bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Measuring patients' views: a bifactor model of distinct patient-reported outcomes in psychosis
Authors: Reininghaus U. , McCabe R. , Burns T. , Croudace T. , Priebe S.
Published: April 2010

Background

Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are widely used for evaluating the care of patients with psychosis. Previous studies have reported a considerable overlap in the information captured by measures designed to assess different outcomes. This may impair the validity of PROs and makes an a priori choice of the most appropriate measure difficult when assessing treatment benefits for patients. We aimed to investigate the extent to which four widely established PROs [subjective quality of life (SQOL), needs for care, treatment satisfaction and the therapeutic relationship] provide distinct information independent from this overlap.

Method

Analyses, based on item response modelling, were conducted on measures of SQOL, needs for care, treatment satisfaction and the therapeutic relationship in two large samples of patients with psychosis.

Results

In both samples, a bifactor model matched the data best, suggesting sufficiently strong concept factors to allow for four distinct PRO scales. These were independent from overlap across measures due to a general appraisal tendency of patients for positive or negative ratings and shared domain content. The overlap partially impaired the ability of items to discriminate precisely between patients from lower and higher PRO levels. We found that widely used sum scores were strongly affected by the general appraisal tendency.

Conclusions

Four widely established PROs can provide distinct information independent from overlap across measures. The findings may inform the use and further development of PROs in the evaluation of treatments for psychosis.
‘OÙ L'ON RETROUVE LES AILES …’
Authors: MacDonald Calum
Published: April 2010

As I start to write this I pick up my copy of the Pelican European Music in the Twentieth Century, edited by Howard Hartog (1962, but the original Routledge edition was 1957). It falls open – for the spine is hopelessly cracked from more than 40 years of constant use, and the pages are coming adrift – at page 257, and a familiar voice arises, discoursing on the most famous piece by Ravel.
DAVID DREW: TRIBUTES & MEMORIES (II)
Authors: Carter Elliott , Morreau Annette , Fell Tony , Gruber HK , Susskind Janis , Cowan Rob , Starobin David , Gavin Barrie , Latham Alison , Holloway Robin , Schwertsik Kurt
Published: April 2010

From the time I met David, at least 40 years ago, in Florence, he impressed me with his wide knowledge and liking of contemporary music. This and other matters were spoken of with fascination, rapid changes of thought and feeling. I shall miss him a great deal.
TESTIMONIES OF WAR 1914 – 1945 (1995)
Authors: Drew David
Published: April 2010

This essay appeared as the introduction to the very fully documented booklet notes of the 2-CD set, LARGO 5130, issued in 1995 – for the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II – by Largo Records (Cologne) as Testimonies of War (Kriegszeugnisse) 1914–45. The central composer of this collection is Boris Blacher, who is represented by his Alla Marcia, Dance Scenes, Chiarina, Partita for strings and 6 percussion, Sonatina No. 2 for piano, and Drei Psalmen for baritone and piano. The other composers are Harrington Shortall (Fanfare for Those who Will Not Return), Kurt Weill (Zu Potsdam unter den Eichen and Choral-Fantasie), Berthold Goldschmidt (Zwei Psalmen for tenor and strings), Darius Milhaud (Chorale for piano) and Vaughan Williams (Valiant-for-Truth).
NORTH SEA CROSSINGS. WALTER LEIGH, HINDEMITH AND ENGLISH MUSIC (2008)
Authors: Drew David
Published: April 2010

This was David Drew's last published article. Completed in December 2008, it appeared in May 2009 as a contribution to “… dass alles auch hätte anders kommen können”. Beiträge zur Musik des 20. Jahrhunderts edited by Susanne Schaal-Gotthardt, Luitgard Schader and Heinz-Jürgen Winkler, published as Band XII of Frankfurter Studien, a publication of the Hindemith-Institut (Frankfurt am Main: Schott ED 20571, 2009).

David Drew had discussed with the present editor a projected followup article for Tempo, to deal specifically with Walter Leigh's music for A Midsummer Night's Dream and the ideological and critical misunderstandings which he felt were beginning to envelop it as a result of its citation in Fred K. Prieberg's Musik im NS-Staat. This was presumably one of the ‘several research-projects’ ongoing to which he alludes in footnote 37. Sadly, little if any of that projected article was written down. But since the publication of ‘North Sea Crossings’ in an otherwise German-language source must inevitably have found it few English readers so far, it seemed a fitting tribute to its author to reprint it here, with profound thanks for co-operation to Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG, Mainz, to Sally Groves in particular, and the estate of David Drew.
Austrian Intellectual History before the Liberal Era: Grillparzer, Stifter, and Bolzano
Authors: Luft David S.
Published: April 2010

In 1960, Robert A. Kann pointed out inA Study in Austrian Intellectual History: From Late Baroque to Romanticismthat “[h]istorians of the future will still have to meet the challenging task of writing the comprehensive German-Austrian intellectual history.” The value of the project Kann called for is generally acknowledged, but there is no clear agreement in the field about what a survey of German-Austrian intellectual history should look like. In 2007, I argued in an article forThe Austrian History Yearbookthat the scope of Austrian intellectual history still needs to be circumscribed and characterized adequately—geographically, linguistically, and comparatively. Rather than concentrating on Vienna or extending the field to the whole of the Habsburg monarchy, including Hungary and Galicia, I proposed that we concentrate our approach to this question on the historic core of the Austrian state: the Austrian and Bohemian Crownlands, a unity from at least 1749 to 1918. This was the region where state-building, centralization, and reform were most coherently pursued in the century after 1749, when the German language was dominant in education and public life. I contrasted this view to the disembodied approach to the German intellectual life of the entire Habsburg monarchy, which relies on conventions that were developed for dynastic and diplomatic history, conventions that also work quite well for economic history or even for cultural history, neither of which is so directly dependent on language. The region I have in mind is the southeastern part of the German Confederation that was included in the Frankfurt Parliament in 1848 but excluded from Bismarck's Germany in 1866. The very existence of this region, let alone its long and rich history since the Middle Ages, often gets lost in political narratives of German nationalism and the Habsburg monarchy (Figure 1).
Metternich and the Syrian Question: 1840–1841
Authors: Šedivý Miroslav
Published: April 2010

The second Ottoman-Egyptian crisis from 1839 to 1841 was one of the most important chapters in the history of the Eastern question. At that time, the fragile structure of the Ottoman Empire trembled in its foundations under the pressure of the ambitious, powerful Egyptian governor, Mohammed Ali, who at the end of the 1830s controlled Egypt along with Sudan, Crete, a considerable part of the Arabian Peninsula, and even Syria. Although formally he was the sultan's subject administering some Ottoman provinces, in reality Mohammed Ali governed his dominions as an independent ruler, hence dividing the Ottoman Empire into two parts, one of them ruled from Constantinople and the other from Alexandria. The sultan's attempt to terminate the existence of this dual system ended in disaster; and in the midsummer of 1839, the empire found itself without its army, navy, and monarch, who died at the end of June.
Mapping Identities: The Popular Base of Galician Russophilism in the 1890s
Authors: Zayarnyuk Andriy
Published: April 2010

Since the 1980s, the eastern part of the nineteenth-century Habsburg province of Galicia has served as a testing ground for constructivist theories of nationalism and national identity. Historians who used these theories developed a variety of tools to analyze the practices and discourses that had allegedly created national communities. Galicia presented these historians many opportunities to weigh the value of “constructivist” theories by offering a rich supply of local empirical material. The Greek-Catholic or “Ruthenian” part of the Galician population has proved to be an especially gratifying object of investigation for these scholars.
Museums and the Return of Human Remains: An Equitable Solution?
Authors: Gallagher Steven
Published: April 2010

Disputes over the retention of human remains in museum and other collections are further exacerbated by the common law's limited recognition of the human body and its parts as property. Equity has long recognised the rights of the personal representatives of the dead to possession of the corpse or its remains for decent disposal. This essay considers the possible application of equitable principles to applications for the return of human remains from museum and other collections.
What every mathematician should know about modelling crime
Authors: FELSON MARCUS
Published: April 2010

This paper by a criminologist explains why it makes more sense to model criminal acts than to model criminals, how many preconceptions about crime can mislead modellers and offers some simple crime modelling ideas. Many opportunities for simulation now exist, and new opportunities for real-data modelling are emerging. The author suggests mathematical models of crime, including offender foraging for crime targets, as a rich area for future research.
Adding police to a mathematical model of burglary
Authors: PITCHER ASHLEY B.
Published: April 2010

We review the Short model of urban residential burglary derived from taking the continuum limit of two difference equations – one of which models the attractiveness of individual houses to burglary, and the other of which models burglar movement. This leads to a system of non-linear partial differential equations. We propose a change to the Short model and also add deterrence caused by the presence of uniformed officers to the model. We solve the resulting system of non-linear partial differential equations numerically and present results both with and without deterrence.
Vertex-Bipartition Method for Colouring Minor-Closed Classes of Graphs
Authors: DING GUOLI , DZIOBIAK STAN
Published: April 2010

Thomas conjectured that there is an absolute constantcsuch that for every proper minor-closed classof graphs, there is a polynomial-time algorithm that can colour everyG∈with at most χ(G) +ccolours. We introduce a parameter ρ(), called the degenerate value of, which is defined to be the smallestrsuch that everyG∈can be vertex-bipartitioned into a part of bounded tree-width (the bound depending only on), and a part that isr-degenerate. Although the existence of one global bound for the degenerate values of all proper minor-closed classes would imply Thomas's conjecture, we prove that the values ρ() can be made arbitrarily large. The problem lies in the clique sum operation. As our main result, we show that excluding a planar graph with a fixed number of apex vertices gives rise to a minor-closed class with small degenerate value. As corollaries, we obtain that (i) the degenerate value of every class of graphs of bounded local tree-width is at most 6, and (ii) the degenerate value of the class ofKn-minor-free graphs is at mostn+ 1. These results give rise to P-time approximation algorithms for colouring any graph in these classes within an error of at most 7 andn+ 2 of its chromatic number, respectively.
SAVINGS, INVESTMENT, EMPLOYMENT, AND INFLATION IN A SMALL OPEN ECONOMY WITH HABIT PERSISTENCE
Authors: Mansoorian Arman , Michelis Leo , Mohsin Mohammed
Published: April 2010

The effects of inflation are studied for a small open economy with a cash-in-advance constraint on consumption in which the representative agent has preferences with habit persistence. An increase in the inflation rate requires a fall in the steady state living standards. On impact, to maintain living standards, the representative agent reduces his savings and labor supply. Investment falls and the current account turns into a deficit. In support of this model, we provide evidence from eight high-inflation countries suggesting that after an increase in the inflation rate, output and investment fall, and the net foreign asset position deteriorates over time.
Nutritional composition, assessed by chemical analyses, of prepared foods available for primary-school children: a comparison of public and private schools
Authors: Weber Márcia L , Morais Tania B
Published: April 2010

Objective

To assess the nutritional quality of prepared foods available to primary-school children.

Design

Prepared foods available in a public and private school were sampled daily for 4 weeks (a total of forty-five samples) and chemically analysed for protein, fat, carbohydrate, iron, salt and sodium. The results were compared to the nutritional standards for children aged 7–10 years.

Setting

Alfenas, south-eastern Brazil.

Results

The concentration of protein, lipid, iron and sodium and the energy values of the foods at the private school were significantly higher than those at the public school. No differences were seen in the carbohydrate and salt values. The range of macronutrients was more balanced at the public school in relation to fat and protein. Foods at the private school were, in general, energy-dense. At both the public and private school, they provided the minimum energy and iron. Salt content was over twice the maximum amount, and that for sodium was over three times the amount, in both the public and private school.

Conclusions

Overall, foods prepared at the public school were better nutritional quality than those at the private school and those offered in public schools in some developed countries. This finding can probably be explained by the fact that a nutritionist, as required by law, was responsible for planning the menus at the public school. However, corrective action is needed to adjust for the wide variability in energy and nutrient content during weekdays and in the sodium content of prepared foods available in both the public and private school.
Measuring the food environment using geographical information systems: a methodological review
Authors: Charreire Hélène , Casey Romain , Salze Paul , Simon Chantal , Chaix Basile , Banos Arnaud , Badariotti Dominique , Weber Christiane , Oppert Jean-Michel
Published: April 2010

Objective

Through a literature review, we investigated the geographic information systems (GIS) methods used to define the food environment and the types of spatial measurements they generate.

Design

Review study.

Setting

Searches were conducted in health science databases, including Medline/Pubmed, PsycINFO, Francis and GeoBase. We included studies using GIS-based measures of the food environment published up to 1 June 2008.

Results

Twenty-nine papers were included. Two different spatial approaches were identified. The density approach quantifies the availability of food outlets using the buffer method, kernel density estimation or spatial clustering. The proximity approach assesses the distance to food outlets by measuring distances or travel times. GIS network analysis tools enable the modelling of travel time between referent addresses (home) and food outlets for a given transportation network and mode, and the assumption of travel routing behaviours. Numerous studies combined both approaches to compare food outlet spatial accessibility between different types of neighbourhoods or to investigate relationships between characteristics of the food environment and individual food behaviour.

Conclusions

GIS methods provide new approaches for assessing the food environment by modelling spatial accessibility to food outlets. On the basis of the available literature, it appears that only some GIS methods have been used, while other GIS methods combining availability and proximity, such as spatial interaction models, have not yet been applied to this field. Future research would also benefit from a combination of GIS methods with survey approaches to describe both spatial and social food outlet accessibility as important determinants of individual food behaviours.
Divided We Stand: North American Evangelicals and the Crisis in the Anglican Communion
Authors: Bruner Jason
Published: April 2010

This paper discusses the development of the Anglican Communion’s ‘crisis’ regarding the place of gay and lesbian persons within the tradition. It presents a social and theological contextualization of this crisis within the Episcopal Church, USA, in the second half of the twentieth century. It argues that the origins of the Anglican Communion’s crisis regarding gay and lesbian persons within the Communion are best understood in continuity with the broader North American evangelical movement of the second half of the twentieth century. The implications of this contextualized study serve to critique an understanding of the current crisis, which juxtaposes a decrepit, liberal ‘North’ with a vibrant, ‘orthodox’ ‘Global South’.
Verzeihen und Selbstverzeihen über die Lebensspanne
Authors: Allemand Mathias , Steiner Marianne
Published: April 2010

Zusammenfassung. Verzeihen dient der Bewältigung von interpersonalen Verletzungen und Kränkungen. Im ersten Teil dieser Übersichtsarbeit werden Begriffsbestimmungen und Operationalisierungen vorgestellt. Im zweiten Teil werden Befunde von Studien erörtert, welche die Entwicklung des Verzeihens im Kindes- und Jugendalter und vom jüngeren zum höheren Erwachsenenalter untersuchten. Neben Studien zum Verzeihen von realen und hypothetischen Verletzungen werden auch Studien zur Bereitschaft zu verzeihen (Verzeihensdisposition) und Selbstverzeihen berichtet. Über die Deskription hinausgehend werden in einem dritten Teil potenzielle Erklärungsmechanismen der Entwicklung des Verzeihens über die Lebensspanne identifiziert und kritisch diskutiert. Mögliche Implikationen für die Forschung aus Sicht der Lebenslaufperspektive schließen den Beitrag ab.
Transient and persistent shoreline change from a storm
Authors: Anderson Tiffany R. , Frazer L. Neil , Fletcher Charles H.
Published: April 2010

There is disagreement as to whether shoreline position eventually recovers from large storms. In an earlier paper we showed that statistical modeling of historical shoreline data was improved by including large storms in the model via a transient storm function. Here we show that, at shorter timescales of months to years, modeling of the shoreline at Assateague Island, MD is improved by a storm model with both transient and persistent components. We find that the shoreline recovers from the storm rapidly, almost within a year, but that the recovery is only partial, despite anthropogenic reconstruction of a pre‐existing berm. The long‐term trend of a shoreline (whether erosive, accretive, or stationary) can thus be regarded as the cumulative persistent component of successive storms, although most long‐term data sets are too temporally sparse to make such a parameterization more useful than a steady long‐term rate.
Start‐to‐end global imaging of a sunward propagating, SAPS‐associated giant undulation event
Authors: Henderson M. G. , Donovan E. F. , Foster J. C. , Mann I. R. , Immel T. J. , Mende S. B. , Sigwarth J. B.
Published: April 2010

We present high time resolution global imaging of a sunward propagating giant undulation event from start to finish. The event occurred on 24 November 2001 during a very disturbed storm interval. The giant undulations began to develop at around 1345 UTC and persisted for approximately 2 h. The sunward propagation speed was on the order of 0.6 km/s (relative to magnetic latitude–magnetic local time coordinate system). The undulations had a wavelength of ∼718 km and amplitudes of ∼890 km and produced ULF pulsations on the ground with a period of ∼1108 s. We show (1) that the undulations were associated with subauroral polarization stream (SAPS) flows that were caused by the proton plasma sheet penetrating substantially farther earthward than the electron plasma sheet on the duskside and (2) that they may have been related to the arrival on the duskside of a substorm‐associated westward traveling surge‐like structure. The observations appear to be consistent with the development of a shear flow and/or ballooning type of instability at the plasmapause driven by intense SAPS‐associated shear flows.
Alfvenic‐coupling algorithm for global and dynamical magnetosphere‐ionosphere coupled system
Authors: Yoshikawa Akimasa , Nakata Hiroyuki , Nakamizo Aoi , Uozumi Teiji , Itonaga Masahiro , Fujita Shigeru , Yumoto Kiyohumi , Tanaka Takashi
Published: April 2010

This study proposes a new formula that describes a dynamical magnetosphere‐ionosphere (MI) coupling system through the field‐aligned current (FAC) closure and electrostatic potential connectivity. In the past, MI coupling processes were described as either “inductive” or “static.” The inductive coupling scheme is based on the reflection of MHD waves at the ionosphere, whereas in the static coupling scheme the electrostatic potential is determined through the FAC closure. In contrast, in our new formulation these two schemes are combined by the “Alfvenic‐coupling” algorithm. The concept of the Alfvenic coupling is as follows. When a distribution of ionospheric current is changed from the background condition through the mapping of magnetospheric disturbances and/or by the change of ionospheric conductivity, an ionospheric reflection electric filed is instantaneously generated to satisfy the current continuity condition. The electrostatic potential of this reflection field also feeds back to the magnetosphere and excites shear Alfvenic disturbances in the magnetosphere. Therefore, the current continuity condition has to include the FAC of Alfvenic disturbances. In this sense, the reflection potential is not only a modification of the ionospheric potential but also a source of inductive Alfvenic disturbances. Quantitative estimation of feedback components to the magnetosphere reveals that our new formulation is more suitable to global MI simulations than the static MI coupling, which has been the only scheme used in the past.
Changing climate in the Bolivian Altiplano: CMIP3 projections for temperature and precipitation extremes
Authors: Thibeault J. M. , Seth A. , Garcia M.
Published: April 2010

Rural agriculture in the Bolivian Altiplano is vulnerable to climate related shocks including drought, frost, and flooding. We examine multimodel, multiscenario projections of eight precipitation and temperature extreme indices for the Altiplano and compute temperature indices for La Paz/Alto, covering 1973–2007. Significant increasing trends in observed warm nights and warm spells are consistent with increasing temperatures in the tropical Andes. The increase in observed frost days is not simulated by the models in the 20th century, and projections of warm nights, frost days, and heat waves are consistent with projected annual cycle temperature increases; PDFs are outside their 20th century ranges by 2070–2099. Projected increases in precipitation extremes share the same sign as observed trends at Patacamaya and are consistent with annual cycle projections indicating a later rainy season characterized by less frequent, more intense precipitation. Patacamaya precipitation indices show shifts in observed distributions not seen in the models until 2020–2049, implying that precipitation changes may occur earlier than projected. The observed increase in frost days can be understood within the context of precipitation changes and an increase in radiative cooling. Model warm/wet biases suggest that a decrease in frost days may not occur as early or be as large as projected. Nevertheless, consistencies between simulated and observed extremes, other than frost days, suggest the directions of projected changes are reliable. These results are a first step toward providing the critical information necessary to reduce threats to food security and water resources in the Altiplano from changing climate.
Magnetite as a prokaryotic biomarker: A review
Authors: Jimenez‐Lopez Concepcion , Romanek Christopher S. , Bazylinski Dennis A.
Published: April 2010

Over the years, nanometer‐sized magnetite (Fe3O4) crystals have been recovered from many modern and ancient environments including sediments and soils and even meteorites. In some cases these crystals have been used as “magnetofossils” for evidence of the past presence of specific microbes. Magnetite nanocrystals can be formed by a number of different biological and inorganic mechanisms resulting in crystals with different physical and magnetic characteristics. Prokaryotes (bacteria) biomineralize magnetite through two methods that differ mechanistically, including: biologically induced mineralization (BIM) and biologically controlled mineralization (BCM). Magnetite nanocrystals produced by BIM are known to be synthesized by the dissimilatory iron‐reducing bacteria, are deposited external to the cell, and generally are physically indistinguishable from magnetite particles formed inorganically. BCM magnetites, in contrast, are synthesized by the magnetotactic bacteria and some higher organisms and are precipitated intracellularly as membrane‐bounded structures called magnetosomes. These magnetites appear to have unique crystal morphologies and a narrow size range leading to their original use as magnetofossils. Because of the discovery of nanometer‐sized crystals of magnetite in the Martian meteorite ALH84001, the use of these criteria for the determination of whether magnetite crystals could constitute a prokaryotic biomarker was questioned. Thus, there is currently great debate over what criteria to use in the determination of whether specific magnetite crystals are biogenic or not. In the last decade, additional criteria have been established (e.g., the Magnetite Assay for Biogenicity), and new tools and technologies have been developed to determine the origin of specific types of magnetite crystals.
A simplified description of the evolution of organic aerosol composition in the atmosphere
Authors: Heald C. L. , Kroll J. H. , Jimenez J. L. , Docherty K. S. , DeCarlo P. F. , Aiken A. C. , Chen Q. , Martin S. T. , Farmer D. K. , Artaxo P.
Published: April 2010

Organic aerosol (OA) in the atmosphere consists of a multitude of organic species which are either directly emitted or the products of a variety of chemical reactions. This complexity challenges our ability to explicitly characterize the chemical composition of these particles. We find that the bulk composition of OA from a variety of environments (laboratory and field) occupies a narrow range in the space of a Van Krevelen diagram (H:C versus O:C), characterized by a slope of ∼−1. The data show that atmospheric aging, involving processes such as volatilization, oxidation, mixing of air masses or condensation of further products, is consistent with movement along this line, producing a more oxidized aerosol. This finding has implications for our understanding of the evolution of atmospheric OA and representation of these processes in models.
Biogeophysical versus biogeochemical climate response to historical anthropogenic land cover change
Authors: Pongratz J. , Reick C. H. , Raddatz T. , Claussen M.
Published: April 2010

Anthropogenic land cover change (ALCC) is one of the few climate forcings with still unknown sign of their climate response. Major uncertainty results from the often counteracting temperature responses to biogeochemical as compared to biogeophysical effects. Here, we separate the strength of these two effects for ALCC during the last millennium. We add unprecedented detail by (i) using a coupled atmosphere/ocean general circulation model (GCM), and (ii) applying a high‐detail reconstruction of historical ALCC. We find that biogeophysical effects have a slight cooling influence on global mean temperature (−0.03 K in the 20th century), while biogeochemical effects lead to strong warming (0.16–0.18 K). During the industrial era, both effects cause significant changes in certain regions; only few regions, however, experience biogeophysical cooling strong enough to dominate the overall temperature response. This study therefore suggests that the climate response to historical ALCC, both globally and in most regions, is dominated by the rise in CO2 caused by ALCC emissions.
Deletion of Mitochondrial Uncoupling Protein-2 Increases Ischemic Brain Damage after Transient Focal Ischemia by Altering Gene Expression Patterns and Enhancing Inflammatory Cytokines
Authors: Haines Bryan A , Mehta Suresh L , Pratt Serena M , Warden Craig H , Li P Andy
Published: April 2010

Mitochondrial hyperpolarization inhibits the electron transport chain and increases incomplete reduction of oxygen, enabling production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The consequence is mitochondrial damage that eventually causes cell death. Uncoupling proteins (UCPs) are inner mitochondrial membrane proteins that dissipate the mitochondrial proton gradient by transporting H+ across the inner membrane, thereby stabilizing the inner mitochondrial membrane potential and reducing the formation of ROS. The role of UCP2 in neuroprotection is still in debate. This study seeks to clarify the role of UCP2 in transient focal ischemia (tFI) and to further understand the mechanisms of ischemic brain damage. Both wild-type and UCP2-knockout mice were subjected to tFI. Knocking out UCP2 significantly increased the infarct volume to 61% per hemisphere as compared with 18% in wild-type animals. Knocking out UCP2 suppressed antioxidant, cell-cycle, and DNA repair genes, including Sod1 and Sod2, Gstm1, and cyclins. Furthermore, knocking out UCP2 significantly upregulated the protein levels of the inflammatory cytokines, including CTACK, CXCL16, Eotaxin-2, fractalkine, and BLC. It is concluded that knocking out the UCP2 gene exacerbates neuronal death after cerebral ischemia with reperfusion and this detrimental effect is mediated by alteration of antioxidant genes and upregulation of inflammatory mediators.
TGFβ (transforming growth factor β) receptor type III directs clathrin-mediated endocytosis of TGFβ receptor types I and II
Authors: McLean Sarah , Di Guglielmo Gianni M.
Published: April 2010

The TGFβ (transforming growth factor β) pathway is an essential cell signalling pathway that is implicated in both normal developmental processes, such as organogenesis, and pathological disorders, such as cancer and fibrosis. There are three prototypical TβRs (TGFβ receptors): TβRI (TβR type I), TGβRII (TβR type II) and TGFβRIII (TβR type III, also known as betaglycan). Whereas the role of TβRII and TβRI in TGFβ signal propagation has been established, the contribution of TβRIII to TGFβ signalling is less well understood. At the cell surface, TβRI and TβRII receptors can be internalized by clathrin-mediated endocytosis and clathrin-independent membrane-raft-dependent endocytosis. Interestingly, the endocytic route of the receptors plays a direct role in TGFβ-dependent Smad signal transduction; receptors endocytosed via clathrin-mediated endocytosis activate Smad signalling, whereas receptors endocytosed via membrane rafts are targeted for degradation. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the contribution of TβRIII to TβRII and TβRI membrane partitioning, receptor half-life and signalling. Using sucrose-density ultracentrifugation to isolate membrane-raft fractions, we show that TβRIII recruits both TβRII and TβRI to non-raft membrane fractions. Immunofluorescence microscopy analysis demonstrated that overexpression of TβRIII affects intracellular trafficking of TβRII by recruiting TβRII to EEA1 (early endosome antigen 1)- and Rab5-positive early endosomes. Using 125I-labelled TGFβ1 to follow cell-surface receptor degradation we show that overexpression of TβRIII also extends the receptor half-life of the TβRII–TβRI complex. Interestingly, we also show, using a luciferase reporter assay, that TβRIII increases basal TGFβ signalling. As numerous pathologies show aberrant activation of TGFβ signalling, the present study illustrates that TβRIII may represent a novel therapeutic target.
Distinct α- and β-tubulin isotypes are required for the positioning, differentiation and survival of neurons: new support for the ‘multi-tubulin’ hypothesis
Authors: Tischfield Max A. , Engle Elizabeth C.
Published: April 2010

The many functions of the microtubule cytoskeleton are essential for shaping the development and maintaining the operation of the nervous system. With the recent discovery of congenital neurological disorders that result from mutations in genes that encode different α- and β-tubulin isotypes (TUBA1A, TUBB2B, TUBA8 and TUBB3), scientists have a novel paradigm to assess how select perturbations in microtubule function affect a range of cellular processes in humans. Moreover, important phenotypic distinctions found among the syndromes suggest that different tubulin isotypes can be utilized for distinct cellular functions during nervous system development. In the present review, we discuss: (i) the spectrum of congenital nervous system diseases that result from mutations in tubulin and MAPs (microtubule-associated proteins); (ii) the known or putative roles of these proteins during nervous system development; (iii) how the findings collectively support the ‘multi-tubulin’ hypothesis, which postulates that different tubulin isotypes may be required for specialized microtubule functions.
Magnetohydrodynamics control of capillary Z-pinch discharge by using a triangular current pulse for lasing a H-like N recombination soft x-ray laser
Authors: Sakai Y. , Takahashi S. , Hosokai T. , Watanabe M. , Kim G-H. , Hotta E.
Published: April 2010

In expansion cooling phase of pinched nitrogen plasma generated by fast capillary discharge, it might be possible to realize lasing a Blamer α recombination SXRL, which requires a rapid cooling of nonequilibrium plasma. It is effective to decrease the discharge current rapidly in reducing the additional heating caused by the joule heating and the magnetic compression of plasma as quickly as possible. The shaping of discharge current waveform was demonstrated with a transmission line and its effect on expanding plasma dynamics were investigated through magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) calculation, and validity of the MHD calculation in the expansion phase was shown using the discharge photographs taken by using a high speed camera. As a result, strong radiation from the H-like N ion at the maximum pinch, which is in the current decay phase of the triangular current with peak amplitude of over 70 kA and pulse width of 60 ns, has been confirmed in x-ray photodiode signals at wavelength of less than 2.5 nm, to clarify the existence of the Lyman series and continuum of the H-like N ion. Without additional heating by the discharge current after the generation of the fully stripped nitrogen ions, it might be possible to generate the population inversion between the principal quantum number n=2 and 3.
The effect of carrier mobility in organic solar cells
Authors: Shieh Ji-Ting , Liu Chiou-Hua , Meng Hsin-Fei , Tseng Shin-Rong , Chao Yu-Chiang , Horng Sheng-Fu
Published: April 2010

The microscopic states and performance of organic solar cell are investigated theoretically to explore the effect of the carrier mobility. With Ohmic contacts between the semiconductor and the metal electrodes there are two origins of carriers in the semiconductor: the photocarriers generated by photon absorption and the dark carriers diffused from the electrodes. The power efficiency of the solar cell is limited by the recombination of a carrier with either the photocarrier or a dark carrier. Near the short-circuit condition the photocarrier recombination in the semiconductor bulk decreases as the mobility increases. Near the open-circuit condition the dark carrier recombination increases with the mobility. These two opposite effects balance with one another, resulting in an optimal mobility about 10−2 cm2/V s which gives the highest power conversion efficiency. The balance of the electron and hole mobilities are not necessary to maintain the optimal efficiency also because of the balance of the photocarrier and dark carrier recombination. The efficiency remains about the same as one carrier mobility is fixed at 10−2 cm2/V s while the other one varies from 10−1 to 10−3 cm2/V s. For solar cell with a Schottky barrier between the semiconductor and the metal electrode there is no dark carrier recombination. The efficiency therefore always increases with the mobility.
Biologically inspired porous cooling membrane using arrayed-droplets evaporation
Authors: Kokalj T. , Cho H. , Jenko M. , Lee L. P.
Published: April 2010

Inspired by human skin that dissipates heat via sweat-droplet evaporation on the skin, we propose an evaporative cooling technique via arrayed-droplets on a porous membrane, construct an analytical model of the evaporative cooling including interactions among the large number of droplets, and extensively analyze the cooling performance of 1000-droplet array. Our model shows that heat dissipation is enhanced by the membrane with dense droplets (i.e., enhancement factor of 10 at 5000 pores/cm2 and pore radius of 35 μm with respect to human skin). Additionally, the model predicts that the membrane dissipates heat more efficiently by operating at a higher temperature (i.e., additional enhancement factor of 17 at droplet temperature of 100 °C).
Saturation magnetization and crystalline anisotropy calculations for MnAl permanent magnet
Authors: Park J. H. , Hong Y. K. , Bae S. , Lee J. J. , Jalli J. , Abo G. S. , Neveu N. , Kim S. G. , Choi C. J. , Lee J. G.
Published: April 2010

Theoretical saturation magnetization and magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy (MAE) of τ-phase (face-centered tetragonal) Mn50Al50 alloy were obtained by first principles calculations, and the alloy was fabricated to compare the experimental values with the theoretical predictions. The calculated magnetic moment and MAE for τ-phase Mn50Al50 were 2.37 μB/f.u. and 0.259 meV/f.u. (1.525×106 J/m3), respectively, which result in the maximum energy product (BH)max of 12.64 MG Oe and the magnetocrystalline anisotropy field of 38 kOe. The saturation magnetization for τ-phase Mn54Al46 alloy was measured to be 98.3 emu/g, which gives 4.7 MG Oe of (BH)max. The magnetization is about 70% of the theoretical value of 144 emu/g.
Thermal conductivity of silicon bulk and nanowires: Effects of isotopic composition, phonon confinement, and surface roughness
Authors: Kazan M. , Guisbiers G. , Pereira S. , Correia M. R. , Masri P. , Bruyant A. , Volz S. , Royer P.
Published: April 2010

We present a rigorous analysis of the thermal conductivity of bulk silicon (Si) and Si nanowires (Si NWs) which takes into account the exact physical nature of the various acoustic and optical phonon mechanisms. Following the Callaway solution for the Boltzmann equation, where resistive and nonresistive phonon mechanisms are discriminated, we derived formalism for the lattice thermal conductivity that takes into account the phonon incidence angles. The phonon scattering processes are represented by frequency-dependent relaxation time. In addition to the commonly considered acoustic three-phonon processes, a detailed analysis of the role of the optical phonon decay into acoustic phonons is performed. This optical phonon decay mechanism is considered to act as acoustic phonon generation rate partially counteracting the acoustic phonon scattering rates. We have derived the analytical expression describing this physical mechanism which should be included in the general formalism as a correction to the resistive phonon-point-defects and phonon-boundary scattering expressions. The phonon-boundary scattering mechanism is taken as a function of the phonon frequency, incidence angles, and surface roughness. The importance of all the mechanisms we have involved in the model is demonstrated clearly with reference to reported data regarding the isotopic composition effect in bulk Si and Si NW samples. Namely, our model accounts for previously unexplained experimental results regarding (i) the isotope composition effect on the thermal conductivity of bulk silicon reported by Ruf et al. [Solid State Commun. 115, 243 (2000)], (ii) the size effect on κ(T) of individual Si NWs reported by Li et al. [Appl. Phys. Lett. 83, 2934 (2003)], and (iii) the dramatic decrease in the thermal conductivity for rough Si NWs reported by Hochbaum et al. [Nature (London) 451, 163 (2008)].
Quantum yield excitation spectrum (UV-visible) of CdSe/ZnS core-shell quantum dots by thermal lens spectrometry
Authors: Cruz Renato A. , Pilla Viviane , Catunda Tomaz
Published: April 2010

A recently developed thermal lens spectrometry configuration has been used to study CdSe/ZnS core-shell quantum dots (QDs) suspended in toluene and tetrahydrofuran (THF) solvents. The special features of this configuration make it very attractive to measure fluorescence quantum yield (η) excitation spectrum since it simplifies the measurement procedure and consequently improve the accuracy. Furthermore, the precision reached is much higher than in conventional photoluminescence (PL) technique. Two methods, called reference sample and multiwavelength have been applied to determine η, varying excitation wavelength in the UV-visible region (between 335–543 nm). The η and PL spectra are practically independent of the excitation wavelength. For CdSe/ZnS QDs suspended in toluene we have obtained η=76±2%. In addition, the aging effect on η and PL has been studied over a 200 h period for QDs suspended in THF.
Enhancement of ferromagnetism in Mn-doped Si via B codoping
Authors: Zhang Yaping , Pan Liqing , Zhu Hao , Wang Weigang , Shah Lubna R. , Fan Xin , Xiao John Q.
Published: April 2010

Room temperature ferromagnetic Mn0.026BXSi0.974−X bulk samples with X=0.001, 0.005, and 0.01 were fabricated by arc melting and followed by thermal annealing at 1000 °C. The effects of carrier density on the ferromagnetism were studied. Due to the high carrier densities, all samples showed metallic behavior. Kondo effect was observed when the temperature was below 10 K. Weakly localized carriers monotonously increased with increasing boron concentration, resulting in the enhancement of exchange coupling among Mn ions. The study indicated that the ferromagnetism originates from the hole mediated Ruderman–Kittel–Kasuya–Yosida mechanism.
Cascade coalescence of noble gas bubbles in materials
Authors: Hou Qing , Zhou Yulu , Wang Jun , Deng Aihong
Published: April 2010

Based on Monte Carlo simulations, we describe a mechanism, i.e., cascade-coalescence, to provide an explanation on the novel growth of gas bubbles in materials that has been observed in experiments and cannot be explained on the basis of the classical Smoluchowski theory and its variants. It is found that as the concentration and the average size of the bubbles reaches certain critical point, the cascade-coalescence is a dominant mechanism and leads to explosive growth of bubbles. The critical point for the cascade-coalescence happening can be evaluated by a scaling parameter determined by the average radius and concentration of the bubbles. This mechanism can be also used to explain the sudden release of gas atoms from thin films that can be measured in thermal desorption spectrometry in annealing experiments.
Demagnetization process and hysteresis loops in perpendicularly oriented hard/soft trilayers
Authors: Zhao G. P. , Bo N. , Zhang H. W. , Feng Y. P. , Deng Y.
Published: April 2010

Nucleation and evolution of domain walls as well as the magnetic reversal process in perpendicularly oriented hard/soft trilayers have been investigated within a micromagnetic approach, concentrated on the situation with very thin hard layer. The formula for the nucleation field has been derived, which falls as the soft layer thickness rises. Negative nucleation field occurs at thick soft layer when the shape anisotropy surpasses the crystalline one, where the magnetization in the center of the soft layer obeys the coherent rotation model. The microscopic and macroscopic hysteresis loops have been calculated numerically, with the angular distribution of the magnetization between the nucleation and pinning fields obtained. The area of the hysteresis loop decreases while the coercivity mechanism changes from nucleation to pinning as the soft layer thickness increases. The effect of the hard layer thickness is contrary to that of the soft layer, however, the former affects the demagnetization process and hysteresis loops significantly only when the layers are thin enough.
Embedding of magnetic nanoparticles in polycaprolactone nanofiber scaffolds to facilitate bone healing and regeneration
Authors: Kannarkat Jacob T. , Battogtokh Jugdersuren , Philip John , Wilson Otto C. , Mehl Patrick M.
Published: April 2010

Scaffolds used for tissue engineering are made to mimic natural surroundings of tissues, the extracellular matrix (ECM). The ECM plays a large part in maintaining the structural integrity of the connective tissue. When producing a tissue in the laboratory, structural integrity of the cells is ensured only when a biomimetic ECM is present. Nanofibrous polymer fibers have been chosen for their resemblance to natural fibers of the ECM and their capability to provide the support necessary for cells to grow and differentiate into tissue. Polycaprolactone based nanofibrous scaffolds for tissue engineering have been fabricated through the electrospinning process. Electrospinning is a simple and cost-effective method for producing nanofibers which involves applying a high voltage to a falling polymer solution to form a fluid jet producing nanofibers. Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have been incorporated within the nanofibers by addition of MNPs to the polymer solution to increase the rate of bone cell growth, proliferation, and differentiation. Studies by Nomura and Takano-Yamamoto, [Matrix Biol. 19, 91 (2000)] demonstrated an increase in the expression levels of multiple genes in bone tissue including growth factors when shear stress was applied at the cellular level. MNPs are around 1–100 nm and exhibit superparamagnetism. These properties of MNPs allow for high noninvasive control over them using an external magnetic field. While under an ac (15 Hz, 1–6 Gauss) or pulsed magnetic fields, MNPs will induce low level mechanical stresses within the scaffold causing shear stresses at the cellular level of the preosteoblast MC3T3-E1 cells to stimulate their growth, proliferation, and differentiation.
Phase transformation of FeO/Fe3O4 core/shell nanocubes and facile synthesis of Fe3O4 nanocubes
Authors: Hai Hoang Tri , Kura Hiroaku , Takahashi Migaku , Ogawa Tomoyuki
Published: April 2010

A phase transformation induced by reduction in the γ-Fe2O3 nanocubes synthesized by oxidizing the corresponding FeO/Fe3O4 nanocubes was achieved in solution. Results from x-ray diffraction (XRD), color indication, and magnetic analysis strongly support this phase transformation. The γ-Fe2O3 nanocubes were transformed to Fe3O4 nanocubes within 260–300 °C range and the FeO/Fe3O4 nanospheres at 350 °C. The change in shape of the nanoparticles within the γ-Fe2O3→Fe3O4 transformation as observed from the transmission electron microscopy images was representative for entire the nanoparticles systems as confirmed by the XRD patterns of these nanoparticles in assembled state, suggesting a simple and novel route for synthesis of Fe3O4 nanocubes.