bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Reproduction and production performance of Moroccan sheep breeds.
Authors: Boujenane I
Published: January 2007

The Moroccan sheep population consists of several breeds. The most important breeds are the Dman, Timahdite, Béni Guil, Sardi, Béni Ahsen and Boujaâd. With regard to reproduction performance, these breeds could be divided into two groups. The Dman breed reaches puberty at an early age, has a long breeding season, a short postpartum anoestrus and a high prolificacy. The other local breeds are not prolific and have a limited breeding season. All the breeds perform similarly in terms of the growth traits. Nevertheless, the Sardi breed has a slightly higher growth rate and good carcass characteristics, while the Dman has a moderate growth rate. Milk yield of local breeds is low, but milk composition is in line with that of other sheep breeds. The milk production is, in general, sufficient to nurse one lamb. Except for the Dman breed that has a low fleece weight, the other breeds have similar and moderate fleece weights. However, wool quality of local sheep is poor.
New Multipole Line at 4809.1 Å in the Spectrum of Bi III
Authors: L Augustyniak
Published: January 2007

For the first time the multipole line at λ 4 809.1 Å of Bi III has been observed. This line corresponds to the transition between the two levels of the 6s26pelectronic configuration. The hfs of this line has been studied by using a plane grating spectrograph. The hfs splitting factorajof the2P1/2level has been determined experimentally (0.415±0.025 cm-1) and compared with the theoretically obtained value (0.40402 cm-1).
Fine and Hyperfine Structures and Isotope Shifts in the Arc Spectrum of Mercury. Part I. Experimental study of the infrared spectrum by Fourier transform spectroscopy
Authors: S Gerstenkorn  , J J Labarthe  , J Vergès
Published: January 2007

We report precise determination of wavenumbers corresponding to transitions observed in the infrared region of the arc spectrum of202Hg, with an accuracy of about 0.005 cm-1. Isotope shifts of the seven stable isotopes and hyperfine structures (for both odd 199 and 201 isotopes) for excited levels in 6snl(withn⩽10,l=0, 1, 2, 3) andd9s2p(6p') configurations are given with a relative precision of about 0.5%.
Forbidden Transitions of Fe II
Authors: Sveneric Johansson
Published: January 2007

Predicted wavelengths for 281 forbidden transitions in Fe II in the range 3 000-12 000 Å, based on a recalculation of the energy level system, are tabulated. For each transition are given, in addition to the wavelength, the excitation potential of the upper level, the transition probability earlier calculated by Garstang, a provisional value of the expected relative intensity and an estimated uncertainty of the predicted wavelength. Some 90 of the strongest lines are collected in a separate finding list arranged by wavelength.
Levels in206Po populated in the EC-β+decay of206At
Authors: E W A Lingeman
Published: January 2007

Levels of84206Po122excited in the positon decay of85206At121have been studied. Measured were γ-rays, conversion electrons, positons and γ-γ coincidences. Energies and relative intensities of 60 γ-rays following the decay of206At have been measured. The positon spectrum was found to contain two branches. The total disintegration energy is 5 687±150 keV. Conversion coefficients and multipolarities of the strongest transitions have been determined. The existence of levels with the following energies in keV (spin-parities in parentheses) was deduced: 700.66(2+); 1 177.76(4+); 1 434.34(4+); 1 573.30(6+); 1 915.81; 2 100.73(4,5-); 2 138.85(4,5,6+); 2 302.57; 2 500.50; 2 581.69; 2 916.97(5,6+); 3 361.83; 3 396.45; 3 595.45(5,6+); 3 872.11; 4 038.80; 4 409.92; 4 419.53 and 4 697.84. The half-life of206At was measured to be 29.3±0.4 m. The spin-parity of the206At ground-state is found to be 5+.
The Spectrum of Doubly Ionized Phosphorus, P III
Authors: Carl Erik Magnusson  , Per Olof Zetterberg
Published: January 2007

New observations in the spectrum of P III have been made in the wave-length region 200-9 800 Å by using a sliding spark in vacuum. The term system now includes 58 complete terms, 36 of which are new and some more completed or resolved. It is based on about 640 spectrum lines, some 530 of which are newly classified. About 10% of the lines are intercombinations fixing the quartet and doublet systems relative to each other. The whole system has been recalculated on the basis of the new measurements. The energy of the lowest ionization limit has been deduced from a polarization formula applied to thenh2Hseries, giving the value 243 600.7±0.7 cm-1.
Occurrence of Split Spectra in Doppler-free Two-photon Spectroscopy
Authors: Rainer Salomaa
Published: January 2007

This paper discusses the origin of splitting of two-photon spectra of three-level cascade configurations having a near resonant intermediate level. A clear distinction between splitting mechanisms in homogeneously and inhomogeneously broadened systems is demonstrated. When one of the laser fields is a weak probe the velocity averaged two-photon response is primarily caused by two resonantly excited velocity groups; the absence of these implies a split spectrum as suggested by Chebotaev and collaborators. A simple derivation of the probe response is presented. When both fields have non-negligible intensities resonant excitation is inhibited and instead all level populations pulsate. Still a split spectrum can appear. A simple graph showing the regions where this occurs is given and analyzed.
Single Particle Distributions in the Dual Unitarity Scheme
Authors: C Cronström  , J Dias de Deus  , J Uschersohn
Published: January 2007

Starting from the Pomeron equation in the dual unitarity scheme, we derive a bootstrap equation for the single particle distribution. The solution exhibits a rapidity distribution with a rising, non-flat contribution in the central region, corresponding to a power-law behavior of the average multiplicity.
Lifetimes of Excited Levels in Some Important Ion-molecules. Part II: O2+
Authors: Peter Erman  , Mats Larsson
Published: January 2007

The spectra and lifetimes of theb4Σg--a4ΠuandA2Πu-X2Πgsystems in the O2+molecule have been studied at high resolution using the High Frequency Deflection technique. The measured lifetimes are found to be 30-50% longer than earlier results which are shown to be distorted by Coulomb repulsion effects. The variations of the transition moments are established for both the systems using recently calculatedqandr̄values and an upper limit of 105s-1is found for predissociations of thebstate.
Localized States in a Simple Dislocation Model
Authors: Sune Marklund
Published: January 2007

Assuming ans-orbital basis the extended Hückel eigenvalues and eigenvectors have been calculated for a two dimensional model of an edge dislocation. Finite configurations have been considered as well as infinite arrays of dislocations. The results show localized states with energies above the band limit of the corresponding infinite bare lattice.
Incremental window-based protein sequence alignment algorithms
Authors: Rangwala Huzefa , Karypis George
Published: January 2007

Motivation: Protein sequence alignment plays a critical role in computational biology as it is an integral part in many analysis tasks designed to solve problems in comparative genomics, structure and function prediction, and homology modeling.

Methods: We have developed novel sequence alignment algorithms that compute the alignment between a pair of sequences based on short fixed- or variable-length high-scoring subsequences. Our algorithms build the alignments by repeatedly selecting the highest scoring pairs of subsequences and using them to construct small portions of the final alignment. We utilize PSI-BLAST generated sequence profiles and employ a profile-to-profile scoring scheme derived from PICASSO.

Results: We evaluated the performance of the computed alignments on two recently published benchmark datasets and compared them against the alignments computed by existing state-of-the-art dynamic programming-based profile-to-profile local and global sequence alignment algorithms. Our results show that the new algorithms achieve alignments that are comparable with or better than those achieved by existing algorithms. Moreover, our results also showed that these algorithms can be used to provide better information as to which of the aligned positions are more reliable—a critical piece of information for comparative modeling applications.

Contact:  rangwala@cs.umn.edu

Supplementary information:
A supervised approach for identifying discriminating genotype patterns and its application to breast cancer data
Authors: Yosef Nir , Yakhini Zohar , Tsalenko Anya , Kristensen Vessela , Børresen-Dale Anne-Lise , Ruppin Eytan , Sharan Roded
Published: January 2007

Motivation: Large-scale association studies, investigating the genetic determinants of a phenotype of interest, are producing increasing amounts of genomic variation data on human cohorts. A fundamental challenge in these studies is the detection of genotypic patterns that discriminate individuals exhibiting the phenotype under study from individuals that do not posses it. The difficulty stems from the large number of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) combinations that have to be tested. The discrimination problem becomes even more involved when additional high-throughput data, such as gene expression data, are available for the same cohort.

Results: We have developed a graph theoretic approach for identifying discriminating patterns (DPs) for a given phenotype in a genotyped population. The method is based on representing the SNP data as a bipartite graph of individuals and their SNP states, and identifying fully connected subgraphs of this graph that relate individuals enriched for a given phenotypic group. The method can handle additional data types such as expression profiles of the genotyped population. It is reminiscent of biclustering approaches with the crucial difference that its search process is guided by the phenotype under consideration in a supervised manner. We tested our approach in simulations and on real data. In simulations, our method was able to retrieve planted patterns with high success rate. We then applied our approach to a dataset of 72 breast cancer patients with available gene expression profiles, genotyped over 695 SNPs. We detected several DPs that were highly significant with respect to various clinical phenotypes, and investigated the groups of patients and the groups of genes they defined. We found the patient groups to be highly enriched for other phenotypes and to display expression coherency among their profiles. The gene groups displayed functional coherency and involved genes with known role in cancer, providing additional support to their involvement.

Availability: The program is available upon request.

Contact:  roded@post.tau.ac.il
TOPP—the OpenMS proteomics pipeline
Authors: Kohlbacher Oliver , Reinert Knut , Gröpl Clemens , Lange Eva , Pfeifer Nico , Schulz-Trieglaff Ole , Sturm Marc
Published: January 2007

Motivation: Experimental techniques in proteomics have seen rapid development over the last few years. Volume and complexity of the data have both been growing at a similar rate. Accordingly, data management and analysis are one of the major challenges in proteomics. Flexible algorithms are required to handle changing experimental setups and to assist in developing and validating new methods. In order to facilitate these studies, it would be desirable to have a flexible ‘toolbox’ of versatile and user-friendly applications allowing for rapid construction of computational workflows in proteomics.

Results: We describe a set of tools for proteomics data analysis—TOPP, The OpenMS Proteomics Pipeline. TOPP provides a set of computational tools which can be easily combined into analysis pipelines even by non-experts and can be used in proteomics workflows. These applications range from useful utilities (file format conversion, peak picking) over wrapper applications for known applications (e.g. Mascot) to completely new algorithmic techniques for data reduction and data analysis. We anticipate that TOPP will greatly facilitate rapid prototyping of proteomics data evaluation pipelines. As such, we describe the basic concepts and the current abilities of TOPP and illustrate these concepts in the context of two example applications: the identification of peptides from a raw dataset through database search and the complex analysis of a standard addition experiment for the absolute quantitation of biomarkers. The latter example demonstrates TOPP's ability to construct flexible analysis pipelines in support of complex experimental setups.

Availability: The TOPP components are available as open-source software under the lesser GNU public license (LGPL). Source code is available from the project website at

Contact:  oliver.kohlbacher@uni-tuebingen.de
Using median sets for inferring phylogenetic trees
Authors: Bernt Matthias , Merkle Daniel , Middendorf Martin
Published: January 2007

Motivation: Algorithms for phylogenetic tree reconstruction based on gene order data typically repeatedly solve instances of the reversal median problem (RMP) which is to find for three given gene orders a fourth gene order (called median) with a minimal sum of reversal distances. All existing algorithms of this type consider only one median for each RMP instance even when a large number of medians exist. A careful selection of one of the medians might lead to better phylogenetic trees.

Results: We propose a heuristic algorithm amGRP for solving the multiple genome rearrangement problem (MGRP) by repeatedly solving instances of the RMP taking all medians into account. Algorithm amGRP uses a branch-and-bound method that branches over medians from a selected subset of all medians for each RMP instance. Different heuristics for selecting the subsets have been investigated. To show that the medians for RMP vary strongly with respect to different properties that are likely to be relevant for phylogenetic tree reconstruction, the set of all medians has been investigated for artificial datasets and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) gene orders. Phylogenetic trees have been computed for a large set of randomly generated gene orders and two sets of mtDNA gene order data for different animal taxa with amGRP and with two standard approaches for solving the MGRP (GRAPPA-DCM and MGR). The results show that amGRP outperforms both other methods with respect to solution quality and computation time on the test data.

Availability: The source code of amGRP, additional results and the test instances used in this paper are freely available from the authors.

Contact:  merkle@informatik.uni-leipzig.de
Discovering tightly regulated and differentially expressed gene sets in whole genome expression data
Authors: Ye Chun , Eskin Eleazar
Published: January 2007

Motivation: Recently, a new type of expression data is being collected which aims to measure the effect of genetic variation on gene expression in pathways. In these datasets, expression profiles are constructed for multiple strains of the same model organism under the same condition. The goal of analyses of these data is to find differences in regulatory patterns due to genetic variation between strains, often without a phenotype of interest in mind. We present a new method based on notions of tight regulation and differential expression to look for sets of genes which appear to be significantly affected by genetic variation.

Results: When we use categorical phenotype information, as in the Alzheimer's and diabetes datasets, our method finds many of the same gene sets as gene set enrichment analysis. In addition, our notion of correlated gene sets allows us to focus our efforts on biological processes subjected to tight regulation. In murine hematopoietic stem cells, we are able to discover significant gene sets independent of a phenotype of interest. Some of these gene sets are associated with several blood-related phenotypes.

Availability: The programs are available by request from the authors.

Contact:  cye@bioinf.ucsd.edu
Merging microarray cell synchronization experiments through curve alignment
Authors: Hermans Filip , Tsiporkova Elena
Published: January 2007

Motivation: The validity of periodic cell cycle regulation studies in plants is seriously compromised by the relatively poor quality of cell synchrony that is achieved for plant suspension cultures in comparison to yeast and mammals. The present state-of-the-art plant synchronization techniques cannot offer a complete cell cycle coverage and moreover a considerable loss of cell synchrony may occur toward the end of the sampling. One possible solution is to consider combining multiple datasets, produced by different synchronization techniques and thus covering different phases of the cell cycle, in order to arrive at a better cell cycle coverage.

Results: We propose a method that enables pasting expression profiles from different plant cell synchronization experiments and results in an expression curve that spans more than one cell cycle. The optimal pasting overlap is determined via a dynamic time warping alignment. Consequently, the different expression time series are merged together by aggregating the corresponding expression values lying within the overlap area. We demonstrate that the periodic analysis of the merged expression profiles produces more reliable p-values for periodicity. Subsequent Gene Ontology analysis of the results confirms that merging synchronization experiments is a more robust strategy for the selection of potentially periodic genes. Additional validation of the proposed algorithm on yeast data is also presented.

Availability: Results, benchmark sets and scripts are freely available at our website:

Contact:  elena.tsiporkova@ugent.be, fiher@psb.ugent.be
Prediction and simulation of motion in pairs of transmembrane α-helices
Authors: Enosh Angela , Fleishman Sarel J. , Ben-Tal Nir , Halperin Dan
Published: January 2007

Motivation: Motion in transmembrane (TM) proteins plays an essential role in a variety of biological phenomena. Thus, developing an automated method for predicting and simulating motion in this class of proteins should result in an increased level of understanding of crucial physiological mechanisms. We have developed an algorithm for predicting and simulating motion in TM proteins of the α-helix bundle type. Our method employs probabilistic motion-planning techniques to suggest possible collision-free motion paths. The resulting paths are ranked according to the quality of the van der Waals interactions between the TM helices. Our algorithm considers a wide range of degrees of freedom (dofs) involved in the motion, including external and internal moves. However, in order to handle the vast dimensionality of the problem, we employ some constraints on these dofs in a way that is unlikely to rule out the native motion of the protein. Our algorithm simulates the motion, including all the dofs, and automatically produces a movie that demonstrates it.

Results: Overexpression of the RTK ErbB2 was implicated in causing a variety of human cancers. Recently, a molecular mechanism for rotation-coupled activation of the receptor was suggested. We applied our algorithm to investigate the TM domain of this protein, and compared our results with this mechanism. A motion pathway that was similar to the proposed mechanism ranked first, and motions with partial overlap to this pathway followed in rank order. In addition, we conducted a negative-control computational-experiment using Glycophorin A. Our results confirmed the immobility of this TM protein, resulting in degenerate paths comprising native-like conformations.

Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at

Contact:  angela@post.tau.ac.il
Asymptotic estimates for localized electromagnetic modes in doubly periodic structures with defects
Authors: Movchan A.B , Movchan N.V , Guenneau S , McPhedran R.C
Published: January 2007

The paper presents analytical and numerical models describing localized electromagnetic defect modes in a doubly periodic structure involving closely located inclusions of elliptical and circular shapes. Two types of localized modes are considered: (i) an axi-symmetric mode for the case of transverse electric polarization with an array of metallic inclusions; (ii) a dipole type localized mode that occurs in problems of waveguide modes confined in a defect region of an array of cylindrical fibres, and propagating perpendicular to the plane of the array. A thin bridge asymptotic analysis is used for case (i) to establish double-sided bounds for the frequencies of localized modes in macro-cells with thin bridges. For the case (ii), the electric and magnetic fields independently satisfy Helmholtz equations, but are coupled through the boundary conditions. We show that the model problem associated with localized vibration modes is the Dirichlet problem for the Helmholtz operator. We characterize defect modes by introducing a parameter called the ‘effective diameter’. We show that for circular inclusions in silica matrix, the effective diameter is accurately represented by a linear function of the inclusion radius.
Novel solutions of the Helmholtz equation and their application to diffraction
Authors: Budaev Bair V , Bogy David B
Published: January 2007

This paper presents a series of novel representations for the solutions of the Helmholtz equation in a broad class of wedge-like domains including those with curvilinear, non-flat faces. These representations are obtained by an original method which combines ray theory with the probabilistic approach to partial differential equations and uses a specific technique to deal with a need for analytical continuation of the specified boundary function. The main results are reminiscent of the standard Feynman–Kac formula but differ in that the averaging over solutions of stochastic differential equations is replaced by averaging over the trajectories of a new two-scale random motion introduced here.

The paper focuses on the development of the solutions and for this reason it includes only a brief outline of numerous applications, consequences, extensions and variations of the method, which include, but are not limited to, problems of diffraction and scattering, problems in three-dimensional domains and problems of wave propagation in non-homogeneous media.
Turbulent flow in smooth and rough pipes
Authors: Allen J.J , Shockling M.A , Kunkel G.J , Smits A.J
Published: January 2007

Recent experiments at Princeton University have revealed aspects of smooth pipe flow behaviour that suggest a more complex scaling than previously noted. In particular, the pressure gradient results yield a new friction factor relationship for smooth pipes, and the velocity profiles indicate the presence of a power-law region near the wall and, for Reynolds numbers greater than about 400×10
3
(
R
+
>9×10
3
), a logarithmic region further out. New experiments on a rough pipe with a honed surface finish with
k
rms
/
D
=19.4×10
−6
, over a Reynolds number range of 57×10
3
–21×10
6
, show that in the transitionally rough regime this surface follows an inflectional friction factor relationship rather than the monotonic relationship given in the Moody diagram. Outer-layer scaling of the mean velocity data and streamwise turbulence intensities for the rough pipe show excellent collapse and provide strong support for Townsend's outer-layer similarity hypothesis for rough-walled flows. The streamwise rough-wall spectra also agree well with the corresponding smooth-wall data. The pipe exhibited smooth behaviour for

, which supports the suggestion that the original smooth pipe was indeed hydraulically smooth for
Re

D

≤24×10
6
. The relationship between the velocity shift, Δ
U
/
u

τ

, and the roughness Reynolds number,

, has been used to generalize the form of the transition from smooth to fully rough flow for an arbitrary relative roughness
k
rms
/
D
. These predictions apply for honed pipes when the separation of pipe diameter to roughness height is large, and they differ significantly from the traditional Moody curves.
Character displacement and the evolution of mate choice: an artificial neural network approach
Authors: Pfennig Karin S , Ryan Michael J
Published: January 2007

Interactions with heterospecifics can promote the evolution of divergent mating behaviours between populations that do and do not occur with heterospecifics. This process—reproductive character displacement—potentially results from selection to minimize the risk of mating with heterospecifics. We sought to determine whether heterospecific interactions lead to divergence of female preferences for aspects of conspecific male signals. We used artificial neural network models to simulate a mate recognition system in which females co-occur with different heterospecifics in different populations. Populations that evolved conspecific recognition in the presence of different heterospecifics varied in their preferences for aspects of conspecific male signals. When we tested networks for their preferences of conspecific versus heterospecific signals, however, we found that networks from allopatric populations were usually able to select against heterospecifics. We suggest that female preferences for aspects of conspecific male signals can result in a concomitant reduction in the likelihood that females will mate with heterospecifics. Consequently, even females in allopatry may discriminate against heterospecific mates depending on the nature of their preferences for conspecifics. Such a pattern could potentially explain cases where reproductive character displacement is expected, but not observed.
Human resources and scientific output in Brazilian science
Authors: Leta Jacqueline
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The present study aims to overview Brazilian human resources and scientific output in astronomy, immunology and oceanography during the last decade.

Design/methodology/approach

Data on human resources and on scientific output were obtained from the Brazilian database, the Directory of Research Groups. Scientific outputs were also analysed from a set of journals catalogued by the Institute for Scientific Information: the 20 journals with the largest number of articles in 2003.

Findings

Compared with the other two fields, the number of Brazilian researchers in astronomy has not grown from 1997‐2002, but they are the most qualified and more than 90 per cent of them have a PhD degree. Most astronomy publications are in international journals and they are well cited. The most cited astronomy papers are on international topics, but this is not true for the oceanography papers.

Research limitations/implications

These data are derived from a particular set of publications and should be interpreted as trends rather than as definitive.

Originality/value

This study, which covers three fields with different structures and traditions, provides a snapshot of some features of the whole of Brazilian science, and will provide evidence for new science policies.
Journals used for the publication of English psychiatry, surgery and paediatrics research
Authors: Jones Teresa , Hanney Steve , Buxton Martin , Rippon Isla
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To identify the papers, and publishing journals, describing psychiatry, surgery and paediatrics research funded by the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK. To make comparisons with non‐NHS research and examine the journal impact factors, and importance to clinicians, of journals publishing the most NHS research. To consider the implications, including those for research assessment.

Design/methodology/approach

Existing databases were examined: the research outputs database (ROD), which contains information on UK biomedical papers; NHS ROD, which contains details of papers on ROD funded by the NHS; lists of journal impact factors. These were combined with selective findings from surveys conducted to identify journals read and viewed as important for clinical practice by psychiatrists, surgeons and paediatricians.

Findings

In each specialty many papers publish NHS‐funded research and they out‐number the non‐NHS papers in the ROD. They appear in a wide range of journals but in each specialty one journal is clearly the most used. The impact factors of journals publishing the most NHS research vary considerably. In each specialty the journal containing most NHS publications is widely perceived to be important by clinicians.

Research limitations/implications

Much NHS‐funded research is also funded by other bodies. Clinician survey response rates were between 38 per cent and 47 per cent. The analysis could be extended to other specialties.

Practical implications

Papers published in the few journals in each specialty that are viewed as important by clinicians could be given additional credit in assessments.

Originality/value

This paper describes outputs from NHS research and shows how assessment could be extended.
Trust in the news on television
Authors: Gunter Barrie
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Television has long been cited by viewers as their primary and most trusted source of news, especially in relation to news of national and international affairs. Aims to explore the issue of trust in the television news.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper combines narrative and analysis. Questions whether public trust in the BBC was damaged by the Hutton inquiry: would the BBC's reputation as the nation's premier news service be tarnished in the longer‐term and had public trust in journalism been severely compromised.

Findings

Events that followed the transmission of a report about the veracity of the government's case for going to war carried by a BBC radio news broadcast on 29 May 2003 called into question the Corporation's competence as a reliable news provider. The story alleged that an informed source had told BBC correspondent Andrew Gilligan that the government had exaggerated the immediacy of dangers posed to the west by Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. The source who was eventually exposed was a Ministry of Defence expert on Iraq, Dr David Kelly, who later killed himself. The Prime Minister ordered a public inquiry into Dr Kelly's death, led by Lord Hutton, who severely criticised the competence of the BBC's senior management and the quality of its journalism practices. These conclusions prompted the resignation of the Corporation's Chairman and Director General. Hutton's findings had wider implications for the future governance of the BBC and invoked far‐reaching questions about the trust that the public could place in journalism. The evidence indicates that while the public felt that the BBC had been culpable for failing to launch its own internal inquiry into the Gilligan report, the public perceived this incident as a one‐off aberration rather than as being symptomatic of some wider malaise. Indeed, the Hutton inquiry had impacted more upon public trust in the government and led people to question the independence of the Hutton inquiry.

Practical implications

While trust in journalists is far from universal, the public differentiate among journalists in terms of the news organisations they work for. Among these, the BBC remains one of the most widely trusted.

Originality/value

An exploration of the issue of trust in the television news following the Dr David Kelly/Andrew Gilligan report on “The Today Programme” and subsequent Hutton enquiry.
Web hyperlink profiles of news sites
Authors: Gao Yijun , Vaughan Liwen
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To construct web visibility profiles of news web sites by examining hyperlinks pointing to the sites.

Design/methodology/approach

National newspapers from USA (USA Today), Canada (The Globe and Mail), China (People's Daily) as well as Hong Kong (Sing Tao Daily) were selected for the study. A total of 1,859 links pointing to the four news sites were manually classified into the four aspects of language, country, types of sites, and reasons or purposes for linking.

Findings

A comparison of the four news sites provided useful information on their web visibility. The Globe and Mail seemed to have a larger international reach than USA Today. Neither newspaper web site attracted links from China or from pages in the Chinese language. Outside China, People's Daily, an official Chinese Government newspaper, is not as visible as Hong Kong based Sing Tao Daily. USA Today and The Globe and Mail were used more for news citing or reprinting purposes while People's Daily seemed to be used more as a research resource.

Research limitations/implications

Link analysis like this provides us with only an indirect view of the online readership and the methodology has limitations. Not all readers create links to the newspaper sites that they visit. Readers could be led to a news site through other venues including “social bookmarking” services.

Practical implications

The study shows that link analysis is a novel and useful method that journalists and information professionals can use to gauge online readership and potential impact of news sites.

Originality/value

Presented a novel method that complements but not replaces other web user studies such as web server log analysis.
An information dynamic: technologies for the reproduction of written utterances
Authors: Warner Julian
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to reveal an information dynamic in which technology or dead labour is substituted for living mental labour.

Design/methodology/approach

A comparative historical review of technologies for reproducing written utterances and their relation to living labour.

Findings

A dynamic for mental labour, similar to that for physical labour, is isolated.

Research limitations/implications

The productivity paradox, a central concern of the information systems literature, is dissolved.

Originality/value

The paper is relevant to both information science and information systems. Understanding an information dynamic can enable intervention in that dynamic.
The mismanagement of knowledge management
Authors: Lam Wing , Chua Alton
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To examine the causes of knowledge management (KM) failure.

Design/methodology/approach

A multi‐case analysis approach was used to review five documented cases of KM failure in the literature. Categories of risk were identified through an iterative analysis of each case.

Findings

There are four main categories of risk associated with KM failure, namely technology risk, culture risk, content risk and project management risk. The nature of these risks differs dependent upon the stage of a KM project.

Research limitations/implications

A limited number of cases were reviewed.

Practical implications

Practitioners need to proactively manage risk to avoid failure in KM projects.

Originality/value

Proposes a taxonomy of KM risk.
Parallel methods for the generation of partitioned inverted files
Authors: MacFarlane A. , McCann J.A. , Robertson S.E.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The generation of inverted indexes is one of the most computationally intensive activities for information retrieval systems: indexing large multi‐gigabyte text databases can take many hours or even days to complete. We examine the generation of partitioned inverted files in order to speed up the process of indexing. Two types of index partitions are investigated: TermId and DocId.

Design/methodology/approach

We use standard measures used in parallel computing such as speedup and efficiency to examine the computing results and also the space costs of our trial indexing experiments.

Findings

The results from runs on both partitioning methods are compared and contrasted, concluding that DocId is the more efficient method.

Practical implications

The practical implications are that the DocId partitioning method would in most circumstances be used for distributing inverted file data in a parallel computer, particularly if indexing speed is the primary consideration.

Originality/value

The paper is of value to database administrators who manage large‐scale text collections, and who need to use parallel computing to implement their text retrieval services.
Creative information seeking Part I: a conceptual framework
Authors: Lee Shu‐Shing , Theng Yin‐Leng , Hoe‐Lian Goh Dion
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper proposes a conceptual framework for creative information seeking drawing upon Weisberg's argument that creativity exists in everyone, and mapping the creative process described in the holistic model of creativity to the information seeking activities identified in the behavioural model of information seeking.

Design/methodology/approach

Using scenarios of information seeking behaviour, mappings between the creative process and information seeking activities were refined and six stages for creative information seeking were proposed. Scenarios were also used to provide theoretical justifications for stages in creative information seeking.

Findings

Evidence gathered from the scenarios seemed to indicate that the type of information seeking task may have an impact on the extent to which an information seeker exhibits all stages in the framework. This is on‐going research. Part II of this paper aims to conduct empirical studies and gather evidence to verify the framework and examine this observation in more detail.

Originality/value

Proposes a framework for creative information seeking.
Information literacy for the information profession: experiences from Aberystwyth
Authors: Foster A.E.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report on the rationale and key learning processes for students of librarianship and information studies (LIS) at the Department of Information Studies, University of Wales Aberystwyth. Its purpose is to raise awareness of the ways in which professional training can incorporate research, and ultimately inform professional practice, and to describe the way in which recent research can be used to shape the curriculum.

Design/methodology/approach

A literature review, identification of key principles for curriculum development, and discussion of processes is provided. Key learning outcomes for the course are put forward and the approach taken to them described.

Findings

The description and discussion offered outline key questions for the development of courses aimed at future professionals.

Research limitations/implications

The paper describes the approach taken to address the needs of professional practice in one course, and from one perspective.

Originality/value

This is one of few papers that describe the rationale of LIS courses for information literacy. Elsewhere the focus of papers is on teaching information literacy to non‐LIS audiences.
Social capital, government policy and public value: implications for archive service delivery
Authors: Horton Sarah
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review how the role of the local authority archive service in the UK has developed, and the implications of the requirement for public sector bodies to demonstrate value in relation to concepts such as social capital, for the way in which services are promoted, evaluated and delivered.

Design/methodology/approach

A range of literature (1919‐2006) is synthesized to provide a perspective on archive service development, theories of social capital and public value, and government policy, as a means of identifying the implications of current government agendas for archive service delivery. The findings are presented in sections addressing: the context of archive service provision; social capital and government policy; the role of the archive service in meeting government agendas; and the need for services to demonstrate public value.

Findings

Provides information about the context of archive service provision, and how services have responded to government agendas within an operational environment which has seen a renewed emphasis on the archive domain within government policy and in terms of structural development since 1997. Considers the applicability of thinking on social capital and public value to service provision. Recognises the implications of the low profile of the archive domain to the capacity of services to demonstrate public value in these terms.

Research limitations/implications

Commentary focuses on the local authority context of archive service provision, within England and Wales.

Originality/value

Brings together information from different sources in making explicit the need for archive services, as with libraries and museums, to respond to government priorities.
Customers, relationships and libraries: University of Malta – a case study
Authors: Broady‐Preston Judith , Felice Joanna
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to analyse the results of a survey conducted in 2003/2004 with regard to the relationship between the University of Malta Library and its customers. Changes to service delivery subsequent to the survey are outlined.

Design/methodology/approach

Results from a series of focus groups, held with library staff and customers were analysed and are discussed in the paper.

Findings

Library customers were bypassing the library services and seeking information elsewhere. Demands for the product were greater than the availability of existing information resources to meet such demand. Consequently new systems were required, together with training for staff and customers in their use, in order to improve the relationship between information providers and users. There was anecdotal evidence of improvements in service subsequent to the survey, and of better relationships developing between library staff and their customers.

Research limitations/implications

A follow‐up study to test reactions to changes outlined is desirable.

Practical implications

This study showed that involving customers in service design and delivery can have positive benefits in terms of improving the perception of the library service amongst its customer base.

Originality/value

Shows the practical value of adopting a customer relationship management strategy in university libraries.
A novel usage of neural network in optimization and implementation to the internal flow systems
Authors: Hacioğlu Abdurrahman
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To propose a robust and more effective algorithm for aerodynamic design optimization problem by using neural network.

Design/methodology/approach

Neural network and genetic algorithm (GA) are hybridized in a new way, and quasi one‐dimensional Euler equations are solved for internal flow in the nozzle.

Findings

The results indicate that the nozzle design can be performed successfully and quickly by using the implemented algorithm. It is observed that using the method decreased CFD solver calls about 21 and 46 per cent for transonic and supersonic flow, respectively.

Originality/value

It is the first time that the neural network is used for the candidate solution in the GA.
A study of turbomachinery components machining and repairing methodologies
Authors: Yilmaz Oguzhan , Noble Dominic , Gindy Nabil N.Z. , Gao Jian
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper discusses research on machining and repairing of turbomachinery components which are generally complex geometries and made up of difficult to machine materials (nickel super alloys or titanium alloys).

Design/methodology/approach

The approaches, methods and methodologies used for machining and repairing of blades are reviewed as well as the comparisons between them are made.

Findings

Particularly, the most recent blade machining and repair techniques using high flexible machine tools and industrial robots, are mentioned.

Practical implications

The limitation of the approaches, methods and methodologies are given and supported by real practical application examples.

Originality/value

This paper presents a state of the art review of research in machining and repairing of turbomachinery components, which have been mainly done in the last decade. The paper act as a reference, gathering the works about turbomachinery components from a manufacturing point of view.
Molecular dynamics simulation on the out‐of plane thermal conductivity of single‐crystal silicon thin films
Authors: Wu Guoqiang , Sun Zhaowei , Kong Xianren , Zhao Dan
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Combining the characteristic of satellite “minisize nucleus” non‐equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) method is used. We select corresponding Tersoff potential energy function to build model and, respectively, simulate thermal conductivities of silicon nanometer thin film.

Design/methodology/approach

NEMD method is used, and the corresponding Tersoff potential energy function is used to build model.

Findings

The thermal conductivities of silicon nanometer thin film are markedly below the corresponding thermal conductivities of their crystals under identical temperature. The thermal conductivities are rising with the increase of thickness of thin film; what's more, the conductivities have a linear approximation with thickness of the thin film.

Research limitations/implications

It is difficult to do physics experiment.

Practical implications

The findings have some theory guidance to analyze satellite thermal control.

Originality/value

The calculation results of thermal conductivities specify distinct size effect. The normal direction thick film thermal conductivity of silicon crystal declines with the increasing temperature. The thermal conductivities are rising with the increase of thickness of thin film; what's more, the conductivities have a linear approximation with thickness of the thin film.
Superposition of flight loads for a probabilistic damage tolerance design for an acrobatic aircraft
Authors: Eduardo Salamanca H. , Luis Quiroz L.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To present a method of interaction between flight loads that is applied to a probabilistic damage tolerance analysis in an acrobatic aircraft.

Design/methodology/approach

The uncertainties concerning material strength, initial crack size and loads in the aircraft are considered. We place special emphasis on stress distribution, using superposition criteria that distinguish between gust, maneuver and ground‐air‐ground loads. Gust load is generated form its power spectral density and modified using service load data (exceedance curves). Crack initiation time and propagation time are considered in calculating the service time.

Findings

A new and realistic method of interaction between loads during acrobatic flight is proposed. This method was compared with other methods in an example. The effects of the interaction criteria are related to the influence between loads (stress levels and frequency).

Originality/value

In commercial aircraft, maneuver loads have a lower influence than gust loads, and the mission concept is the correct approach. Training aircraft have the opposite king of behavior and the proposed superposition method is shown to be better approach. This method would have more pronounced effects in aircraft types with behaviors between commercial and training (for example, amphibious aircraft).