bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
In-situ atomic force microscopy study of the mechanism of surface relief grating formation in photosensitive polymer films
Authors: Yadavalli Nataraja Sekhar , Santer Svetlana
Published: June 2013

When photosensitive azobenzene-containing polymer films are irradiated with light interference patterns, topographic variations in the film develop that follow the local distribution of the electric field vector. The exact correspondence of e.g., the vector orientation in relation to the presence of local topographic minima or maxima is in general difficult to determine. Here, we report on a systematic procedure how this can be accomplished. For this, we devise a new set-up combining an atomic force microscope and two-beam interferometry. With this set-up, it is possible to track the topography change in-situ, while at the same time changing polarization and phase of the impinging interference pattern. This is the first time that an absolute correspondence between the local distribution of electric field vectors and the local topography of the relief grating could be established exhaustively. Our setup does not require a complex mathematical post-processing and its simplicity renders it interesting for characterizing photosensitive polymer films in general.
Bioactivity and structural properties of nanostructured bulk composites containing Nb2O5 and natural hydroxyapatite
Authors: Bonadio T. G. M. , Sato F. , Medina A. N. , Weinand W. R. , Baesso M. L. , Lima W. M.
Published: June 2013

In this work, we investigate the bioactivity and structural properties of nanostructured bulk composites that are composed of Nb2O5 and natural hydroxyapatite (HAp) and are produced by mechanical alloying and powder metallurgy. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy data showed that the milling process followed by a heat treatment at 1000 °C induced chemical reactions along with the formation of the CaNb2O6, PNb9O25 and Ca3(PO4)2 phases. Rietveld refinement indicated significant changes in each phase weight fraction as a function of HAp concentration. These changes influenced the in vitro bioactivity of the material. XRD and FTIR analyses indicated that the composites exhibited bioactivity characteristics by forming a carbonated apatite layer when the composites were immersed in a simulated body fluid. The formed layers had a maximum thickness of 13 μm, as measured by confocal Raman spectroscopy and as confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. The results of this work suggest that the tested bulk composites are promising biomaterials for use in implants.
In-plane magnetic field tolerance of a dispersive aluminum nanobridge SQUID magnetometer
Authors: Antler N. , Levenson-Falk E. M. , Naik R. , Sun Y.-D. , Narla A. , Vijay R. , Siddiqi I.
Published: June 2013

We characterize the flux sensitivity of a dispersive 3D aluminum nanobridge superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometer as a function of applied in-plane magnetic field. In zero field, we observe an effective flux noise of 17 nΦ0/Hz1/2 with 25 MHz of bandwidth at 150 mK. Flux noise increased by less than a factor of three with parallel magnetic fields up to 61 mT. Operation in higher fields may be possible by decreasing the dimensions of the shunt capacitor in the magnetometer circuit. These devices are thus well suited for observing high-speed dynamics in nanoscale magnets, even in the presence of moderate bias magnetic fields.
A portable transfer chamber for electrochemical measurements on electrodes prepared in ultra-high vacuum
Authors: El-Jawad M. , Chemin J.-L. , Gilles B. , Maillard F.
Published: June 2013

This paper describes a versatile, light weight, and portable chamber dedicated to the transfer of electrodes from ultra-high vacuum (UHV) to atmospheric pressure and the liquid phase. This chamber can be connected to a liquid-phase reaction cell to perform electrochemical measurements and transfer back the electrode to the UHV environment. The experimental set-up can also be turned in order to make the electrode the bottom of the electrochemical cell. The validity and the efficiency of the experimental set-up were tested with a Pt(111) surface that provides unique electrochemical features in acidic sulphate-containing solution. This transfer chamber concept provides the surface science community with a new and versatile tool, complementary to existing systems, which allows fast electrolyte purging or electrochemical measurements under well-controlled mass transport conditions.
Density-dependent electron scattering in photoexcited GaAs in strongly diffusive regime
Authors: Mics Zoltán , D'Angio Andrea , Jensen Søren A. , Bonn Mischa , Turchinovich Dmitry
Published: June 2013

In a series of systematic optical pump–terahertz probe experiments, we study the density-dependent electron scattering rate in photoexcited GaAs in the regime of strong carrier diffusion. The terahertz frequency-resolved transient sheet conductivity spectra are perfectly described by the Drude model, directly yielding the electron scattering rates. A diffusion model is applied to determine the spatial extent of the photoexcited electron-hole gas at each moment after photoexcitation, yielding the time-dependent electron density, and hence the density-dependent electron scattering time. We find that the electron scattering time decreases from 320 to 60 fs, as the electron density changes from 1015 to 1019 cm−3.
Ion acoustic shock waves in plasmas with warm ions and kappa distributed electrons and positrons
Authors: Hussain S. , Mahmood S. , Ur-Rehman Hafeez
Published: June 2013

The monotonic and oscillatory ion acoustic shock waves are investigated in electron-positron-ion plasmas (e-p-i) with warm ions (adiabatically heated) and nonthermal kappa distributed electrons and positrons. The dissipation effects are included in the model due to kinematic viscosity of the ions. Using reductive perturbation technique, the Kadomtsev-Petviashvili-Burgers (KPB) equation is derived containing dispersion, dissipation, and diffraction effects (due to perturbation in the transverse direction) in e-p-i plasmas. The analytical solution of KPB equation is obtained by employing tangent hyperbolic (Tanh) method. The analytical condition for the propagation of oscillatory and monotonic shock structures are also discussed in detail. The numerical results of two dimensional monotonic shock structures are obtained for graphical representation. The dependence of shock structures on positron equilibrium density, ion temperature, nonthermal spectral index kappa, and the kinematic viscosity of ions are also discussed.
Improvement of LaBr3:5%Ce scintillation properties by Li+, Na+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Sr2+, and Ba2+ co-doping
Authors: Alekhin Mikhail S. , Biner Daniel A. , Krämer Karl W. , Dorenbos Pieter
Published: June 2013

This paper reports on the effects of Li+, Na+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Sr2+, and Ba2+ co-doping on the scintillation properties of LaBr3:5%Ce3+. Pulse-height spectra of various gamma and X-ray sources with energies from 8 keV to 1.33 MeV were measured from which the values of light yield and energy resolution were derived. Sr2+ and Ca2+ co-doped crystals showed excellent energy resolution as compared to standard LaBr3:Ce. The proportionality of the scintillation response to gamma and X-rays of Ca2+, Sr2+, and Ba2+ co-doped samples also considerably improves. The effects of the co-dopants on emission spectra, decay time, and temperature stability of the light yield were studied. Multiple thermoluminescence glow peaks, decrease of the light yield at temperatures below 295 K, and additional long scintillation decay components were observed and related to charge carrier traps appearing in LaBr3:Ce3+ with Ca2+, Sr2+, and Ba2+ co-doping.
Communication: Energy benchmarking with quantum Monte Carlo for water nano-droplets and bulk liquid water
Authors: Alfè D. , Bartók A. P. , Csányi G. , Gillan M. J.
Published: June 2013

We show the feasibility of using quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) to compute benchmark energies for configuration samples of thermal-equilibrium water clusters and the bulk liquid containing up to 64 molecules. Evidence that the accuracy of these benchmarks approaches that of basis-set converged coupled-cluster calculations is noted. We illustrate the usefulness of the benchmarks by using them to analyze the errors of the popular BLYP approximation of density functional theory (DFT). The results indicate the possibility of using QMC as a routine tool for analyzing DFT errors for non-covalent bonding in many types of condensed-phase molecular system.
Electroinduced structural change- and random walks-based impact on the light emission in Er3+/Yb3+ doped (Pb,La)(Zr,Ti)O3 ceramics
Authors: Xu L. , Zhang J. , Zhang S. , Xu C. , Zou Y. K. , Zhao H.
Published: June 2013

Remarkable enhancement/reduction of light emission and competition among different wavebands with rare earth doped lanthanum lead zirconate titanate ceramics were observed in a corona atmosphere caused by an externally applied electric field. Quantum-mechanical analyses, based on variation of structural symmetry of the unit cell and hence the crystal field due to electrostriction, were given to elucidate the effect. Apart from the symmetry of crystal field, the obvious contribution from the optoenergy storage and weak localization of light involved were discussed. These results are promising in designing and implementation of lasers and sensors.
Excitation characteristics of different energy transfer in nanotube-perylene complexes
Authors: Ernst Friederike , Heek Timm , Setaro Antonio , Haag Rainer , Reich Stephanie
Published: June 2013

We report the properties of perylene-nanotube complexes that form efficient energy transfer systems. Most perylene-derivatives yield similar ratios between transfer and direct luminescence (0.66 ± 0.04). The photoluminescence spectra of the free compounds and the transfer complex are similar indicating that perylene and nanotubes act as separate systems. A further increase in interaction yields 40% higher transfer rates and luminescence excitation spectra that indicate a change in stacking of the perylene on the nanotube wall. All measurements are consistent with a transfer mechanism based on a dipole-dipole interaction at a distance much smaller than the Förster radius.
Contact properties of high-mobility, air-stable, low-voltage organic n-channel thin-film transistors based on a naphthalene tetracarboxylic diimide
Authors: Rödel R. , Letzkus F. , Zaki T. , Burghartz J. N. , Kraft U. , Zschieschang U. , Kern K. , Klauk H.
Published: June 2013

Air-stable bottom-gate, top-contact n-channel organic transistors based on a naphthalene diimide exhibiting electron mobilities up to 0.8 cm2/Vs at low voltages were fabricated. Transistors with channel lengths of 1 μm show a transconductance of 60 mS/m, but are significantly limited by the contact resistance. Transmission line measurements in combination with contact resistance models were applied to investigate this influence. Both contact resistance and contact resistivity are proportional to the inverse gate overdrive voltage. Organic complementary ring oscillators were fabricated on a flexible plastic substrate showing record signal delays down to 17 μs at a supply voltage of 2.6 V.
Elemental separation in nanocrystalline Cu-Al alloys
Authors: Wang Y. B. , Liao X. Z. , Zhao Y. H. , Cooley J. C. , Horita Z. , Zhu Y. T.
Published: June 2013

Nanocrystallization by high-energy severe plastic deformation has been reported to increase the solubility of alloy systems and even to mix immiscible elements to form non-equilibrium solid solutions. In this letter, we report an opposite phenomenon—nanocrystallization of a Cu-Al single-phase solid solution by high-pressure torsion separated Al from the Cu matrix when the grain sizes are refined to tens of nanometers. The Al phase was found to form at the grain boundaries of nanocrystalline Cu. The level of the separation increases with decreasing grain size, which suggests that the elemental separation was caused by the grain size effect.
Direct pressure sensing with carbon nanotubes grown in a micro-cavity
Authors: Chauhan A. S. , Nogaret A.
Published: June 2013

We report on the growth of multiwall carbon nanotubes (CNTs) at the centre of a bow tie micro-cavity and describe the change in resistance of these CNTs under gas pressure loading (ΔR/R ≅ 16%/atm). By adapting the Euler-Bernoulli theory of beams to CNTs that bridge opposite walls of the cavity, we fit the piezoresistance curves and extract the Young's modulus, the piezoresistive constant, and the nanotube radius, for a range of CNT growth conditions. By detecting pressures as low as 0.1 atm, we demonstrate a membrane-less technology capable of sensing pressure with micron scale resolution.
Lisbonizing versus Financializing Europe? The Lisbon Agenda and the (un)Making of the European Knowledge-Based Economy
Authors: Birch Kean , Mykhnenko Vlad
Published: June 2013

The Lisbon Agenda was meant to make the European Union ‘the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy (KBE) in the world’ by 2010. As that date has now come and gone, it is apt to ask whether the Lisbon Agenda achieved its objective. We engage with this very question by analyzing new empirical material on the supposed transition to a KBE. Theoretically, we problematize the very notion that EU policies promoted the emergence of a KBE by highlighting how the Lisbon Agenda was tied to the financialization of the European economy. Our findings illustrate the abject failure of the EU's decade-long strategy to foster a new economy and better employment opportunities. We show that the main winners of the EU's economic strategy have been the finance sector and those who work in it. In summary, we argue that, despite the earlier assurances of Bell and Drucker, it is not the scientist or engineer but the banker who has been empowered to command a higher price in the new world of the KBE.
Identifying culturally appropriate strategies for coronary heart disease secondary prevention in a regional Aboriginal Medical Service
Authors: Govil Dhruv , Lin Ivan , Dodd Tony , Cox Rhonda , Moss Penny , Thompson Sandra , Maiorana Andrew
Published: June 2013

Aboriginal Australians experience high rates of coronary heart disease (CHD) at an early age, highlighting the importance of effective secondary prevention. This study employed a two-stage process to evaluate CHD management in a regional Aboriginal Medical Service. Stage 1 involved an audit of 94 medical records of clients with documented CHD using the Audit and Best Practice in Chronic Disease approach to health service quality improvement. Results from the audit informed themes for focus group discussions with Aboriginal Medical Service clients (n = 6) and staff (n = 6) to ascertain barriers and facilitators to CHD management. The audit identified that chronic disease management was the focus of appointments more frequently than in national data (P < 0.05), with brief interventions for lifestyle modification occurring at similar or greater frequency. However, referrals to follow-up support services for secondary prevention were lower (P < 0.05). Focus groups identified psychosocial factors, systemic shortcomings, suboptimal medication use and variable awareness of CHD signs and symptoms as barriers to CHD management, whereas family support and culturally appropriate education promoted health care. To optimise CHD secondary prevention for Aboriginal people, health services require adequate resources to achieve best-practice systems of follow up. Routinely engaging clients is required to ensure services meet diverse community needs.
Addition of a fine-textured soil to compost to reduce nutrient leaching in a sandy soil
Authors: Nguyen Trung-Ta , Marschner Petra
Published: June 2013

Compost addition to soil can increase nutrient availability, but if added to sandy soils, nutrients can be rapidly leached. Clay added to compost could increase nutrient retention and reduce nutrient leaching due to binding to the clay. An incubation experiment was conducted to assess the effect of addition of a fine-textured soil (34% clay) to garden waste compost on nutrient availability and leaching in a sandy soil. The sandy soil was non-amended or amended with compost only, at a rate 27.3 g kg–1, or with a mixture of compost and 5% or 20% (w/w) of fine-textured soil. Two additional treatments included sandy soil amended with only the fine-textured soil at rates similar to those added with compost. Soil, compost, and fine-textured soil were mixed and packed to a bulk density of 1.22 g cm–3. Soil respiration was measured over 23 days. On days 1, 5, and 23, the soils were leached with 50 mL reverse-osmosis water, and the following parameters were measured in the leachate: water-soluble organic carbon (OC), inorganic nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P); water-soluble OC and available N and P were measured in the soil after leaching. Compost increased nutrient availability and leaching compared with the non-amended control. Addition of the fine-textured soil to compost reduced cumulative respiration and N and P leaching, with the effect more pronounced at 20% (w/w). Addition of the fine-textured soil alone had no effect on nutrient availability and leaching because of the low nutrient concentration in this soil. This study showed that addition of fine-textured soil to compost can reduce N and P leaching, which could enhance and prolong the positive effects of compost on soil fertility.
Body of evidence: forensic use of baseline health assessments to convict wildlife poachers
Authors: Henen Brian T. , Hofmeyr Margaretha D. , Baard Ernst H. W.
Published: June 2013

Context Given the immense impact of wildlife trade, disease and repatriations on populations, health assessments can provide powerful forensic material to help convict wildlife poachers and minimise risks of releasing unhealthy wildlife. Aims We aimed to use reference ranges to assess the health of confiscated tortoises, to illustrate forensic application of these ranges, and to advance analyses for future applications. Methods We used analyses of variance (ANOVA) and covariance (ANCOVA), and composite indices, to compare wild and confiscate tortoise body condition, haematocrit and haemoglobin concentration of males and females of three tortoise species. Subsequently, we used multivariate statistics (e.g. discriminant analyses) to evaluate the relative importance of species, sex and group (wild or confiscate) on tortoise condition and haematology. Key results Our initial statistical tests demonstrated, at P < 0.05 to P < 0.0005, that confiscate body condition and haematology were compromised compared with that of wild tortoises. Subsequently, discriminant analyses strongly discriminated between most wild and confiscate groups (P < 0.0001), correctly classified individual health as wild or confiscate 80–90% of the time, indicated that species and sex effects were stronger than was the wild-confiscate category, and provided discriminant functions for use on other taxa and studies. Conclusions The health assessments discriminated well between wild and confiscate tortoises. The results had considerable forensic value, being relevant, quickly generated using portable field equipment, reliable, accurate, easy to explain and convey in terms of likelihood in a court of law, synergistically consistent among variables and groups, a strong rebuttal to the poachers’ specific statements, and consistent with other types of evidence. Multivariate analyses were consistent with, and more prudent and powerful than, the original statistical analyses. Discriminant functions can be applied in future studies and on other chelonian species, and should be developed for other wildlife species. Implications Reference ranges provide considerable value for forensics, diagnostics and treatment. Given the disease risks resulting from the massive scale of wildlife trade and release, reference ranges should be developed for more species.
Brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) in metropolitan Sydney: population biology and response to Suprelorin contraceptive implants
Authors: Eymann J. , Cooper D. W. , Herbert C. A.
Published: June 2013

The cohabitation of the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) with people in urban areas often causes conflict. Basic biological parameters are needed to evaluate potential new management options such as fertility control. This study investigated the biology of an urban brushtail possum population and the effects of Suprelorin contraceptive implants on individual females within that population. Trapping success remained constant over time, with 2.8 ± 0.2 individuals trapped per residential property. Recapture rates for males declined rapidly over time, with only 30% of males recaptured on the same property 12 months after initial capture (n = 30) and no males recaptured after 18 months (compared with female recapture rates of 58% after 18 months, n = 33). These data, combined with the preponderance of males observed within the lower age classes, suggests that male possum turnover is high within urban areas. This may be partially compensated for by the male-bias (1.8 : 1) observed in pouch young. Breeding was seasonal with the main peak of births in autumn, and a secondary smaller peak in spring. Suprelorin contraceptive treatment effectively inhibited reproduction in adult females for a minimum duration of 519 ± 7 (n = 5) and ≥700 ± 20 (n = 5) days after administration of one or two 4.7-mg implants, respectively, with no negative side-effects obvious. The concurrent collection of data on contraceptive efficacy and population-specific life-history parameters provides a unique opportunity to highlight the importance of understanding local population dynamics when evaluating the likely efficacy and implementation of fertility control programs to manage problem wildlife.
Elasto-inertial turbulence
Authors: Samanta Devranjan , Dubief Yves , Holzner Markus , Schäfer Christof , Morozov Alexander N. , Wagner Christian , Hof Björn
Published: June 2013

Turbulence is ubiquitous in nature, yet even for the case of ordinary Newtonian fluids like water, our understanding of this phenomenon is limited. Many liquids of practical importance are more complicated (e.g., blood, polymer melts, paints), however; they exhibit elastic as well as viscous characteristics, and the relation between stress and strain is nonlinear. We demonstrate here for a model system of such complex fluids that at high shear rates, turbulence is not simply modified as previously believed but is suppressed and replaced by a different type of disordered motion, elasto-inertial turbulence. Elasto-inertial turbulence is found to occur at much lower Reynolds numbers than Newtonian turbulence, and the dynamical properties differ significantly. The friction scaling observed coincides with the so-called “maximum drag reduction” asymptote, which is exhibited by a wide range of viscoelastic fluids.
Measuring the regulation of keratin filament network dynamics
Authors: Moch Marcin , Herberich Gerlind , Aach Til , Leube Rudolf E. , Windoffer Reinhard
Published: June 2013

The organization of the keratin intermediate filament cytoskeleton is closely linked to epithelial function. To study keratin network plasticity and its regulation at different levels, tools are needed to localize and measure local network dynamics. In this paper, we present image analysis methods designed to determine the speed and direction of keratin filament motion and to identify locations of keratin filament polymerization and depolymerization at subcellular resolution. Using these methods, we have analyzed time-lapse fluorescence recordings of fluorescent keratin 13 in human vulva carcinoma-derived A431 cells. The fluorescent keratins integrated into the endogenous keratin cytoskeleton, and thereby served as reliable markers of keratin dynamics. We found that increased times after seeding correlated with down-regulation of inward-directed keratin filament movement. Bulk flow analyses further revealed that keratin filament polymerization in the cell periphery and keratin depolymerization in the more central cytoplasm were both reduced. Treating these cells and other human keratinocyte-derived cells with EGF reversed all these processes within a few minutes, coinciding with increased keratin phosphorylation. These results highlight the value of the newly developed tools for identifying modulators of keratin filament network dynamics and characterizing their mode of action, which, in turn, contributes to understanding the close link between keratin filament network plasticity and epithelial physiology.
Higher dimensional expanding maps and toral extensions
Authors: Mihailescu Eugen
Published: June 2013

We prove that expanding endomorphisms on arbitrary tori are 1-sided Bernoulli with respect to their corresponding measure of maximal entropy and are thus, measurably, as far from invertible as possible. This applies in particular to expanding linear toral endomorphisms and their smooth perturbations. Then we study toral extensions of expanding toral endomorphisms, in particular probabilistic systems on skew products, and prove that under certain not too restrictive conditions on the extension cocycle, these skew products are 1-sided Bernoulli too. We also give a large class of examples of group extensions of expanding maps in higher dimensions, for which we check the conditions on the extension cocycle.
On soliton solutions to a class of Schrödinger-K𝐝V systems
Authors: Liu Chungen , Zheng Youquan
Published: June 2013

In this paper, we consider a class of coupled nonlinear Schrödinger-KdV systems in the whole space via the Nehari manifold method. The existence of nontrivial solutions with both of the components nonzero is obtained.
Patterns in groundfish abundance along the Eastern Bering Sea outer continental margin
Authors: Wigand Laura A. , Klinger Terrie , Logsdon Miles G.
Published: June 2013

Wigand, L. A., Klinger, T., and Logsdon, M. G. 2013. Patterns in groundfish abundance along the Eastern Bering Sea outer continental margin. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 70: 1181–1197. Place-based management approaches require understanding the spatial arrangement and interaction of elements. To address this need, we explored the utility of spatial-pattern analysis to understand the distribution of groundfish in the Eastern Bering Sea outer continental margin. We divided this region into discrete geomorphological units to explore spatial pattern on a range of scales. We used groundfish catch per unit effort (cpue) trawl survey data collected in four years to quantify spatial autocorrelation. Global statistics indicated that groundfish cpue was dominated by clusters of low values in all years. Local statistics showed that clusters of low values in groundfish cpue were confined to the southern portion of the study area, while clusters of high values varied across the study area. Outliers were most commonly found in close proximity to the shelf–slope break. Our results reveal the existence of spatial dependency in groundfish abundance and demonstrate that spatial analysis can be used to better understand spatial arrangements of these and other living marine resources, and to quantify and validate the local ecological knowledge of resource users. Our results indicate the feasibility of using spatially explicit tools to improve integration and visualization of marine environmental data for purposes of management and conservation.
Intertextuality in Latin Poetry
Authors: Coffee Neil
Published: June 2013

The phenomenon of meaningful connections between texts, or “intertextuality,” has been defined and addressed differently over time. In pre-Alexandrian antiquity, discussion focused on large-scale influence of authors and literary works upon one another. Alexandrian scholarship introduced the study of small-scale verbal correspondences, which were generally regarded as acts of imitation (mimesis/imitatio) or rivalry (zelos/aemulatio). A continuous dialogue with Greek predecessors and culture of writing (rather than oral performance) contributed to a rich intertextual exchange among Roman poets. Modern theoretical studies have debated the ontological status of intertextual phenomena, particularly the extent to which they exist in the mind of the author, the text, or the mind of the reader. They have been concerned more narrowly with their classification by rhetorical function and language feature and more broadly with the workings of literary influence and inheritance. The ultimate interest lies in how intertexts create meaning; therefore, much intertextual study consists of works dedicated to comparisons of individual texts as well as those that employ intertextuality as one mode of criticism brought to bear on other topics.
Etruscan Wall Painting
Authors: Pieraccini Lisa
Published: June 2013

For centuries, artists, archaeologists, scholars, and poets have been captivated by the beautiful images found on the painted walls of Etruscan tombs. These paintings offer an extraordinary look at the earliest examples of monumental painting in ancient Italy (a corpus that has not survived in the Greek world). In quantity, only the Roman paintings of Pompeii are comparable. The striking images shed much light on the fascinating world of the Etruscans and provide us with intimate details regarding daily life, funerary ritual, and the murky world of the afterlife. The earliest tomb paintings date to the early 7th century bce and are found in Cerveteri and Veii, but it was Tarquinia that would take the lead in tomb painting from the 6th century bce onward. Inland centers like Chiusi, Orvieto, and Sarteano also produced tomb paintings offering their own style and subject matter in the world of Etruscan wall painting. Thus, this article is organized first by general treatments, articles, catalogues, and bibliographies, then by city, since different regions in Etruria produced paintings based on their own economic and artistic development. Etruscan wall painting offers one of the most colorful and intimate entrances into the life and afterlife of the Etruscans.
Aulus Gellius
Authors: Holford-Strevens Leofranc
Published: June 2013

Aulus Gellius was a scholar of the 2nd century ce who lived in Rome apart from a visit to Greece, the author of a miscellany in twenty books and some four hundred chapters that he called Noctes Atticae, in English Attic Nights, in memory of beginning work on it during winter’s nights in Athens. The subjects covered include history, law, geography, philosophy, but above all grammar in its broad ancient sense of linguistic and literary studies; a persistent theme is the relation between Greek and Roman culture. At the time, the literature and the language of pre-Augustan and particularly pre-Ciceronian writers were much in vogue; Gellius abounds in quotations from early texts not otherwise preserved, but at the same time gives a vivid picture of intellectual life among a bookish elite and displays an engaging authorial personality. The work is written not in the functional prose of technical authors but in accordance with the literary fashion of the age, with archaic words and constructions alongside neologisms.
Neoplatonism
Authors: Wear Sarah Klitenic
Published: June 2013

Neoplatonism (also called “Platonism”) refers to the school of philosophical and religious thought, beginning with the philosopher Plotinus (b. 204–d. 270 ce), which is marked by certain metaphysical teachings on Plato and Aristotle. After Plotinus, the three major periods of Neoplatonism include: the writings of Plotinus’s student, Porphyry (b. 232–d. 305); Iamblichus and the school of Calchis (d. 326); and the 5th- and 6th-century schools of Athens and Alexandria, including Syrianus (d. 437), Proclus (b. 412–d. 485), Damascius (b. 458–d. 538), and Olympiodorus (b. c. 500–d. 570). Each of these three major movements also includes a great many other writers, particularly the last phase of late antique Neoplatonism, which was marked by a pronounced interest in commentaries on the works of Plato and Aristotle, with commentaries on the latter being particularly prevalent in 5th- and 6th-century Alexandria. Moreover, while “Neoplatonism” generally refers to the writings of pagans, the movement was heavily influential among Christian, Jewish, and Arabic thinkers, who adopted terminology and metaphysical principles well into the medieval period. As an extreme example of this, the Christian thinker Pseudo-Dionysius (fl. 500?) not only adopted much of Proclus’s language and thought, but parts of his treatises have been found to be a word for word copying of Proclus’s writing. Although Neoplatonism represents a wide group of authors, styles, and interests certain trends can be found throughout members of the philosophical movement; namely, Neoplatonists believe that the One is the principle of unification and source of all creation; all things emanate from the One and all things return to the One. Below the One is the level of Intellect, which houses the forms, followed by the Soul. One, Intellect, and Soul are all related to each other, with Intellect in some way emanating from the One, and returning to the One, and Soul, which emanates from and returns to Intellect. In Neoplatonic thought, the individual soul of man in some way returns to the One, by means of contemplation of the One and, for some authors, through sacramental practices known as theurgy. While Neoplatonists have these basic principles in common, authors vary in their understandings of the structure of the universe. Later authors, moreover, tend to introduce a greater number of intermediary entities. Because of the breadth of this subject matter, the bibliography will need to be limited to general works on Neoplatonism, works on particular topics, and works on only a handful of key authors who are considered to be key figures in the Athenian and Alexandrian schools of Neoplatonism: Plotinus, Porphyry, Iamblichus, Syrianus, Proclus, Pseudo-Dionysius, Damascius, and Olympiodorus. For other authors, see the section General Overviews.
Solution-Focused Therapy
Authors: Corcoran Jacqueline
Published: June 2013

Solution-focused therapy (SFT), also called solution-focused brief therapy and solution-oriented therapy, is a short-term, strengths-oriented practice model that identifies and enhances clients’ resources for coping with life’s difficulties. Solution-focused therapy arose from the field of family therapy, although several social workers were key to its development. An essential family therapy concept, which is also heavily touted within social work, involves a systemic notion of causality that a change in one part of a routine sequence will result in further change for the system. Solution-focused therapy is a collaborative approach in that worker and client are seen as partners in the change process. Conversations between worker and client, stimulated by key questions, are a pathway to changes in client perception, subsequent behavior, and the responses of other people to these small changes. Behavioral, as well as perceptual, change is implicated since the approach is focused on concrete, specific behaviors that are achievable within a brief time period. Solution-focused therapy has attracted attention internationally and is used for a variety of problems of living throughout the world.
Financing Health-Care Delivery in the United States
Authors: Berger Candyce S.
Published: June 2013

The literature on health-care financing follows two distinct lines of inquiry. One is business oriented, focusing on financial systems within health-care organizations. The second line of inquiry focuses on the financing of the health-care delivery, which is the focus of this article. With the introduction of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965, a meteoric growth of the health-care delivery system (called the medical industrial complex) occurred by improving access to care for the elderly and poor. This contributed to a commensurate growth in US health-care spending, resulting in double-digit inflation while the general inflation rate hovered around 3 percent. With the United States spending more on health care than any other industrialized nation, nonpartisan agreement emerged that controlling health-care costs was essential to the stability of the US economy. However, beyond the shared goal of controlling costs and spending patterns, there continues to be little common ground about how to achieve savings. Financing health-care delivery is characterized by a pluralistic system of payer sources and reimbursement mechanisms to providers of health-care services. Attempts to control costs while maintaining standards for access and quality of care have promoted continual health-care reform efforts, culminating in passage of President Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. Social workers will need a fundamental understanding of health-care spending priorities, provider reimbursement strategies, and health reform initiatives to ensure that priorities such as quality of care and access to services are not lost in the struggle to control health-care spending.
Abortion
Authors: Ely Gretchen E.
Published: June 2013

Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy, which includes deliberate termination and spontaneous termination, also referred to as “miscarriage.” The term “abortion” is typically associated with the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, usually occurring before twenty-eight weeks of gestation. The two types of deliberate abortions are surgical and medical. Surgical abortion involves using medical instruments to empty the uterus of the products of conception. In a medical abortion, medication is used to force the ending of the pregnancy. Abortions are categorized as either therapeutic or elective. Therapeutic abortion occurs when the termination is necessary for health reasons; elective abortion occurs when a pregnancy is ended by choice. The estimated rate of abortion worldwide in 2008 was twenty-eight per one thousand women, and nearly half of abortions performed are considered unsafe, with 98 percent of those unsafe procedures taking place in developing nations. Legal surgical abortion is one of the safest and most widely performed medical procedures available, yet it is heavily regulated worldwide because of tremendous religious, political, and personal disagreement regarding its ethical and moral acceptability. Thirty-two countries restrict abortion under any circumstances, thirty-six countries permit abortion only in extenuating circumstances (i.e., rape, incest), fifty-nine additional countries allow abortion in cases in which the woman’s health or mental health is at risk, and seventy countries allow some type of elective abortion. All nations allowing elective abortion impose gestational time limits on the procedure. The International Federation of Social Work, the National Association of Social Workers of the United States, and others support elective abortion as a necessary part of overall access to safe and affordable reproductive health care and family planning services. The commitment of social work to abortion access can be attributed to the profession’s stated ethical commitment to a client’s right to self-determination. Other groups, such as the International Right to Life Federation and the Catholic Church, oppose access to abortion based on their interpretation of religious beliefs and values.
Philippians
Authors: Sumney Jerry L.
Published: June 2013

Philippians is known for its expressions of joy. While it is written to a community with which Paul has good relations, the letter addresses a significant problem and issues some warnings. A problem of arguments between church leaders is evident in chapter 4. Paul calls these leaders by name, and so it is apparent that they are women. Paul’s acknowledgment and support of these leaders indicates that he encourages women leaders in his churches in ways that are surprising to many who think of Paul as a misogynist. Debated elements of the letter’s occasion include whether Paul addresses problems associated with teachers coming to his church who are imparting ideas that he rejects. Interpreters have found various types of intruding teachers, including those who insist on gentile observance of the law, those with an overrealized eschatology, and those who are antinomians. Some have found multiple groups of intruders. Others find only internal problems and warnings about teachers who may arrive. Some interpreters question the letter’s integrity. The unexpected turn at the beginning of chapter 3 and the delay in thanking the Philippians for the gift they have sent have been crucial factors for those who find multiple letters. Though early-21st-century scholarship has argued in favor of the three-letter hypothesis, most interpreters view Philippians as a single letter. Questions have also been raised about Paul’s exact location when he wrote Philippians, with Ephesus, Caesarea, and Rome as the more popular choices. If the letter is composed of multiple fragments, the parts may have been composed in different places. Philippians 2:6–11 is almost unanimously identified as a preformed piece. Its structure and origin continue to be matters for discussion. Additionally, interpreters continue to propose different hypotheses about how 2:6–11 functions in the argument of the letter. The Christology of this “hymn” has encouraged discussion of Paul’s theology in relation to it. Paul’s interpretation of persecution, calls that he makes to imitate Christ and fellow Christians, and his understanding of Judaism are among the more important issues that arise in connection with Philippians. This short letter has elicited many investigations of its social, political, and philosophical setting. The extent to which the letter employs elements of the friendship topos and how that illumines the letter’s meaning are also issues that have been debated. Investigations include the way Paul thanks the readers for the gifts they have sent him and the use of imitation in exhortation.
Early Christian Art
Authors: Jensen Robin , Jefferson Lee
Published: June 2013

Most scholars agree that Christian art first appeared around the end of the second century or the beginning of the third century. Among these earliest examples are the wall paintings and epitaphs found in the Roman catacombs. At first the iconography was primarily simple and symbolic (e.g., doves, anchors, boats, and praying figures). More complex images included the Good Shepherd with his sheep and representations from the Hebrew Bible, including Jonah, Noah, Daniel, and the Three Youths in the fiery furnace. By the end of the third century, Christians had begun commissioning sarcophagi with relief carvings that depicted narrative episodes from the Bible, both Old and New Testaments. Following the legalization of Christianity and the imperial support that following the conversion of the Emperor Constantine, Christian art was dramatically transformed in style, technique, context, and motifs. From the mid-fourth through the end of the sixth centuries, Christians built and decorated churches and baptisteries; designed and made liturgical vessels; produced private devotional objects in gemstones, pottery, glass, ivory, fabric, and precious metals; painted panel portraits of their holy men and women; and began to illustrate their sacred texts. Older types and motifs, such as the Good Shepherd and Jonah, were gradually replaced by new iconography that emphasized the glory and triumph of Christianity over the traditional Roman gods. Along with the iconographic changes, new media emerged, in particular polychrome glass mosaic for walls, apses, and domes of church buildings.
Apocryphal Acts
Authors: Burke Tony
Published: June 2013

The Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles are a category within Christian apocryphal literature detailing the individual journeys of the surviving eleven apostles and Paul, alone or in small groupings, to various locales assigned to them for evangelizing by the risen Jesus. In form, they are similar to the canonical book of Acts, with the texts’ protagonists preaching, healing, battling magicians, and encountering conflict with local rulers. However, scholars are divided over whether or not the Apocryphal Acts were influenced by their canonical counterpart. The five ancient Apocryphal Acts—John, Paul, Peter, Andrew, and Thomas—were written in the late 2nd to early 3rd centuries. At first, the Apocryphal Acts circulated independently of one another, and scholars caution against attempts to read them as a unit; instead one should try to understand each text on its own terms. Over time, various forms of the Acts were collected, first by the Manicheans, and later in compilations such as the Latin Apostolic History of Pseudo-Abdias and the Ethiopic Contendings of the Apostles, as well as in ad hoc groupings in a variety of manuscripts in multiple languages. Orthodox Christianity had an uneasy relationship with the Apocryphal Acts. Some writers appealed to them in their own works; the Acts of Paul even came close to being considered canonical in some areas. But by the 4th century, orthodox Christianity either reduced the Apocryphal Acts to their martyrdoms or rewrote them to omit objectionable content. Thanks to the orthodox pruning of the Apocryphal Acts, reconstructing the original texts can be very difficult, and the results greatly affect scholars’ understanding of their contents. Despite their essential independence from one another, the Apocryphal Acts share certain common literary and theological elements. In form, they resemble the ancient Hellenistic novel, particularly the subgenre of romance. In the romances, two young protagonists are separated and then later reunited after a series of adventures and journeys. Through it all they remain chaste and faithful to one another. In the Apocryphal Acts, however, the theme is inverted: the apostles interact with young women who deny their romantic partners and join the apostles in a life of chastity.