co-occur in animal diets. The gastrointestinal tract represents the first barrier met by exogenous food/feed compounds. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of DON and FB, alone and in combination, on some intestinal parameters, including morphology, histology, expression of cytokines and junction proteins. A total of twenty-four 5-week-old piglets were randomly assigned to four different groups, receiving separate diets for 5 weeks: a control diet; a diet contaminated with either DON (3 mg/kg) or FB (6 mg/kg); or both toxins. Chronic ingestion of these contaminated diets induced morphological and histological changes, as shown by the atrophy and fusion of villi, the decreased villi height and cell proliferation in the jejunum, and by the reduced number of goblet cells and lymphocytes. At the end of the experiment, the expression levels of several cytokines were measured by RT-PCR and some of them (TNF-α, IL-1β, IFN-γ, IL-6 and IL-10) were significantly up-regulated in the ileum or the jejunum. In addition, the ingestion of contaminated diets reduced the expression of the adherent junction protein E-cadherin and the tight junction protein occludin in the intestine. When animals were fed with a co-contaminated diet (DON+FB), several types of interactions were observed depending on the parameters and segments assessed: synergistic (immune cells); additive (cytokines and junction protein expression); less than additive (histological lesions and cytokine expression); antagonistic (immune cells and cytokine expression). Taken together, the present data provide strong evidence that chronic ingestion of low doses of mycotoxins alters the intestine, and thus may predispose animals to infections by enteric pathogens.
Desire, Infinity, and the Meaning of Life
Authors: Ellis Fiona
Published: September 2011

In his paper ‘Truth, Invention, and the Meaning of Life’ David Wiggins identifies a certain framework in terms of which to tackle the question of life's meaning. I argue that his criticisms of this framework are justified, and develop an alternative which trades upon some themes from Hegel, Schopenhauer, and Levinas. This alternative remains in the spirit of Wiggins' own preferred standpoint, although he would take issue with its theological implications. I argue that such misgivings are misplaced, and that a move in the direction of God may be precisely what is needed if we are to provide an adequate alternative to the framework under attack.
Disagreement, Democracy, and the Goals of Science: Is a Normative Philosophy of Science Possible, If Ethical Inquiry Is Not?
Authors: Keren Arnon
Published: September 2011

W.V.Quine and Philip Kitcher have both developed naturalistic approaches to the philosophy of science which are partially based on a skeptical view about the possibility of rational inquiry into certain questions of value. Nonetheless, both Quine and Kitcher do not wish to give up on the normative dimension of the philosophy of science. I argue that Kitcher's recent argument against the specification of the goal of science in terms of truth raises a problem for Quine's account of the normative dimensions of the discipline. However Kitcher's alternative suggestion, that the goal of science is to be specified in terms of an ideal democratic procedure, does not escape this problem, given Kitcher's own limited skepticism about rational inquiry into certain questions of value.
Has China's Foreign Energy Quest Enhanced Its Energy Security?
Authors: Shaofeng Chen
Published: September 2011

In recent years China's national oil companies (NOCs) have proactively ventured abroad to look for more fossil fuel supply. Despite the divided views on their foreign energy quest, previous studies tend to consider the Chinese government and its NOCs to be a monolithic organism, and explicitly or implicitly presuppose that the Chinese NOCs' foreign energy quest could enhance China's energy security. This is, however, an untested hypothesis. To fill the gap, this article assesses the impact of Chinese NOCs' foreign energy quest on the country's energy security. Findings show that the Chinese NOCs have made some progress in their foreign energy quest, which contributes to their coffers and reserves, but that does not mean that China's energy security is greatly enhanced; in particular, the diversity and reliability of China's foreign oil sources are questionable.
Revolutionizing Antiquity: The Shanghai Cultural Bureaucracy in the Cultural Revolution, 1966–1968
Authors: Ho Denise Y.
Published: September 2011

This article examines the response of Shanghai's cultural bureaucracy during the Attack on the Four Olds, the Red Guard repudiation of old culture launched in the early years of China's Cultural Revolution (1966–76). It focuses on how local officials, acting in a space created by the Central Cultural Revolution Group and the Shanghai Revolutionary Committee, worked to control the damage wrought by the political campaign and justified their activities by adapting the rhetoric of revolution. Based on the archival documents of the Shanghai Bureau of Culture, this article traces the reinvention of the cultural bureaucracy and the subsequent shift in the language of preservation. It argues that during the Cultural Revolution, there was an institutionalized and ideologically legitimated movement to protect historic sites and cultural objects. Faced with the destruction of antiquity, Shanghai officials instead proposed its rectification, defending cultural relics in the name of revolution.
Beyond Anthropocentrism
Authors: Attfield Robin
Published: September 2011

After the first wave of writings in environmental philosophy in the early 1970s, which were mostly critical of anthropocentrism, a new trend emerged which sought to humanise this subject, and to revive or vindicate anthropocentric stances. Only in this way, it was held, could environmental values become human values, and ecological movements manage to become social ecology. Later writers have detected tacit anthropocentrism lurking even in Deep Ecology, or have defended ‘perspectival anthropocentrism’, as the inevitable methodology of any system of environmental ethics devised by and for the guidance of human beings. Human good, broadly enough conceptualised, is held to be the basis of ethics. Besides, it is sometimes added, non-anthropocentric considerations in any case add nothing to anthropocentric ones, when broadly construed.
A Reasonable Frugality
Authors: Wiggins David
Published: September 2011

1. I begin with a citation from Our Final Century. Its author is Sir Martin Rees, the current President of the Royal Society.

A race of scientifically advanced extra-terrestrials watching our solar system could confidently [have predicted] that Earth would face doom in another 6 billion years, when the sun in its death throes swells up into a ‘red giant’ and vaporizes everything remaining on our planet's surface. But could they have predicted this unprecedented spasm [visible already] less than half way through Earth's life – these million human-induced alterations occupying, overall, less than a millionth of our planet's elapsed lifetime and seemingly occurring with runaway speed? ….

It may not be absurd hyperbole – indeed, it may not be an overstatement – to assert that the most crucial location in space and time (apart from the big bang itself) could be here and now. I think that the odds are no better than 50-50 that our present civilization on Earth will survive to the end of the present century without a serious setback….

Our choices and actions could ensure the perpetual future of life… or, in contrast, through malign intent or through misadventure, misdirected technology could jeopardize life's potential, foreclosing its human and post-human future.
Carbon Trading: Unethical, Unjust and Ineffective?
Authors: Caney Simon , Hepburn Cameron
Published: September 2011

Cap-and-trade systems for greenhouse gas emissions are an important part of the climate change policies of the EU, Japan, New Zealand, among others, as well as China (soon) and Australia (potentially). However, concerns have been raised on a variety of ethical grounds about the use of markets to reduce emissions. For example, some people worry that emissions trading allows the wealthy to evade their responsibilities. Others are concerned that it puts a price on the natural environment. Concerns have also been raised about the distributional justice of emissions trading. Finally, some commentators have questioned the actual effectiveness of emissions trading in reducing emissions. This paper considers these three categories of objections – ethics, justice and effectiveness – through the lens of moral philosophy and economics. It is concluded that only the objections based on distributional justice can be sustained. This points to reform of the carbon market system, rather than its elimination.
Decoupling of ammonium regulation and ntcA transcription in the diazotrophic marine cyanobacterium Trichodesmium sp. IMS101
Authors: Post Anton F , Rihtman Branko , Wang Qingfeng
Published: September 2011

Nitrogen (N) physiology in the marine cyanobacterium Trichodesmium IMS101 was studied along with transcript accumulation of the N-regulatory gene ntcA and of two of its target genes: napA (nitrate assimilation) and nifH (N2 fixation). N2 fixation was impaired in the presence of nitrite, nitrate and urea. Strain IMS101 was capable of growth on these combined N sources at <2 μm but growth rates declined at elevated concentrations. Assimilation of nitrate and urea was impaired in the presence of ammonium. Whereas ecologically relevant N concentrations (2–20 μm) suppressed growth and assimilation, much higher concentrations were required to affect transcript levels. Transcripts of nifH accumulated under nitrogen-fixing conditions; these transcript levels were maintained in the presence of nitrate (100 μm) and ammonium (20 μm). However, nifH transcript levels were below detection at ammonium concentrations >20 μm. napA mRNA was found at low levels in both N2-fixing and ammonium-utilizing filaments, and it accumulated in filaments grown with nitrate. The positive effect of nitrate on napA transcription was abolished by ammonium additions of >200 μm. This effect was restored upon addition of the glutamine synthetase inhibitor l-methionin-dl-sulfoximine. Surprisingly, ntcA transcript levels remained high in the presence of ammonium, even at elevated concentrations. These findings indicate that ammonium repression is decoupled from transcriptional activation of ntcA in Trichodesmium IMS101.
Comparative analyses of foregut and hindgut bacterial communities in hoatzins and cows
Authors: Godoy-Vitorino Filipa , Goldfarb Katherine C , Karaoz Ulas , Leal Sara , Garcia-Amado Maria A , Hugenholtz Philip , Tringe Susannah G , Brodie Eoin L , Dominguez-Bello Maria Gloria
Published: September 2011

Foregut fermentation occurs in mammalian ruminants and in one bird, the South American folivorous hoatzin. This bird has an enlarged crop with a function analogous to the rumen, where foregut microbes degrade the otherwise indigestible plant matter, providing energy to the host from foregut fermentation, in addition to the fermentation that occurs in their hindguts (cecum/colon). As foregut fermentation represents an evolutionary convergence between hoatzins and ruminants, our aim was to compare the community structure of foregut and hindgut bacterial communities in the cow and hoatzin to evaluate the influences of host phylogeny and organ function in shaping the gut microbiome. The approach used was to hybridize amplified bacterial ribosomal RNA genes onto a high-density microarray (PhyloChip). The results show that the microbial communities cluster primarily by functional environment (foreguts cluster separately from hindguts) and then by host. Bacterial community diversity was higher in the cow than in the hoatzin. Overall, compared with hindguts, foreguts have higher proportions of Bacteroidetes and Spirochaetes, and lower proportions of Firmicutes and Proteobacteria. The main host differences in gut bacterial composition include a higher representation of Spirochaetes, Synergistetes and Verrucomicrobia in the cow. Despite the significant differences in host phylogeny, body size, physiology and diet, the function seems to shape the microbial communities involved in fermentation. Regardless of the independent origin of foregut fermentation in birds and mammals, organ function has led to convergence of the microbial community structure in phylogenetically distant hosts.
Molla Nasr al-Din in Persia
Authors: Marzolph Ulrich
Published: September 2011

In 1911, The CZECH Folklorist Albert Wesselski Published His Two volume compilationDer Hodscha Nasreddin,still considered one of the most comprehensive and reliable collections of anecdotes on Khwaja Nasr al-Din (Turkish: Nasreddin Hoca), the most widely known protagonist of humorous prose narrative in the Near East. Wesselski chose to subtitle his work “Turkish, Arabic, Berber, Maltese, Sicilian, Calabrian, Croatian, Serbian and Greek tales and anecdotes,” thus indicating the main geographical region in which tales on Nasr al-Din are in circulation. On the other hand, the geographical outline does not suggest a lack of awareness on Wesselski's part of the fact that the Mediterranean cannot be said to monopolize the famous jester. Being familiar with problems touching on the dissemination and spread of popular tales and their protagonists, Wesselski consciously profited from a large number of publications accessible to him in various European languages.
Stumbling through the “Open Door”: The U.S. in Persia and the Standard-Sinclair Oil Dispute, 1920–1925
Authors: Rubin Michael A.
Published: September 2011

In The Early 1920s Two American Companies Battled for the Rights to develop an oil concession in northern Persia: Standard Oil Company of New Jersey (later to become Exxon) and the smaller, but none the less formidable, Sinclair Consolidated Oil Corporation (later to merge into ARCO). American industry was a new variable in the equation, since Russia and Britain had been the primary beneficiaries of concessions granted by the Persian government to outsiders. Ultimately neither company won out—for several reasons. The British did not welcome the new presence and sought to stymie it; the Persian press misunderstood the relationship between business and government in the U.S., leading some Persians into unrealistic expectations; and one of the competitors, Sinclair, became tangled up in scandal.
The CPSU as an Integrative Force
Authors: Oleszczuk Thomas
Published: September 2011

Clearly, what we have in the Soviet Union is a condition of continuity and change. We have radicals who see the Communist Party as an overwhelmingly dominant force, even omnipotent. We have former Communists, like Yeltsin, decrying the Communist Party as an “enemy within” to be overcome. At the same time, Yeltsin has recently joined with Gorbachev because he sees other enemies even more powerful. On the other hand, we have conservatives who have taken the place of reformers (at Gorbachev's initiative) at the Center, who, as they have regained power and influence at the Center, have become not appeased, but increasingly dissatisfied; who have decried what they feel is the loss of power by the Communist Party; who have denounced Gorbachev's leadership virulently. And yet, they too, at the last minute, decided to make common cause and refused to accept his resignation, even though many of them, like the radicals, had called for just that. What is going on? Is the Party integrating the system or not?
The Social and Political Role of the Orthodox Church in Post-Communist Russia
Authors: Valliere Paul
Published: September 2011

The political role of the Orthodox Church in post-communist Russia is more difficult to assess than its social and cultural roles for several reasons. First, to offer any systematic observations on the matter one must attempt to construe the nature of the church-state relationship in Russia, a notoriously controversial subject. Second, one must make an educated guess concerning the part played by the huge internal security apparatus which only yesterday dominated the internal affairs of the Soviet Union, including religious affairs. The security establishment has been dislodged from its hegemonic role in the Soviet state as a result of the Gorbachev reforms, but there is little question that it continues to exist as a political force in the country. Reading the aims of this network is no easy matter, however, because by definition it operates in relative secrecy and by means of diversionary tactics. One also has to reckon with the possibility that the security network has been disrupted by the changes of recent years, and operates with less coordination than in the past.
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the Contemporary USSR
Authors: Bociurkiw Bohdan R.
Published: September 2011

In 1944, the Soviet Army recaptured Galicia and Transcarpathia from the Germans, and the last stronghold of Ukrainian Greek Catholicism fell under Soviet control. Following the arrests of all Uniate bishops and of the “recalcitrant” clergy, the Lviv Sobor of March 1946 nullified the 1596 Union of Brest, which first established the Greek Catholic Church, and forcibly “reunified” the Uniates with the state-controlled Russian Orthodox Church. The post-World War II period saw the gradual suppression of the Uniate Church throughout Carpatho-Ukraine, Poland, and Eastern Slovakia, and marked the beginning of more than four decades of struggle for Eastern Rite Ukrainian Catholics in the USSR to maintain their banned Church against the overpowering alliance of the Soviet regime and the Russian Orthodox Church. Despite the enforced “reunification,” the Greek Catholic Church has remained the most important cultural and institutional preserve of national identity in Western Ukraine. The following is an examination of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church's attempts to assert its right to legal existence since the beginning of political and social revitalization under Mikhail Gorbachev.
Slovene Statehood
Authors: Hribar Valentin
Published: September 2011

As a people, the Slovenes have never had their own national state. Integrated into the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Slovenes have lived on a subnational level. Only Yugoslavia was recognized as an international subject and remains a member of the United Nations Organization to this day; thus, Slovenia—the homeland of Slovenes—did not enjoy the full status of a nation and the Slovene national identity was not internationally recognized until recently. Slovenes are now determined to achieve permanent recognition, no matter the cost.
The Church and Contemporary Slovene History
Authors: Roter Zdenko
Published: September 2011

In the eyes of the European public, Slovenia is still considered a Catholic country. Since before the last World War, this has had a double meaning. First of all, the Roman Catholic Church has been the leading ecclesiastical institution since the Christianization of the territory settled by Slovenes, decisively influencing the constitution of the cultural and political life of the Slovene nation, as well as its character. In spite of changed social conditions and its fate in the period of “real-socialist” rule from 1945 to 1990, the Church has preserved this role to the present time, although in different forms.
The Slovene Economy
Authors: Mencinger Jože
Published: September 2011

With 20,251 square kilometers, Slovenia has a little less than two million inhabitants. In the last thirty-five years, national productivity has risen on average by 5.2% annually (though it stagnated in the eighties and diminished fast in 1990 and 1991), and per inhabitant, rose 0.7% annually. At approximately 6,000 dollars, per capita productivity is twice as high as the Yugoslav average and eight times higher than per capita productivity in less developed Kosovo. With a 47% economically active population, 9% agricultural population, more than 99% literacy, 30% expenditure on food, and 0.28 vehicles and 0.32 telephones per inhabitant, Slovenia ranks among the rich Eastern European countries.
Slovene Exile
Authors: Jančar Drago
Published: September 2011

The new era of Slovene spiritual, cultural and, in a certain sense, political history, is marked by the condition of exile. The first Slovene book, printed in 1550, was written by Primož Trubar, a Protestant, emigrant and exile par excellence. Trubar and his followers translated, wrote, made plans, and worked, “for the prosperity of their homeland,” in exile; therefore, the fundamental document of Judeo-Christian civilization and culture—the Holy Bible—was translated into Slovene, in exile. Books were sent to the homeland in barrels, and young people were invited to be educated at German universities. Trubar died an exile, convinced that his cause in the homeland was, if not won, at least well on the road to success.
Philosophy with the Slovenes
Authors: Urbančič Ivan
Published: September 2011

Slovenia's geographical position has exposed it to the underlying trends of European spiritual and cultural life from the Middle Ages to the present. The adoption of Christianity by the end of the first millennium, the incorporation of medieval political structures, and economic and cultural trends, were paralleled by Slovenes who adopted European culture. Ever since, Slovenia has been part of the broad framework of Central European spiritual and cultural life as it has unfolded and developed up to today.
From Generation to Generation the Spirit Seeks the Way: Slovene Musical Creativity in the Past and Today*
Authors: Lebič Lojze
Published: September 2011

Time present and time past

Are both perhaps present in time future,

And time future contained in time past.

(T. S. Eliot, Four Quartets)

The early strains of Slovene music resound with the echoes of Illyrians and Celts, peoples who once travelled across present-day Slovene territory, now peopled by Slovenes who remained here as the most westernly settled branch of Slavs.
National Liberation and International Balance
Authors: Armstrong John A.
Published: September 2011

For fifty years the Soviet Bloc constituted one pole of an essentially bipolar world power distribution. Although not unprecedented (consider Imperial Germany's defiance of most of the world during 1917–18, or later phases of Napoleon's challenge to Europe), bipolarism has usually been very brief. The sheer length of time the Soviet-American confrontation dominated world politics created, on the contrary, mind-sets and reflexes which only a conscious effort can overcome.