bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Proof for Evolution and Coming Out of Prison with Relational Dynamics
Authors: Bathory David S.
Published: January 2015

Within theories of mathematical prediction, decision and behavior such as game theory, there is the assumption that the players wish to win. The prisoner's dilemma points to the virtues of defection, or immediate self-preservation. Within the theory of evolutionary biology (Wilson & Wilson, 2007), motives are described from both the benefit of an individual and that of a larger group or collective, such as a colony, herd, pack or pod. Darwin described competition with his theory of survival of the fittest (Darwin, 1859 (reprinted 1982)); the theory of the selfish gene provides the motive of ensuring the transmission of similar genetics onto the next generation. (Dawkins, 1989) Nowak and Coakley (2013) explore the advantages of cooperation within evolution. Within psychological theory there is a preponderance of theory and clinical evidence that outlines other motivations such as Freud's death wish; sociopathic behaviors; philanthropists and altruism; racial/ethnic hatred, bullying and retaliation. Examples of strategies found in nature, the strategies for mutual benefit, best for me, best for you, and the best for neither are explored. A proof for evolution is provided outlining the rationale for cooperation. Cooperation; the sole outcome where there is long term gain and benefit for all versus other strategies such as competition and selfishness found in living organisms that ultimately results in extinction.
Information as a Human Right
Authors: Farmer Lesley S. J.
Published: January 2015

Information lies at the core of freedom of expression since it empowers citizens to understand the functions of media and other information providers, to access and critically evaluate their content, and to make informed decisions as users and producer of information and media content. Information and related technologies have become increasingly essential to education, employment, social interaction, and civic participation. Resultantly, greater focus has been placed on the idea that information is a necessary human right. While physical access to technology is now imperative to survive and contribute in today's Information Society, intellectual access is also required, particularly with the Internet's interactive socially collaborative mode. In addition, organizations need to provide the infrastructure and other preconditions to insure equitable access and use of information.
‘Lalaga Faatasi Aua Le Manuia Mo Taeao'
Authors: Lee Kerry , Toso Meripa
Published: January 2015

Teacher educators have a very daunting task requiring currency in their discipline, curricular, policy and institutional imperatives as well as pedagogical and cultural issues. Tertiary institutions are facing increasing expectations to cater for and increase retention of underrepresented groups, whilst class sizes increase and face-to-face contact decreases. This paper outlines a case study of two lecturers (one European and one Pacific Island) who developed a successful partnership to raise student retention and achievement within a cohort of Pacific Islanders (an underrepresented group in all New Zealand universities). Key aspects which formed the foundation threads of this successful partnership are elaborated upon via the metaphor of weaving. Weaving is a very valuable and highly prized skill and art form amongst many indigenous groups including those of the Pacific Islands. Weaving in the Pacific Island context involves group work, with weavers supporting each other and sharing their expertise.
Formalizing Timed BPEL by D-LOTOS
Authors: Chama Imed Eddine , Belala Nabil , Saidouni Djamel Eddine
Published: January 2015

Different standards and languages are proposed in the literature to model the composition of Web services. Unfortunately these languages are essentially syntactic and thus contain much ambiguity and inconsistency. In addition, the formal verification of the proposed languages is impossible. In this paper, the authors propose a transformation approach allowing the formal representation, analysis and refinement of Web services compositions. Both timed constraints and the durations of interactions between these services are taken into account. The authors present a mapping from Web services described in the BPEL language to an abstract specification written in the real-time language D-LOTOS which is based on true-concurrency semantics.
MPSoC Architecture for Macro Blocks Line Partitioning of H.264/AVC Encoder
Authors: Belhadj Nidhameddine , Marrakchi Zied , Ben Ayed Mohamed Ali , Masmoudi Nouri , Mehrez Habib
Published: January 2015

Using multiprocessor technology is an interesting solution for reducing the processing time of complex video encoders such as H.264/Advanced Video Coding (AVC). This paper details different levels of parallelism presented in related works for H.264/AVC encoder. An efficient Macro Blocks Line level parallelism for the intra prediction encoding chain of H.264/AVC for High Definition (HD) video is proposed. It is implemented on MPSoC architecture using an open and free platform for virtual prototyping named SoCLib. Comparing to related works, the proposed partitioning meets strongly the size of required memory constraint and provides an interesting speed-up. The proposed architecture is based on three processors and ensures a reduced circuit area. Experimental results reveal a run time saving of about 59.8% in terms of processing speed, compared to a classical execution based on a single CPU, without affecting the quality of the reconstructed video. Using multiprocessor technology is an interesting solution for reducing the processing time of complex video encoders such as H.264/Advanced Video Coding (AVC). This paper details different levels of parallelism presented in related works for H.264/AVC encoder. An efficient Macro Blocks Line level parallelism for the intra prediction encoding chain of H.264/AVC for High Definition (HD) video is proposed. It is implemented on MPSoC architecture using an open and free platform for virtual prototyping named SoCLib. Comparing to related works, the proposed partitioning meets strongly the size of required memory constraint and provides an interesting speed-up. The proposed architecture is based on three processors and ensures a reduced circuit area. Experimental results reveal a run time saving of about 59.8% in terms of processing speed, compared to a classical execution based on a single CPU, without affecting the quality of the reconstructed video.
Role Efficacy
Authors: Sinha Vinita , Abraham Ashy , Bhaskarna Bhavya , Xavier Kevin , Kariat Karthik
Published: January 2015

Several studies have been carried out in the recent past on effectiveness in the workplace in IT sector. Authors and researchers have made in depth studies of the internal dynamics of the organizational structure, organizational culture, organizational learning, managerial behaviour and resistance to change and recommended many methods in negotiating the complex aspects that a specific role is likely to bring to the organization in this sector. With this in view, a study on Role Efficacy has been carried out on major multinational organizations across the IT industry in India. The main purpose of the study was to examine the level of role efficacy in IT companies. A secondary purpose was to investigate the influence of role efficacy on the lines of employee engagement, motivation and attrition. Role Efficacy Scale developed by Udai Pareek (1980) has been used to assess the level of role efficacy possess by the 55 employees of various IT companies in India. The result of this study reveals that above mentioned three issues were widely affected on the middle management in the IT companies. Key finding of the present piece of work is role efficacy has been found to be one of the instrumental factors in determining the level employee engagement, motivation and attrition. The implications of the finding have also been discussed in terms of the culture of organizations of the IT sector.
Addressing Sustainability in IT-Governance Frameworks
Authors: Stantcheva Lubomira , Stantchev Vladimir
Published: January 2015

In this paper, the authors analyze approaches for addressing sustainability in established IT-Governance frameworks. Such frameworks are considered to be a powerful tool for ensuring compliance and proper IT operation in modern organizations. The authors assume that – in the context of the seismic changes in IT provisioning and usage that current trends such as Cloud Computing and Hybrid Computing are causing – there are potentials in them to improve sustainability of organizations' operations at both IT and business level too. The analysis is conducted in a holistic way, taking into account organizational and process aspects, sustainability of resource usage, IT-related aspects, as well as incorporating the view of the overall IT-Governance. The presented case study within a mid-sized German enterprise provides a corroboration of the proposed approach by measures for both its feasibility and effectiveness.
Internet Lifestyle of Iranian Users
Authors: Koshksaray Amir Abedini , Farahani Tayebeh
Published: January 2015

One distinguishing factor of individuals is their lifestyles. In the internet, every individual shows a different behavior while some groups have rather similar behaviors. By identifying these groups and their interests and preferences, it becomes possible to offer a product or advertising which is compatible with their wants. This leads to conveying the value presented by the producer to the consumer with high effectiveness. One source of identifying target customers or internet users is their lifestyle in internet space. The present study aims at describing and explaining internet lifestyle (e-lifestyle) of Iranian users. In particular, this study tries to find out the most common e-lifestyle of Iranian users. To this aim, 412 students involved with internet were surveyed. After estimating the construct validity of the study through confirmatory factor analysis, the mean scores of each e-lifestyle were compared by student t-test. The results revealed that Iranian users have mostly entertainment-driven e-lifestyles. The perceived importance-driven, sociability-driven, interest-driven, novelty-driven, need-driven, and uninterested or concern-driven e-lifestyles were respectively identified after that. This is the first study investigating the most common e-lifestyle among Internet users.
Technology Enhanced Learning and the Digital Economy
Authors: Schweighofer Patrick , Grünwald Stefan , Ebner Martin
Published: January 2015

Throughout history, the ongoing technological progress has caused the economy to change in many aspects; furthermore, at times it triggered the dawn of a new era. In the 1980s, this happened for the last time and the digital economy has emerged over the last decades. Since then, the significance of approaches to technology enhanced learning (TEL) has increased rapidly. However, the relations between the digital economy and technology enhanced learning are hardly investigated. Therefore this study points out the known relations between technology enhanced learning and the digital economy by reviewing 1089 publications. Thereby one could recognize that the relations between the regularities of the digital economy and the field of technology enhanced learning have not been thoroughly researched yet.
Using Social Network Analysis to Explore Digital Student Interactions and Business Competency Learning in a Web-based Educational Platform
Authors: Feldstein Andrew , Gower Kim
Published: January 2015

Web 2.0 tools occupy a large part of our lives, and their use in the classroom offers instructors a unique opportunity to gather substantial information about individual and interactive student behaviors. The authors' challenge is understanding the implications of this rich data source for assessing course efficacy and student learning, and applying these insights to further enhance the development of global business competencies. This paper reviews 311 student interactions as reflected in comments exchanged in a digital social learning community and, using social network analysis, discusses the potential to use these interactions to assess student critical thinking, communication, and collaborative feedback skills. The authors conclude with implications and recommendations for instructors who want to use Web 2.0 platforms and data to enhance their understanding of student and class digital interactions, and apply this information to course enhancement.
Understanding the Technology Development Process at the Early Standardization Stage
Authors: Fomin Vladislav V. , Zoo Hanah , Lee Heejin
Published: January 2015

This research is aimed at developing a document content analysis method to be applied in studies of standardization and technology development. The proposed method integrates two theoretical frameworks: the co-evolutionary technology development framework and the “D-N-S” (Design, Negotiation, Sense-making) framework for anticipatory standardizing. At the backdrop of complex and diversified landscape of science and R&D efforts in the technology domain, and the repeated criticism of the weak link between R&D initiatives and standardization, it is argued that the method offered in this work helps to better understand the internal dynamics of the technology development process at the early stage of standardization or pre-standardization, which, in turn, can help mobilize and direct the R&D initiatives. To demonstrate the practical usefulness of the proposed method, this paper conducts a content analysis of the research contributions presented in the COST Action IC0905 “Techno-Economic Regulatory Framework for Radio Spectrum Access for Cognitive Radio/ Software Defined Radio” (COST-TERRA).
A Mobile Learning Overview by Timeline and Mind Map
Authors: Parsons David
Published: January 2015

Mobile learning has been a research topic for some 20 years. Over that time it has encompassed a wide range of concepts, theories, designs, experiments and evaluations. With increasing interest in mobile learning from researchers and practitioners, an accessible overview of this area of research that encapsulates its many facets and features can provide a useful snapshot of the field to interested parties. This article provides a summary of the field of mobile learning, applying the main analysis categories of research, technology, content, learning and learner. The author presents these categories and subcategories in the form of a mind map, which outlines the details of the major themes in mobile learning. In addition, the author contextualises the key developments in mobile learning in a timeline. The intent of this article is that it may serve as an introduction to the research field of mobile learning, enabling researchers to quickly familiarise themselves with the type of work that has been done in the past, and the potential areas of investigation that might prove fruitful in the future.
Implementation of E-Government and Reforms in Public Administrations in Crisis Periods
Authors: Muñoz Laura Alcaide , Sánchez Raquel Garde
Published: January 2015

The importance of e-Government in the reform of public administrations has made it an essential element on political agendas and an important question to be addressed in the current economic crisis that we are witnessing. The consequent drastic reduction in public revenue has made e-Government a key element in the promotion of renewed and sustainable growth with the aim of increasing efficiency and effectiveness in the management of procedures and boosting service provision. In this respect, the considerable amount of research that currently exists in academic literature requires a comprehensive review that allows for improvement in this field of knowledge, offering a broad vision of the current situation and the research possibilities for the future. The authors believe that their findings will allow public managers to be more aware of the need for a cost-benefit analysis of the new technological initiatives proposed.
The Neglect of Technology in Theories of Policy Change
Authors: Meijer Albert , Löfgren Karl
Published: January 2015

This paper presents an analysis of the impact of e-government studies on theories of policy change. A literature review of key journals in the policy sciences shows that in these journals the relation between technology and policy change receives little attention. Whilst more nuanced analyses of technology and policy change are presented in e-government journals, the major journals of policy sciences do not fully take the lessons into account. We argue that e-government studies could, and should, contribute to theory development in the policy sciences. The paper presents some guidelines to broaden the impact of e-government studies and strengthen academic work on policy change.
E-Government Portal Updates' Evaluation
Authors: Anthopoulos Leonidas , Sirakoulis Kleanthis
Published: January 2015

More than a decade has passed since the launch of the first e-Government one-stop web portals, which concern central points for digital access by citizens, enterprises and government. Due to the broad audience that these portals serve, various analyses have been performed concerning their effectiveness with regard to service delivery; trustworthiness with regard to service availability; usability; accessibility; and user satisfaction etc. The results from these analyses have extreme interest for governments, since they reflect government strategic planning, internal efficiency and effectiveness, while they have been utilized for their upgrades. E-Government portal upgrade appears to be something usual and various updates have been observed in most portals during this timeframe. This paper addresses and important issue: “do e-Government portal updates enhance user satisfaction?” To this end, a comparative qualitative evaluation of some major e-Government portals is performed, with the use of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) during 2009 and 2012.
An Industrial Case Study on Managing Variability with Traceability in Software Product Lines
Authors: Kim Taeho , Kang Sungwon
Published: January 2015

In order to successfully carry out software product line engineering, it is important to manage variability and explicit traceability management of variabilities with development artifacts. Trace links of variability with development artifacts allows software engineers to have rapid product development and reduces maintenance efforts resulting from requirement changes or defect corrections as trace links improve the understandability of their side effects. In this study, the authors present a Variability Tracing Approach (VTA), which consists of variability analysis, variability classification, and variability implementation. The proposed approach is applied to developing the development of a washing machine software platform. This paper describes the results of how a member product can be configured under the proposed VTA.
Fault-Prone Module Prediction Approaches Using Identifiers in Source Code
Authors: Mizuno Osamu , Kawashima Naoki , Kawamoto Kimiaki
Published: January 2015

Prediction of fault-prone modules is an important area of software engineering. The authors assumed that the occurrence of faults is related to the semantics in the source code modules. Semantics in a software module can be extracted from identifiers in the module. Identifiers such as variable names and function names in source code are thus essential information to understand code. The naming for identifiers affects on code understandability; thus, the authors expect that they affect software quality. In this study, the authors examine the relationship between the length of identifiers and existence of software faults in a software module. Furthermore, the authors analyze the relationship between occurrence of “words” in identifiers and the existence of faults. From the experiments using the data from open source software, the authors modeled the relationship between the fault occurrence and the length of identifiers, and the relationship between the fault occurrence and the word in identifiers by the random forest technique. The result of the experiment showed that the length of identifiers can predict the fault-proneness of the software modules. Also, the result showed that the word occurrence model is as good a measure as traditional CK and LOC metrics models.
IT Pay-Off
Authors: Banerjee Probir Kumar
Published: January 2015

In-spite of intense research, the link between IT investment and IT pay-off in firms is still not well understood. Differences in ontological assumptions and inconsistent measures of IT pay-off are observed in prior research, leading to fragmented and inconclusive findings on return from IT investment. Difficulty in controlling for confounding factors of time lag between IT investment and availability of IT systems and IT enabled business processes, effects of non-IT managerial efforts such as marketing and finance, convolute findings from prior research. This research draws from stakeholder theory, goal-setting and expectancy theories of motivation, IT/Business alignment and IS success theories, and quality management literature and proposes a model of IT pay-off that partly controls for some of the stated confounding effects. Attempt is made to empirically demonstrate through the model that IT pay-off is better understood by shifting focus from dollar value of IT investment to the motivation for and qualities of systems and IT enabled business processes structured with the IT investment, and investigating their impacts on process quality, operational efficiency and specific firm performance measures that can be related to IT investment. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
A RIPK3–Caspase 8 Complex Mediates Atypical Pro–IL-1β Processing
Authors: Moriwaki Kenta , Bertin John , Gough Peter J. , Chan Francis Ka-Ming
Published: January 2015

Caspase 8, the initiator caspase for death receptor–induced apoptosis, functions as a negative regulator of receptor interacting protein kinase 3 (RIPK3), an essential factor for TNF-, TLR3-, and TLR4-induced necroptosis. In certain situations, caspase 8 can also participate in pro–IL-1β processing. However, the biochemical complex that mediates caspase 8–mediated processing is not defined. In this study, we show that RIPK3 is crucial for caspase 1– and caspase 8–mediated pro–IL-1β and pro–IL-18 processing in bone marrow–derived dendritic cells (BMDCs) in response to LPS stimulation. Caspase 8–mediated pro–IL-1β processing requires intact RIPK1, RIPK3, TRIF, and FADD. In response to LPS, a complex that contains RIPK1, RIPK3, FADD, and caspase 8 is formed. Surprisingly, RIPK3-specific kinase inhibitors strongly enhanced caspase 8 activation and pro–IL-1β processing in LPS-stimulated BMDCs. However, studies in BMDCs expressing the kinase-inactive RIPK3-K51A mutant or RIPK1-K45A mutant showed that the kinase activity of neither RIPK1 nor RIPK3 is required for LPS-induced caspase 8 activation and IL-1β secretion. Hence, RIPK3 is an unexpected positive regulator of caspase 8 activity that promotes IL-1β maturation in BMDCs.
Compound Helicopter: Insight and Optimization
Authors: Rand Omri , Khromov Vladimir
Published: January 2015

The paper presents an insight into the complex task of design and optimizing a compound helicopter configuration. It introduces the “drag versus power chart” (DP chart) as a tool for separating the rotors, thrusters, wings, and fuselage contributions and understanding their
optimal combination in a generic compound configuration. The analysis shows the dependency of the optimal configuration on the efficiencies of the rotors, the thrusters, and the wings, and a way to carefully examine the effect of many design parameters. As such, the analysis may be applied
to various configurations including single and coaxial rotor systems. Among other conclusions, it is shown when and why a thruster is absolutely essential for high speed and clarifies the role of the wing in such cases. The paper also supplies a unique optimization process, which is based
on a comprehensive and detailed nonlinear free-wake analysis of a compound configuration that includes a thruster and fixed wings. The optimization process is twofold: First, for a global search, a variety of randomly selected configurations are analyzed to determine an initial hover-forward
flight Pareto frontier. Then, various types of local analyses are carried out to improve the above frontier. Such successive frontier refinements lead to an improved, detailed, and continuous frontier that may be exploited for a variety of missions. The configurations on the resulting Pareto
frontier show design trade-offs between configurations that are more efficient in hover and those that are more efficient in high-speed forward flight.
Chronic Progressive Disseminated Histoplasmosis in a Mexican Cockfighter
Authors: Flores-Franco René Agustín , Gómez-Díaz Antonio , de Jesús Fernández-Alonso Antonio
Published: January 2015

We present illustrative images from a Mexican 58-year-old man who had the occupation of cockfighting from childhood and presented with chronic progressive disseminated histoplasmosis with primarily cutaneous manifestations.
Goed of fout
Authors: Bennis Hans , Hinskens Frans
Published: January 2015

Modern colloquial standard Dutch has a number of features involving non-standard inflection (verbal, adnominal, pronominal; involving gender, person, number and case), which appear to participate in ongoing processes of deflection. We focus on ten constructions, nine of which concern non-standard inflection. After discussing each phenomenon from the perspective of its place in the grammatical system, we introduce an online survey on the evaluation and reported use of each phenomenon. Sociobiographical background data are available for over 1600 of the respondents, a third of whom claim to speak a specific Dutch dialect. The data for the 1515 Dutch respondents for each feature are analysed quantitatively on three different scales, as well as on a dialect-standard scale, for the reported own use as well as the perceived use in the respondents’ environments. The features appear to be stratified both according to evaluation and style. Several features turn out to be sensitive to the speakers’ dialect background, only few of them to sociobiographical background and a third subset to neither. At least one phenomenon seems to be subject to ongoing change, driven by age; some phenomena have de facto been elevated to the standard norm. In the patterning of the phenomena studied, internal grammatical factors do not appear to play a significant role as against sociolinguistic ones. Especially perceptual and evaluative considerations appear to determine the results.
De plaats van het voorzetselvoorwerp
Authors: Hoeksema Jack
Published: January 2015

This paper presents the results of a corpus study of Dutch complement PPs. On the basis of a collection of 3400 occurrences in negative sentences, the four major word order patterns (regular position, scrambling order, topicalization and extraposition) are studied, both in main and subordinate clauses, and linked to the properties of the prepositional phrases, in particular weight and definiteness. Greater weight corresponds to higher likelihood of extraposition, and definiteness to higher likelihood of scrambling and topicalization. This corresponds well with earlier studies of word order variation in Dutch, but had not been established for the class of complement PPs. Among definite phrases, PPs with so-called R-pronouns, such as hieraan ‘here-on’ and daarvan ‘thereof’ showed especially high preferences for topicalization and scrambling. Negative sentences were selected for this study to avoid cases where regular order and scrambling order could not be distinguished due to lack of adverbial elements in the middle field. The data set is temporally stratified. This made it possible to study changes over time, and the most robust finding was a continuous retreat of the scrambling order throughout the period 1700-2014.
Perceptie van tussentaal in het gesproken Nederlands in Vlaanderen
Authors: Lybaert Chloé
Published: January 2015

In this paper, the results of a salience experiment in Flanders are reported. 80 informants were subjected to a qualitative interview in which they were asked to evaluate seven audio recordings, spoken in several regional versions of tussentaal (literally ‘in-between-language’) or in Standard Dutch. The informants had to judge which language variety was spoken in the recordings and they had to motivate on which features they based their judgment of the language used. This paper aims to show that research on salience has almost exclusively focused on whether a linguistic item is salient or not and that not enough attention has been paid to interpersonal variation in salience.
Directionele PP’s als predicaten (of niet)
Authors: Zwarts Joost
Published: January 2015

It is often assumed that directional (or path) prepositional phrases (PPs) can serve as predicates. I will show that this assumption is not unproblematic, by making a comparison with locative (or place) PPs, especially where we expect both to show their predicative nature most directly, namely as attributive modifiers of nouns. If directional PPs cannot always function as predicates, as I will show, then this complicates their treatment as predicates in small clause analyses. Treating them as verb modifiers is then a more attractive alternative.
Particulate matter, air quality and climate: lessons learned and future needs
Authors: Fuzzi S. , Baltensperger U. , Carslaw K. , Decesari S. , Denier van der Gon H. , Facchini M. C. , Fowler D. , Koren I. , Langford B. , Lohmann U. , Nemitz E. , Pandis S. , Riipinen I. , Rudich Y. , Schaap M. , Slowik J. , Spracklen D. V. , Vignati E. , Wild M. , Williams M. , Gilardoni S.
Published: January 2015

Abstract. The literature on atmospheric particulate matter (PM), or atmospheric aerosol, has increased enormously over the last two decades and amounts now to some 1500–2000 papers per year in the refereed literature. This is in part due to the enormous advances in measurement technologies, which has allowed for an increasingly accurate understanding of the chemical composition and of the physical properties of atmospheric particles and of their processes in the atmosphere. The growing scientific interest in atmospheric aerosol particles is due to their high importance for environmental policy. In fact, particulate matter constitutes one of the most challenging problems both for air quality and climate change policies. In this context, this paper reviews the most recent results within the atmospheric aerosol science, and the policy needs, which have driven much of the increase in monitoring and mechanistic research over the last two decades. The synthesis reveals many new processes and developments in the science underpinning climate–aerosol interactions and effects of PM on human health and the environment. But, while airborne particulate matter is responsible for globally important effects on premature human mortality, we still do not know the relative importance of different chemical components of PM for these effects. Likewise, the magnitude of the overall effects of PM on climate remains highly uncertain. Despite the uncertainty there are many things that could be done to mitigate local and global problems of atmospheric PM. Recent analyses have shown that reducing BC emissions, using known control measures would reduce global warming and delay the time when anthropogenic effects on global temperature would exceed 2 °C. Likewise, cost effective control measures on ammonia, an important agricultural precursor gas for secondary inorganic aerosols (SIA), would reduce regional eutrophication and PM concentrations in large areas of Europe, China, and the USA. Thus there is much that could be done to reduce effects of atmospheric PM on the climate and the health of the environment and human population. A prioritized list of actions to mitigate the full range of effects of PM is currently undeliverable due to shortcomings in knowledge of aerosol science among which the roles of PM in global climate and the relative roles of different PM precursor sources and their response to climate and land use change over the remaining decades of this century are prominent.
A modified micrometeorological gradient method for estimating O3 dry deposition over a forest canopy
Authors: Wu Z. Y. , Zhang L. , Wang X. M. , Munger J. W.
Published: January 2015

Abstract. Small pollutant concentration gradients between levels above a plant canopy result in large uncertainties in estimated air–surface exchange fluxes when using existing micrometeorological gradient methods, including the aerodynamic gradient method (AGM) and the modified Bowen-Ratio method (MBR). A modified micrometeorological gradient method (MGM) is proposed in this study for estimating O3 dry deposition fluxes over a forest canopy using concentration gradients between a level above and a level below the canopy top, taking advantage of relatively large gradients between these levels due to significant pollutant uptake at top layers of the canopy. The new method is compared with the AGM and MBR methods and is also evaluated using eddy-covariance (EC) flux measurements collected at the Harvard Forest Environmental Measurement Site, Massachusetts during 1993–2000. All the three gradient methods (AGM, MBR and MGM) produced similar diurnal cycles of O3 dry deposition velocity (Vd(O3)) to the EC measurements, with the MGM method being the closest in magnitude to the EC measurements. The multi-year average Vd(O3) differed significantly between these methods, with the AGM, MBR and MGM method being 2.28, 1.45 and 1.18 times of that of the EC. Sensitivity experiments identified several input parameters for the MGM method as first-order parameters that affect the estimated Vd(O3). A 10% uncertainty in the wind speed attenuation coefficient or canopy displacement height can cause about 10% uncertainty in the estimated Vd(O3). An unrealistic leaf area density vertical profile can cause an uncertainty of a factor of 2.0 in the estimated Vd(O3). Other input parameters or formulas for stability functions only caused an uncertainly of a few percent. The new method provides an alternative approach in monitoring/estimating long-term deposition fluxes of similar pollutants over tall canopies.
Hyphenation of a EC / OC thermal-optical carbon analyzer to photo ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry: a new off-line aerosol mass spectrometric approach for characterization of primary and secondary particulate matter
Authors: Diab J. , Streibel T. , Cavalli F. , Lee S. C. , Saathoff H. , Mamakos T. , Chow J. C. , Chen L.-W. A. , Watson J. G. , Sippula O. , Zimmermann R.
Published: January 2015

Abstract. Source apportionment and exposure of primary and secondary aerosols remains a challenging research field. In particular, the organic composition of primary particles and the formation mechanism of secondary organic aerosols (SOA) warrant further investigations. Progress in this field is strongly connected to the development of novel analytical techniques. In this study an off-line aerosol mass spectrometric technique based on filter samples, a hyphenated thermal/optical analyzer-photo ionization time of flight mass spectrometer (PI-TOFMS) system, was developed. The approach extends the capability of the widely used PM carbon analysis (for elemental/organic carbon (EC / OC)) by enabling the investigation of evolved gaseous species with soft and selective (resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization, REMPI) and non-selective photo ionization (single photon ionization, SPI) techniques. SPI was tuned to be medium soft to achieve comparability with results obtained by electron ionization (EI) aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS). Different PM samples including wood combustion emission samples, smog chamber samples from the reaction of ozone with different SOA precursors, and ambient samples taken at Ispra, Italy in winter as well as in summer were tested. The EC / OC-PI-TOFMS technique increases the understanding of the processes during the thermal/optical analysis and identifies marker substances for the source apportionment. Composition of oligomeric or polymeric species present in PM can be investigated by the analysis of the thermally breakdown products. In case of wood combustion, in addition to the well-known markers at m/z ratios of 60 and 73, two new characteristic masses (m/z 70 and 98) have been revealed as potentially linked to biomass burning. All four masses were also the dominant signals in an ambient sample taken in winter time in Ispra, Italy, confirming the finding that wood burning for residential heating is a major source for particulate matter (PM) in winter at this location. The summer sample from the same location showed no influence of wood burning, but seems to be dominated by SOA, which was confirmed from the comparison with chamber experiment samples. The experiments conducted with terpenes as precursors showed characteristic masses at m/z 58 and 82, which were not observable in any other emission samples and could serve as marker for SOA from terpenes.
Environmental correlates of peatland carbon fluxes in a thawing landscape: do transitional thaw stages matter?
Authors: Malhotra A. , Roulet N. T.
Published: January 2015

Abstract. Peatlands in discontinuous permafrost regions occur as a mosaic of wetland types, each with variable sensitivity to climate change. Permafrost thaw further increases the spatial heterogeneity in ecosystem structure and function in peatlands. Carbon (C) fluxes are well characterized in end-member thaw stages such as fully intact or fully thawed permafrost but remain unconstrained for transitional stages that cover a significant area of thawing peatlands. Furthermore, changes in the environmental correlates of C fluxes, due to thaw are not well described: a requirement for modeling future changes to C storage of permafrost peatlands. We investigated C fluxes and their correlates in end-member and a number of transitional thaw stages in a sub-arctic peatland. Across peatland lumped CH4 and CO2 flux data had significant correlations with expected correlates such as water table depth, thaw depth, temperature, photosynthetically active radiation and vascular green area. Within individual thaw states, bivariate correlations as well as multiple regressions between C flux and environmental factors changed variably with increasing thaw. The variability in directions and magnitudes of correlates reflects the range of structural conditions that could be present along a thaw gradient. These structural changes correspond to changes in C flux controls, such as temperature and moisture, and their interactions. Temperature sensitivity of CH4 increased with increasing thaw in bivariate analyses, but lack of this trend in multiple regression analyses suggested cofounding effects of substrate or water limitation on the apparent temperature sensitivity. Our results emphasize the importance of incorporating transitional stages of thaw in landscape level C budgets and highlight that end-member or adjacent thaw stages do not adequately describe the variability in structure-function relationships present along a thaw gradient.
Biotic controls on solute distribution and transport in headwater catchments
Authors: Herndon E. M. , Dere A. L. , Sullivan P. L. , Norris D. , Reynolds B. , Brantley S. L.
Published: January 2015

Abstract. Solute concentrations in stream water vary with discharge in patterns that record complex feedbacks between hydrologic and biogeochemical processes. In a comparison of headwater catchments underlain by shale in Pennsylvania, USA (Shale Hills) and Wales, UK (Plynlimon), dissimilar concentration-discharge behaviors are best explained by contrasting landscape distributions of soil solution chemistry – especially dissolved organic carbon (DOC) – that have been established by patterns of vegetation. Specifically, elements that are concentrated in organic-rich soils due to biotic cycling (Mn, Ca, K) or that form strong complexes with DOC (Fe, Al) are spatially heterogeneous in pore waters because organic matter is heterogeneously distributed across the catchments. These solutes exhibit non-chemostatic "bioactive" behavior in the streams, and solute concentrations either decrease (Shale Hills) or increase (Plynlimon) with increasing discharge. In contrast, solutes that are concentrated in soil minerals and form only weak complexes with DOC (Na, Mg, Si) are spatially homogeneous in pore waters across each catchment. These solutes are chemostatic in that their stream concentrations vary little with stream discharge, likely because these solutes are released quickly from exchange sites in the soils during rainfall events. Differences in the hydrologic connectivity of organic-rich soils to the stream drive differences in concentration behavior between catchments. As such, in catchments where soil organic matter (SOM) is dominantly in lowlands (e.g., Shale Hills), bioactive elements are released to the stream early during rainfall events, whereas in catchments where SOM is dominantly in uplands (e.g., Plynlimon), bioactive elements are released later during rainfall events. The distribution of vegetation and SOM across the landscape is thus a key component for predictive models of solute transport in headwater catchments.
The alerting system for hydrogeological hazard in Lombardy Region, northern Italy: rainfall thresholds triggering debris-flows and "equivalent rainfall" method
Authors: Cucchi A. , Valsecchi I. Q. , Alberti M. , Fassi P. , Molari M. , Mannucci G.
Published: January 2015

Abstract. The Functional Centre (CFMR) of the Civil Protection of the Lombardy Region, North Italy, has the main task of monitoring and alerting, particularly with respect to natural hazards. The procedure of early warning for hydrogeological hazard is based on a comparison of two quantities: thresholds and rainfall, both referred to a defined area and an exact time interval. The CFMR studied 52 landslide events (1987–2003) in Medium-Low Valtellina and derived a model of the critical detachment rainfall, in function of the local slope and the Curve Number CN (an empirical parameter related with the land cover and the hydrological conditions of the soil): it's physically consistent and allows a geographically targeted alerting. Moreover, rainfall thresholds were associated with a typical probability of exceedance. The processing of rainfall data is carried out through the "equivalent rainfall" method, that allows to take into account the antecedent moisture condition of the soil: in fact the hazard is substantially greater when the soil is near to saturation. The method was developed from the CN method and considers the local CN and the observed rainfall of the previous 5 days. The obtained value for the local equivalent rainfall, that combines rainfall (observed and forecasted) and local soil characteristics, is a better parameter for the evaluation of the hydrogeological hazard. The comparison between equivalent rainfall and thresholds allows to estimate the local hydrogeological hazard, displayed through hazard maps, and consequently to provide a reliable alerting activity (even localized to limited portions of the region).
PM1 geochemical and mineralogical characterization using SEM-EDX to identify particle origin – Agri Valley pilot area (Basilicata, Southern Italy)
Authors: Margiotta S. , Lettino A. , Speranza A. , Summa V.
Published: January 2015

Abstract. A PM1 geochemical and mineralogical study using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was performed on a pilot site in the Agri Valley which is close to the oil pre-treatment plant (C.O.V.A) of the Europe's largest on-shore hydrocarbon reservoir. The study identified PM1 geochemical and mineralogical characters in a period before, during and immediately after a burning torch flare event. The finer fraction (DFe < 0.7 μm) consisted mainly of secondary particles and soot. In the coarser fraction (DFe ≥ 0.7 μm), natural particles originating from crustal erosion and soot were abundant. Fine quartz particles and lower Al/Si ratios are markers for desert dust origin, proving that a Saharan dust episode which occurred during the observation period played a significant role in supplying geogenic aerosol components to the PM1. Largest amounts of ≥0.7 μm fraction particles observed on the day of flare event may be due to a greater supply of Saharan geogenic particles. Soot had been significantly increasing long before the flare event, suggesting that this increase is also related to other causes, although we cannot exclude a contribution from flaring. S-rich aerosol consisted mainly of mixed particles originating from deposition and heterogeneous nucleation of secondary sulfates on mineral dust. Only-S particles were identified in the ≥0.7 μm fraction following the flare event. These particles may be indicators of larger amounts of sulphur in the atmosphere.
VIDEOTORAKOSKOPINĖS OPERACIJOS SPONTANIŠKAI KVĖPUOJANTIEMS, NEINTUBUOTIEMS PACIENTAMS
Authors: Klimavičiūtė Geda , Paškevičiūtė Renata , Jankus Vidas , Bagajevas Aleksandras
Published: January 2015

Dažniausiai visos atviros ir videotorakoskopinės plaučių operacijos atliekamos bendrinėje anestezijoje, naudojant dvigubo spindžio endobronchinį vamzdelį kvėpavimo takų praeinamumui užtikrinti. Pastaruoju metu pradėtos atlikti videotorakoskopinės operacijos neintubuotiems, spontaniškai kvėpuojantiems pacientams nenaudojant raumenų relaksantų. Šiame straipsnyje aprašomos trys videotorakoskopinės operacijos atliktos spontaniškai kvėpuojantiems, neintubuotiems pacientams Klaipėdos universitetinėje ligoninėje 2014 metų rugsėjo mėnesį.
TINKAMA SVEIKATOS PRIEŽIŪRA: PAKARTOTINĖ HOSPITALIZACIJA – NORMA AR NEPAGEIDAUTINAS ĮVYKIS
Authors: Janušonis Vinsas
Published: January 2015

Darbo tikslas: ištirti ir įvertinti pacientų pakartotinę hospitalizaciją kaip reiškinį ar problemą sveikatos priežiūroje. Tyrimas vykdytas analizuojant Klaipėdos universitetinės ligoninės statistinius duomenis 2011-2014 m. ir vertinant hospitalizacijos bei pakartotinės hospitalizacijos pacientų asmens duomenų (unikalių asmens kodų) pagrindu. Pakartotinių hospitalizacijų santykinis skaičius yra nedidelis − iš viso pakartotinių hospitalizacijų buvo 14 proc., 30 dienų laikotarpiu po ankstesnio išrašymo iš ligoninės – 6,8 proc. Išvados: pakartotinių hospitalizacijų skaičius Klaipėdos universitetinėje ligoninėje yra santykinai nedidelis ir kelis kartus mažesnis nei išsivysčiusiose Europos šalyse ir JAV; pakartotinių hospitalizacijų 30 dienų po ankstesnio išrašymo rodikliui labai turi įtakos tinkama išrašymo iš ligoninės procedūra, sudaryta remiantis priežastiniais pakartotinės hospitalizacijos veiksniais; pakartotinės hospitalizacijos rodiklis 30 d. po ankstesnio išrašymo gali būti vienu ligoninių veiklos vertinimo rodiklių ir santykinai sveikatos priežiūros kokybės rodikliu; taikant pakartotinių hospitalizacijų sistemines kompleksines prevencijos priemones, jas galima sumažinti kartu sumažinant ligoninių sveikatos priežiūros kaštus; Lietuvos sveikatos apsaugos ministerija ir ligonių kasos galėtų skirti didesnį dėmesį pakartotinėms hospitalizacijoms, kaip vienai iš sveikatos priežiūros problemų ir galimybių ligoninių sveikatos priežiūros kaštams mažinti