bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Annual, Seasonal, and Interannual Variability of Air–Sea Heat Fluxes in the Indian Ocean
Authors: Yu Lisan , Jin Xiangze , Weller Robert A.
Published: June 2007

This study investigated the accuracy and physical representation of air–sea surface heat flux estimates for the Indian Ocean on annual, seasonal, and interannual time scales. Six heat flux products were analyzed, including the newly developed latent and sensible heat fluxes from the Objectively Analyzed Air–Sea Heat Fluxes (OAFlux) project and net shortwave and longwave radiation results from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP), the heat flux analysis from the Southampton Oceanography Centre (SOC), the National Centers for Environmental Prediction reanalysis 1 (NCEP1) and reanalysis-2 (NCEP2) datasets, and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts operational (ECMWF-OP) and 40-yr Re-Analysis (ERA-40) products.

This paper presents the analysis of the six products in depicting the mean, the seasonal cycle, and the interannual variability of the net heat flux into the ocean. Two time series of in situ flux measurements, one taken from a 1-yr Arabian Sea Experiment field program and the other from a 1-month Joint Air–Sea Monsoon Interaction Experiment (JASMINE) field program in the Bay of Bengal were used to evaluate the statistical properties of the flux products over the measurement periods. The consistency between the six products on seasonal and interannual time scales was investigated using a standard deviation analysis and a physically based correlation analysis.

The study has three findings. First of all, large differences exist in the mean value of the six heat flux products. Part of the differences may be attributable to the bias in the numerical weather prediction (NWP) models that underestimates the net heat flux into the Indian Ocean. Along the JASMINE ship tracks, the four NWP modeled mean fluxes all have a sign opposite to the observations, with NCEP1 being underestimated by 53 W m−2 (the least biased) and ECMWF-OP by 108 W m−2 (the most biased). At the Arabian Sea buoy site, the NWP mean fluxes also have an underestimation bias, with the smallest bias of 26 W m−2 (ERA-40) and the largest bias of 69 W m−2 (NCEP1). On the other hand, the OAFlux+ISCCP has the best comparison at both measurement sites. Second, the bias effect changes with the time scale. Despite the fact that the mean is biased significantly, there is no major bias in the seasonal cycle of all the products except for ECMWF-OP. The latter does not have a fixed mean due to the frequent updates of the model platform. Finally, among the four products (OAFlux+ISCCP, ERA-40, NCEP1, and NCEP2) that can be used for studying interannual variability, OAFlux+ISCCP and ERA-40 Qnet have good consistency as judged from both statistical and physical measures. NCEP1 shows broad agreement with the two products, with varying details. By comparison, NCEP2 is the least representative of the Qnet variabilities over the basin scale.
Termination of Indian Ocean Dipole Events in a Coupled General Circulation Model
Authors: Rao Suryachandra A. , Masson Sebastien , Luo Jing-Jia , Behera Swadhin K. , Yamagata Toshio
Published: June 2007

Using 200 yr of coupled general circulation model (CGCM) results, causes for the termination of Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) events are investigated. The CGCM used here is the Scale Interaction Experiment-Frontier Research Center for Global Change (SINTEX-F1) model, which consists of a version of the European Community–Hamburg (ECHAM4.6) atmospheric model and a version of the Ocean Parallelise (OPA8.2) ocean general circulation model. This model reproduces reasonably well the present-day climatology and interannual signals of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The main characteristics of the intraseasonal disturbances (ISDs)/oscillations are also fairly well captured by this model. However, the eastward propagation of ISDs in the model is relatively fast in the Indian Ocean and stationary in the Pacific compared to observations.

A sudden reversal of equatorial zonal winds is observed, as a result of significant intraseasonal disturbances in the equatorial Indian Ocean in November–December of IOD events, which evolve independently of ENSO. A majority of these IOD events (15 out of 18) are terminated mainly because of the 20–40-day ISD activity in the equatorial zonal winds. Ocean heat budget analysis in the upper 50 m clearly shows that the initial warming after the peak of the IOD phenomenon is triggered by increased solar radiation owing to clear-sky conditions in the eastern Indian Ocean. Subsequently, the equatorial jets excited by the ISD deepen the thermocline in the southeastern equatorial Indian Ocean. This deepening of the thermocline inhibits the vertical entrainment of cool waters and therefore the IOD is terminated. IOD events that co-occur with ENSO are terminated owing to anomalous incoming solar radiation as a result of prevailing cloud-free skies. Further warming occurs seasonally through the vertical convergence of heat due to a monsoonal wind reversal along Sumatra–Java. On occasion, strong ISD activities in July–August terminated short-lived IOD events by triggering downwelling intraseasonal equatorial Kelvin waves.
Ethnic and Economic Minorities: Unions' Future or Unrecruitable?
Authors: Marshall Ray
Published: June 2007

Unions' economic and political future depends upon support from Negroes, Southerners, agricultural workers, and foreign-language groups. Unions would apparently have little difficulty organizing foreign-language groups; but, given present union structure, these and other minorities are too weak for collective bargaining to improve their economic conditions immediately, though unions could protect and improve minority opportunities. Agricultural workers are unorganized because of poor economic status; employer and community opposition denies them the legal protection of other workers; they are frequently temporary, scattered, and migratory. The growing Negro-union schism has its roots in changes in the Negro com munity. Although it is unlikely that Negroes will withdraw from unions or break Negro-labor political alliances, the pres sures on Negro leaders are such that they probably will con tinue to attack unions. Unions also probably will be subjected to increasing governmental pressures to eliminate discrimina tion. The South's growing unorganized nonagricultural work force threatens unions outside the South because the South is industrializing faster than the United States. The main factors impeding unions in the South are: numerous low- income agricultural workers; antiunion community leaders, who not only are concerned with the upsetting influences of new power sources but also fear unions will interfere with industrial ization ; and other political, economic, and cultural factors. However, unions probably will continue to grow faster in the South than in the nation.
The Warfare State
Authors: Cook Fred J.
Published: June 2007

The pressures of post-World War II have cre ated in America a new phenomenon, a power complex which may be aptly called the Warfare State. It is a conjunction of military-industrial power, against which President Eisenhower warned in his Farewell Address. Fed by ever increasing bil lions of dollars, the Warfare State rests upon two assumptions: that safety can be achieved only through power, that prosperity depends upon the constant pump-priming of the domestic economy through the expenditure of military billions. Both assumptions are false. Power in the nuclear age has become self-defeating and suicidal. Full employment and prosperity can no longer be guaranteed by military expenditures, for ex perience proves that vast sums spent for military hardware act in the long run only as a drug and a drag on the over-all econ omy. But both myths, aided by the lobbying of the military- industrial complex, persist in influencing American decisions and preventing them from being based on clear conceptions of reality.
The Place of Nature in the City of Man
Authors: McHarg Ian L.
Published: June 2007

Unparalleled urban growth is pre-empting a million acres of rural lands each year and transforming these into the sad emblems of contemporary urbanism. In that anarchy which constitutes urban growth, wherein the major prevailing values are short-term economic determinism, the image of nature is attributed little or no value. In existing cities, the instincts of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century city builders, reflected in the pattern of existing urban open space, have been superseded by a modern process which disdains nature and seems motivated by a belief in salvation through stone alone. Yet there is a need and place for nature in the city of man. An understanding of natural processes should be reflected in the attribution of value to the constituents of these natural processes. Such an understanding, reflected in city building, will provide a major structure for urban and metro politan form, an environment capable of supporting physiolog ical man, and the basis for an art of city building which will enhance life and reflect meaning, order, and purpose.
Tribalism and Social Evolution in Africa
Authors: Turnbull Colin M.
Published: June 2007

While tribal systems vary widely throughout Africa, there are certain basic similarities. These similarities reveal the presence in domestic, economic, political, and re ligious life of a flexibility that makes of the tribe a living, dynamic organism. Religious consciousness dominates tribal thought and permeates tribal life, giving rise to a living moral ity. An impartial examination of the details of tribal systems reveals the falsity of many popular misconceptions, and, al though it is not suggested that such systems can or should be deliberately perpetuated, it is suggested that there is within them much of very real value. Far from being opposed to change, or opposed to nationalism, they contain the very es sence of the widest possible nationalism. Further, they are based on a moral sense which is rooted as deep as the sense of ancestry, the destruction of which opens the way to the rule of sheer expediency. The flexibility of tribal systems gives them enormous adaptive power, enabling them not only to ac cept change but to further it, assisting new nations to unity, not despite diversity, but through it.
Foster-Family Care: Has It Fulfilled Its Promise?
Authors: Lewis Mary
Published: June 2007

Foster-family care seems to promise children who must leave their own home for some type of foster care the closest approximation to normal life in their own home. The close and continuing relationship with responsible adults and the opportunities to participate in family and community life should provide a corrective and growth experience for the children in care. Casework services with parents should enable them to re-establish a home for their children or to move ahead on permanent planning for their children. The effectiveness of the use of foster-family care is tested against its promise. Inescap ably the conclusion must be that it has failed to meet the expectations of social agencies and communities. A disappoint ing proportion of children return to parents or are placed for adoption; ever growing numbers of children are remaining for long periods in foster-family care. For the latter children, the prospect seems bleak and unrewarding. Parents are "lost" to many of the children; many children exhibit emotional and social problems. As the conditions under which care has been given are examined, it becomes painfully clear that, for many children, the promise of foster-family care was doomed to fail from the start. But it is also clear that the promise is there if the profession, the social agencies, and the communities pursue a dedicated, thoughtful approach to its fulfillment. In the dis tress over what has happened to many children, it should not be forgotten that, for many others, foster-family care did provide security, love, and opportunity for a new and better life.
The Changing Character of Negro Protest
Authors: Laue James H.
Published: June 2007

A major change has taken place in the desegrega tion process in the last ten years. It is characterized by growing militancy on the part of thousands of Negro and white Ameri cans, and the growth in influence of six major civil rights organ izations. The initiative for change has shifted from the hands of a relatively few professional desegregationists to large num bers of average citizens who are now willing to confront the segregated system through direct action. The growth and im mediate success of the sit-in movement in 1960 added a third method of effective protest—activism—to the legal and edu cational means which had been employed before. It is found that significant desegregation in America has taken place only after the development of crisis situations which demanded rapid resolution by community decision-makers. The movement is turning to an essentially political phase, requiring the major civil rights groups to utilize all three methods more fully in co-ordinated programs. An indication of the success of such co-operative programs is the Voter Education Project, which registered more than 550,000 new Negro voters in the South from 1962 to 1964.
High School Extracurricular Activities and Political Socialization
Authors: Ziblatt David
Published: June 2007

High school extracurricular activities are a source of the informal status networks in American secondary schools. The status networks and the norms upon which they are based do not inculcate values which stress the intrinsic worth of edu cation. Extracurricular activities are also supposed to teach the attributes of good citizenship. This study found no direct relationship between participation in high school extracurricu lar activities and attitude toward politics. The teen-ager who participates feels more integrated into the informal high school status system, This feeling of integration is associated with social trust. The more socially trusting teen-agers have a more positive attitude toward politics. Teen-agers from work ing-class backgrounds participate least, but are most likely to see the informal status system as open. It was inferred that these students were insulated by a belief in equality of oppor tunity from a direct awareness of how the status system actually operates.
Labor Supply and Employment in Less Developed Countries
Authors: Sadie Jan L.
Published: June 2007

The populations of less developed countries, compared to those of economically advanced countries, have relatively few adults of working age and many children as a result of their high birth rates. Their young people enter the labor force at an earlier age, and their men continue working to more advanced ages, but this prolongation of the years of eco nomic activity is not enough to compensate for the heavy load of dependency inherent in the youthful age structure of the population. The proportion of women engaged in economic activities is also higher on the average in less developed coun tries, if available statistics reflect the true position; but, even so, the ratio of the economically active to the total population tends to be lower than in the more developed countries. At the same time, the high birth rates of less developed countries make for rapid growth of the economically active as well as the total population; typically they have two or three times as many persons entering the labor force annually as are separated from it by death and retirement. The peoples of these countries are thus doubly unfortunate: they suffer from a heavy depen dency burden and at the same time have to accommodate large annual increments in the numbers clamoring for employment opportunities. With limited natural resources and inadequate capital formation, such opportunities are insufficient to satisfy the demand. The results are seen in mass underemployment, particularly among agricultural households and urban workers- on-own-account, and in unemployment among those who cannot resort to submarginal self-employment. In various ways, it is possible to mobilize and channel this idle labor so as to increase the productive capacity of the economy and to raise levels of income.
Strategy and National Psychology in China
Authors: Boorman Howard L. , Boorman Scott A.
Published: June 2007

Perhaps the most pivotal factor in the psycholo gy of modern China has been the conflict subsystem of Chi nese behavior. As a framework for studying this system, the extensive data on some six hundred prominent individuals of the 1900-1950 period contained in the Biographical Diction ary o f Republican China furnish a logical data base and point of departure. Turning first to the conceptual foundations, we identify "face" as a guiding tenet, characterized by interper sonal definition and conventionalistic structure, but also stress the high flexibility of Chinese decision-makers under conditions where such concepts as honor, ethics, and morality often ob scure the objective self-interest of the Western strategist. From these axiomatic bases, the Chinese view of strategy in the co-ordinate system of space-time is analyzed. Finally, the general Chinese system of operational strategy is identified as a manipulative mechanism. Chinese emphasis on influencing the opponent's view of reality, his utility orderings, and turn ing these to one's own advantage is set against Western empha sis on the physical aspects of the objective situation. In this connection, strategy and its mechanisms are related to prob lems in communication and signaling, and avenues for future research are suggested.
Electoral Participation
Authors: Scammon Richard M.
Published: June 2007

The report of the Kennedy Commission on Registration and Voter Participation, the 1964 Current Population Survey of the Census Bureau, and other data indicate a number of facts about United States voter par ticipation. People tend to "overstate" their participation in elections. Men vote more than women, the middle-aged more than the young and the elderly, whites more than Negroes. The curve of voter turnout parallels those of education and income. Turnout is lower in the South than in other areas and also varies by urban, suburban, and rural areas. Turn out is generally greater in elections for higher government levels and greater in general than in primary elections. One group of nonvoters is deterred by such major legal-administra tive obstacles as citizenship, registration, and absentee voting requirements, racial and religious disabilities, and administra tive regulations for voting times and locations. A second group of nonvoters are those who meet legal-administrative requirements but exhibit "lack of involvement." Age, sex, and social-economic status affect lack of involvement. So do importance and closeness of elections and competitiveness of the political atmosphere. Total voter participation in elec tions is a dubious goal. Perhaps the goal should rather be to increase access to the polls by eliminating or altering legal and administrative barriers to voluntary voting.—Ed.
Our Cultural "Exports": A View of the United States Exchange Program
Authors: Canter Jacob
Published: June 2007

The educational and cultural exchange program of the Department of State has as a major purpose and result the building of a base for international co-operation in educational, cultural, and public affairs. Such a community of interests is one of the strongest foundations for any other international relationship. Although the exchange program is by definition reciprocal, its significant "exports" include a marked increase abroad in knowledge about the United States, particularly through the development of American Studies; and the development, through the work of exchange lecturers and teachers, of closer relationships between United States and foreign scholars and academic institutions, and of the content of disciplines. World recognition of United States academic and intellectual achievement has been accelerated by the flow of foreign exchange of scholars and leaders to the United States, and American approaches to the structure of higher education have helped guide educational modernization and reforms overseas. Presentation abroad of United States performing artists, and awards to young American artists and musicians for foreign study, have helped demonstrate the vigor of United States creative life, and in return enriched American culture. Continuing efforts to build common interests in educational and cultural fields, as well as to refine the quality of United States life, are a necessity to any fruitful role of world leadership for the United States.
A Critical Note on Conceptions of Collective Behavior
Authors: Currie Elliott , Skolnick Jerome H.
Published: June 2007

"Collective behavior" theory has its roots in antidemocratic theorists of nineteenth century Europe, espe cially LeBon. American sociologists have modified but not eliminated these biases, particularly the imputation of "irra tionality" to collective action. Yet evidence suggests that rioters, for instance, are more "rational" than is often sup posed, and that authorities are also capable of "irrationality." In this paper, we critically examine Smelser's significant efforts to organize the field systematically. We argue that Smelser's efforts result in a "systematization" that often confounds rather than clarifies; that his conceptual organization is founded on undemonstrated assertions about the "exaggerated" character of "uninstitutionalized" beliefs and behavior; that his values are unstated or unclear; and that, whatever his values, he tends to drift into a managerial or administrative vision of collective action.
A Comparative Study of Student Achievement in Traditional Schools and Schools of Choice in North Carolina
Authors: Okpala Comfort O. , Bell Genniver C. , Tuprah Kwami
Published: June 2007

This policy study examined the differences in student achievement scores in reading and mathematics in selected public middle schools of choice and in traditional public middle schools with similar demographics and socioeconomic characteristics in a southeastern school district in North Carolina during the 1997-1998, 1998-1999, and 1999-2000 school years. The purpose was to determine whether there were significant differences in academic achievement between students in selected public middle schools of choice and students in traditional public middle schools as measured by the end-of-grade test scores in reading and mathematics. The result from the one-way ANOVA showed that there were significant differences in academic achievement between students in selected public middle schools of choice and students in traditional public middle schools as measured by the end-of-grade tests in reading and mathematics.
Courage in the Service of Virtue
Authors: Coletta Damon
Published: June 2007

Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee before Operation Iraqi Freedom that several hundred thousand American Army soldiers were needed to occupy Iraq following a successful completion of the war. In hindsight, after many postwar problems occurred during Army and Marine efforts to stabilize Iraq, General Shinseki's action has been almost universally praised as prescient and courageous. This article counters that, from a civil-military relations perspective, Shinseki's testimony was neither sufficiently accurate nor sufficiently respectful of civilian control to serve as a healthy model for future officers. The U.S. civil-military relationship framed by the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Act, which preserved the power of individual service chiefs to provide independent testimony, is better served when high-ranking officers adopt a notion of courage in light of military authority delegated to regional combatant commands and in consideration of the political vulnerabilities of their civilian masters.
Academic Achievement and Individual in the Learning Processes of Basic Skills Students in the University
Authors: Moss Carolyn J.
Published: June 2007

This study analyzed the relationship between the academic achievement and information-processing habits of basic skills students in the university. Academic achievement was measured by grade-point average (GPA) and American College Testing Program Assessment (ACT) scores. Information-processing habits were determined by the Inventory of Learning Processes (ILP). There was no significant difference in the ILP profiles of high- and low-achieving basic skills students, whether they were grouped by ACT or GPA. Study Methods was the only scale that showed a significant correlation with academic achievement —namely, a negative correlation with ACT. A path analysis indicated that the effect of Study Methods on GPA is indirect, as mediated by ACT. Since ACT assesses prior achievement (i.e., high-school performance), it appears that learning style has an effect prior to college entrance. Basic skills students with low ACT scores tend to substitute conventional study methods for deep elaborative processing, but these students are low achievers in college, as indicated by their GPA. A multivariate analysis of variance showed no significant sex or ethnic differences in information-processing habits. Evidently, a low achiever is a low achiever regardless of sex or ethnicity.
“I Want to Be Just Like Their Real Dad”
Authors: Lamb Kathleen A.
Published: June 2007

Adoption has been the purview of the social work field but has received little empirical evaluation by other family scholars. Using the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth, 378 men currently cohabiting with or married to a woman with her own children are evaluated to determine whether the respondent's biological children affect the odds of adoption of his wife's or cohabiting partner's children. Logistic regression results support the social role facilitation hypothesis as the presence of resident, shared biological children the respondent fathered with the current spouse/partner is associated with greater odds of stepparent adoption. The presence of nonresident biological children fathered with a previous spouse/partner reduces the odds of stepfather adoption because men who have such children are less likely to be married. Results suggest that men who adopt their stepchildren are uncommon, and new and existing biological children play a role in formalizing relationships with stepchildren.
Bicultural Socialization Among Adoptive Families
Authors: Thomas Kristy A. , Tessler Richard C.
Published: June 2007

Although bicultural competence has been viewed as an advantage for immigrants and other ethnic minorities in American society, we do not know whether bicultural socialization is similarly advantageous for children in families formed through international, transracial adoption. This study examines what factors enable adoptive Chinese children to achieve modest levels of bicultural competence. The data are from a longitudinal survey of parents who adopted children from China in the 1990s. Results indicate that parental attitudes toward bicultural socialization, parental social networks of Chinese adults, and the racial composition of the community all affect children's levels of Chinese cultural competence, while documenting how bicultural socialization can occur even when parents and children do not share a common birth culture. The implications of the findings for adoption agencies and professionals are also discussed, as well as the need for future research as the first cohorts of children adopted from China become adolescents.
Correctional Officers' Perceptions of the Competency-Based Counseling Training Program in Taiwan
Authors: Der Pan Peter Jen , Chang Shih-Hua , Lin Chi-Wei
Published: June 2007

The purposes of this exploratory study are to present a model of the competency-based counseling training program with correctional officers in Taiwan and highlight findings from a qualitative exploration. Grounded theory procedures are used to explore 23 correctional officers' perceptions of the training program. This training program results in positive feelings about the significant learning experience, greater theoretical knowledge, and a greater understanding of the counseling work. In addition, eight themes emerging from the data pertain to the significant experiences of the training process. These themes are outlined and discussed. Implications for correctional officers' counseling training program and research questions for future study are also suggested.
Impersonal, General, and Social
Authors: Rundblad Gabriella
Published: June 2007

The impersonalizing role passive voice plays in scientific discourse is well known. Analysis of the Methods sections of nine medical research articles shows that metonymy is another frequent strategy used to create anonymous authors/agents. Discourse agents were categorized into four semantic domains: familial lay, nonfamilial lay, authorial professional, and nonauthorial professional. Agents were investigated in relation to impersonalization and social identity. Results show that although possessive/causative metonyms produce generic participants and reduce most rival researchers to “previous studies,” significant health professionals are often referred to in terms of representational/locative metonyms, highlighting their authoritative social identities. Additionally, authors are either highly visible or, if they choose to disguise themselves, they do so quite drastically using impersonalization devices or agentless passives. In contrast, for other researchers and health professionals, co-occurrence of metonymy and passive voice is generally avoided; nevertheless, these agents are usually more hidden than are the present authors.
The Business of Palliative Medicine—Part 5: Service Utilization in a Comprehensive Integrated Program
Authors: Estfan Bassam , Davis Mellar P. , Walsh Declan , Heintz Jessica , Shaheen Philip E. , Cheema Bushra , LeGrand Susan B. , Lagman Ruth L.
Published: June 2007

The aim of palliative medicine is to provide multidisciplinary comprehensive care in advanced illness. Patient and family utilization of various product service lines offered by the Harry R Horvitz Center for Palliative Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation was studied. Newly referred patients were followed up prospectively until 85% had either died or been lost to follow-up. Demographic, clinical, and referral data were recorded; subsequent product service line utilization was updated daily. The total study period was 171 days, and 238 patients entered. Acute care inpatient unit, outpatient clinic visits, and 24-hour phone contacts were the most frequently used product service lines. Patients had a median of 3 contacts (range, 1 to 27) with individual service lines. Multiple palliative medicine product service lines were utilized often, with repeated use of the individual service lines. A comprehensive integrated palliative medicine program is necessary to fully meet the complex needs of those with advanced disease.
The Kosovo Battle: Media's Recontextualization of the Serbian Nationalistic Discourses
Authors: Erjavec Karmen , Volčič Zala
Published: June 2007

In 2006, the international community started to finalize the political status of Kosovo, the Serbian province, inhabited mostly by the Muslim Albanian majority. At the end of October 2006, a referendum was held in Serbia, where a new constitution was passed that claims Kosovo as an integral part of Serbia. What has taken place in the so-called “last media battle for Kosovo”? This article investigates discourses of the two most popular Serbian newspapers and their coverage of the October 2006 events. The analysis of recontextualization shows that the newspapers continuously reproduce the dominant Serbian nationalism that focuses on a myth of a Greater Serbia. With an appropriation of different discourses, the dominant Serbian nationalism becomes legitimized and justified. In particular, the newspapers reproduce distinctive religious discourses from the political past, and furthermore, they borrow so-called European, “war on terrorism” and “crime” discourses from the international mainstream public spheres and appropriate them to the contemporary Serbian political context. Generally, the newspapers reappropriate different discourses by framing the Serbs as the victims of their own local “perpetrators,” the Kosovo Albanians.
A Descriptive Study of Skin Temperature, Tissue Perfusion, and Tissue Oxygen in Patients With Chronic Venous Disease
Authors: Kelechi Teresa J. , Michel Yvonne
Published: June 2007

Chronic inflammation and microcirculatory disturbances of the skin have been implicated as causative factors of complications associated with chronic venous disease (CVD). The purpose of this study is to describe the mean differences between and correlations among three measures of microcirculation: skin temperature (Tsk), tissue perfusion/blood flow (BF), and tissue oxygen (tcPO2) of CVD-inflamed skin compared to normal controls. In a convenience sample of 55 patients with CVD ( n = 31) and without CVD ( n = 24), Tsk was measured with an infrared thermometer, BF with a laser Doppler flowmeter, and tcPO 2 with a transcutaneous oximeter across three measurements periods 1 week apart (Times 1, 2, and 3) at the medial aspect of both lower legs. Tsk was higher (1.2°C) across all measurement periods ( p < .05), BF was higher at Times 1 and 3 ( p = .002 and .012, respectively), and tcPO2 was lower at Times 1 and 3 ( p = .013 and .050, respectively) in the CVD group as compared to the non-CVD group. BF and Tsk were positively correlated at Times 1 and 2 ( r = .516, p < .005; r = 0.278, p = .04) but not at Time 3 ( r = 0.235, p > .05). No consistently significant correlations were found between tcPO2 and BF or tcPO2 and Tsk ( p > .05). Tsk and BF were higher in the skin of lower legs affected by CVD than in those not affected. Pathological processes in the skin produce heat detectable by an infrared thermometer. Measurement and monitoring of Tsk can augment clinical findings and guide treatment when localized inflammation is suspected. Future studies of Tsk should be directed toward the usefulness of infrared technology to develop a CVD leg ulcer prediction model.
Cosinor Analysis for Temperature Time Series Data of Long Duration
Authors: Padhye Nikhil S. , Hanneman Sandra K.
Published: June 2007

The application of cosinor models to long time series requires special attention. With increasing length of the time series, the presence of noise and drifts in rhythm parameters from cycle to cycle lead to rapid deterioration of cosinor models. The sensitivity of amplitude and model-fit to the data length is demonstrated for body temperature data from ambulatory menstrual cycling and menopausal women and from ambulatory male swine. It follows that amplitude comparisons between studies cannot be made independent of consideration of the data length. Cosinor analysis may be carried out on serial-sections of the series for improved model-fit and for tracking changes in rhythm parameters. Noise and drift reduction can also be achieved by folding the series onto a single cycle, which leads to substantial gains in the model-fit but lowers the amplitude. Central values of model parameters are negligibly changed by consideration of the autoregressive nature of residuals.
Cortisol and Wake Time in Nursing Home Residents With Behavioral Symptoms of Dementia
Authors: Woods Diana Lynn , Martin Jennifer L.
Published: June 2007

Alterations in sleep and behavioral symptoms are consistently reported among nursing home residents with dementia. Disregulation in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA), indexed by basal cortisol levels, offers one explanation. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between wake time and cortisol slope in residents with behavioral symptoms. The study included 27 residents aged 71 to 84 years with dementia and behavioral symptoms. Using a within-subject longitudinal design, the researchers documented wake time and collected saliva samples for 4 consecutive days upon waking and at 30 min, 6 hr, and 12 hr after waking. Within-person cortisol slopes were categorized into zero-positive and negative slopes. The zero—positives (35%) exhibited an earlier wake time than the negatives (65%). These preliminary results suggest both a relationship between wake time and HPA diurnal profile and an association between the sleep-wake cycle and cortisol secretion among nursing home residents with dementia.
Quackery Masquerading as Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) in Patients With Epilepsy
Authors: Sharma Sangeeta , Joshi Sukriti , Khushwaha Suman , Bala Kiran
Published: June 2007

Patients suffering from chronic diseases like epilepsy often use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as first-line treatment because of myths, superstitions, and stigma attached to the disease. The present study reports on 108 patients with epilepsy presenting to an allopathic hospital with uncontrolled seizures, status epilepticus, or drug toxicity. Blood samples of these patients taking unlabeled pills from a CAM provider specializing in the treatment of epilepsy contained prescription antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) such as carbamazepine, phenytoin, valproic acid, and phenobarbitone. Serum samples in all but 5 patients demonstrated presence of one or more AEDs. Most of the patients had serum levels of these AEDs either in the subtherapeutic or in the supratherapeutic range. The authors alert clinicians that the patients resorting to “safe” or “natural” CAM may end up receiving modern prescription medicines from unauthorized CAM providers in toxic or subtherapeutic doses.
A network model to predict the risk of death in sickle cell disease
Authors: Sebastiani Paola , Nolan Vikki G. , Baldwin Clinton T. , Abad-Grau Maria M. , Wang Ling , Adewoye Adeboye H. , McMahon Lillian C. , Farrer Lindsay A. , Taylor James G. , Kato Gregory J. , Gladwin Mark T. , Steinberg Martin H.
Published: June 2007

Modeling the complexity of sickle cell disease pathophysiology and severity is difficult. Using data from 3380 patients accounting for all common genotypes of sickle cell disease, Bayesian network modeling of 25 clinical events and laboratory tests was used to estimate sickle cell disease severity, which was represented as a score predicting the risk of death within 5 years. The reliability of the model was supported by analysis of 2 independent patient groups. In 1 group, the severity score was related to disease severity based on the opinion of expert clinicians. In the other group, the severity score was related to the presence and severity of pulmonary hypertension and the risk of death. Along with previously known risk factors for mortality, like renal insufficiency and leukocytosis, the network identified laboratory markers of the severity of hemolytic anemia and its associated clinical events as contributing risk factors. This model can be used to compute a personalized disease severity score allowing therapeutic decisions to be made according to the prognosis. The severity score could serve as an estimate of overall disease severity in genotype-phenotype association studies, and the model provides an additional method to study the complex pathophysiology of sickle cell disease.
Clinical relevance of airway remodelling in airway diseases
Authors: James A. L. , Wenzel S.
Published: June 2007

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are characterised by airflow obstruction, airway remodelling (measurable structural change) and inflammation. The present review will examine the relationship between airway remodelling in these two conditions with respect to symptoms, abnormal lung function, airway hyperresponsiveness and decline in lung function. The potential for remodelling to be a protective response will also be discussed.

Asthma is associated with variable symptoms and changes in lung function and also fixed abnormalities of lung function and an increased rate of decline in lung function with age. There is a relative preservation of the relaxed airway lumen dimensions, prominent thickening of the smooth muscle layer and reduced airway distensibility. The severity of asthma is related to the degree of airway remodelling, which is most marked in cases of fatal asthma.

In COPD, symptoms are persistent and predictable but also progressive and are related to fixed abnormalities of lung function. Remodelling is associated with narrowing of the airway lumen and an increased thickness of the airway wall, although not usually to the extent seen in asthma. COPD is most often due to smoking where there is also remodelling of the parenchyma that may contribute to symptoms.
Ionic mechanisms and Ca2+handling in airway smooth muscle
Authors: Hirota S. , Helli P. , Janssen L. J.
Published: June 2007

Asthma is a disease characterised by reversible contraction of airway smooth muscle. Many signalling pathways are now known to underlie that contraction, almost all of which revolve around Ca2+handling. Ca2+homeostasis in turn is governed by a wide variety of ionic mechanisms, which are still poorly understood. The present review will briefly summarise those mechanisms that have been recognised for decades, but will then devote considerable attention to several novel ionic signalling mechanisms such as capacitative Ca2+entry, the reverse mode of the Na+/Ca2+exchanger, the role of Cl-channels in the release of internal Ca2+and that of ryanodine receptors in the refilling of the sarcoplasmic reticulum, as well as the regulation of the monomeric G-protein Rho by ionic mechanisms. Lastly, evidence will be provided that Ca2+-dependent contraction may be driven by spatial and temporal heterogeneities in the intracellular Ca2+concentration (i.e.Ca2+waves/oscillations) rather than by an increase in the global steady state intracellular Ca2+concentration.
Leisure time activity and new onset of wheezing during adolescence
Authors: Vogelberg C. , Hirsch T. , Radon K. , Dressel H. , Windstetter D. , Weinmayr G. , Weiland S. K. , von Mutius E. , Nowak D. , Leupold W.
Published: June 2007

Asthma prevalence is increasing in adult and paediatric patients. In the present study, the association between different leisure time activities and new onset of wheezing was analysed in adolescents aged 16–18 yrs taking part in a questionnaire-based follow-up of the International Study on Asthma and Allergies in Childhood in Munich and Dresden, Germany.

Of the 3,785 adolescents who took part in the follow-up (76% response), 2,910 adolescents without earlier episodes of wheezing in childhood were included in the analyses. Of these, 330 (11.3%) reported new onset of wheeze during the previous 12 months.

In the bivariate analyses, exercising more than once per week or performing computer work >1 h·day−1were inversely related to new onset of wheeze. In contrast, visiting discotheques on a regular basis increased the risk of new onset of wheeze (12.9versus9.9%). The observed inverse relationship between physical activity and new onset of wheeze was not an independent effect but mediated by differences in active smoking.

The association between physical activity and new onset of wheeze disappeared when active smoking was taken into account. However, the present data do not allow for determining whether smoking operated as a confounder or as an intermediate factor,i.e.whether physical activities prevented active smoking.
Mining prokaryotic genomes for unknown amino acids: a stop-codon-based approach
Authors: Fujita Masashi , Mihara Hisaaki , Goto Susumu , Esaki Nobuyoshi , Kanehisa Minoru
Published: June 2007

Background

Selenocysteine and pyrrolysine are the 21st and 22nd amino acids, which are genetically encoded by stop codons. Since a number of microbial genomes have been completely sequenced to date, it is tempting to ask whether the 23rd amino acid is left undiscovered in these genomes. Recently, a computational study addressed this question and reported that no tRNA gene for unknown amino acid was found in genome sequences available. However, performance of the tRNA prediction program on an unknown tRNA family, which may have atypical sequence and structure, is unclear, thereby rendering their result inconclusive. A protein-level study will provide independent insight into the novel amino acid.

Results

Assuming that the 23rd amino acid is also encoded by a stop codon, we systematically predicted proteins that contain stop-codon-encoded amino acids from 191 prokaryotic genomes. Since our prediction method relies only on the conservation patterns of primary sequences, it also provides an opportunity to search novel selenoproteins and other readthrough proteins. It successfully recovered many of currently known selenoproteins and pyrrolysine proteins. However, no promising candidate for the 23rd amino acid was detected, and only one novel selenoprotein was predicted.

Conclusion

Our result suggests that the unknown amino acid encoded by stop codons does not exist, or its phylogenetic distribution is rather limited, which is in agreement with the previous study on tRNA. The method described here can be used in future studies to explore novel readthrough events from complete genomes, which are rapidly growing.
P2Y1receptor switches to neurons from glia in juvenile versus neonatal rat cerebellar cortex
Authors: Amadio Susanna , Vacca Fabrizio , Martorana Alessandro , Sancesario Giuseppe , Volonté Cinzia
Published: June 2007

Background

In the CNS, several P2 receptors for extracellular nucleotides are identified on neurons and glial cells to participate to neuron-neuron, glia-glia and glia-neuron communication.

Results

In this work, we describe the cellular and subcellular presence of metabotropic P2Y1receptor in rat cerebellum at two distinct developmental ages, by means of immunofluorescence-confocal and electron microscopy as well as western blotting and direct membrane separation techniques. At postnatal day 21, we find that P2Y1receptor in addition to Purkinje neurons, is abundant on neuronal specializations identified as noradrenergic by anatomical, morphological and biochemical features. P2Y1receptor immunoreactivity colocalizes with dopamine β-hydroxylase, tyrosine hydroxylase, neurofilament light chain, synaptophysin and flotillin, but not with glial fibrillary acidic protein for astrocytes. P2Y1receptor is found enriched in membrane microdomains such as lipid rafts, in cerebellar synaptic vesicles, and is moreover visualized on synaptic varicosities by electron microscopy analysis. When examined at postnatal day 7, P2Y1receptor immunoreactivity is instead predominantly expressed only on Bergmann and astroglial cells, as shown by colocalization with glial fibrillary acidic protein rather then neuronal markers. At this age, we moreover identify that P2Y1receptor-positive Bergmann fibers wrap up doublecortin-positive granule cells stretching along them, while migrating through the cerebellar layers.

Conclusion

Membrane components including purinergic receptors are already known to mediate cellular contact and aggregation in platelets. Our results suggesting a potential role for P2Y1protein in cell junction/communication and development, are totally innovative for the CNS.